Adding an Internal IDE Hard Drive to a G5

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Level 2

159 points

Adding an Internal IDE Hard Drive to a G5

Well today I finally did it-- I added a 160GB IDE Internal Drive to my G5 Dual 1.8. I already had 2 SATA Drives installed and I had the 160GB sitting in a drawer for over a year since I bought the G5. I also had a Sonnet Tempo ATA 133 PCI Card, IDE Cables, Power extention cables, Drive Caddy, tools, hardware, etc.

I decided to mount the drive on the shelf immediately above the Processor Bay. This meant that I had to fit the drive with the connectors facing the PCI Bay Fan. To make a long story short, I attached three neoprene feet to the drive caddy which gives it some room underneath. I removed the CPU fans, PCI fan, memory, Airport Card, and Optical Drive and then hand drilled a small hole in the shelf using masking tape and a vacuum to ensure no metal fibres got into the electronics. This hole was for the tab in the front of the caddy which faces the PCI fan. The screw goes thru the neoprene foot and is secured by locking hardware to the shelf. I also removed the PCI card guide as I don't intend to install any Super Long PCI cards---the PCI Card Guide would interfere with the caddy and must be removed for this particular mod. I then installed the Caddy with HD and reinstalled all the parts and cables I removed including the sensor wire. I installed the PCI Tempo Card cabled the Drive up and Voila! I now have the HD working just fine in addition to the SATA's.

G5 DP 1.8 Rev B 1.5GB RAM, Mac OS X (10.4.1)

Posted on Dec 25, 2005 5:08 PM

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Answer 1

Joe179 Author

Level 2

159 points

Dec 27, 2005 4:17 PM in response to Joe179

Update:

Comp USA has a Maxtor 300GB Ultra ATA133 w/16MB buffer on sale and with the rebate the final cost is $80. Removed the 160 and installed the 300. My G5 now has 540GB and room to grow...

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Answer 2

Jan 9, 2006 10:01 PM in response to Joe179

I also have an IDE hard drive that I'm trying to install into my G5. I have a PCI board that I'm using, but I'm trying to figure out how I can power the new drive. It has older IDE power connection which isn't compatible. How did you power yours? I'm looking for some sort of convertor/adapter cable so that I can plug into my G5's power supply but am not having any sort of luck unless I am missing something. A little help would be appreciated.

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Answer 3

Mar 24, 2006 4:28 AM in response to websterbud

This is exactly where i am baffled.

I am replacing a XServe Raid drive and need to format the bugger. Of course, it's a Hitachi Deskstar IDE connection drive. I have bought the data connectio converter but got the wrong power connector. I had an old four pin power cable that sprang off the converter board (Maplins) and hoped that i could pggiy back power from the main drive.

No! Didn't work. So i need a Sata power converter to four pin.

Can anyone tell me if there's some blindingly easier way of doing this?

What if format on my PC? Getting desperate
Thanks all

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Answer 4

Mar 24, 2006 7:44 AM in response to Philip M.N.Richardson

I never ended up finding a solution to this. I got stuck the same place that you did--I could not find a Sata to convert to a four pin for the power supply. I searched the internet and was unsuccessful in finding one. I also went around to local stores and was told that a cable like this doesn't exist.

The hard drive was a brand new purchase before I bought my g5 so I couldn't return it, nor was I going to toss it. I ended up just keeping it in my old PC and setting that up as a server.

I'll be using it this way until I decide to pick up a new SATA drive.

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Answer 5

mbean

Level 4

1,250 points

Mar 28, 2006 4:52 PM in response to websterbud

I also have an IDE hard drive that I'm trying to
install into my G5. I have a PCI board that I'm
using, but I'm trying to figure out how I can power
the new drive.

You can take out the optical drive and attach a "Y" 4 pin molex power cable to the optical 4 pin power plug. I then ran that cable through the IDE cable hole into the PCI compartment and down in front of the CPU fan where I installed a G5 drive bracket and mounted two drives. The G5 bracket is only $59 and works great. I used the instructions found in the AMUG article here:
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/g5bracket/

Michael

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Answer 6

Apr 3, 2006 2:43 PM in response to mbean

Keep in mind if you have one of the new G5's with pci express a regular PCI Ultra ATA controller (which is what this setup entails) won't work. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, I'm not sure if a PCI express ata controller even exists. Your best bet, if you have a new G5 might be to get a firewire setup which is described in Michael link also.

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