Using a SATA HD + SATA to IDE Adapter in iMac G4 1GHz?

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Level 2

312 points

Using a SATA HD + SATA to IDE Adapter in iMac G4 1GHz?

I need to upgrade the factory-supplied 80GB IDE drive in an iMac G4 1GHz 17" Flat-Panel, Model M8539LL/A. The IDE hard drive options are dwindling as SATA becomes more prevalent. I'm looking ahead to the next machine upgrade, at which time the replacement computer will surely use a SATA host controller. At that time, it would make sense to simply transplant the replacement drive to the new machine (it probably won't be an iMac) if I can upgrade the iMac G4's IDE (PATA) drive to a SATA drive now.

There are several SATA to IDE adapter units available. NewEgg has a Sabrent SBT-STDB adapter, but the one sold by SATACable.com looks a bit better designed, and doesn't have any cables hanging off it. Space is a consideration, of course; there's not a lot of room inside the iMac, but the SATACables.com unit does look like it should fit.

The only possible issue I can think of is whether there's some kind of performance hit in converting between IDE and SATA, and that's not critical in this application unless it's significant. This iMac is a general-use computer for my family—MS Office, web browsing, iTunes, iPhoto, and a bit of Photoshop Elements work—nothing critical like audio or video processing, so it doesn't have to be a speed demon.

I checked the Everymac.com spec page for the Model M8539LL/A and it says the computer supports drives larger than 128GB, so that's not a problem for the 250GB drive I intend to install.

Does anyone have any experience with running a SATA drive on an iMac's IDE controller with one of these converters? Will it work?

Thanks!

G5 DP 2.5GHz; 4 GB RAM; 23" Cinema HD, Mac OS X (10.4.10), MacBook Pro 17"; 2 GB RAM; Genelec monitors

Posted on Dec 30, 2008 5:31 PM

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Answer 1

K Shaffer

Level 8

36,196 points

Jan 2, 2009 1:50 AM in response to freevito

There may be more issues or pre-conditions necessary to
meet all of the conditions involved to adapt a later Serial ATA
drive to an old architecture iMac than is worth that path.
Space limitations within the half-dome of the iMac G4 is one
of the first and not only possible area of resistance to change.

If the iMac G4 1GHz computer is used in one location, perhaps
an external enclosure of FireWire400/USB2.0 may be viable.
The USB2.0 may not be compatible with the older 1GHz iMac
but the FireWire is a path to use a supported external HDD in
a good quality enclosure as a boot disk. Later on, the HDD
could be transplanted into another machine once it were wiped
and a new appropriate system installed on it.

A later Mac (if Intel) would require a different formatting type
if it were used as a boot disk inside one, anyway; since Intel
Macs use GUID-formatting and the PPC G4 iMac, HFS+.

An external SATA in properly supported and boot capable
enclosure would allow you to keep a system in the iMac G4
and it can be on an ATA (or PATA) drive of the correct type.
They are not extinct yet!

Good luck & happy computing! 🙂

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Answer 2

freevito Author

Level 2

312 points

Jan 2, 2009 12:37 PM in response to K Shaffer

K Shaffer:

Thanks for your reply, but I've already resolved the matter. After thinking it through, I decided that the best course of action is to leave the existing IDE drive in place and save myself the trouble of messing with it. I remember all too well the incredible hassle of getting a drive in and out of the gumdrop iMac. After further research, I found that an 80 GB SATA 3.0 Gb/s drive is actually slightly less costly than an 80 GB PATA drive (brand new Seagate Barracuda--my preferred drive, due to its reliability and 5-year warranty).

The solution was to use a macally™ G-S350SUA external enclosure for SATA drives with eSATA/FireWire/USB connectivity. The drive will be bootable (via FireWire) by the iMac G4, and therefore usable as a bootable backup clone of the internal drive. It will also be bootable by another computer that supports booting via USB 2.0. I didn't need the eSATA feature for the iMac, but it's nice to have it anyway, as my G5 is equipped with an eSATA host controller. The macally™ enclosure was a steal at NewEgg.

Thanks again!

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