Help with Hard Drive install please
- Thread starter paulboy
- Start date
scruffy
Notorious Olive Counter
If the HD cable doesn't have an extra head on it, you'll need to buy a new cable when you get the new HD.
One thing to keep in mind: in most PCs the drives will go one on top of the other, so there's a fairly short run of cable between the two disk heads on many of the cables you'll find. Since they go side by side in your G4, you'll want to make sure the cable between the two heads is long enough.
I put a second HD in my G3, and didn't check the cable. It was long enough, but only just - I had to tug at the cable more than I liked to.
One thing to keep in mind: in most PCs the drives will go one on top of the other, so there's a fairly short run of cable between the two disk heads on many of the cables you'll find. Since they go side by side in your G4, you'll want to make sure the cable between the two heads is long enough.
I put a second HD in my G3, and didn't check the cable. It was long enough, but only just - I had to tug at the cable more than I liked to.
chemistry_geek
Registered
When I ordered my Blue & White G3 several years ago, I threw in a SCSI card as a build to order option knowing that I would use it sooner or later. A year later I dropped in an IBM UltraSCSI HD and am very happy with it. There was no master/slave settings to mess around with (UltraATA/IDE), just drop it in, reformat, and install your favorite OS. It's really that easy.
neutrino23
Registered
Go to
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/
They have a wealth of information on installing hard drives as well as notes from other users about their experiences.
You can have two (not more than two) hard drives on and ATA/IDE bus.
When you buy the drive it should have a small chart next to the connector showing how to jumper it for either slave or master. If you are adding a second drive the original one is the master and the new one should be the slave (you can do it the opposite way if you like). As the system was designed for two drives the cables shoud reach.
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/
They have a wealth of information on installing hard drives as well as notes from other users about their experiences.
You can have two (not more than two) hard drives on and ATA/IDE bus.
When you buy the drive it should have a small chart next to the connector showing how to jumper it for either slave or master. If you are adding a second drive the original one is the master and the new one should be the slave (you can do it the opposite way if you like). As the system was designed for two drives the cables shoud reach.
chemistry_geek
Registered
Originally posted by neutrino23:
Not entirely true. Older Blue & White G3's and iMacs have an older version of the IDE controller chip that allows for only one IDE hard drive. I learned about this when I went to install a 45GB UltraATA drive along side of my original 12GB UltraATA drive. That is the only reason I added a much more expensive UltraSCSI drive in my Mac, though, the extra speed is worth price difference. Now I would never recommend anything else but UltraSCSI. SPEED is everything.
Not entirely true. Older Blue & White G3's and iMacs have an older version of the IDE controller chip that allows for only one IDE hard drive. I learned about this when I went to install a 45GB UltraATA drive along side of my original 12GB UltraATA drive. That is the only reason I added a much more expensive UltraSCSI drive in my Mac, though, the extra speed is worth price difference. Now I would never recommend anything else but UltraSCSI. SPEED is everything.
scruffy
Notorious Olive Counter
Older Blue & White G3's and iMacs have an older version of the IDE controller chip that allows for only one IDE hard drive.
I have the rev. 1 G3 that's not supposed to be able to handle two drives on one bus, but it seems to be doing just fine. The drive has been in there for 3 years (OS 8.5 through 10.1.4) without problems.
Of course, maybe I'm lucky, or I'm setting myself up for a disaster. Been a while in coming, if so (touch wood)
I have the rev. 1 G3 that's not supposed to be able to handle two drives on one bus, but it seems to be doing just fine. The drive has been in there for 3 years (OS 8.5 through 10.1.4) without problems.
Of course, maybe I'm lucky, or I'm setting myself up for a disaster. Been a while in coming, if so (touch wood)
bossa nova
Registered
paulboy...should be no problem to add the drive.
Most drives are shipped as "master" not slave. so you will need to change the jumpers. most drives have the jumper settings right on top of the drive-right on the label. if the jumpers settings are not there (or illegible) you can usually go the the drive makers site and find it. just do a "search" and type in the drive model number.
Once you have the drive set to "slave" or as they say "terminated" properly, you are ready to install it.
open the mac case and look for the other drive. where the grey ribbon connector connects to the original drive, you should notice another black connector just like the one connected the drive. If you don't you will need the ide cable with the additional connector, however i believe you should already have it.
remove the grey ribbon cable, and the power cable (it has four wires and a white plastic connector-you should notice an additional power connector there as well-just waiting for you new drive) the power connector will be difficult to remove for me at least they always are a pain to get out.
