Mac_Help
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Q: Tiger is out of GB room & I'm out of new HD choices

Trying to catch someone s attention with the title, I hope I have yours.

 

 

I have a G4 Powerbook (still running) with Tiger 10.4.11 (Apple chip oops not the Intel so I can't upgrade to Leopard, but who knew back in 2004?)

 

 

I'm out of room! I have a 60 GB HD internally, with a 500 GB HD "G Drive" company using 800 Firewire externally as a back up and storage for every single photo since 2004.

 

 

That's 10 years...still running....

 

 

I called Apple Support and they searched the Community, and told me that under "Apple:External HD that works with Tiger" they found a thread of a conversation about Other World computing and Apple drives that maybe I can still get....

 

Unfortunately, I'm not a good searcher---- I got over 1,600 responses to that line and I'm only through several 100 of them its going to take me forever.

 

 

Question 1: Does anyone know where this thread is?

 

 

Question 2: Better yet, does anyone know where I can get a brand new External HD with Firewire 800 that does not require in the specificaitons list: "OSX 10.5 or higher" as all the new HD on Apple Store list and other places (WD/Seagate/LaCie) seem to do this.

 

 

I'll give some caveats before we begin the thread, so we don't have to go back and forth when I know its all volunteer efforts here and I'm really apprecative to anyone who desires to help me out.

 

 

First, I"m turned off to "G-Drive" company as while I got almost 10 years out of mine, I've read so many horror stories over the years I'm now not not using the computer and drive 24/7 to make it last longer-- but conversely, I have no place to put my new photos so soon I will not be able to take any more when camera fills up its few hundred on its chip.

 

 

Second, the Apple Tech mentioned the thread had something about (OWC) Other World Computing. I know they do Mac/Apple items and I've got some iPad, etc minor stuff from them over the years but never purchased something major like my backup storage external HD so checking that out on several review pages I see lots of customers got many negative responses. [A note in favor of the company, they did solve some of the problems nicely,but unfortunately it first had to be posted in a negative review and the customer had to spend extra time and effort to get what normal companies do as a matter of policy]---so I just rather stay away in case the drive fails out of the box like someone said occurred 3x, and others said proof of failure had to be shown which is difficult i.e. that it was manufactuerer not the customer's fault! I'm going to say no thanks at this time if the solution is to go to them.

 

 

So given those those very sad caveats, does anyone have any solutions involving getting a new, larger external HD (no Carbonite pay each month please), that have worked to keep our old Tiger 10.4.11 still operating until that great day comes that I can afford to jump up to things like new Desktop/Laptop with Mavericks?

 

 

Thanks so very much to all who read this far and can help!

PowerBook, Mac OS X (10.4.11), Apple Chip not Intel chip

Posted on Mar 21, 2014 8:44 AM

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Q: Tiger is out of GB room & I'm out of new HD choices

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  • by Mac_Help,

    Mac_Help Mac_Help Mar 21, 2014 8:53 AM in response to Mac_Help
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 21, 2014 8:53 AM in response to Mac_Help

    Repling to my own message---sorry under Question 2, I meant to say larger than 500 GB as I'd tranfer over the almost full drive (barely 10 GB left unused!) to the new drive so I need 600--1TB etc or larger HD if that works with Tiger 10.4.11... sorry for the omission!

  • by Eustace Mendis,Helpful

    Eustace Mendis Eustace Mendis Mar 22, 2014 6:50 AM in response to Mac_Help
    Level 7 (25,402 points)
    Mar 22, 2014 6:50 AM in response to Mac_Help

    You can daisy chain firewire drives so what about getting a second external? There still are a few available, although alas FW is going the way of the dodo bird.

     

    http://www.newertech.com/products/ministack.php

  • by Mac_Help,

    Mac_Help Mac_Help Mar 22, 2014 7:36 PM in response to Eustace Mendis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2014 7:36 PM in response to Eustace Mendis

    Dear Eustace Mendis:

     

    WOW! Thanks !

     

    First I really appreciate you finding this for me! Sorry for delay as I wanted to be certain about what I say here for others who may need the same HD with Firewire that I need and have only TIger....

    .

    Second, the Specs say it can use Mac OS from 8.6 upwards (of course that includes all OSX ones including my 10.4 Tiger).

    But of course I'm a stupid guy.... Always got to check out what others say....

