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Powermac G5 SSD?

T

Themacmang4

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 19, 2012
17
0
London
I have recently bought a SanDisk SSD 64gb for my Powermac G5 as the HDD noise was irritating, but I am having difficulties getting it to be recognised, or to even be able to boot. Does anyone have any ideas on how to solve this issue?
 
Have you checked the jumpers are in the right position?

I haven't had a G5, but i know they can be picky with certain SATA Speeds and some Drives, i'd check the drive in another machine as well just to check that the actual drive is working.
 
you made to re-format the ssd before installing your os right?
what version of os x are you trying to get onto/working with the ssd?

do you still have the package to the ssd? check to see if it is sata 3-6.0 gb/s or if it is sata 2-3.0gb/s

some users were having issues in the imac g5s when using a sata 3 ssd as the sata bus couldnt handle it.
 
This SSD was brand new so it should be working. Also there are no jumpers. I cannot reformat it as the G5 is the only machine that I have that has SATA! I am trying to install 10.5.8 onto it

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Also, it is a sata 3 drive, but I have heard that they are backwards compatible?
 
Themacmang4 said:
This SSD was brand new so it should be working. Also there are no jumpers. I cannot reformat it as the G5 is the only machine that I have that has SATA! I am trying to install 10.5.8 onto it

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Also, it is a sata 3 drive, but I have heard that they are backwards compatible?
Click to expand...

Not everything that is SATA III can be backwards compatible to the Powermac G5. Best thing is to return it and get a SATA II SSD. Also try to connect it to the lower bay, sometimes teh connections are just picky.
 
Nameci said:
Not everything that is SATA III can be backwards compatible to the Powermac G5. Best thing is to return it and get a SATA II SSD. Also try to connect it to the lower bay, sometimes teh connections are just picky.
Click to expand...

I have tried the lower one, but that does not change anything. I do not want to return it though as I am planning to use the SSD in a computer that I am planning to build this summer and I would like to have a fast SSD for it.
 
Themacmang4 said:
This SSD was brand new so it should be working. Also there are no jumpers. I cannot reformat it as the G5 is the only machine that I have that has SATA! I am trying to install 10.5.8 onto it

----------

Also, it is a sata 3 drive, but I have heard that they are backwards compatible?
Click to expand...

The G5 sata controller can not agregate link bandwith between the SATA I bus and the SATA III bus.

Get a SATA card.
A SATA card would be MUCH faster, and allow for any hard drive.

If the SSD has jumpers, then set them to SATA I or II mode.

I learned this the hard way by trying three hard drives in my iMac G5, and then in the PowerMac G5. Once I got my SATA card all of the issues went away.
 
rabidz7 said:
The G5 sata controller can not agregate link bandwith between the SATA I bus and the SATA III bus.

Get a SATA card.
A SATA card would be MUCH faster, and allow for any hard drive.

If the SSD has jumpers, then set them to SATA I or II mode.

I learned this the hard way by trying three hard drives in my iMac G5, and then in the PowerMac G5. Once I got my SATA card all of the issues went away.
Click to expand...

Just let him RTV his SATA III drive and replace it with a SATA II, cost less than getting a SATA III interface card which is bootable.

I missed the OP's response.

There is no other way but for you to spend more by getting a bootable SATA III interface card.
 
Why can I get an affordable sata controller from, as the only one I can find for the G5 is about £80, that is more than I paid for the G5 in total!
 
You can format the ssd with the osx install disk, go to utilities and go to disk utility there you can see all of the disks connected
 
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boneskid1 said:
You can format the ssd with the osx install disk, go to utilities and go to disk utility there you can see all of the disks connected
Click to expand...

You cannot format the disk if you cannot mount it. If it is not seen under disk utility it means it was not mounted and cannot be recognized.

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Themacmang4 said:
So are you saying that if I format the SSD it would work with the G5?

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So would something like this work if I found the correct drivers for mac?

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Adapter-Converter-Silicon-Sil3114-Chipset/dp/B008BZB29E
Click to expand...

There was a thread here describing the same topic about cheap bootable SATA interface cards with SiL chips. I am not sure but as far as I can remember it doesn't need any drivers at all. I might be wrong though.

btw, what is your specific powermac?
 
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Nameci said:
You cannot format the disk if you cannot mount it. If it is not seen under disk utility it means it was not mounted and cannot be recognized.

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There was a thread here describing the same topic about cheap bootable SATA interface cards with SiL chips. I am not sure but as far as I can remember it doesn't need any drivers at all. I might be wrong though.

btw, what is your specific powermac?
Click to expand...

I might be able to use a friends mac pro to format it, would that work? My specific powermac is the dual 2 GHz 7,3 with 5gb of ram.
 
Themacmang4 said:
I might be able to use a friends mac pro to format it, would that work? My specific powermac is the dual 2 GHz 7,3 with 5gb of ram.
Click to expand...

It sure can be recognized on a mac pro. Partition it using APM or Apple Partition Map since the MP will partition it using GUID. GUID cannot be used as bootable drive on powermacs. But I doubt it can be recognized on the powermac once you put it back there.
 
Nameci said:
It sure can be recognized on a mac pro. Partition it using APM or Apple Partition Map since the MP will partition it using GUID. GUID cannot be used as bootable drive on powermacs. But I doubt it can be recognized on the powermac once you put it back there.
Click to expand...

Thanks i'll try that
 
Nameci said:
You cannot format the disk if you cannot mount it. If it is not seen under disk utility it means it was not mounted and cannot be recognized.[COLOR=

My bad mate I didn't even think of the fact that if you cant mount it you can't see it, but if it is not formated correctly the Mac cannot see it anyways
Click to expand...
 
boneskid1 said:
Nameci said:
You cannot format the disk if you cannot mount it. If it is not seen under disk utility it means it was not mounted and cannot be recognized.[COLOR=

My bad mate I didn't even think of the fact that if you cant mount it you can't see it, but if it is not formated correctly the Mac cannot see it anyways[/QUOTE]

So do you think that it is just because it is not formatted correctly is the reason that it is not working in the G5? I have seen other Sata 3 hard drives working in them.
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
It is sad but true ....
you need sata 2 ssd


and sata 2 ssd make difference to my g5 quad

though it need to repaire permition regularly
 
I tried to format it, but that had no effect, still a grey screen on boot up. Is it just this specific SSD that will no work on a powermac or sata 3 drives in general? As I am looking into buying a hard drive instead that would sata 3.
 
Themacmang4 said:
I tried to format it, but that had no effect, still a grey screen on boot up. Is it just this specific SSD that will no work on a powermac or sata 3 drives in general? As I am looking into buying a hard drive instead that would sata 3.
Click to expand...

It's SATA III drives in general, though I believe that some work.
 
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