After you have removed the cables there will be a single screw in the center of the carrier the drive sits on. (This would not be seen with the black ribbon connector installed because it kind of hides it) Unscrew the screw and lift up gently about a quarter of an inch from the end the screw was securing and the drive carrier should slide out towards the direction of the screw you just removed.
Once you have the carrier out you should notice that the carrier has rails above the orginal drive that you can attach the second drive to. Make sure you have the four drive screws. You can find them at Fry's or a computer supply store-they may even be included with the drive you purchase. Once you have the drive screwed to the carrier, place the carrier back in the computer case and put the screw back in place to secure the carrier. Don't do the ribbon cable because you will not be able to put the carrier lock down screw in.
After the carrier is re-inserted and screwed down, connect all cables. The slave should be connected to the center ribbon connector and the master should be connected to the end ribbon connector. Take note that the black connectors that are on the ribbon cable have a raised "pin" on the top to insure the black connector goes in properly. Before inserting the connector identify the pins so you don't do any damage.
Close the case, boot the mac and use drive setup to initialize the drive. If this is a mystery to you then just use a Mac installation cd. It should give you the option of formatting the drive before you install the OS. I like installing (but you don't have to) the OS on a second drive along with a disk utility like techtool or diskwarriror. That way if you have problems you can just boot from the other drive.
As another persons post indicated, you can find alot of information at:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/
There are lots of screen shots and you may even find a walk-thru of your project.
Installing a second drive is a breeze and you should not fear it. I remember the first time I did it. It was very scary. It is just as easy as installing ram. Just remember to watch out for static electricity and wear a wrist strap so you don't fry something accidentally- Although I haven't worn a wrist strap in years. You should definitly do it yourself. You will learn something and feel a lot of pride knowing you "did it yourself".
Hope this helps...
John
Most drives are shipped as "master" not slave. so you will need to change the jumpers. most drives have the jumper settings right on top of the drive-right on the label. if the jumpers settings are not there (or illegible) you can usually go the the drive makers site and find it. just do a "search" and type in the drive model number.
Once you have the drive set to "slave" or as they say "terminated" properly, you are ready to install it.
open the mac case and look for the other drive. where the grey ribbon connector connects to the original drive, you should notice another black connector just like the one connected the drive. If you don't you will need the ide cable with the additional connector, however i believe you should already have it.
remove the grey ribbon cable, and the power cable (it has four wires and a white plastic connector-you should notice an additional power connector there as well-just waiting for you new drive) the power connector will be difficult to remove for me at least they always are a pain to get out.
After you have removed the cables there will be a single screw in the center of the carrier the drive sits on. (This would not be seen with the black ribbon connector installed because it kind of hides it) Unscrew the screw and lift up gently about a quarter of an inch from the end the screw was securing and the drive carrier should slide out towards the direction of the screw you just removed.
Once you have the carrier out you should notice that the carrier has rails above the orginal drive that you can attach the second drive to. Make sure you have the four drive screws. You can find them at Fry's or a computer supply store-they may even be included with the drive you purchase. Once you have the drive screwed to the carrier, place the carrier back in the computer case and put the screw back in place to secure the carrier. Don't do the ribbon cable because you will not be able to put the carrier lock down screw in.
After the carrier is re-inserted and screwed down, connect all cables. The slave should be connected to the center ribbon connector and the master should be connected to the end ribbon connector. Take note that the black connectors that are on the ribbon cable have a raised "pin" on the top to insure the black connector goes in properly. Before inserting the connector identify the pins so you don't do any damage.
Close the case, boot the mac and use drive setup to initialize the drive. If this is a mystery to you then just use a Mac installation cd. It should give you the option of formatting the drive before you install the OS. I like installing (but you don't have to) the OS on a second drive along with a disk utility like techtool or diskwarriror. That way if you have problems you can just boot from the other drive.
As another persons post indicated, you can find alot of information at:
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/
There are lots of screen shots and you may even find a walk-thru of your project.
Installing a second drive is a breeze and you should not fear it. I remember the first time I did it. It was very scary. It is just as easy as installing ram. Just remember to watch out for static electricity and wear a wrist strap so you don't fry something accidentally- Although I haven't worn a wrist strap in years. You should definitly do it yourself. You will learn something and feel a lot of pride knowing you "did it yourself".
Hope this helps...
John
I just got my HD for my G4 tower. There are places to put the HD next to the existing drive but there are no mounts. Is it possible to install the new HD on top of the existing one? It has mounts for it it appears. I'm just worried about heat issue if I stack the drive.
Thanks!
Thanks!
http://home.wanadoo.nl/manual.man/manuals.html
that should help. service manuals for just about every dern'd mac out there.
-ct
that should help. service manuals for just about every dern'd mac out there.
-ct