Formatting new HD for storage with OS 9?

Question

Level 1

100 points

Formatting new HD for storage with OS 9?

I always format my new Hard Drives using my OS 9.2.1 retail install CD and then put on OS 9 then OS X on top. My question is, I just bought a 250GB Seagate Barracuda 3.5" 7,200rpm IDE/ATA Hard Drive (on sale $59.99@ BestBuy!!) and I want to use it mainly in my Firewire HD enclosure for storage and backup from machine to machine. Do I need to format it in Mac OS Extended to use it for storage? I may install OS 9 in case I ever need to do a Firmware update on a used Mac by popping in this HD. If I don't install OS 9, do I just set the jumpers to Master and put it in my enclosure and go? Thanks everyone for reading this!
~Craig

Many iMac G3 colors 400-600MHz, 2 iBook G4's, Power Mac G4 533 Digital Audio., Mac OS X (10.4.8), Mac OS X (10.3.9)on iMacs~Grape,Ruby,Graphite,Indigo,Snow! -Airport Extreme.

Posted on Nov 24, 2006 8:55 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Nov 24, 2006 9:40 AM in response to Craig303

Hi, Craig -

Do I need to format it in Mac OS Extended...

Yes.

I may install OS 9 in case I ever need to do a Firmware update on a used Mac by popping in this HD.

If you want to be able to boot more than one model Mac with that drive, be sure that you do a Universal Install of OS 9 (otherwise the install will be model-specific to the machine running the installer). This webpage (by Ron Jackle, a regular on Discussions) includes instructions on how to do that - it's the top item on the page; wait for the graphics to cycle -
Ron Jackle's Home Page

Important - OS 9 can not 'see' a volume larger than about 200GB, and so can not boot from volumes larger than that. This is a volume size limit, not a drive size limit - which means that if you partition the drive such that no partition is larger than about 190GB, OS 9 will be able to 'see' all partitions of it, and it will be able to be used as a boot drive for those machines which are OS 9 bootable.

The 200GB volume limit does not pertain to OSX. So, you may need to initialize, partition, and format the drive using OSX's Disk Utility program. Note - be sure to select the option to install OS 9 drivers; that option is not always selected by default, and in their absence the volume can not be mounted (nor booted from) by OS 9.

***

If by "...popping in the HD" you mean installing it as an internal drive, note that all Macs prior to the MDD models have an IDE controller limit (for the built-in IDE/ATA bus) of being able to use a drive no larger than 128GB. Drives larger than that will be presented as if they were only 128GB; this limit is hardware based, and does not depend upon the OS. This is a drive size limit, not a volume limit, and so partitioning is not a way to get around seeing only 128GB of the drive.

However, if you set the first partition to about 120GB and install a universal install of OS 9 on it, it should do what you want.

Reply

Answer 2

Craig303 Author

Level 1

100 points

Nov 24, 2006 10:45 AM in response to Don Archibald

Don.
GREAT INFO!! THANKS! Ron Jackle's Home Page was also very helpful, thanks for the link.

From your response about limit issues, I have decided NOT to install OS 9 on this 250GB HD, but will use it for storage only. I will use a 120GB Seagate HD that I bought a few weeks ago ($49.99) to do the job as described in my first post. I have installed a few of these 120GB HD's in my slot-loading iMacs being aware of the 128GB IDE controller limit. I was however, unaware of the other size limits you spoke of, thank you.
So, can I format my new 250GB HD in Mac OS Extended while inside of my Firewire enclosure, plugged into my iMac 500MHz using my retail OS 9 or OS X install CD's in the optical drive?

Yes, "popping in the HD" was me casually referring to the quick physical task of manually installing a new hard drive non-permanently into a slot-loading iMac, sorry for the cheesy slang.

~Craig

Reply

Answer 3

Craig303 Author

Level 1

100 points

Nov 24, 2006 10:49 AM in response to Craig303

Don,

Also, I meant to ask in my previous post, what are "MDD models" ?

