cruceskeith
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Q: max hdd size

Will the iMac 10.1 accomidate a 3TB HDD? Will it be recognized once installed?

Posted on Mar 22, 2012 9:28 PM

by cruceskeith,Solvedanswer
cruceskeith cruceskeith
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A:

You're welcome!

I used the Seagate Barracuda (7200 rpm).

Posted on Mar 24, 2012 7:35 AM

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cruceskeith

Q: max hdd size

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  • by b j t,

    b j t b j t Mar 22, 2012 9:38 PM in response to cruceskeith
    Level 4 (3,680 points)
    Mar 22, 2012 9:38 PM in response to cruceskeith

    Mac OS X: Mac OS Extended format (HFS Plus) volume and file limits

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Mar 22, 2012 9:50 PM in response to b j t
    Level 9 (50,431 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 22, 2012 9:50 PM in response to b j t

    Looks like we'll have to live with only eight billion gigabytes

  • by cruceskeith,

    cruceskeith cruceskeith Mar 22, 2012 10:00 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2012 10:00 PM in response to John Galt

    I'm referring to the iMac build version 10.1, not the OSx version.....

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Mar 22, 2012 10:13 PM in response to cruceskeith
    Level 9 (50,431 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 22, 2012 10:13 PM in response to cruceskeith

    Thanks, I understood you to mean the iMac10,1 model from 2009.

     

    Apple only specifies drives that were available at the time the computer was manufactured since that's all they can test, but I can think of no reason a 3 GB HDD would not work. Or an eight billion GB HDD for that matter.

  • by cruceskeith,

    cruceskeith cruceskeith Mar 22, 2012 10:30 PM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 22, 2012 10:30 PM in response to John Galt

    I agree. But we have all heard the horror stories surrounding HDD upgrades. I'm 90% sure that my iMac WILL recognize the FULL 3TB HDD once installed.

    I'm basically seeking conformation that all will go smoothly, since the 3TB HDD isn't recognized through the external USB universal drive adapter. I'm hoping that once installed, it will be readily recognized and initialized.

    I was hoping to hear form a 1st person installer of a 3 TB HDD into the iMac 10.1., since I only want to crack open the iMac once.

    Thank you both for your input.

  • by cruceskeith,

    cruceskeith cruceskeith Mar 23, 2012 9:17 PM in response to cruceskeith
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 23, 2012 9:17 PM in response to cruceskeith

    OK, It's now about 23 hours later. I want to update my progress.

    The actual physical 3 TB HDD swap-out with the original 1 TB HDD was a lot easier than I expected. I decided to plow ahead and see what happens after the installation and rebooting.

    I put the Snow Leopard OS install disk in and booted up.

     

    This was the scary part as it took nearly 7 minutes for the OS Install disk to be recognized and another 2 minutes for the new HDD to be recognized. (I actually broke sweat waiting).

     

    Once into the install mode, I went straight to the disk utility and formatted the new HDD. Once formatted, the OS install only took about 17 minutes. I was overwhelmingly releaved!

     

    Ok, install done, system rebooted, now went to Time Machine back-up to restore my iMac to it's pre HDD swap configuration.

     

    WOO-HOO!!

    My advice is just go for it, but be aware that waiting for the system to recognized the new configuration is excruciatingly painfully slow. But it WILL recognize it.

  • by John Galt,

    John Galt John Galt Mar 23, 2012 11:54 PM in response to cruceskeith
    Level 9 (50,431 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 23, 2012 11:54 PM in response to cruceskeith

    Thanks for the update.

     

    May I ask, what model HDD did you buy?

  • by cruceskeith,Solvedanswer

    cruceskeith cruceskeith Mar 24, 2012 7:35 AM in response to John Galt
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 24, 2012 7:35 AM in response to John Galt

    You're welcome!

    I used the Seagate Barracuda (7200 rpm).