     

    I found these reviews describing.. "a known problem".  Maybe for others here in the Community this  won't effect their ability to use the Mini Stacks on their Mac's  but on my Mac G4 (... well first read the negative reviews below (there were postive ones too people who didin't have the problem) (and a guy who complained about the fan noise---- I don't mind the fan noise its only attached when I transfer data so its a short time---but during that short time) ----

     

    Ok here it is:

    　 

     

    14 of 15 people found the following review helpful

     

    2.0 out of 5 stars Causes Bluetooth / WiFi interference - beware!, December 7, 2012

    By

    Technomadia - See all my reviews

    Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

     

    This review is from: Newer Tech Nwtmsqkit0gb Newer Technology Mini Stack Storage Enclosure Fw800/fw400/usb3.0/esata (Personal Computers)

     

    ------------------------------

     

    Our brand new 2012 macMini became unusable once we stacked a miniStack underneath it - the bluetooth Magic Trackpad in particular was essentially unusable when the miniStack was powered on, and the WiFi signal became mostly unusable as well..

    It seems that this is a known problem with the miniStack and USB3 - and this is discussed on the manufacturers website. They even now offer a "shielding kit" that they sell for $10 to "fix the problem". It installs internally inside the Mac Mini, requiring major surgery to install. But - it made no difference for me.

    I tried switching from USB3 to Firewire 800, and that made some slight improvement.

    But I can confirm that there is still terrible Bluetooth interference even after switching from USB3 to Firewire 800.

    It still leaves the trackpad too unreliable for use - even at short range. Our Mini is under the desk, and the trackpad is on it. With the miniStack powered on (even if we are not transferring data!) the Bluetooth starts to drop out.

    Turning off the miniStack immediately solves the problem, and there are no issues with any of our other external drives - so I can only conclude that the issue must be in the design of the miniStack. Our SeaGate GoFlex USB3 drive has not had any of the same interference issues.

    I'm not sure what other things I might try other than relocating the miniStack away from being directly underneath the Mac Mini - which kind of defeats the whole "stack" point of the product.

    This has been incredibly frustrating, and I feel I have no choice but to return this. *grrr*

     

     

    By

    Lee Little - See all my reviews

    Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

     

    This review is from: Newer Tech Nwtmsqkit0gb Newer Technology Mini Stack Storage Enclosure Fw800/fw400/usb3.0/esata (Personal Computers)

     

    I bought this drive so I could stack it on top of my 2012 Mac Mini. The Apple Wireless Keyboard and the Apple Wireless Magic Trackpad are unusable when the MiniStack and the Mac Mini are stacked together. Read the discussion on OWC's blog on their site [...]. OWC will sell you a kit so you can open your Mac Mini and apply some shielding. Watch that video on their blog to decide if you are comfortable with taking your new Mac Mini apart. Oddly, other USB3 drives work fine with the Mac Mini according to the discussion on the blog. I have many drives from OWC and all have been great. This MiniStack situation is unusual for them. The fan is quiet, and it looks great. Asking the consumer to take a new MacMini apart is NOT a solution.

    --------------------------------------- -----------------

     

     

     

    I'm back...(after posting the reviews)....

     

    I know these 2 are profesional reviewers and I'm still searching the net to find the source of the technical problem that causes loss of blue tooth connectiveivity...

     

    The shielding kit they describe is for the Mac Mini, not my larger G4 where I think the Bluetooth antenna is actually encircling the display screen---anyway after 10 years I'm the last person to go and play around inside my G4 laptop and no one else will touch it either as its too old (Apple Store refused 4 years ago for a minor repair saying then it was already "out of warranty"...

     

    I use two items that are unusual with most laptop users... My laptop is treated as a "desktop" really never travels (especially since airports tend to xrays it!)

     

    I use a major large ergonomic keyboard and mouse combination when using the "laptop"

     

    I type a lot, burnt through two of these boards in 10 years and the one I got looks terrible... But it keeps the G4 silver keyboard and track pad areas pristine new!

     

    The problem is both devices are connected to the USB port with a mini-bluetooth transmitter, and use Blue tooth connectivity to provide true wireless keyboard (place it on top of books I"m typing and copying etc from)=easy! and mouse can be used anywhere on the desk!

     

    But if I try to use this to move files between the computer and new mini stacks and trying to label new files and directories, etc I'm useless, without those expanded keyboard and mouse helping me.

