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You are here: MacNN Forums > Hardware - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Mac Desktops > 3rd IDE drive in a G4/400?

3rd IDE drive in a G4/400?
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Worboren
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Aug 27, 2002, 08:52 AM
 
Anyone tried that? Any success? I'd imagine it'd not be easy but probably still possible if I put 2 IDE HDs on one controller, and attach the 3rd as a slave to the DVDROM controller. Problem is, the 2nd connector on the DVDROM IDE cable is really hard to access as it's meant for the ZIP drive, and the cable itself is attached to the case in such a manner that there's really too little space to maneuvre, and even if I succeed in attaching the drive it'll be left hanging in the air, which is not my idea of how HDs should be treated Anyone tried actually pulling the DVDROM IDE cable and replacing it with a 3rd party one? Any recommendations in this respect, is it at all possible?

TIA
     
tr
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Aug 27, 2002, 10:06 AM
 
i haven't put a drive in the zip bay (as i have a zip in there), but i know how short the cable is. i do have a drive (firewire internal) on top of the cd-rom. that might be another place to put a third drive. i mean, i guess you could put it in the zip bay (lots of people have done it), you'll just have to get a longer IDE cables. i'm sure any standard IDE cable will do.


tr
     
SirCastor
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Aug 27, 2002, 11:34 AM
 
Instead of replacing the darn thing, why not just see if you can get an extension cable. 6-12 inches or so ought to make most things pretty reasonable. just attach it to the open connector.

Don't forget to screw down the hard drive if you're moving your computer anywhere.
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DrBoar
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Aug 27, 2002, 01:18 PM
 
There is actualy room for 4 HDs in the bottom of the case and power sockets for 3. Get a IDE PCI card, that enable you to have two more mottable drives and one slave. If you do add a fourht drive you will need a Y conector (of the shelf in any computer outlet for some few dollars).

Cramming harddisks in the ZIP bay or on top of the DVD player is not a first hand option
     
DrBoar
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Aug 27, 2002, 01:29 PM
 
There is actualy room for 4 HDs in the bottom of the case and power sockets for 3. Get a IDE PCI card, that enable you to have two more mottable drives and one slave. If you do add a fourht drive you will need a Y conector (of the shelf in any computer outlet for some few dollars).

Cramming harddisks in the ZIP bay or on top of the DVD player is not a first hand option
     
ReggieX
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Aug 27, 2002, 02:56 PM
 
I put a hard drive in the ZIP slot, it was easy. Cable lengths weren't a problem, it's securely screwed in.
Go for it. Just make sure that you take the CD drive cage out first, that'll make it much easier. There are two plastic tabs that lock it in place.

http://www.xlr8yourmac.com/G3-ZONE/h...x/install.html

Put the drive in the cage, then put the cage back in. The cable will fit.
The Lord said 'Peter, I can see your house from here.'
     
OSX Abuser
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Aug 27, 2002, 06:27 PM
 
FYI..
The CD/DVD drive along with the Zip drive are on an ATA33 bus.
I agree on using the ATA100 or ATA133 PCI card for extra drives.
Reality is the playground of the unimaginative
     
Cipher13
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Aug 27, 2002, 08:05 PM
 
Take the DVD drive cage out, put the HD in, push it to the back, plug the cable in. It's annoying, yes, but it reaches. Easy as.
     
Worboren  (op)
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Aug 28, 2002, 07:21 AM
 
Thanks everyone for the replies, very helpful!

Now a few points: I originally was intending the 3rd HD to sit where the zip drive is supposed to be. It doesn't fit. I have no idea why but it doesn't, unless I do something rude to the cage which I don't want to do. The drive I tried to stuff into the cage was a 40Gb Maxtor and it didn't look bigger than the other drives. Interesting.

I didn't want to buy a PCI IDE card, but perhaps it is the way to go if it doesn't cost too much as I didn't know the CDROM is on an ATA33 <disappointment> Are there any drivers to be installed (which could potentially cause conflicts and incompatibilities), and how much do these things usually cost?

Didn't know there are extension cables, thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks again everyone
     
OSX Abuser
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Aug 28, 2002, 12:41 PM
 
Originally posted by Worboren:
Thanks everyone for the replies, very helpful!

