Put a stripped out external HDD into a Mac Pro?

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Level 2

186 points

Put a stripped out external HDD into a Mac Pro?

I'm curious if it's crazy to imagine if I took apart my old 150 GB Iogear exernal drive, whether the drive might have the same connections required to plug it into an empty bay on my Mac Pro?

Does anyone have experience with taking external drives apart and could it be the same standard HDD setup with a connection that might match?

I know it's an odd question... but thought I'd ask.

Thanks!

jn

Mac Pro (2009 Nehalem), Mac OS X (10.6.2), Wacom Intuos, Umax Powerlook III, Epson 2200 etc, etc, etc...

Posted on May 8, 2011 5:35 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

133,363 points

May 8, 2011 5:43 PM in response to John Nez

How old is it?

It could be IDE/ATA and not fit at all.

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Answer 2

mooblie

Level 4

1,954 points

May 9, 2011 4:43 AM in response to John Nez

As Grant says - if it's IDE, it won't fit. If it's SATA it should. Here's a picture:

The upper drive is SATA, the lower drive is IDE.

If the external drive you're taking apart is "old" and only 150GB, it's likely to be IDE, and hence no use inside the Mac Pro. 😟

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Answer 3

May 9, 2011 6:56 AM in response to mooblie

Moobile-

Thanks for those great pictures!

There were also some "transitional" drives that had the newer SATA connectors AND the four-pin Molex power connector. So don't use the four-pin Molex alone to decide -- look for the IDE/ATA 40-pin ribbon cable connector or the distinctive SATA data connector (or data and power connector). Four pin Molex may be present or absent.

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