Hard Disk size

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Level 1

0 points

Hard Disk size

Hello,

This topic issue may have already been posted. I just installed a new 250 Gb hard disk
into my Power Mac G4. Unfortunately, Disk Utility is only recognizing 125 Gb of the disk.

What happened? Do I need additional hardware and / or software so that my Mac's OS (Tiger)
will recognize the full disk size and not just half of it? Any info is appreciated. Thanks.

fjm

Power Mac G4, Mac OS X (10.4)

Posted on Nov 14, 2007 8:02 PM

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Answer 1

Langdon

Level 4

1,203 points

Nov 14, 2007 8:19 PM in response to Trajan

It won't ever see more than 128gb on that built in IDE.
You will need special software (~$15) to get it to see the rest of the space or just accept the 128 it sees now or spend another $60 on a PCI ATA card.

I just got a 160bg drive knowing full well it would only see 128gb and I am having a **** of a time installing X.4 on my Sawtooth. I will follow up later when I know why I am having these issues but I am almost positive its the new hard drive and not some other hardware issue.

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Answer 2

Nov 15, 2007 8:26 AM in response to Trajan

You can get the most out of your HD if you take some extra steps. The sad part is it will cost you money.

What I use to beat the 128 GB limit is the intech hi-cap driver. Works like a charm. Go to this link to check it out, it's $25. You can also buy the entire Speedtools utilities (I also own them) for $90. They perform some basic maintenance and do some other cool things. You can read about them individually at this link-

http://www.speedtools2.com/ATA6.html

You could go the route of getting an ATA pci card...but I doubt you need it, nor do you need to take up an entire precious pci slot. You've only got three, use them wisely. The ATA hi-cap driver would be my recommendation.

For more info on the 128 GB limit, you can read these Apple informational documents-

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86178

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Answer 3

Nov 15, 2007 10:46 AM in response to MyrkridianRhapsody

Look at these links.

What Macs natively support large IDE drives? (over 128GB formatted)
http://forums.xlr8yourmac.com/action.lasso?-database=faq.fp3&-layout=FaqList&-re sponse=answer.faq.lasso&-recordID=34188&-search

How Big a Hard Drive Can I Put in My iMac, eMac, or Power Mac?
http://lowendmac.com/macdan/05/1024.html

Using 128 GB or Larger ATA Hard Drives
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86178

The Power Mac Storage FAQ
http://www.omgili.com/preview/aHR0cDovL2ZvcnVtcy5tYWNubi5jb20vc2hvd3RocmVhZC5waH A/dD0yNDYzOTE=

 Cheers, Tom 😉

PS SpeedTools ATA Hi-Cap Support Driver: Allows the use of extended capacity ATA drives (drives greater than 128 Gigabytes in size) on older (Pre Mirrored Door) G4 and G3 Macintoshes running MacOS X versions 10.2 and later. Cost $24.95
http://www.speedtools.com/ATA6.shtml

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