~Craig

Reply

Answer 4

Nov 24, 2006 11:13 AM in response to Craig303

Hi, Craig -

You're quite welcome.

So, can I format my new 250GB HD in Mac OS Extended while inside of my Firewire enclosure, plugged into my iMac 500MHz using my retail OS 9 or OS X install CD's in the optical drive?

Yes, but using OSX's Disk Utility only. Not only can OS 9, hence its Drive Setup utility, not 'see' a drive larger than about 200GB, but OS 9's Drive setup can not format nor initialize a firewire hard drive (nor a USB one for that matter). Some 3rd-party drive utilities, like FWB's HardDrive ToolKit, can initialize and format a firewire drive in OS 9, but there is still the size limit in this case.

Reply

Answer 5

Nov 24, 2006 11:16 AM in response to Craig303

Hi, Craig -

MDD models... "MDD" = Mirrored Drive Door, and is the designation for the last series of G4 desktop (tower) models released, those just before the release of the G5s.

Here's a picture of one, from the apple-history.com website -
http://www.apple-history.com/images/models/g4_mdd.jpg

Reply

Answer 6

Craig303 Author

Level 1

100 points

Nov 24, 2006 12:32 PM in response to Don Archibald

Don,
Again, thank you! You are very knowledgable on this matter. I will now feel very comfortable going through the formatting process using the correct
OS (X) Install Disc while the new hard drive is externally mounted. I would have been a bit nervous without your advice. I have gained so much knowledge from your posts. I am very fortunate for you to have helped me today and in the past!

I thought and thought what "MDD" could have meant, but I guess not hard enough! I am very familiar with the "Mirrored Drive Door" Power Mac G4's, thanks for the link. I have a really nice Power Mac G4 533MHz Digital Audio with two new 120GB HD's and I am getting ready to install a new Pioneer DVR-710B SuperDrive in place of the original CD-RW drive! I found it today at BestBuy on sale for $29.99!

I will follow up later with my results of the 250GB HD formatting task, which without a doubt should be very positive!

Monday, I will be adding a used Power Mac G4 450MHZ Cube in excellent condition to my Apple collection that has OS 9 and OS X on separate partitions. I may post a question after it arrives about having OS 9 & OS X on separate partitions versus having OS X installed on top of (after) OS 9 and what the pro's and con's are of the two different HD set ups. The reason being, is that the Cube has the original 5,400rpm 20GB Maxtor HD from Apple, which may have some miles on it and be quite loud and replace it with a new Seagate 120GB 7,200rpm with fluid dynamic bearings that will run much cooler than the 5,400rpm Maxtor from the year 2000. This may be similar to the very loud 5 year old 10GB Maxtor I removed from my Grape DV400MHz iMac of the same era and replaced with a 120GB HD. I will be debating on the separate partitioning of the two different OS's or just install OS 9, then OS X like I do on all of the HD's in my Macs. I don't have any partitioned HD's in any of my Mac's. I never felt the need to, since I don't own a tray-loading iMac, that requires partitioning of the HD to install OS 9 and OS X from what I have read. Sorry for putting so much off-topic info in this post!
Thanks,
~Craig

Reply

Answer 7

Craig303 Author

Level 1

100 points

Nov 25, 2006 8:27 AM in response to Don Archibald

Don,
I mounted my new 250GB HD inside of my Firewire enclosure on the Desktop of my 500MHz iMac running 10.3.9. A box appeared asking if I wanted to "Initialize" "Ignore" or "Continue." I chose "Initialize" and Disk Utility opened. Mac OS Extended was already selected and I chose "Erase" and 10 seconds later it was done! A very simple task, thank you!
~Craig

Reply

Answer 8

Nov 25, 2006 9:45 AM in response to Craig303

Hi, Craig -

You're quite welcome - glad it went that easy!

Reply