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mac pro 1,1 internal storage limit?

T

tealemon

macrumors newbie
Original poster
I recently bought a second hand mac pro 1,1 (2x2,66). I'm reading online now that this model has a 2GB total internal storage limitation??

Is that true? Anyone have this exact model that can confirm/refute this?
 
Well yeah, that's one of the pages I had read too.

But then I also read some forums around that people have been putting more than 2TB total in the 1,1 however, I'm not sure if that referred to the mp1,1 that I have or the one that's a grade newer (2x3ghz)... so, first hand experiences are what I'd like to hear. 🙂
 
I have a 1,1 flashed to a 2,1. With 2 2core@2.66
I curently have:
1 1TB
1 500GB
1 250GB
2 128GB SSD
Works fine, but I plan on adding a 3TB drive.
I guess I will find out.
Usually when this is the case a drive can be partitioned in another computer, then each formatted for the Mac, and the Mac can still use them.
I once put a 1GB drive in a Macintosh SE, it worked fine. It saw 2 500MB partitions.
 
Hey, that's very interesting.

Was it hard to flash it to 2,1? Seeing as this comp I have is a tabula rasa for now I'm even tempted to try it... unless I can screw things up with the motherboard irreparably... :/
 
I don't think you can brick it. It's no different than any other firmware update. Do some research though, the utility is at forum.netkas.org.
 
Reading about it now... I don't think I really need it. I thought it might have something to do with the 2TB limitation... doesn't seem to?
 
Yeah... you're almost there. I might try and put in disks from my other computer to see what happens...

there's another thing that's making me wonder about these limitations - in my other mac pro 3,1 (which is supposed to support up to 4TB) I have raid set up, and I have 4TB of HDDs in it, although effectively using only 2TB as real space because of raid.

I also have two 500GB drives connected to the two extra sata slots on the motherboard. So technically there is 5TB internal storage, but I don't know if the whole thing is working because raid just mirrors disks, or because the whole limitation thing is a guideline more than a rule...
 
One thing to consider is that in order for you to use them in RAID, they would first have to be recognized in disk utility at their full capacity. Unless you formatted on another machine.
One more thing is that, the OS they shipped with is 10.5, and it may have had some restrictions on drive size too. It certainly did on RAM. 10.6 was the first 64bit OS for Apple.
The firmware update I did, allowed the chip-set to use other processors, and it may have effected the RAM and disk size allowed, at this point I just don't know yet.
Let me know what you find out when you place all those drives in your Pro.
 
I have a 2,1 with 1x 128gb SSD, 2x 1TB HDD and 1x 500gb HD. So 2.6 works fine.

I have also had over 5.5 TB in previously when I temporarily put in 2 x 2TB drives for a backup job from my NAS.

I suspect the only reason for the note about 4x500gb is that was the max that could ship with the mac pro 1,1 or 2,1 when it was new as Apple didnt do higher capacity HDD at the time?
 
I had six 4TB drives internally and seven more 4TB drives externally connected.

That's 24TB internal and 28TB external for a total of 52TB.

Currently I have six 3TB drives connected internally and two 3TB external.

If there's a 2TB limit someone forgot to tell my MacPro1,1 about it. 🙂

And I've had them all configured every way you can imaging.

Partitioned RAID, All (external + Internal) RAIDed, Several individual RAID sets, all individual drives. Multiple RAID stripes with internal + external members.

All chipset supported RAID level configurations was tested too: 0, 1, and 10. Reading up on the hardware specs also supports this as true. If you notice the sentence says: "Apple formally supports up to 2 TB of storage..." and that mean Apple didn't sell upgrade "kits" officially beyond that size. But AFAIK that's not the hardware spec. 🙂

Didn't Apple say the same kind of things about RAM for that machine too - and for the same reasons? I think all they "formally support" is like 8GB or 16 GB. But I'm running 32GB and I've seen MP1,1 systems running 64GB. 😉 Why they don't offer more probably has something to do with revision differentials. I mean is all the 1,1 can "officially do" is 2TG and 8GB then they can say the MP3,1 can "officially do" 8TB and 32GB and it sounds like such a nice upgrade. Heh! Marketing...
 
Last edited:
Ccrew said:
LOL. Never knew there was a limit. Running mine with a 240gb SSD for boot and 3x 1tb 7200rpm HDD's. Had 4x HDD's in it before the SSD, so it'll definitely support 4tb.
Click to expand...

It is probably a limit of 2 TB per bay? And back then, there were not even 1 TB HDDs, they were introduced in 2007.
 
Good to know! I was planning on a 3TB or 4TB single drive, in one bay. My 500GB is slowly dying.
Does anyone know if on RAID 0 or Raid 5 do the transfer speeds double?
Assuming the drives are identical in all specs. of course.
 
LOLmighty. I have one, had it for over 6 years, and it has been stacked with over 4TB since I don't know when.

