2nd hand hard disk... will it work on my Gigabit Ethernet?

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Level 1

8 points

2nd hand hard disk... will it work on my Gigabit Ethernet?

dear all,
I've a chance of getting for a couple of Euro a 40 GB, used Apple internal hd.
All the information I can get is this: Hard Disk IDE 3,5'' Apple 40 Gb,
Seagate, 5400 rpm... will it work on my G4? Also, according to the dealer (found on eBay, but he lives in my town) it comes from a G5 from 2005 (but I guess it was on another machine before then, as I doubt in 2005 Apple had such small hd on a top Power Mac).
I'd use the hd mainly as a spare boot hd in case there are problems with the main one, and allow me to get a cheaper usb 2 external instead of a firewire for the data.
Thanks!

PowerMac G4 Gigabit Ethernet (Dual 450 MHz) and iBook G3 900 MHz, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Mar 11, 2009 3:32 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Mar 11, 2009 4:24 AM in response to Finrod

Hi-

How did an IDE drive get used in a G5? G5's are SATA...... Your GE needs ATA/IDE.
G5's all shipped with 7200 rpm SATA drives.

A 5400 rpm drive sounds like it is either really old, or from a laptop, though 3.5" is too big. They are usually 2.5".

We'll go for old.
Add to that slow, and I don't think that it is worth risking one's data on, or counting on it to boot when you need it.

Just for the sake of argument, could you find out what series the drive is? 7200.5? 5400.3?

Anyhow, something doesn't add up......

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Answer 2

Finrod Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 11, 2009 5:38 AM in response to japamac

well, that it comes from a G5 it's what the dealer told me... I checked and found by myself that the built-in hd were sata but I also wondered if there were ways to use these older hds on a G5, ide slots or other modding tricks...
I couldnt't get anymore infos than what I've already posted.
I'm not going to buy the item 😉
Thanks!

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Answer 3

Finrod Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 11, 2009 6:31 AM in response to japamac

I've emailed the dealer again and he sent me the specs of the G5 the hd was on, it's getting even more "strange" ...
Here's what he sent me (in Italian, but still readable):

PowerPC IBM 970GX (G5)
Power Mac G5 (Aprile 2005)
Presentazione: Aprile, 2005
Dismissione: Ottobre, 2005
Costo: € 1979/€ 2479/€ 2969
CPU: PowerPC 970GX
Frequenza CPU: 2.0Dual / 2.3Dual / 2.7Dual GHz
FPU: Integrata
L1 Cache: 64 KB
L2 Cache: 512 KB 1:1
L3 Cache:
Bus: 1/1.15/1.35 GHz
Slot: 3 PCI
RAM: 512 MB
Memoria: Max 8 GB, 8 slot RAM
VRAM: 128 MB/128 MB/256 MB
Video: ATi Radeon 9600 / ATI Radeon 9650
Audio: Uscita audio a 16 bit stereo
Ingresso audio a 16 bit stereo
Porte: 3 USB 2.0 2 FireWire 1 FireWire 800 DVI, ADC
altoparlante mono
Audio digitale
opzionale AirPort e bluetooth
Comunicazione: Ethernet 10/100/1000, modem 56K
Lettori: SuperDrive dual-layer 16x
Hard Drive: 40/80/160/250/250 GB IDE
Consumo: 500 Watt
Peso: 17.7 Kg
Dimensione: A L P 51 x 22 x 48 cm
Sistema operativo: Mac OS X 10.4
ROM: 1 MB 3 MB caricati in RAM

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Answer 4

japamac

Level 7

24,400 points

Mar 11, 2009 6:51 AM in response to Finrod

it's getting even more "strange" ...

Yes, that is strange.
Not the machine specs, but the family specs for the early 2005 G5.
http://support.apple.com/kb/SP46

Note that they shipped, standard, with either a 160GB or a 250GB, 7200 rpm SATA drive.

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Answer 5

Limnos

Level 10

411,217 points

Mar 11, 2009 10:02 AM in response to japamac

I wonder if for some reason, maybe to use this old drive, the person had an ATA PCI card in there.

Those 5400 drives really are slow. I was recently given one and I copied 40 GB of files to it via firewire and it took a long time compared to 7200.

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Answer 6

direwolf8

Level 4

1,280 points

Mar 11, 2009 2:32 PM in response to Limnos

Then it's misleading to say it comes from a G5, where it couldn't have been a native disk drive. It's also older than the G5 series. New drives are so cheap for the space... I'd pass this one up even as a gift.

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Answer 7

Finrod Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 12, 2009 1:23 AM in response to direwolf8

yes, you're right, I won't buy it; also the dealer emailed me that there was a connector, a pci card, to use it in the G5 after I asked and pointed him the Apple own specs.
Thanks to all! 🙂

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Answer 8

Limnos

Level 10

411,217 points

Mar 12, 2009 12:53 PM in response to Finrod

also the dealer emailed me that there was a connector, a pci card

the person had an ATA PCI card in there.

Aha! 😉

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