Q: My G4 won't boot when slave HD is plugged in
I've got a baffling problem.
Yesterday, I couldn't boot up my G4 with the hard drive, my Leopard disk or TechTool Pro. After many tests, I finally discovered that if I unplugged my second, slave hard drive, I could then boot from the main hard drive. If I plug in both hard drives in, it won't boot up from the hard drive at all. But it will from a boot disk. (I have no idea why I couldn't do that yesterday).
This is very odd. I don't know if the second, slave hard drive is just dead, or if the harness that connects the hard drive is messed up, but even then, I don't know why a failed slave drive would affect the other boot drive. Is it a bad harness? Some odd power supply problem?
Anybody got a clue?
It's a G4 Quicksilver 2002, Dual 1 GHz, 1.5 RAM, 2 Seagate 7200 HDs with ATI 9000 pro 128MB graphic card running 10.5.8. Also, firewire card and USB card.
Mike
PowerMac, Mac OS X (10.5.8), G4, Dual 1GHz, 1.5 RAM, 2 160mb HDs
Posted on Jul 23, 2015 7:15 PM
Welcome back, Mike.
I'd first check that all connectors on the ATA ribbon cable are fully seated at both ends. I had a Beige G3 to which I added a slave drive. One of the ribbon cables was slightly too short, and would partially pull loose from its connector on the logic board when I closed the case. No boot and, as the connector remained fully seated until just before the case latched, it was a pain to find
Also check the slave drive to make certain its jumpers are properly set to slave. There is likely a jumper diagram on the drive's label; if not, it should be on the web.
Posted on Jul 24, 2015 5:13 AM