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powerpc hard drive with firewire for itunes?

M

miika

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 7, 2010
8
0
Hi, I wonder if someone could give a hard drive recommendation, as so far my internet searching hasn't answered this question...

I bought Western Digital's 320gb My Passport Studio w/ usb and firewire 400/800...and was just looking around the internet to see if it was the best choice before i set it up. I came across this amazon review:
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By cgriff
Two things I don't like about this product:

1) This drive will NOT boot PowerPC-based Macintosh computers. For details, visit the Western Digital web site (wdc.com), go under Support, and knowledgebase article #1787. This sort of incompatibility is very unusual for a FireWire hard drive.

2) For FireWire usage, this drive comes with a weird split cable. One end is 4-pin (mini) FireWire and mini-USB, both of which must be plugged into the drive. The other end is normal 6-pin FireWire which goes into your computer. I've seen plenty of small external hard drives that have a normal 6-pin FireWire connector on the drive. This kludgy design is just plain lazy, and makes the product harder to use.
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Well, my computer is an ibook g4 10.4.11, which is the requirement given on the WD box, but it's also powerpc (the first problem)...and the reason i bought this harddrive was for the firewire as i've only got two usb ports and they're both being used (the second problem).

The WD site says that the My Book Premium and Pro 'should run' on a power pc, but one is too expensive and the other doesn't have firwire.

I need the hard drive to store and run itunes. Does any one have any advice as to which hard drive will do these few things best?

Very much appreciated,

Miika.
ps Why can't i use colours on this forum? Is my computer that old?
 
That drive will run with your PowerPC iBook.

The mentioning of the boot issues refers to booting from that HDD, which means starting an OS stored on the external from the external drive.

That may be due to the 4-pin Firewire port on the HDD, as that does not transmit any power to power the drive, so the USB connection seems to be needed.

So in the end, you will be able to store your music on this drive, but you can also get a USB external HDD, as the iBook has a USB 2.0 port, which is enough for music playback. The initial copying process might take a while, as the USB implementation on those iBooks only allowed 12 to 18MB/s of transfer speed.
 
spinnerlys said:
That drive will run with your PowerPC iBook......
Click to expand...

Thank so much Spinnerlys, Can i just check that i understand?
I can use this hard drive because i don't need to 'boot' with it.
I'll have to use both the firewire and usb ports because the firewire doesn't power (is that ridiculous?)
I might as well get a usb hard drive, because running itunes isn't that heavy.

Is that right?

I'd still like to find one that will work on my computer with firewire alone though, as plugging and unplugging usbs all day isn't my idea of fun...

Any further ideas?
Thanks again..
M.
 
You can use the HDD because you don't boot from it.
Firewire 4-pin ports don't transmit power, only 6-pin and 9-pin ports do, so the USB port is needed too.

A single USB or Firewire drive will be fine, but look for a Firewire drive with 6-pin ports, as your choice right now takes up too many ports for the simple task you're after.
 
spinnerlys said:
A single USB or Firewire drive will be fine, but look for a Firewire drive with 6-pin ports, as your choice right now takes up too many ports for the simple task you're after.
Click to expand...


I've just been carefully rereading the amazon review...2) For FireWire usage, this drive comes with a weird split cable. One end is 4-pin (mini) FireWire and mini-USB, both of which must be plugged into the drive. The other end is normal 6-pin FireWire which goes into your computer.

So it's the hard drive end that has two parts, and the computer end has 'normal 6-pin firewire'

Do you think that's my problem solved?
 
miika said:
I've just been carefully rereading the amazon review...2) For FireWire usage, this drive comes with a weird split cable. One end is 4-pin (mini) FireWire and mini-USB, both of which must be plugged into the drive. The other end is normal 6-pin FireWire which goes into your computer.

So it's the hard drive end that has two parts, and the computer end has 'normal 6-pin firewire'

Do you think that's my problem solved?
Click to expand...

Can you post a link to that product and its reviews?

I find it hard to imagine that such cable exists, as Firewire and USB are not compatible. But if the other end of that cable is only one Firewire 6-pin plug, than it should work.
 
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Thank you both for your help. I'll set it up soon (and cross fingers)!
M
 
BlueRevolution said:
Let us know how it turns out.
Click to expand...

Well, I opened the box and there were three (short and thick) normal cords to choose from: 1 usb and 2 firewires. I used one of the firewires and so far so good. There were no split cables; perhaps the amazon reviewer quoted in my first post had an older version? Anyhow, that's problem two solved.

Problem one was that the drive wouldn't boot with (?) a powerpc, and like spinnerlys said, i don't need to boot. So the first problem isn't a problem for me.

Following instructions found at:

http://www.tuaw.com/2006/09/19/how-to-keep-your-itunes-library-on-an-external-hard-drive/

and

http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/articles/comments/moving-your-itunes-library-to-a-new-hard-drive

I have moved itunes to the hard drive, deleted the music from the computer's hard drive, and am now listening to the music...without incident. Very happily.

Again, I thank you for your help.
M.
 
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