     

    (Of course I can use the small keyboard on the G4 and trackpad, but I've not done that for years, when someone at work says to me; can you do this on my laptop, etc. I always carry a bluetrooth portable mouse that plugs into their unit and instantly I can whip right through things without ever having to learn how to maneuver on that tiny touch pad (and a roll up keyboard provides me with 188 keys too if they have a second USB port free).

     

    I also use the Blue tooth system on my phone to transfer photos when someone asks me for a few recent photos I just did and I don't want to bother removing the whole GB Chip to mass transfer items and guess what the phone uses to send to the laptop? Bluetooth!

     

    So I'm not complaining so much as giving those who read this thread some food for thought if they use the amount of bluetooth items so close to the laptop and the new drive from "newertech"...

     

    I'm going to have to find another distributer on the newertech pages as I referred to the problems that people had ordering from OTC "Other World Computing" and if the new drive should have any problmes I"m devastated trying to deal with OTC according to their complaint list on the reviewers pages...

     

    Of course I'm remaining optimisitic at your discovery for me....

     

    Its not something I can spend time experimenting with as one of the two G Drives is making noises and is 4 GB free other one is the 10 GB free I unfortunately have purchased "two" backups for the main computer and photos are also backed up twice so I need to order two new drives to retain the level of safety in backups for the G-Drives that have to be replaced.

     

    I instantly liked the idea of being able to "stack" them and hopefully OTC might send perfect units that don't have to be returned, but I don't really want to take that chance with my irreplaceable photos..

     

    Please don't take my objections against you personally Eustace, as I really appreciate again your find!

     

    If you have any other comments after reading all this (or anyone else out there), please don't hesitate to add them in here as I know there are others out there will G3, G4 and G5's still working!

     

    Thanks again!

     

     

     

    ------------------------------

    not just one review here is another:

  • by Eustace Mendis,

    Eustace Mendis Eustace Mendis Mar 23, 2014 3:19 AM in response to Mac_Help
    Level 7 (25,402 points)
    Mar 23, 2014 3:19 AM in response to Mac_Help

    Please don't take my objections against you personally

     

    Why on earth would I? The link I provided was to illustrate an alternative approach to replacing your hard drive, viz. to daisy chain firewire drives. It was never meant as a recommendation of a specific product.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Mar 23, 2014 1:17 PM in response to Mac_Help
    Level 6 (14,234 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 23, 2014 1:17 PM in response to Mac_Help

    Reviews aside, the macsales site does have some industrial level

    aluminum enclosed external hard disk housings which can use

    dual drives, or SSD, among others; those stand aside and would

    not be an interference problem to some other computer. Those

    with at least two different port types (USB2.0/3.0+FW400/800)

     

    {And that's not a recommendation. I've never bought at OWC;

    prefer to not visit computer stores either, even in person.}

     

    I was given a USB-only version of such a HDD and never used it.

    Also have a used mini-stack, needed a new HDD; never used it.

    At least the later appeared to have FW ports. I use an older LaCie

    FW400 Porche for (four) backup bootable clones.

     

    Also, I see the specs on the earliest first PowerBook G4;

    those are incapable of supporting a Mac OS prior to 9.1.

     

    A look into MacTracker database, and Everymac, helps.

     

    Good luck & happy computing!

  • by FranTer,

    FranTer FranTer Mar 24, 2014 1:25 PM in response to Mac_Help
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mar 24, 2014 1:25 PM in response to Mac_Help

    Newertech also has one of those hard drive toasters that will do firewire 800, the VoyagerQ. I have that one, it's nicely made and works well.

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Mar 24, 2014 3:24 PM in response to Mac_Help
    Level 6 (14,234 points)
    Desktops
    Mar 24, 2014 3:24 PM in response to Mac_Help

    Thought about what I had to say,

    and then, decided to delete it...

     

    Good luck & happy computing!

  • by Mac_Help,

    Mac_Help Mac_Help Apr 7, 2014 10:09 AM in response to FranTer
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 7, 2014 10:09 AM in response to FranTer

     

    Thank you both K Shaffer and FranTer for your views and opinions!

    I appreciate it!

    Looked up the Newer tech Voyager Q

    I'm happy you got good results with it... its a mixed bag... see what some users (half of all users!) said..

