OWC Mercury Legacy Pro SSD and TiBook G4

[swamprock]

I posted a video of my 667 mhz TiBook with an OWC Mercury Legacy Pro SSD installed, with demos of startup, app launch, and shutdown speeds. Sorry for the quality... I really need a new camera...

 

[MacCubed]

I have a 500MHz Ti with an mSATA SSD in it, wonder how results compare...

 

[swamprock]

I mentioned in the video that I was going to move the SSD to an iBook G4. I started to do that today, and the trackpad header snapped right off the board. I was extremely careful trying to remove the connector, but I think the thing was tenuous to begin with. So much for that $20...

 

[1042686]

That sucks. You could still use a mouse with it. I did see some iBook 4 logic boards for about $20.00 shipped. Here's one. May be the right model for your iBook?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/like/162193787748?lpid=82&chn=ps&ul_noapp=true

 

[swamprock]

I bought another iBook with the same specs from the same seller, for the same price. He's selling them so cheap that I'll just get another. I attempted a repair but the pads that the header were soldered to were so oxidized that no amount of cleaning or use of flux would allow me to attach the header. I'll just keep it around as a parts machine, set up the other machine as an experimentation platform, and continue my quest for a 1.5 ghz 12" Powerbook G4 to house my SSD and for use as a small footprint carry-around...

 

[128keaton]

I bought another iBook with the same specs from the same seller, for the same price. He's selling them so cheap that I'll just get another. I attempted a repair but the pads that the header were soldered to were so oxidized that no amount of cleaning or use of flux would allow me to attach the header. I'll just keep it around as a parts machine, set up the other machine as an experimentation platform, and continue my quest for a 1.5 ghz 12" Powerbook G4 to house my SSD and for use as a small footprint carry-around...

While I really enjoy the idea of a small 'carry around' PowerPC, the 12" just simply didn't do the trick for me, even with Linux installed (and quasi-working). The 15" DLSD is a really stellar machine, even more so with a SSD inside.

Here it is, chilling in class:

 

[swamprock]

Depends on your needs, I guess. I only really need it for recipes, PDFs, and office apps; all for work. I really don't need anything special; just a small footprint; but I want the top-of-the-line fastest model.

In the good news department, I scored a 1ghz TiBook with original box (EDIT- the box was for a 1ghz model, but the TiBook was a 500mhz. Was a bit disappointed, except that this thing is in CHERRY condition; never opened or upgraded), a DVI to ADC adapter, an aluminum wireless mini-keyboard, and an old G4 tower (not sure of the specs) in the original box; all for very cheap, and local. I pick it all up in a few hours

 

[davidg4781]

How does that SSD work without any native like, clean up support? Is that called TRIM?

I haven't looked much into SSD since I'm a little cheap and don't know if I want to either spend a lot or get external storage, but I remember reading about them getting junked up unless you enable TRIM.

Does it clean it up itself?

 

[swamprock]

How does that SSD work without any native like, clean up support? Is that called TRIM?

I haven't looked much into SSD since I'm a little cheap and don't know if I want to either spend a lot or get external storage, but I remember reading about them getting junked up unless you enable TRIM.

Does it clean it up itself?

The cleanup is built in to the SSD itself; at least that's what OWC claims, for these legacy IDE drives. I've had no problems with it so far.

 

[davidg4781]

The cleanup is built in to the SSD itself; at least that's what OWC claims, for these legacy IDE drives. I've had no problems with it so far.

Nice. I may look into that for my G4. Right now it's sort of in storage. I moved in January and have no room for any PPCs. I'm even thinking of getting rid of switching from a desktop to a laptop... but I may pick up a PPC laptop instead. Mainly I'd like to be able to do some work stuff like on the couch.

 

[0248294]

With almost all modern SSDs, TRIM isn't required as they can do self-cleaning fine by themselves. That said, TRIM can aid it, and if you can enable TRIM on the computer you're on without opening a security hole, you have no reason not to. But of course, our PPC horses are a little too old for that stable

 

[bobesch]

I've installed an OWC SSD in my first 12" iBookG4 but later on mSATA+adapter seemed to me much cheaper and more versatile. Didn't compare speed etc yet.
Heat is a kind of problem with both OWC-SSD and mSATA.

