Primary IDE Cable?

[jbsmithmac]

Hello...I have a powermac G4 MDD...which cable is the primary IDE? The one by the processor (to the right when looking at the open case) or the one to the left at the front of the case?

I have 3 hard drives - one that has the OS and the other for storage. How should the jumpers be set? I only have one jumper installed on the HD that has the OS - which is set to master.

 

[Nameci]

The one near the CPU is ATA100 and the one to the left is ATA66. You would connect your boot drive on ATA100.

I suppose you can set the HDD to use CS or cable select.

 

[zen.state]

The one at the back by the CPU is the faster ATA/100 and the front is ATA/66. You can boot from either but obviously it's better for performance to use the 100 at the back.

One thing I don't get is why anyone that felt the need for Linux (well Ubuntu is more a pretend Linux) doesn't already understand this. What was the mentality behind choosing Ubuntu? If your goal was to limit both your hardwares performance and the abilities your MDD has then you certainly achieved both by running it.

 

[jbsmithmac]

The one at the back by the CPU is the faster ATA/100 and the front is ATA/66. You can boot from either but obviously it's better for performance to use the 100 at the back.

Thanks!

One thing I don't get is why anyone that felt the need for Linux (well Ubuntu is more a pretend Linux) doesn't already understand this. What was the mentality behind choosing Ubuntu? If your goal was to limit both your hardwares performance and the abilities your MDD has then you certainly achieved both by running it.

Why do you care what I do with it?

 

[zen.state]

Why do you care what I do with it?

I'm just assuming that you're one of those many mistaken people who assume Linux will be "faster". Thats often the case on x86 computers but not on PowerPC at all. The PowerPC Linux community is very small and simply doesn't have enough coders and resources to really make a mark on the architecture and it's optimizations and general performance.

Apple on the other hand has spent hundreds of millions over the PowerPC era on OS development with giant teams of very talented top of their class developers. The MintPPC developer for example needed donations just to buy a computer and is an amateur developer at best as are the guys that keep Ubuntu going on PowerPC. Their skills and resources can't even be compared to what has been put into OS X.

If someone truly needs Linux and only has access to PowerPC hardware then those OS's are legitimate choices. Otherwise its an unnecessary hinderance and borderline foolish.

Don't forget that you have Darwin built right into OS X. Darwin is Apple's BSD and BSD is far closer to true Unix than any Linux is.

 

[adcx64]

This thread helps me as I would probably ask the same question when I get mine on Monday.

 

[zen.state]

This thread helps me as I would probably ask the same question when I get mine on Monday.

For future HD needs I highly recommend a SATA PCI controller card. The price per GB alone with SATA HD's is worth it. Not only are PATA drives far more money per GB but they are built with parts that are 2-3 generations old in terms of HD technology. Things that not only improve performance and density but also reliability.

Optical drives on the other hand are still very readily available in PATA and use the same technologies found in their SATA counterparts. The onboard optical chipset in the MDD's is ATA/33 and that can be saturated by some of the faster DVD burning speeds like 18x or above. If you get a SATA card I recommend devoting the front ATA/66 HD connection to optical. You would obviously need a longer cable though.

 

[adcx64]

For future HD needs I highly recommend a SATA PCI controller card. The price per GB alone with SATA HD's is worth it. Not only are PATA drives far more money per GB but they are built with parts that are 2-3 generations old in terms of HD technology. Things that not only improve performance and density but also reliability.

Optical drives on the other hand are still very readily available in PATA and use the same technologies found in their SATA counterparts. The onboard optical chipset in the MDD's is ATA/33 and that can be saturated by some of the faster DVD burning speeds like 18x or above. If you get a SATA card I recommend devoting the front ATA/66 HD connection to optical. You would obviously need a longer cable though.

Thanks. I've been looking into the Sonnet cards recently, but they're a little out of my price range. Can you recommend a better (cheaper) card?

 

[zen.state]

Thanks. I've been looking into the Sonnet cards recently, but they're a little out of my price range. Can you recommend a better (cheaper) card?

The FirmTek 1S2 for 2 ports and the 1V4 for 4 ports. The Sonnet SATA cards are made by FirmTek. To save money get the 2 ports card and use larger 1-2 TB drives and then any extra space you need far into the future can be external. Keeping the internal HD's to just 2 will also help reduce heat inside the case. Out of my 5+ TB only 2TB (2x 1TB) is internal in the G4 tower. I have the 1S2 myself and it's 100% rock solid.

 

[adcx64]

Thanks I'll look into that. It'll be a while until I can buy the card, because the MDD isn't my highest priority these days!

 

[ThunderSnake]

Thanks I'll look into that. It'll be a while until I can buy the card, because the MDD isn't my highest priority these days!

If you need to wait a while before getting your card, you can use one of these adapters for a drive on the ATA100 bus. There isn't enough room for this adapter to be used in the ATA66 drive cage (you'll not be able to close the case), but there is plenty of extra room at the rear (ATA100) drive cage.

Everything else that zen.state said still applies. You can get a newer better performing drive at a much better price per GB and still get to use it until you get your PCI card. A new SATA drive used with the adapter will still outperform any IDE drive. Then, when you can afford it, take the next step and get the PCI card. You'll have plenty of time to look for a good deal.

----------

...If you get a SATA card I recommend devoting the front ATA/66 HD connection to optical. You would obviously need a longer cable though.

I agree that this is a good way to do things if you use your optical drive a lot. Note, however, that you might sacrifice the use of your keyboard eject button.

 

[adcx64]

Thanks! I'll look into buying that piece. I have a few SATA drives laying around too.

 

[zen.state]

I recently bought a 2nd 1S2 card for my 1GHz Sawtooth and paid 74.99 new. Well worth it. My first one was only 69 but that was in 2009.

 

[adcx64]

By sheer coincidence I got some past due birthday money in the mail today. I'll put that towards the card.