how do i know if i have a fw800 or mdd machine?

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Level 1

0 points

how do i know if i have a fw800 or mdd machine?

im sure the answer is painfully obvious, but my computer is very old and no one ever told me exactly what it was. i know it's a g4 tower, but aside from that i have no clue. now i'm trying to buy an additional internal hard drive for it and before i can do so, i want to know exactly what my machine is to make sure i get the right hard drive for it. is it written down somewhere on the computer or is there a special trick for telling the difference?

thanks so much in advance.

G4 Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Posted on Jul 8, 2007 8:27 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 8, 2007 8:35 PM in response to herophelia

Hello! THIS will help you determine your model and OWC can help you decide on a hard drive and besides they have good prices. Tom

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Answer 2

Allan Jones

Level 10

80,070 points

Jul 9, 2007 7:08 AM in response to herophelia

Another useful resource for identifying Macs is MacTracker, a freeware utility that lists all the Mac info you could ever need.

Your computer should have a model number silkscreen on the back panel of the case. It should be the letter "M" followed by four numbers . Both the reference article Thomas provided and MacTracker have model numbers.

OWCs drive prices are pretty sharp but I've bought Maxtor and Western Digital drives on sale at Staples for the same price but no shipping. Check the ads or the Staples site for specials if you have a nearby store. Other office superstores may have similar specials if you don't like to web order (we have only a Staples in our town). You can certainly use the OWC prices to see how good another firm's sale prices are, and you have OWC as a fall-back if no one is running specials.

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Answer 3

Jul 11, 2007 6:46 AM in response to herophelia

Hi there,

its rather simple, both have mirrored drive doors but only the FW 800 has a FW 800 connector (small and roughly square compared to the FW 400 which looks like a small house). The older MDD which I own has only FW400 ports.
Regards

paul

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Answer 4

Jul 13, 2007 1:48 PM in response to herophelia

Take a look at your System Profiler for your answer. Under the Blue Apple -> About This Mac -> Click on More Info... -> Click on Firewire in the list on the left. You will see the FireWire Bus listed and the lower window with tell you whether or not you have 400 or 800 Mb/sec, or both. It's a simple deduction from there. The System Profiler provides all the information about your PowerMac you should need. I hope this helps.

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Answer 5

CEB II

Level 2

475 points

Jul 14, 2007 5:41 PM in response to herophelia

For selecting a new HDD, it doesn't matter which MDD G4 you own. Their capabilities and limitations regarding HDDs internal to the case are exactly the same. However, if you want to add an external HDD via Firewire, then the FW800 MDD G4 offers you one more option. Look on the back of the case for a 3rd Firewire connector that is shaped differently than the other two Firewire connectors. If you only have 2 Firewire connectors, you don't have a FW800 MDD G4.

Carl B.

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