Now a few points: I originally was intending the 3rd HD to sit where the zip drive is supposed to be. It doesn't fit. I have no idea why but it doesn't, unless I do something rude to the cage which I don't want to do. The drive I tried to stuff into the cage was a 40Gb Maxtor and it didn't look bigger than the other drives. Interesting.

I didn't want to buy a PCI IDE card, but perhaps it is the way to go if it doesn't cost too much as I didn't know the CDROM is on an ATA33 <disappointment> Are there any drivers to be installed (which could potentially cause conflicts and incompatibilities), and how much do these things usually cost?

Didn't know there are extension cables, thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks again everyone
Go with the ATA100 PCI card. You should be able to find it for $100.00 or less.
You could spend more and get the ATA133 with RAID functions.
I have the ATA100 card in my Dual800 with 3 HD's on it. Works great
No drivers, no conflicts that I have seen.
Just be careful with the IDE cables.
Reality is the playground of the unimaginative
     
Cipher13
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Aug 30, 2002, 05:02 AM
 
Originally posted by Worboren:
Thanks everyone for the replies, very helpful!

Now a few points: I originally was intending the 3rd HD to sit where the zip drive is supposed to be. It doesn't fit. I have no idea why but it doesn't, unless I do something rude to the cage which I don't want to do. The drive I tried to stuff into the cage was a 40Gb Maxtor and it didn't look bigger than the other drives. Interesting.

I didn't want to buy a PCI IDE card, but perhaps it is the way to go if it doesn't cost too much as I didn't know the CDROM is on an ATA33 <disappointment> Are there any drivers to be installed (which could potentially cause conflicts and incompatibilities), and how much do these things usually cost?

Didn't know there are extension cables, thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks again everyone
Make sure it doesn't have a sled screwed to the drive, or it won't fit. If it does, take it off.
     
Cipher13
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Aug 30, 2002, 05:11 AM
 
dp
     
Gankdawg
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Aug 30, 2002, 10:20 AM
 
In order for a hard drive to fit in my zip bay, I had to use an exacto knife and cut the IDE ribbon cable vertically, about every 5 wires or so. That gave the cable the flexibility to stretchhhhhhh to be able to plugin to the HDD. Otherwise, it was too tight and I wouldn't have been able to plugin both the CDRW and HDD. Careful when you cut though.....
     
EqualTime
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Aug 30, 2002, 10:37 AM
 
it doesn't matter if your optical drives are connected to the ATA/33 channel - there isn't an optical drive that can saturate a 33MB/sec bus. Hell, you'd be hard-pressed to find a hard drive that can sustain data rates at that level.

Don't think of ATA/33 as "slow" - it's fast enough for darn near any storage media.

Downsides include:

1) Maximum size (GB) of hard drive is limited.
2) Bus saturation in striped RAID (0) (multiple disks).
3) Less bandwidth available for peak (instantaneous) data transfer. Sustained transfer speed is almost always under 30MB/sec, but modern drives include large buffers (up to 8MB) that can substantially increase the peak transfer speeds...still not a compelling reason to abandon ATA/33, tho.
"Anyway.... I don't think that would ever happen, as if we bred out the stupids, we'd have no democrats left."

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ReggieX
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Aug 30, 2002, 01:32 PM
 
Originally posted by Worboren:
The drive I tried to stuff into the cage was a 40Gb Maxtor and it didn't look bigger than the other drives.
Weird. Mine was a slow (5400 RPM) Maxtor. I picked a slow one for less heat and because it's just an online storage dump. No heavy duty use on that one. I'm kind of surprised it didn't fit. I dunno.
The Lord said 'Peter, I can see your house from here.'
     
tooki
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Aug 30, 2002, 02:48 PM
 
Just a warning: the zip bay does not have as good cooling as the hard drive bays, so your drive may overheat there (and thus reduce the life of the drive). So if one of your drives is a 5400, and the others are 7200s, put the 5400 in the zip bay. (Basically, just put the coolest drive in the zip bay.)

Don't get IDE extensions, longer cables, etc. The spec is 18" and anything over that (no matter how readily available it is) is exceeding the specification, and thus could theoretically cause problems (not that I've ever seen them with the 24" cables). The DVD/zip bus exceeds this length, but uses a top-quality cable to compensate.

tooki
     
   
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