Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Installing a New External WD Hard Drive on PPC Mac

Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
May 5, 2008
24,899
27,976
The Misty Mountains
I just thought I'd mention this for anyone who is thinking of using a Western Digital 1TB drive on your PPC Mac running 10.4.

Short story: the MyBook Essential 1 TB external USB 2.0 drive is not compatible* out of the box with my Mac PPC G5 computer.

If I plug it in, I get a message that the drive is not readable and an offer to initialize it. However when trying to partition the drive using Apple's Disk Utility (in 10.4), I get formatting error: Input/output error.

The solution is to download the WD Macintosh + Turbo Drive utility from Western Digital and install it on your PPC Mac. As previously mentioned, I have a G5, so while I assume this should work for any PPC Mac running 10.4.11, I don't know for sure.

* If you have an intel Mac there should be no issues with this drive requiring the utility to be installed. This hard drive worked as it should when it was first plugged into the MBP.

see my post below.
 
all iMac G5 and PowerMac G5 computers have USB 2.0!

however, if my logic is sound, if you did in fact have USB 1.1 (but you don't), having a USB 2.0 hub wouldn't speed anything up, as that data still has to pass through the USB 1.1 port.
 
smartalic34 said:
all iMac and PowerMac G5 computers have USB 2.0!

however, if my logic is sound, if you did in fact have USB 1.1 (but you don't), having a USB 2.0 hub wouldn't speed anything up, as that data still has to pass through the USB 1.1 port.
Click to expand...

Not all iMacs have USB 2.0, but all PM G5s do.

A 1.1 hub will be a MAJOR bottleneck for 2.0 traffic. The OP needs a 2.0 hub.
 
Thanks all for the replies! I did not realize I had them when I erased the USB 2.0 question from the original post. The original question: I assume my G5 does not have USB 2.0.? Well that is wrong. Thanks for the help. :) I finally checked my profiler and yes indeed, I have USB 2.0 on my G5. :) Most of my USB peripherals are plugged into a Belkin USB 1.0 Bus Station. I swapped some cables around and here is what I found:

When the MyBook HD is plugged into the USB 1.0 hub, transferring a 18GB folder was gonna take only 17 hours. When I plugged it directly into the back of my G5, the same folder was going to take about 15 min. :D:D A Belkin USB 2.0 hub is in my future. I like the Bus Station and Belkin offers a lifetime warranty on their products.
 
Huntn said:
I just thought I'd mention this for anyone who is thinking of using a Western Digital 1TB drive on your PPC Mac running 10.4.

Short story: the MyBook Essential 1 TB external USB 2.0 drive is not compatible* out of the box with my Mac PPC G5 computer.

If I plug it in, I get a message that the drive is not readable and an offer to initialize it. However when trying to partition the drive using Apple's Disk Utility (in 10.4), I get formatting error: Input/output error.

The solution is to download the WD Macintosh + Turbo Drive utility from Western Digital and install it on your PPC Mac. As previously mentioned, I have a G5, so while I assume this should work for any PPC Mac running 10.4.11, I don't know for sure.

* If you have an intel Mac there should be no issues with this drive requiring the utility to be installed. This hard drive worked as it should when it was first plugged into the MBP.

see my post below.
Click to expand...

I don't believe that you need the WD software. When preparing the the HD for Mac use, using Disc Utility you need to Erase it first and then Partition it with one or more partition(s). The key is erasing it before partitioning it.
 
DewGuy1999 said:
I don't believe that you need the WD software. When preparing the the HD for Mac use, using Disc Utility you need to Erase it first and then Partition it with one or more partition(s). The key is erasing it before partitioning it.
Click to expand...

ah yes, good call. when you erase, make sure you format the disk as Mac OS Extended (Journaled). then partition, as DewGuy1999 said...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back