PCI eSATA Cards Compatible with Leopard?

[mac57mac57]

I am looking to add eSATA to my PCI-equipped (not PCI-X or PCI-e) Power Mac G4 Sawtooth. I have found several from Vantec. Does anyone know if this is a compatible brand for Mac OS X Leopard? I cannot locate any sort of matter list of compatible PCI eSATA cards.

BTW, I do understand that I cannot operate a PCI-interfaced eSATA card at full transfer rate due to the speed limitations of PCI, but I still want to add eSATA to the machine for compatibility with my eSATA-capable external HDDs.

Thanks!

 

[eyoungren]

I have a Sonnet Tempo for my G3 B&W that was gifted to me. I realize you're asking about eSATA, but an easy way to get that is to just buy one of those converters. A picture will probably explain it best…




Attach the other ends to your PCI SATA card ports, put the frame in a slot and you have eSATA.

In the meantime you can save yourself a few bucks if you want to flash a PC SATA card. Otherwise, you're looking for anything that says its 'Mac compatible'.

Guide to flashing PC SIL3112 SATA cards for Mac

To begin with, hello - I'm new to this board, although I've been a member of the 68kMLA forums for a while. I'm also a long time user of PowerPC Macs. I recently flashed a PC SATA card to use in my PMG4, which I am currently in the process of fully upgrading. I put this guide together for...

forums.macrumors.com

 

[Project Alice]

There's a sonnet branded card that works with Leopard that I used to have. It is PCI-X, but its also backwards compatible. It works fully in Leopard, not Tiger. It also is not bootable.
It had I think 4 internal SATA ports and two eSATA.

I like eyoungren's solution better though, and if I wanted eSATA thats the route I would go personally.

 

[mac57mac57]

MUCH research later, it appears that the best bet may be a Sonnet Tempo Serial ATA, which has a PCI interface and presents two internal SATA ports. Then, layer on eyoungren's solution and you have eSATA... I think!

These cards are not cheap! There are two available right now on eBay, but they are priced in the hundreds of dollars... I set up a long term eBay search and will wait for one that is more reasonably priced!

 

[SnakeCoils]

Hello, I can confirm the following cards works beautifully with Leopard on my G4 MDD:


- LaCie eSata PCI card (design by Sismo, the one with the orange ring) product code: 130823
- LaCie Power SATA PCI card (Initio SATA board) product code: 1623

Thie latter one have also two circular socket that (maybe) provide some kind of power to external enclosure but the data ports, while on the external side of bracket, are SATA (the usual "L" shape connector) so if you have an eSATA device to connect, a cable SATA-eSATA must be used.

They also support boot from attached device, two very nice cards

 

[mac57mac57]

Thanks @SnakeCoils, great tips. I have ALSO now found Sonnet's Tempo Serial ATA and their Tempo X4P, both of which are compatible with Leopard as well. So, thanks to your inputs, I now have four different cards I can shop for. I am sure all of them are out of manufacturing these days, so I will have to see what I can actually find for sale at a reasonable price. Stay tuned!

 

[eyoungren]

Just a quick search…(MODS NOT MY AUCTIONS, JUST SHOWING EXAMPLES).

4 Port SATA II PCI-X Controller Card *Apple PowerMac G4/G5 *OS X Bootable *SSD | eBay

RAID Support at OS X Disk utility.

www.ebay.com

4 Port SATA PCI Card for Apple Macintosh Mac OS PowerMac G4 SSD | eBay

This is for a new 4 port SATA card for a PowerMac G4. It adds 4 SATA ports to most PowerMac G4 models. Supported models include all versions of the "Mirror Drive Doors", "Gigabit", "AGP", and "PCI" models.It should also work in a blue & white G3, and the first generation G5 with PCI.

www.ebay.com

I have one of these…

Silicon Image SATA3114-A01 4-Port PCI SATA Controller Card | eBay

No drivers or cables included.

www.ebay.com

I also saw a number of 3112 based cards in the $20 range.

 

[mac57mac57]

Thanks @eyoungren! I purchased the second one of the two you suggested. Cards like this did not turn up in my search because I was searching for eSATA, not SATA. Now I will add a SATA to eSATA adapter and be done! Thanks!

 

[barracuda156]

I am looking to add eSATA to my PCI-equipped (not PCI-X or PCI-e) Power Mac G4 Sawtooth. I have found several from Vantec. Does anyone know if this is a compatible brand for Mac OS X Leopard? I cannot locate any sort of matter list of compatible PCI eSATA cards.

I have Sonnet Tempo, it is compatible with 10.5.8 ppc (though not bootable), but not [yet?] with 10.6.8, just for a note.

 

[mac57mac57]

Thanks @barracuda156, good to know!

 

[mac57mac57]

My PCI SATA card was delivered yesterday! I will install it today or tomorrow and let you know how it goes!

 

[mac57mac57]

I am happy to report that my new PCI SATA card worked just fine, first time, in my G4 Sawtooth. For now, I am testing it with an internal SATA SSD; as soon as my SATA to eSATA adapter arrives, I will add actual eSATA ports to the machine. Meantime, this post is coming from said G4 Sawtooth, via Aquafox and Sorbet Leopard.

 

[mac57mac57]

An addition to my last post. There has been one hiccup; the machine quadruple boots Tiger, standard Leopard, Sorbet Leopard and Mac OS 9.1. Unfortunately, since the SATA card went in, Mac OS 9.1 no longer successfully boots. It comes up the desktop but never finishes the boot. I suspect that it does not know what to do with the PCI SATA card and freezes. There likely isn't a Mac OS 9 driver for it, so I may just have to accept this minor limitation.