Norm Arnold
Level 1 (13 points)
Desktops

Q: INTERNAL HARD DRIVES FOR MAC PRO

I have 3 1TB internal drives and want to add a 4th drive. Original specs say 1 or 2TB but I would like to do a 4 or 5TB drive. Will this computer handle that or am I stuck adding a 2TB drive?


Posted on Sep 22, 2016 4:05 PM

by Grant Bennet-Alder,Solvedanswer
Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder
Level 9 (61,390 points)
Desktops
A:

Original specs say 1 or 2TB

 

That was all Apple had for sale at the time, so that is what the spec says. Apple tends to Never revise the spec without actually testing the recommended configurations. Apple almost never tests anything that 'pushes the envelope' on models that are already discontinued.

 

If you are running 10.4 or later, drives up to and including 8,000 TeraBytes are supported by the software.

 

Drives over 3TBytes may have mounting hole issues. If you run into these, post back and we can help you make sense of it (what seems like "word salad" to you now).

 

Drives over 2.2TB may have initialization issues if you use the ERASE function in Disk Utility, so if you run into that, post back and we can help you make sense of it.

I would like to do a 4 or 5TB drive.

 

Go for it. It works. (but there may be a few small adjustments needed.

Posted on Sep 23, 2016 2:08 PM

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Norm Arnold

Q: INTERNAL HARD DRIVES FOR MAC PRO

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  • Helpful answers

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Sep 22, 2016 3:17 PM in response to Norm Arnold
    Level 10 (190,916 points)
    Apple Watch
    Sep 22, 2016 3:17 PM in response to Norm Arnold

    Two concerns with large drives:

    - There is what some say is a "bug" in erasing drives larger than 2.2 TB with 10.8.4 or later. It concern logical volume group partitions. To prevent problem:

    - Do not erase

    - Use a disk Utility from an earlier OSX version

    - Erase in an external enclosure that supports large drives

    - Manually delete the Logical Volume group partitions using Terminal.

    Second problem is

    For Internal sled mounting:

    The screw-depth penetration for 'bottom-mounting screws adjacent to the platters' on some drives over 3TB have been shortened. This may mean that the sled screws bottom out before they fit snugly and begin to compress the washers on the sled. If this is the case, your drive will not sit flat on the sled, and will not mate with the backplane connector without additional adjustment.

    OWC also now sells sleds that uses alternate mounting holes in the HD to avoid that problem.

    You can shorten those screws, or put a washer under the heads to ensure they can be made snug in the allowed depth. Also, now OWC/Macsales now sells sleds that use the alternate mounting screw locations to avoid this problem. However, these sleds are only for the 2009 and later Pros

  • by Norm Arnold,

    Norm Arnold Norm Arnold Sep 22, 2016 3:31 PM in response to lllaass
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 22, 2016 3:31 PM in response to lllaass

    Well you have succeeded in tech-speaking above my capacity to fully understand. Are you saying I wouldn't be able to use the Disk Utility in Sierra to manage the disk or just not be able to erase it - if I ever wanted to do that?

     

    I was also looking at adding a USB 3.0 controller for external drives. From what I know so far it looks like it ties in to connections in one of the disk drive slots, which would keep me from adding another internal drive. Is that correct? If I do hook up a few 3 or 4tb external drives, will this computer run them OK?

  • by Johnb-one,

    Johnb-one Johnb-one Sep 22, 2016 6:52 PM in response to Norm Arnold
    Level 4 (1,933 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 22, 2016 6:52 PM in response to Norm Arnold

    you should be okay, I think. Maybe some of the earlier mac pro's might have had a restriction on how big a hard drive you could put in each bay, but I think that restriction is gone. I don't know what model or year of Mac Pro you have

    so all I can do is give you my opinion, which might be worth something, or not.....

     

    anyways, a smile is still free

     

    JB

  • by lllaass,

    lllaass lllaass Sep 23, 2016 12:55 AM in response to Johnb-one
    Level 10 (190,916 points)
    Apple Watch
    Sep 23, 2016 12:55 AM in response to Johnb-one

    As I said the is what some call a problem with the erase function in OSX 10.8.4 or later for internal drives. It does not depend upon the model Mac

    Johnb-one wrote:

     

    you should be okay, I think. Maybe some of the earlier mac pro's might have had a restriction on how big a hard drive you could put in each bay, but I think that restriction is gone. I don't know what model or year of Mac Pro you have

    so all I can do is give you my opinion, which might be worth something, or not.....

     

    anyways, a smile is still free

     

    JB

  • by Norm Arnold,

    Norm Arnold Norm Arnold Sep 23, 2016 10:28 AM in response to Johnb-one
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 23, 2016 10:28 AM in response to Johnb-one

    Thanks for the reply. I did have all the info copied from About This Mac which explained my setup but for some reason the Forum removed it and said it was personal info not allowed?? I do have a mid2010 Mac Pro which does state in the manual that 2GB drives are the largest and the max is 8GB. That is why I was asking about larger drives. For now, I am installing a USB 3.0 controller and bought a 6TB external drive to hook up.

     

    I did check about the OCW mounts for larger drives that are specifically to fix any problems installing in my age Mac Pro and as for erasing the drive, WD drives come with utility software that should do the job. Still looking into adding a 4 or 6TB internal and appreciate any other info anyone can share.

    Thanks!

  • by D_@_n,

    D_@_n D_@_n Sep 23, 2016 11:11 AM in response to Norm Arnold
    Level 1 (70 points)
    iPad
    Sep 23, 2016 11:11 AM in response to Norm Arnold

    Hi Norm

     

    I will try to help you as well if I can. Usually the motherboard is the one that complains about the capacity of a hard drive that is usually up to 2TB. This is also know not just for macs both for other systems such as linux and windows. The similarities (culprit) is the mob. Knowing that 2TB is the max some of the boards see leads me to understand and agree that it should or should not allow you to partition 3TB or higher. What worked for me was booting from a linux bootable cd and partition it as hfs+ (mac partition) then disk utility was able to see them. The software is called https://partedmagic.com/

     

    Supported hardware: PartedMagic requires at least a 686 processor with 1GB of RAM. 512MB in Live mode. Compatible with Secure Boot Windows machines. Runs well on Intel Macs.

     

    Good luck!

  • by Grant Bennet-Alder,Solvedanswer

    Grant Bennet-Alder Grant Bennet-Alder Sep 23, 2016 2:08 PM in response to Norm Arnold
    Level 9 (61,390 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 23, 2016 2:08 PM in response to Norm Arnold

    Original specs say 1 or 2TB

     

    That was all Apple had for sale at the time, so that is what the spec says. Apple tends to Never revise the spec without actually testing the recommended configurations. Apple almost never tests anything that 'pushes the envelope' on models that are already discontinued.

     

    If you are running 10.4 or later, drives up to and including 8,000 TeraBytes are supported by the software.

     

    Drives over 3TBytes may have mounting hole issues. If you run into these, post back and we can help you make sense of it (what seems like "word salad" to you now).

     

    Drives over 2.2TB may have initialization issues if you use the ERASE function in Disk Utility, so if you run into that, post back and we can help you make sense of it.

    I would like to do a 4 or 5TB drive.

     

    Go for it. It works. (but there may be a few small adjustments needed.