Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB for Mac Pro Question

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Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB for Mac Pro Question

Just a quick question to set my mind at ease, thanks in advance for the response:

I am just about to buy the "Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB 7200RPM 32MB S300"from Dabs.com in the UK to install as a second drive in my new Mac Pro. I've looked through a lot of the forums here and this seemed to be a good option but I just have a niggling worry as I saw on Dabs that it says that it is compatible with PC (no mention of mac), this is the link to look for yourself http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?quicklinx=4SNB#specifications. Just want to know for sure that it will work okay?

Have looked on the Seagate site as well but can't seem to see for sure, so I thought I'd ask you guys - the real experts!

MacBook Pro 2ghz 15.4inch; Mac Pro 3ghz, Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Posted on Aug 27, 2008 7:46 AM

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Answer 1

SVB@CIT

Level 1

9 points

Aug 27, 2008 8:15 AM in response to Thom Wood

All SATA drives are compatible with the Mac Pro. Just make sure you remove the jumper that limits the drive to 1.5Gb/s.

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Answer 2

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Aug 27, 2008 8:40 AM in response to Thom Wood

They only problems have been firmware, noted by Sonnet, OWC and other sites.
http://www.xlr8yourmac.com has a searchable database of user reports.

http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/harddrives/index.html

OWC ships to UK reasonable, and they insure Seagate drives have or will update, firmware before shipping.

http://eshop.macsales.com/search/SeagateSATA+3.5+HardDrive

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Answer 3

Thom Wood Author

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8 points

Aug 28, 2008 2:08 AM in response to Thom Wood

Hi dudes,

Thanks so much for taking the time to advise, I have checked out the links you posted and tbh, I'm even more confused than before (not your fault, I'm just dumb). I have asked Seagate for clarification and am waiting to hear back, I'll post when they get in touch.

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Answer 4

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Aug 28, 2008 2:35 AM in response to Thom Wood

There is no such thing really - a drive is a drive, unless it has a Dell (etc) label on it and was customized for one particular vendor.

PC = microcomputer, not Mac, not Windows PC.

I prefer WD and their Black 1TB but many use Seagate and are fine, I didn't intend to confuse, only that I know of a couple special circumstances, and that early units of the 'Cuda 7200.11 had trouble due to their firmware, which is why I recommended MacSales that insures it is current.

Ask the vendor for the date on the label when it was manufactured and the model serial number and firmware, or check those before you use and check those on the web with Google and seagate. Vendors seem as confused by Mac and what works or not.

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Answer 5

Thom Wood Author

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8 points

Aug 28, 2008 3:29 AM in response to The hatter

Thanks for that Hatter,

So the WD Caviar Black ( http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quicklinx=57Q3&SearchType=1&SearchTerms=wd+ black&PageMode=3&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0) would definitely work for me on a mac? Again, on this particular site it states that the required OS is Microsoft Windows Vista / 2000 / XP...

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Answer 6

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Aug 28, 2008 3:42 AM in response to Thom Wood

And THAT just says that it has the latest certification and features and again, will work just fine.

The Mac Pro is a "PC" too, same as most Xeon workstations from HP and Dell, only difference is we use an EFI type BIOS, and our graphics and hard drive controllers have to be Mac compatible (and our memory HAS to say "Mac Pro" and proper specs, ECC, Fully Buffered etc).

WD drives have been fine in Mac Pro, and that one is just their latest generation.

I run OS X and Vista, I also have two dozen drives, mostly WD but a few others too.

The Mac Pro supports SATA II.
http://www.apple.com/support/macpro/
http://www.apple.com/macpro/specs.html

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Answer 7

Thom Wood Author

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8 points

Aug 28, 2008 5:22 AM in response to The hatter

You're a legend buddy. Thanks for all your help.

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Answer 8

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Aug 28, 2008 1:02 PM in response to Thom Wood

*Western Digital's Caviar Black hard drive*
After you've had Caviar, will you ever go back?
by Geoff Gasior — 10:48 AM on August 28, 2008
Manufacturer Western Digital
Model Caviar Black 1TB

While Seagate grabs headlines as the market share leader in the hard drive world, lately we've been more impressed with Western Digital's portfolio. The company's Black and Blue...
http://techreport.com/articles.x/15363

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