 

[128keaton]

I've installed an OWC SSD in my first 12" iBookG4 but later on mSATA+adapter seemed to me much cheaper and more versatile. Didn't compare speed etc yet.
Heat is a kind of problem with both OWC-SSD and mSATA.

Even though I really doubt it will play into the lifespan of the machine.

 

[swamprock]

I took delivery on my replacement iBook today, but I'm real apprehensive about opening this one up, lest I repeat the damage to the other one. I'll have to sleep on it...

 

[flyrod]

I've installed an OWC SSD...

I had a very poor experience with one of these in a powerbook. Under sustained write, the drive would freeze up and the system would lock up. It took me long enough to figure out that it was the drive causing the problem that I couldn't return it. It had a "warranty" but after 4 (yes FOUR) rounds of RMA hassle and shipping expenses the drives all had the same problem. I tested them in 3 different PPC machines including mac mini's with the same result. So, very frustrating.

Cheap ass ebay mSata and adapter for a fraction of the cost has worked great for a couple years now with no issues. My $0.02

 

[weckart]

The OWC drive IIRR is basically just the guts of a compact flash drive soldered into an IDE adapter. I decided to go the mSATA route after reading user reviews of problems with it.

 

[flyrod]

When it was evident that I was stuck with the drive, I opened it up. It's a sata card plugged into an adapter with a piece of foam to keep it in place. I've been meaning to try the sata card in a newer laptop and see if it can work there. It's not a mSata card, but it's still small enough to fit in the 2.5" enclosure with the ide-sata adapter. I don't know a lot about the various sata form factors, but I think it will fit in some of the newer laptops.

Kingspec makes (made?) some true pata ssd's. I've opened one of those and it's a single board (not a stack of adapters). In my testing they were slightly slower than the mSata/adapter combo, but still way faster than mechanical drives.

 

[iModFrenzy]

I would love to grab a SSD for my G4, speeds like that are great.

Time to start looking for MSata SSDs , too bad I can't use my PCIE SSD(from a MacBook Air 2013).

 

[swamprock]

When it was evident that I was stuck with the drive, I opened it up. It's a sata card plugged into an adapter with a piece of foam to keep it in place. I've been meaning to try the sata card in a newer laptop and see if it can work there. It's not a mSata card, but it's still small enough to fit in the 2.5" enclosure with the ide-sata adapter. I don't know a lot about the various sata form factors, but I think it will fit in some of the newer laptops.

Kingspec makes (made?) some true pata ssd's. I've opened one of those and it's a single board (not a stack of adapters). In my testing they were slightly slower than the mSata/adapter combo, but still way faster than mechanical drives.

Good info to know, in case this thing conks out. Hopefully I can upgrade it to something bigger that'll fit in the enclosure.

That said, the drive is now in my iBook G4, and doing pretty well. Time will tell how it performs in the long run, but all is good so far. Video soon...

 

[flyrod]

Good info to know, in case this thing conks out.

I think the test would be sustained write. Try continuously copying a bunch of files from an external fw drive onto the ssd. I could get anywhere from 2gb to 15gb before it would lock up. I once got 40gb after putting it in the fridge for a while first. I think it would also bomb if I tried to duplicate large folders of movie files.

 

[swamprock]

I think the test would be sustained write. Try continuously copying a bunch of files from an external fw drive onto the ssd. I could get anywhere from 2gb to 15gb before it would lock up. I once got 40gb after putting it in the fridge for a while first. I think it would also bomb if I tried to duplicate large folders of movie files.

I'll take your word for it. I don't plan on doing any massive file transfers to or from the drive. I transferred my 4gb 80s mp3 collection to it via my network and had no issues, but that's the most I've taxed it. This iBook will mostly be used for documents, email, and some light web use... at least until it croaks or I find a decent 12" G4.