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ripewithdecay · Oct 6, 2003, 10:56 PM

Hi I am new to the forums so I'd first just like to say hello to the community. I've read MacNn for a while and always enjoyed the communities input and response to certain news stories. Now after the usual @ss kissing, I move on to my question. I have a 1.8 Ghz G5 and I would like to add a second hd. I know that there is new HD controller technology in the g5 so which HD's can I add to the g5. I want it to be in the 100Gb range, is there any that you guys can reccomend? Links would be helpful.
-Jordan

Spliffdaddy · Oct 6, 2003, 11:25 PM

You want a Serial ATA (SATA) interface on the new hard drive. Drives listed as ATA100, ATA133, etc will not work.

Any of these will work >

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...codevalue=4570

andrewbw · Oct 6, 2003, 11:28 PM

Ripe --

You need a Serial ATA drive, commonly known as "SATA." Most IDE drives (and the drives in most previous Macs like the G4 line) are PATA or Paralell ATA drives. However, more and more PCs, and the PowerMac G5, are using Serial ATA because of the increase in performance, and easier installation (SATA drives use smaller cables, and combine power and data into a single connector, versus PATA drives which use a molex power connector plus a large ribbon cable for data).

SATA drives are available in most common sizes (80, 120, 160, 250, etc.) and from most common manufacturers (Seagate, Maxtor, Western Digital, Hitachi/IBM, etc.). They're generally slightly more expensive than the equivalent PATA drive -- maybe five to 10 percent.

You should be able to find a selection of SATA drives at any store that caters to PC enthusiasts -- I've seen Maxtor and Seagate SATA drives at my local Best Buy, for example. Otherwise, macconnection.com, macmall.com, newegg.com, etc. all carry SATA drives.

Hope this helps.

-A.

Hydra · Oct 6, 2003, 11:29 PM

Any SATA drive should work fine. I like NewEgg price and reputation.

http://www.newegg.com

-Jerry C.

Arkham_c · Oct 7, 2003, 10:07 AM

Originally posted by Hydra:
Any SATA drive should work fine. I like NewEgg price and reputation.

I've bought hard drives from New Egg before and never had any problems.

fishguy · Oct 7, 2003, 02:21 PM

Let me ask this. I recently added an Sonnet 133 controller in a PCI slot in my G4 to run a 3rd and potentially 4th hd. Are there SATA controllers that can be added to a PCI-X slot in the G5? Is there enough room to get a 3rd hd in?

andrewbw · Oct 7, 2003, 02:38 PM

There is no specific place designed for a third hard drive -- meaning, there isn't an additional drive bay (just two SATA hard drive bays, one optical drive bay). Whether or not you could jury-rig one that didn't interfere with the cooling channels is another matter. I'm not so sure that would be a good idea, though.

-A.

giantsuper · Oct 7, 2003, 02:46 PM

Question:
As long as the secondary hard drive is not the boot disk, is transfering a SATA hard drive between machines (eg. between one G5 to another G5) as simple as unplugging from one computer and plugging it into the other?

wapangy · Oct 7, 2003, 06:03 PM

Originally posted by giantsuper:
Question:
As long as the secondary hard drive is not the boot disk, is transfering a SATA hard drive between machines (eg. between one G5 to another G5) as simple as unplugging from one computer and plugging it into the other?

Yes.

olePigeon · Oct 7, 2003, 08:39 PM

PATA not to be confused with PETA, don't try to plug your hamseter in.

taffy · Oct 7, 2003, 09:08 PM

Well, for emergency purposes where you had no idea that the new G5s came with SATA, you can unplug the SuperDrive and replace it with a PATA drive.

Now the question is has someone been brave enough to replace the cable to put a master and a slave (No mention of Master/Slave support).

c.

Originally posted by andrewbw:
There is no specific place designed for a third hard drive -- meaning, there isn't an additional drive bay (just two SATA hard drive bays, one optical drive bay). Whether or not you could jury-rig one that didn't interfere with the cooling channels is another matter. I'm not so sure that would be a good idea, though.

-A.

olePigeon · Oct 7, 2003, 09:27 PM

Originally posted by taffy:
Well, for emergency purposes where you had no idea that the new G5s came with SATA, you can unplug the SuperDrive and replace it with a PATA drive.

Or you could get an external FireWire enclosure. They convert PATA to FireWire.

Cadaver · Oct 8, 2003, 11:58 AM

Originally posted by olePigeon:
PATA not to be confused with PETA, don't try to plug your hamseter in.

PETA: People Eating Tasty Animals

bosolevu · Oct 8, 2003, 05:47 PM

could I just buy the OEM SATA drive or do I also need to purchase the additional power adapter? thanks.

MaxPower · Oct 8, 2003, 06:05 PM

In a pinch, check ebay for 'serial ata board' and 'serial ata cable'. For under 20 bucks, you can have a PATA-->SATA adapter. not sanctioned by apple though

olePigeon · Oct 8, 2003, 06:08 PM

Originally posted by bosolevu:
could I just buy the OEM SATA drive or do I also need to purchase the additional power adapter? thanks.

Yes, you can just buy an OEM SATA drive and stick it in the extra drive bay above your current HD.

bosolevu · Oct 8, 2003, 06:09 PM

Thanks! I'm placing my order now on newegg.com

TiDual · Jul 27, 2004, 06:32 AM

I just bought a second SATA for my G5, but can't quite figure out what I need to mount it (physically) ... it seems that one needs to put some screws or "rails" on the side edges of the drive for it to fit snugly into the drive bay. The drive didn't come with anything ... anyone know what hardware is necessary, and where to get it?

thanks in advance!

chris v · Jul 27, 2004, 07:15 AM

There should be four round-headed black screws sitting in the plastic partition between the hard drive bay and the DVD-RW bay. Screw these into the sides of the drive.

CV

Hydra · Jul 27, 2004, 08:28 PM

There are some photos of the drive install as well as the screw locations in this photo album:

G5 internals

They are located about 2/3 of the way down the page. Hope this helps.

-Jerry C.

TiDual · Jul 28, 2004, 06:58 AM

Thanks guys ... don't know how I missed those!

mainemanx · Jul 28, 2004, 11:00 AM

Originally posted by Hydra:
There are some photos of the drive install as well as the screw locations in this photo album:

G5 internals

They are located about 2/3 of the way down the page. Hope this helps.

-Jerry C.

Man that are slick ain't it! I'm dying to get a dual 2gHz... my wife NEEDS it to render and burn her trendy dramas...