Q: PowerMac G5 has problems with a 2 TB GUID partitioned drive
I have an old 1.8 GHz single processor PowerMac G5 running 10.5.8. It's been running just fine, but recently I have had problems using a large external hard drive with it. The external hard drive is a 2 TB drive, that is GUID partitioned and HFS+ formatted, connected using USB 2.0. I've seperated it into several volumes, the largest being 750 GB. I am using the drive to clone a couple other Macs, as well as clone several other disks. I haven't had any issues using this drive connected to the other two Macs, which are both Intel Macs. When I connect the drive to the PowerMac G5 sometimes all volumes mount, sometimes a couple volumes mount and sometimes no volumes mount. When all volumes have mounted, I started doing a clone but the process froze part way through. I've disabled Spotlight for these volumes on the PowerMac because the indexing process was going to take an extremely long time and is not necessary. I stumped as to what the problem is because I haven't found any information indicating that I would have issues using a GUID partitioned drive this size with a PowerPC Mac. However, I'm starting to believe that it's either the size, partitioning or format that is causing some kind of compatibility. I appreciate any assistance or advice. Thanks
PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8)
Posted on Nov 18, 2013 11:46 AM
Unfortunately, there aren't duplicate mount points for the volumes.
I've noticed that the activity light on the enclosure is constantly on when the drive is connected. That doesn't happen when the drive is connected to a Intel Mac.
After searching elsewhere online, I was about ready to give up on this issue. Then I decided to try a different USB cable. That worked! I don't know why the cable I was using worked fine with my other Macs, but I'm just happy to have it working now.
Thanks for the mount point tip BDAqua. I'll keep that under my hat for the future.
Posted on Dec 4, 2013 5:18 PM