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New hard drive not mounting

B

boynigel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 19, 2009
268
7
i'm putting a new hard drive in my 2003 G4 ppc desk top. when i power up and try to install the OS, the drive is not showing up. trying to figure out if i ordered the wrong one, or perhaps i just rec'd a defective one. here's the link to the hard drive i got: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&PID=4169666&SID=1nonsaxokjmtj#scrollFullInfo

before i ordered it, i posted a question here asking if it was correct for my computer and i was told it was...
 
I believe that drive should work. Are you booting from the OS X install disc and formatting from there with Disk Utility?
 
DewGuy1999 said:
I believe that drive should work. Are you booting from the OS X install disc and formatting from there with Disk Utility?
Click to expand...
after i installed the drive i powered up from the install disk. i then begin the install process but when it comes to the point where it asks which drive i want to install it to, the new drive isn't displayed as a choice. it only shows my existing secondary drive which is full.
 
adcx64 said:
Is it the only drive in the system? If so, Is the jumper configuration set to "Master"?
Click to expand...

no it is not. there is a secondary drive which is full. this drive still mounts. not sure about the jumper configuration, but i'm using the same exact cables that were attached to the original drive that failed.
 
boynigel said:
after i installed the drive i powered up from the install disk. i then begin the install process but when it comes to the point where it asks which drive i want to install it to, the new drive isn't displayed as a choice. it only shows my existing secondary drive which is full.
Click to expand...

I believe you need to run Disk Utility while booted from the install disk and format the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a Apple Partition Map, once you do this the hard drive should be available to the installer.
 
There should be a diagram on the label of the drive showing jumper configurations, which correspond with pins in-between the IDE connector and Power connector.
 
DewGuy1999 said:
I believe you need to run Disk Utility while booted from the install disk and format the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a Apple Partition Map, once you do this the hard drive should be available to the installer.
Click to expand...

so you're saying that while the installer can't see the new drive, Disk Utility will? i realize the only way to find out is to try it, but i won't have a chance until late tomorrow. just though i'd ask for now.
 
adcx64 said:
There should be a diagram on the label of the drive showing jumper configurations, which correspond with pins in-between the IDE connector and Power connector.
Click to expand...

if only i knew what to do w/that information! LOL
 
boynigel said:
so you're saying that while the installer can't see the new drive, Disk Utility will? i realize the only way to find out is to try it, but i won't have a chance until late tomorrow. just though i'd ask for now.
Click to expand...

Right now the hard drive is like a blank piece of paper and the installer doesn't know it's there because it's blank, you need to format it first, Disk Utility can do that, but you have to run it from the install disc (I believe it's under the File menu). Format it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a Apple Partition Map. Once it's formatted the installer will be able to see and install the OS on it.

boynigel said:
if only i knew what to do w/that information! LOL
Click to expand...

Here a page that explains jumpers:

Master/slave vs. cable select jumper settings on an EIDE hard drive
 
DewGuy1999 said:
Right now the hard drive is like a blank piece of paper and the installer doesn't know it's there because it's blank, you need to format it first, Disk Utility can do that, but you have to run it from the install disc (I believe it's under the File menu). Format it as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a Apple Partition Map. Once it's formatted the installer will be able to see and install the OS on it.
Click to expand...

This but I think disk utility is under the "Utilities" menu.
 
DewGuy1999 said:
I believe you need to run Disk Utility while booted from the install disk and format the drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with a Apple Partition Map, once you do this the hard drive should be available to the installer.
Click to expand...

okay, i was able to see the disk in Disk Utility but i couldn't find any "format" button so i went with "erase" seeing that the drive was already empty and it had the option of selecting "Mac OS Extended" like you said. i was able to name the new drive, but i couldn't find anything in Disk Utility that would allow me to do a "Apple Partition Map" like you suggested. so, i tried to install the the OS but when it got to the point where it asked me to select a drive to install to, i had a big red exclamation point over the new drive saying i couldn't install to this disk. it gave no reason why.
 
On the disk utility you should see a tab named partition, then on that window there is an option button, since it is a powermac you should select "Apple Partition map". Your configuration should be Apple Partition Mac, Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Post again if you cannot get it to work.
 
Nameci said:
On the disk utility you should see a tab named partition, then on that window there is an option button, since it is a powermac you should select "Apple Partition map". Your configuration should be Apple Partition Mac, Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Post again if you cannot get it to work.
Click to expand...

before you posted this i DID go to the partition tab and selected the option button but there was no option for the Apple partition map. taking a wild guess, i went and verified the disk permissions, went back to install, and- boom! it's installing as i write this. am i going to have any problems having done it this way w/out the apple partition map?
 
boynigel said:
before you posted this i DID go to the partition tab and selected the option button but there was no option for the Apple partition map. taking a wild guess, i went and verified the disk permissions, went back to install, and- boom! it's installing as i write this. am i going to have any problems having done it this way w/out the apple partition map?
Click to expand...

Which version of Mac OS X are you installing?
 
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