missing a hard drive while in classic

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Level 2

181 points

missing a hard drive while in classic

I have 4 hard drives in my G4. All 4 HD show up in Tiger, but when in OS9, one of the four does not show up on the desktop.

The HD in question use to be in a Firewire exterior case, maybe 10 years. About a month ago, the hard drive, as an exterior, began not showing up in OS9, but the HD would show in Panther and Tiger,then it stopped showing up there too, off and on.

Not knowing what the problem was, the firewire, case, or HD, I experimented and placed the HD (without case) inside the Mac. Now it shows up in Tiger and Panther, but still not in OS9. Any guesses why? Is there something I can do?

Thanks,
Patt

DDR G4 DP, Mac OS X (10.4.10), Also booting in 9.22

Posted on Apr 18, 2008 8:40 PM

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Answer 1

Apr 18, 2008 9:01 PM in response to Patt

The last time it was formatted, did you check the box to install Mac OS 9 drivers? Without the Mac OS 9 drivers installed, it will not be accessible while started up into Mac OS 9.

HD would show in Panther and Tiger,then it stopped showing up there too, off and on.

If that's the case, I'd say there is a problem with the drive itself. If it's ten years old, its time may be up. Reformatting may make it work reliably again. I would use the Zero Out Data option to stress the drive and map out bad sectors (if there are any).

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Answer 2

Patt Author

Level 2

181 points

Apr 19, 2008 7:15 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Thanks, Kenichi Watanabe,

What you suggest sounds like a good idea, reformatting and adding the OS9 drivers, however, when I use the Disk Utility, the option to add OS9 drivers doesn't appear. I know I've seen this option before, but not now. When I clicked the HD, and chose the Volume format, the OS9 option wasn't there. I selected down the whole list to make sure. I did First Aid and the Volumne passed verification. *What am I not doing?* I erase
You may be totally correct, asking more than 10 years from a HD is pushing it a bit. Sure would like to give this reformatting option a try.

Patt

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Answer 3

Patt Author

Level 2

181 points

Apr 19, 2008 7:16 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Thanks, Kenichi Watanabe,

What you suggest sounds like a good idea, reformatting and adding the OS9 drivers, however, when I use the Disk Utility, the option to add OS9 drivers doesn't appear. I know I've seen this option before, but not now. When I clicked the HD, and chose the Volume format, the OS9 option wasn't there. I selected down the whole list to make sure. I did First Aid and the Volumne passed verification. *What am I not doing?* I erase the hard drive.
You may be totally correct, asking more than 10 years from a HD is pushing it a bit. Sure would like to give this reformatting option a try.

Patt

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Answer 4

BDAqua

Level 10

250,445 points

Apr 19, 2008 10:54 AM in response to Patt

In DU, when you select the Drive, then the Info button up top, does it show OS9 drivers there already?

IIRC, the OS9 option only shows up after doing one step... or maybe once you Partition, then...

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Answer 5

Apr 19, 2008 11:18 AM in response to Patt

Make sure you are selecting the DRIVE in the sidebar, and not the (indented) DISK under the DRIVE. Then go to the Erase tab. The checkbox to install Mac OS 9 drivers should be there.

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Answer 6

Patt Author

Level 2

181 points

Apr 19, 2008 2:12 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Well, Kenichi Watanabe, it must feel good to know the answers! Thanks, that's what I wasn't doing, click the name of the HD in place of the icon. The HD now opens up in OS9.

The puzzling thing is, what stopped it from opening in OS9 in the first place as an external Firewire HD? When this happened, I took all the files off the drive in case the hard drive was going to stop all together, but I never erased it. Think I'll put it back in FW case and see if it works from there.

Thank you very much for helping and solving the problem.

Patt

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Answer 7

Patt Author

Level 2

181 points

Apr 19, 2008 2:16 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks BoAqua for offering some advice. Hadn't noticed the info button on top. If you wouldn't mind, please tell me what IIRC means. I am running really fast to try and stay up with the fast moving world, and I would really like to know.

Patt

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