Seagate 400GB HDD Upgrade

Question

Level 1

0 points

Seagate 400GB HDD Upgrade

Hi Everyone, I have a Quicksilver 866 G4 which I love to death. Recently I purchased a new 400GB Seagate st3400633a HDD. The drive was setup correctly; however, it is only recognized as a 183GB HDD (thus maybe not setup correctly). I checked the Seagate website which referenced another Apple article that says make sure I have the latest OS and bootrom. I checked the compatibility for my MAC and I have the latest and greatest available.
Can anyone suggest what actions I should take to get my 400GB to be seen as a 400GB HDD?
PS: I do NOT want to purchase another controller card to get this drive to work. I refuse to believe my MAC can not support anything past 180GB, so that is not an answer.

G4 QuickSilver Mac OS X (10.4.8) I love my MAC

G4 QuickSilver Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Posted on Jan 28, 2007 8:03 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Jeff

Level 6

12,328 points

Jan 28, 2007 9:24 PM in response to wumessiah

This Apple TIL article discusses large drive support. In addition to running OS 10.2 or newer when formatting the drive and having the latest BootROM, the IDE controller must support 48-bit LBA (logical block addressing). A June 2002 production date marks the beginning of this support, according to Apple. Your 867 MHz G4 is a 2001 Quicksilver model, which lacks 48-bit LBA. The 2002 model Quicksilvers and MDD G4s have large drive support. I don't know why you're seeing a 183 GB drive, as opposed to a 128 GB drive.

Unfortunately, as others in your situation have found (including myself), buying/installing an ATA-133 controller card is the hardware solution for large drive support in older Macs. There is a software workaround - Intech Software's " ATA Hi-Capacity Support Driver," but it has some restrictions. Be sure to read the downloadable product guide, for complete details. If given a choice, I'd prefer investing my money in a controller card.

Reply

Answer 2

The hatter

Level 9

61,031 points

Jan 29, 2007 5:39 AM in response to wumessiah

PS: I do NOT want to purchase another controller card to get this drive to work. I refuse to believe my MAC can not support anything past 180GB, so that is not an answer.

So you are stuck with returning the drive; buying SATA drive and controller; buying FW800 case and controller (assuming you want the performance of the drive and not just FW400's 35-40MB/sec).

And the limit is 137GB for pre-2002 QS.

Refusing to believe won't change or improve reality or your options.

Reply

Answer 3

Jan 30, 2007 9:40 AM in response to wumessiah

Hi, wumessiah! Welcome to the Discussions!

Launch your System Profiler and check the Boot ROM version number listed under the Hardware Overview. If your QS Boot ROM version is 4.3.3f2, the Mac has built-in large drive support and the 400GB drive should format to roughly 372GB. If any other version is indicated, it does not have such support built into the logic board and you're restricted to working with a maximum of 128GB of formatted space on any drive connected to the native controller, unless you add hardware or use a software solution as previously described.

Gary

Reply

Answer 4

wumessiah Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 30, 2007 1:55 PM in response to Majordadusma

I guess my MAC is the older version after all. It has the 4.2.5f1 bootrom. Isn't there a trail version of the software to see if it works properly? I figure if I can trial it and it works then its worth buying, if not I will pursue the other option (controller card).

Reply

Answer 5

Jan 30, 2007 5:08 PM in response to wumessiah

wusmessiah,

I agree with Jeff regarding Intech's Speedtools versus a dedicated controller card, favoring the latter. I figure that for an additional $20-$40, one gets a hardware solution without the setup restrictions, and an additional, independent bus which is much faster than the built-in bus. One has full use of both the native bus as well as the PCI card's bus, meaning that additional drives may be added. Moreover, if one bus happens to go bad, the other will still work. I see the hardware addition as a better choice than a software patch, but of course, that's just my opinion.

There isn't a trial version of the Hi-Cap driver, but folks here report that it works, as long as its setup parameters are followed.

Gary

1GHz DP G4 Quicksilver 2002, 400MHz B&W rev.2 G3, Mac SE30 Mac OS X (10.4.5) 5G iPod, Epson 2200 & R300 & LW Select 360 Printers, Epson 3200 Scanner

Reply

Answer 6

wumessiah Author

Level 1

0 points

Jan 30, 2007 6:51 PM in response to Majordadusma

I am beginning to agree with the masses. What's a good controller card the experts recommend?

Reply

Answer 7

Jeff

Level 6

12,328 points

Jan 30, 2007 8:11 PM in response to wumessiah

In the US, I suggest the Acard AEC-6280M ATA-133 controller card, because this retailer has it for less than the competition's comparable products. Sonnet Technologies has their "Tempo ATA-133" card, but it retails for $99 USD. SIIG has a Mac-compatible controller card, but I don't have the model number or average price for it. Hopefully, some of the Aussies who frequent the Forum will recommend a dealer and card with the best price in your area. PC-compatible controller cards won't work in a Mac, so that shortens the list of possibilities.

Reply

Answer 8

wumessiah Author

Level 1

0 points

Feb 11, 2007 3:01 AM in response to Jeff

Hi Everyone. I just wanted to share my findings through all of this and what I did to solve it. As you can tell from the trail I did not have a Mac that was compatible with LBA support and as a result I could only use a limited portion of my large disk. I ended up purchasing a controller card to solve this problem. While I didn't want to spend any more money, I thought to myself and realised that if I purchase the right controller card I will extend the life of my lovely Mac for years to come. As a result I ended up purchasing the Projovian SUA-100E PCI controller card. This card gave me both ATA and SATA support. In the future as ATA drives become outdated and unavailable I am happy knowing I can still extend my systems capacity using this controller card without anymore unnecessary purchases. Thank you once again to everyone who assisted me with my ordeal, we have proven that the Mac community is far stronger and more reliable then any others out there!

G4 QuickSilver Mac OS X (10.4.8) This Mac Rocks!!!!!

Reply

Answer 9

jomiketo

Level 1

10 points

Feb 14, 2007 8:02 AM in response to wumessiah

Hi everyone, i am in exactly the same situation i think, i have a 2001 Quicksilver PowerMac G4 867 and would like to upgrade the hard drive. I was looking at this one:

Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 400GB S300 16MB
http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=4F6M&CategorySelectedId=11154&Nav igationKey=11154,42240000,50410&InMerch=1

would I be able to use this adapter:

Sonnet Tempo Serial ATA [TSATA]
http://www.sonnettech.com/product/temposerialata.html

Thank you in advance!

867 MHz PowerPC G4, 2GHz MacBook Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Reply

Answer 10

Feb 14, 2007 11:40 AM in response to jomiketo

Hi, jomiketo!

The SATA drive with the SATA card you referenced should work fine in your Mac.

Gary

Reply

Answer 11

frighez

Level 1

0 points

Apr 2, 2007 4:51 AM in response to wumessiah

Dear Wumessiah,
i'd like to buy the Projovian SUA-100E PCI controller card
on what G4 you have put? it works perfectly? do you know if it's compatible with all G4 and G5 models? Do you think it works also with G3?
thank you so much for your help
igor
may mail is: frighez at hotmail.it

Reply