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Q: Considering buying 128GB PATA SSD for 12" PowerBook G4

Yeah why not. I rather do that for the time being I know Apple is about to introduce New MacBook Pros with Intel "Arrandale" Quad Processors. I still like the Powerbook G4 it may be a little slow but it is stable in processing. I never had a crash. I like to see this go max on storage speed. We all seen the MacBook Air with SSD, but would it be nice to see the PowerBook G4 with SSD. This 12-inch PowerBook G4 with 128GB SSD will be my Apple version of the Net-book.

Message was edited by: LE Studios

12-inch PowerBook G4 (1.5GHz) 80GB 8X SuperDrive, Mac OS X (10.5.8), Two 2TB WD Studio External HD [2TB (iTunes) 2TB (Time Machine)]

Posted on Dec 23, 2009 8:12 PM

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Q: Considering buying 128GB PATA SSD for 12" PowerBook G4

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  • by blutabu2h,

    blutabu2h blutabu2h Sep 16, 2010 5:08 AM in response to LE Studios
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2010 5:08 AM in response to LE Studios
    hey there, i'm interested in upgrading the HD on my 12'' PB as well, i just bought one today in pretty mint condition for only $300 and i'm in LOVE with it and could not imagine upgrading anytime soon, although the hard drive is a bit small. Has anyone dealt with upgrading the HD, the 128ssd?? also does anyone know where I might find a hardshell case for the PB
  • by blutabu2h,

    blutabu2h blutabu2h Sep 16, 2010 5:09 AM in response to blutabu2h
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2010 5:09 AM in response to blutabu2h
    also i've read the original specs on the laptop which states it gets 5 hour battery life, any way to restore the battery life back to the supposed 5 hours??
  • by blutabu2h,

    blutabu2h blutabu2h Sep 16, 2010 5:19 AM in response to blutabu2h
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 16, 2010 5:19 AM in response to blutabu2h
  • by eww,

    eww eww Sep 16, 2010 3:47 PM in response to blutabu2h
    Level 9 (52,994 points)
    Sep 16, 2010 3:47 PM in response to blutabu2h
    ...any way to restore the battery life back to the supposed 5 hours??


    No. It probably never got five hours in real life, and if it has an old battery, that battery will never be new again. If you buy a new battery for it and can get 3-4 hours of running time in ordinary everyday usage, be happy. But don't buy the cheapo batteries you'll find advertised on Ebay for half of what a good one costs — most of those are worthless junk.
  • by eww,

    eww eww Sep 16, 2010 3:49 PM in response to blutabu2h
    Level 9 (52,994 points)
    Sep 16, 2010 3:49 PM in response to blutabu2h
    I'm afraid not — that's a SATA drive, and you need a PATA (also called ATA or IDE) drive for your Powerbook. No Powerbook can use a SATA drive internally.
  • by LE Studios,

    LE Studios LE Studios Nov 30, 2010 5:48 PM in response to LE Studios
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Nov 30, 2010 5:48 PM in response to LE Studios
    I sold the 12" PowerBook G4 last year. The PowerBook is a cool computer for those want to keep a classic. A PATA 128GB SSD will definitely keep it alive. Most important Update Adobe Flash Player to 10.1 that really speeds up Flash loaded pages on a PowerBook G4.
  • by mcpo_1978,

    mcpo_1978 mcpo_1978 Dec 27, 2010 3:09 AM in response to blutabu2h
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 27, 2010 3:09 AM in response to blutabu2h
    Unfortunately not, since the G4 Powerbook do not have SATA controllers but PATA only. The drive you're referring to is a SATA drive.
  • by mcpo_1978,

    mcpo_1978 mcpo_1978 Dec 27, 2010 3:11 AM in response to mcpo_1978
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 27, 2010 3:11 AM in response to mcpo_1978
    Oops...somebody aleady commented on that. Sry.
    BTW, Buffalo introduced some new PATA SSDs this year, but all my reasearch showed that it is sold in Japan only
  • by Patrick Symes,

    Patrick Symes Patrick Symes Jan 11, 2011 8:23 PM in response to mcpo_1978
    Level 1 (60 points)
    Jan 11, 2011 8:23 PM in response to mcpo_1978
    Other World Computing (OWC) has some new IDE/ATA drives what will work in the 12" PowerBook.
    http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/SSD/OWC/MercuryLegacyPro