Internally it has 2 2TB drives, 1 3TB drive, 1 1TB drive, an SSD of 128GB, and another 750GB drive in there. Works great!

I'm not sure this machine knows its limits.
 
I am running a 2tb in one bay for sure in my 1,1. However I only have 4 bays, where are people coming up with the 5th bay? I only ask because I would like to utilize it. My configuration right now is 2-128 ssds / 1-256ssd / 1-2Tb HD
 
GXPvince said:
I am running a 2tb in one bay for sure in my 1,1. However I only have 4 bays, where are people coming up with the 5th bay? I only ask because I would like to utilize it. My configuration right now is 2-128 ssds / 1-256ssd / 1-2Tb HD
Click to expand...

It's actually 6.
4 standard bays
and 2 optical SATA connectors
You have to be creative on how to put those drives in though. Mine are 2 SSD's, velcro'ed inside the lower optical bay 😉
 
TheEasterBunny said:
It's actually 6.
4 standard bays
and 2 optical SATA connectors
You have to be creative on how to put those drives in though. Mine are 2 SSD's, velcro'ed inside the lower optical bay 😉
Click to expand...

Okay this may sound stupid, I know that people are putting it into the optical bay however where are the connections? I have tried this, took out the DVD burner and looked. I couldn't find them. I was thinking may be the Burner connections however they are not the same as my SSD.

Do I need to buy some connectors?
 
GXPvince said:
Okay this may sound stupid, I know that people are putting it into the optical bay however where are the connections? I have tried this, took out the DVD burner and looked. I couldn't find them. I was thinking may be the Burner connections however they are not the same as my SSD.

Do I need to buy some connectors?
Click to expand...

LOL, kinda. there are two SATA connectors under the fan shroud just under the ODD bay. They use standard SATA cables. Then you route them very carefully up into the ODD bay. It is easier to do if you remove the fans first. One screw for the fans is easy to see, the other not so much.
 
TheEasterBunny said:
It's actually 6.
4 standard bays
and 2 optical SATA connectors
You have to be creative on how to put those drives in though. Mine are 2 SSD's, velcro'ed inside the lower optical bay 😉
Click to expand...

I just crammed mine into place. Two full sized internal drives fit juuuuust snuggly under the DVD/BlueRay. 0.0mm clearance. 🙂 For cooling I offset them right and left:

[=====]
____[=====]

It seems to be enough. 😛 I suppose if I were more creative I would have put the DVD drive in the lower area and then I'd have a cm or so clearance for the drive spacing up top. 😛
 
TheEasterBunny said:
LOL, kinda. there are two SATA connectors under the fan shroud just under the ODD bay. They use standard SATA cables. Then you route them very carefully up into the ODD bay. It is easier to do if you remove the fans first. One screw for the fans is easy to see, the other not so much.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I will try this when I get home. BTW thanks for laughing at me Mr Easter Bunny.🙁
 
Tesselator said:
I had six 4TB drives internally and seven more 4TB drives externally connected.

That's 24TB internal and 28TB external for a total of 52TB.
Click to expand...

holy jesus.
smileyworshipl.gif



THANKS EVERYONE!

Just to report - I ran my test with adding two 1TB drives in alongside the 250GB one that's already in. Not a single issue.

I say we call this myth busted. 😀

----------
TheEasterBunny said:
LOL, kinda. there are two SATA connectors under the fan shroud just under the ODD bay. They use standard SATA cables. Then you route them very carefully up into the ODD bay. It is easier to do if you remove the fans first. One screw for the fans is easy to see, the other not so much.
Click to expand...

When I was removing the fans in mine I managed to lose one screw in the processor heatsink. 😱

Next time I got an angled SATA cable instead. Much easier to squeeze in! You just have to take care that you buy one with the right angle (whether it bends up or down) according to the free space around the slots.

inline-sata-sata-cable-angled-0-3m-27703w.png
 
tealemon said:
THANKS EVERYONE!
I say we call this myth busted. 😀
Click to expand...

Cool. But I don't think it's a myth as much as it is a misunderstanding. Apple should be publishing upgradability based on the actual machine specs instead of whatever they just arbitrarily decide to offer in the way of upgrade kits. And users (especially people writing for sites like barefeats, newegg, macsales, OWC, and so on) should be intelligent enough to both read between the lines, and also do a little homework so as to be able to differentiate between what actually works (hardware capabilities) and whatever the most/biggest thing apple officially offers is.

It was one of the most obvious things I noticed about Apple and their "supply chain" when they went Intel. I suppose its great for Apple profits but its kind of embarrassing to watch. 😱
 
Any updates on this guys>? im rebuilding a mac pro 1,1 right now to use as a file server. i didnt consider this issue. my drives are 3TB and 2TB. planning to upgrade the system to el cap with a new video card. I assume the limitation would be with the chipset and not the OS though right? has anyone hit the limit yet in terms of individual drive size?
 
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