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The Jackalope · Mar 18, 2003, 06:21 PM

Ok...I went to CompUSA (boo, hiss) to hop on that great 120gig maxtor drive for $80 (after rebate) deal. While there, I figured, what the hell, I know that the B&W's IDE drive blows, and got myself a ATA 100/133 PCI card. It IS for PC's (a SIIG, inc. brand card), but I thought this would be no problem. On SIIG's website, it even states that OS 10.2+ has drivers for their cards built in.

But, of course, when I set up the drives (the new 120 gig is the slave to my Western Digital 60 gig master), plug in the PCI card, and attach the cable that came with the card, I get the flashing question mark. The Mac can't find the drives.

I reattached the built-in IDC cable, and all runs well.

What have I done wrong? Any help?

Edit: Yes, I have a rev. B B&W G3.

BrettOZ · Mar 18, 2003, 06:42 PM

Have you tried to just boot from your Old drive on the normal IDE and have the New drive sitting on the PCI Card as a master? Just to see if OSX can actually see the drive and card?

The Jackalope · Mar 18, 2003, 07:15 PM

Hmmm...no...I hadn't thought of that. I'll give it a go later tonight. I didn't know you could have two "masters" so to speak.

BrettOZ · Mar 18, 2003, 07:54 PM

I have a B&W rev 2, with a Sonnet ATA 66 in it, it certainly does not worry it you have a master hanging off the PCI Card and one on the IDE channel.

Give it a go - then just use OSX to select the boot drive...

The Jackalope · Mar 18, 2003, 09:22 PM

Nope! Won't go. The PCI card won't recognize the drive at all.

No BIG thing...just a mystery. I'll return the card I guess.

Strange!

BrettOZ · Mar 18, 2003, 09:44 PM

This might be stupid question, but does the card support up to that size of drive?

The Jackalope · Mar 18, 2003, 09:53 PM

Yeah, the whole point is that the type of card should support over 200 gig drives as far as I know. I was just trying it out for a bit of a speed boost, as well as a hedge against the inherent flakeyness of the B&W's own IDG system.

BrettOZ · Mar 18, 2003, 10:10 PM

What happens if you just put the new drive as a slave on the IDE channel ? Does OSX find it ?

robot prom · 10:25 PM

Is the card you bought specifically for Macs? Mac IDE cards have a different BIOS chip than the PC versions. PC PCI IDE cards are unusable in Macs.

BrettOZ · Mar 18, 2003, 10:18 PM

robot prom

That is where I was going, if it can see the drive without the card - its gotta be the card..?

I think it is going to be a return item

The Jackalope · Mar 18, 2003, 10:28 PM

Yeah, I figured it is the card. Although on the manufacturer's own website, it states that OS X should be able to recognize the card, even though it is a PC card.

Oh, and the drive works perfectly well as a slave with the built in IDE. So, no big thing really., Just a bit of a pain to return the card.

Thanks for the help though!

BrettOZ · Mar 18, 2003, 10:42 PM

Maybe look at the ACard or Sonnet ?

The Jackalope · Mar 18, 2003, 10:43 PM

That's what I'm thinking. That'll learn me for buying on the cheap!

Tom N · Mar 19, 2003, 08:21 AM

Originally posted by The Jackalope:
That's what I'm thinking. That'll learn me for buying on the cheap!

Actually I have a friend who uses the SIIG ate card in his machine, so i checked the SIIG website. They have two Mac version of their ATA cards. These two cards, a raid and non raid version of Ultra ATA 100/133 have different part numbers and product names then the PC versions.

Mac versions:
Ultra ATA 133/100 Pro
Ultra ATA 133/100 Raid

PC versions:

Ultra ATA 133/100 PCI
Ultra ATA 133/100 Raid PCI

My guess is that Comp USA has the PCI versions which are for PCs

Tom N.

suprz · Mar 19, 2003, 04:33 PM

Originally posted by BrettOZ:
Maybe look at the ACard or Sonnet ?

the SIIG is a rebranded Acard. but i know for a fact they have different model numbers for the mac version (prt# SC-MP4A12)
versus the windows model.

i would return the card and get a refund and buy one off of the SIIG website using the part# i listed