    ----------------------------- --------

     

     

    5 star

     

    http://www.amazon.com/Newer-Technology-Voyager-Quad-Interface-Drives/product-rev iews/B0026S7HP0/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_five?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addFiveStar&showViewp oints=0

    31

     

    4 star

     

    http://www.amazon.com/Newer-Technology-Voyager-Quad-Interface-Drives/product-rev iews/B0026S7HP0/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_four?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addFourStar&showViewp oints=0

    8

     

    3 star

     

    http://www.amazon.com/Newer-Technology-Voyager-Quad-Interface-Drives/product-rev iews/B0026S7HP0/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_three?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addThreeStar&showVie wpoints=0

    5

     

    2 star

     

    http://www.amazon.com/Newer-Technology-Voyager-Quad-Interface-Drives/product-rev iews/B0026S7HP0/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_two?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addTwoStar&showViewpoi nts=0

    9

     

    1 star

     

    http://www.amazon.com/Newer-Technology-Voyager-Quad-Interface-Drives/product-rev iews/B0026S7HP0/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&filterBy=addOneStar&showViewpoi nts=0

    45

     

    See all 98 customer reviews

     

     

    I've had four of these fail in the last 6 months.  

    HYPERLINK "/gp/pdp/profile/ACDIUNVERSFSR/ref=cm_cr_quotes_dprb_1_pdp"

    Dan Maloney

     

    The power light turns on, I can hear the hard drives spinning up, it just doesn't mount any hard drive on any computer (Mac or PC) with any of the interfaces anymore.  

    HYPERLINK "/gp/pdp/profile/A38FSN6O78VFGV/ref=cm_cr_quotes_dprb_2_pdp"

    Peter Q. Venkman

     

    You read it correctly - 20+ failures of the same product - no exceptions from manufacturer to replace the failed devices.  

    HYPERLINK "/gp/pdp/profile/AO75BEA5Y8ESM/ref=cm_cr_quotes_dprb_0_pdp"

    Trevor

    Most Helpful Customer Reviews

    38 of 38 people found the following review helpful

     

    Complete garbage, stay away. By Dan Maloney

    on October 20, 2011

    I've had four of these fail in the last 6 months. We bought two for our repair shop, they both died within a month. Press the power button, blue light but no drive spin up. I thought it was a little strange that they both died in the same way, so we asked for new ones under warranty. Got the new ones in, and now they are both doing the exact same thing.

    That makes 4 products that completely fail in less then a year. I've never seen a product with this poor reliability. Ever. If you buy this, you are completely wasting your money. Stay away.

     

    --------------------------- - --- ------

    Since I'm using these as my backups for the Mac G4 OSX 10.4 system files/data and all my valuable photographs that can't fit on the Mac G4's 60 GB original drive I can't afford to have them break down on me like that...

    Thanks again for trying... I'll pass on the Voyager Q for now..

     

     

     

     

     

  • by K Shaffer,

    K Shaffer K Shaffer Apr 7, 2014 11:14 AM in response to Mac_Help
    Level 6 (14,234 points)
    Desktops
    Apr 7, 2014 11:14 AM in response to Mac_Help

    While the newer tech item may have issues among those who've tried it, and of those who had unhappy experience, and of those who had either kind and thought to report theirs at all, I'd look into a more durable case and chipset inside the box, plus an external power supply.

     

    And for PPC Mac, where it boots from a FireWire400/800 hard drive enclosure, the chipset inside the box should be of an 'oxford-type' that allows OS X booting from the external drive; so you can partition such a drive and make a clone (see Carbon Copy Cloner, or SuperDuper) otherwise a backup may be a box of paper. A non-bootable copy on an external drive that won't be able to run the computer may as well be a picture of the computer on a good day, if you really need a running OS X that can power up the computer; when or if the internal hard disk drive takes a dive. A second HDD unit for a backup is OK, it could be a USB2.0 since it would be for storage or application overflow, not a boot OS X.

     

    Since macsales is a dealer for those newer tech items,

    you may as well look there to see other better choices.

    While these include software, see Bombich software

    for Carbon Copy Cloner; learn to make OS X clones.

     

    OWC Mercury Elite Pro:

    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/firewire/1394/USB/EliteAL/eSATA_FW800_FW400_USB

    or next to smallest - see specs - http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MES3FH7T1.0/

     

    At least these aren't limited to any one platform, and shouldn't overheat, since they aren't supposed to be stacked under or over a computer CPU where heat and ventilation should be available for both to cool. Or for older Mac, see these with older spec connections...

     

    There's also units with FW400+USB2.0; or you can get just an enclosure to

    add a HDD into. http://eshop.macsales.com/search/Elite+Pro+Oxford+934

     

    Good luck & happy computing!