    If you are interested in using SSD in a PowerBook I would look into the article about how to "Reduce SSD Wear by Using a RAM Disk for Your Browser Cache"
    http://lowendmac.com/bookrev/11br/0107.html

    Hope this helps. I would love to upgrade the system disk to a SSD in my PowerBook but the cost is a little too much at this time.
  • by blazzr,

    blazzr blazzr Mar 22, 2011 6:59 AM in response to Cyril Bornet
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2011 6:59 AM in response to Cyril Bornet
    About the Powerbook *with a newly installed SSD* crashing/hanging/blank screen/frozen beach ball... after waking from sleep see these links:

    http://poller.se/2010/08/optimizing-mac-os-x-for-ssd-drives/

    http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1041834

    Some of the hints may help you. I'm using a Kingspec 64GB model (KSD-PA25.1-064MS) on a PB G4 12", and it consistenly freezes upon wake up. Setting hibernatemode to 0 (see links above) did not help, neither did unchecking disk sleep in Power saver options. Will wait for response from Kingspec, else I'll use a conventional HDD instead...

    good luck,
    Blazzr
  • by blazzr,

    blazzr blazzr Mar 22, 2011 8:11 AM in response to blazzr
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2011 8:11 AM in response to blazzr
    UPDATE, I just found a possible solution for PB4 not waking up from sleep using a SSD:

    The solution was posted in the user comments by Jordan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208431

    "
    NEEDS A LITTLE MODIFICATION FOR USE IN POWERBOOK 12" otherwise the HDD will not wake up from sleep.
    - None so far!

    Other Thoughts: First of all, I bought 128GB version and experienced the same symptoms as Snakedoc initially. ("stall and sometimes freeze when I woke my powerbook g4 up from sleep mode...and from time to time I would have to force a restart by holding down the power button")

    Before I did anything - I found another review - stated that all you have to do is to make sure the HDD.. oops SSD's jumper setting is "Master."

    To achieve this with Powerbook 12", I did have to use the default jumper pin that came with the drive and to do that I needed to take away a piece from the 44 pin connector so that it could accomodate the jumper pin. I used my trusty Moto-tool.

    After changing the SSD jumper setting to "Master," everything is working great! Everything is really fast, stable and efficient.

    I will recommend this drive if you know the difference between Slave and Master, and not scared to do a little (3 min.) operation on the connector.
    "
  • by MKH01,

    MKH01 MKH01 Apr 5, 2011 2:25 AM in response to blazzr
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 5, 2011 2:25 AM in response to blazzr
    For those of you still contemplating adding an SSD to your Powerbooks after looking through a few threads and being dissatistied with the IDE SSD options out there on both the price and performance front. I did a whole lot of searching around and eventualy decided to go for the following solution:

    Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 1.8" Micro-SATA version
    IDE 44 Pin to 1.8" Micro SATA Adapter http://microsatacables.com/catalog/i196.html

    The adapter and 1.8" SSD drive combine into a smaller package than a 2.5" IDE drive so no problems fitting it into the Powerbook.

    Installed OS X 10.5.8 running very nicely now faster than with 10.2.8 which I upgraded it from. I also upgraded the Combo drive with a new slot loading DVD drive supporting all the latest options bar Blue-ray
  • by TimRansom,

    TimRansom TimRansom Apr 5, 2011 7:39 PM in response to MKH01
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 5, 2011 7:39 PM in response to MKH01
    Hmmm. Sounds very tempting! Any issues? Can you post any instructions or tricks/problems to doing it? I'd love to see my old 12 have a little bit more life and this post may have just put me over the top to doing it.
  • by romko23,

    romko23 romko23 Apr 6, 2011 4:22 PM in response to MKH01
    Level 2 (395 points)
    Apr 6, 2011 4:22 PM in response to MKH01
    Hi,

    Will this adapter work in a 17 inch PowerBook M9970/A version? Mine has the DDR2 memory.

    This would be nice as I can dump the PATA altogether.
  • by Grant Lenahan,

    Grant Lenahan Grant Lenahan Apr 10, 2011 6:07 PM in response to LE Studios
    Level 4 (1,468 points)
    Mac OS X
    Apr 10, 2011 6:07 PM in response to LE Studios
    ..may be even more so. Snow leopard is tremendous, as is the new BIOS replacement.

    Move on. Its about 10x faster.

    G
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