My G4 won't boot when slave HD is plugged in

Question

Level 1

14 points

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

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Answer 1

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,764 points

Jul 24, 2015 5:13 AM in response to Mike Jasper

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.

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Answer 2

Mike Jasper Author

Level 1

14 points

Jul 24, 2015 10:52 AM in response to Allan Jones

Allan --

Thanks for the reply.

The jumpers are set correctly. The master has one on the 7&8 pins, the slave has none, just they way they should be set. But I'm intrigued by the idea the cable might be coming off when I close the case. I'll have to give that a try. Thanks.

Mike

PS -- Your answer helped me, but it hasn't solved the problem yet. Must have accidentally hit that button.

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Answer 3

Allan Jones

Level 9

78,764 points

Jul 24, 2015 3:31 PM in response to Mike Jasper

We'll stay with you!

I now remember that the connector that pulled loose was the slave connector on the ribbon cable. The drive was mounted as close to the master as I could get but eventually I had to get a semi-custon cable that gave me an extra six inches between the master and slave drives.

Of course the Beige G3 has a different case-opening arrangement that the QS, but your symptoms are really close to what I found.

If you are fighting a stiff--not short--cable, you can soften it with a hair dryer and shape it to fit while it's pliable.

AJ

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Answer 4

Mike Jasper Author

Level 1

14 points

Jul 25, 2015 12:16 AM in response to Allan Jones

Well, I don't think my problem is exactly the same, because when I open up the case the data connector is still firmly in place. However, it did get me experimenting with cables.

I should let you know that originally nothing would boot -- my hard drive or my TechTool Boot Disk. Then I unplugged and replugged in everything and all I got was a blank grey screen ... but I was able to boot fine with my TechTool disk. Couldn't see any hard drives, though.

Then I unplugged the slave, and the computer booted to the master and all worked fine.

But I started to wonder — what would happen if I plugged in the data cable upside down. So I did it. Guess what? Back to the original problem. Freeze before it goes to the startup blue, freeze on the TechTool app right after it boots from the disk. And before you think I'm a total idiot, I remember now that to get the data cable in right side up, I had to twist it — totally counterintuitive of what you'd think.

Here's a review:

• With the cables out of the slave drive, it boots up to the master hard drive. With the power plug left in but no data cable plugged in, it starts up fine on the master drive.

• With the data cable to the slave plugged in without twisting the cable (what looks like right side up) I get a blank screen and while I can boot into TechTool, it shows zero hard drives.

• Finally, when I turn the data cable over and plug it in (which looks like wrong side up) the computer starts to boot and freezes right before it goes into the start-up screen. It also freezes when booting from the DVD.

Maybe I just need a new cable.

Mike

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Answer 5

Mike Jasper Author

Level 1

14 points

Aug 10, 2015 1:22 AM in response to Mike Jasper

Update: Replaced the cable. Same problem still. Must be the drive. I ordered an external enclosure. Should get here in about a week. Will update when I test the drive externally.

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Answer 6

Mike Jasper Author

Level 1

14 points

Aug 27, 2015 11:15 AM in response to Mike Jasper

Okay, the problem is solved — something was physically wrong with the drive.

I got an external enclosure I bought on eBay, took the drive out of the G4 and ran it to my MacMini as an external USB, and yes, the drive was messed up.

With Disk Warrior I was able to save the one thing on the disk I didn't even know was there but wanted to keep, an old recording session. I was able to save that, then I erased the disc completely, ran TechTool Pro and found that, yes, there are bad blocks, but the drive is still 90 percent workable.

So mystery solved... I had a bad drive on the G4, physically, not just a software problem, but it wasn't so bad it couldn't be salvaged. Thanks for the help.

I learned two things — 1) If you have a bad slave drive, it can mess up the boot drive and 2) I'm done with IDE/ATA drives. Time to get rid of the G4.

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Answer 7

BDAqua

Level 10

250,259 points

Aug 27, 2015 11:35 AM in response to Mike Jasper

Thanks for the report Mike.

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