[aprilcarter]

I have a G4 (okay, okay... no jokes) running 10.2.6 that is starting to make noise. Sometimes the noise-making coincides with a function, and sometimes it's random. It can best be described as a loud CD drive stuttering.

Am I correct in assuming that my hard drive is likely expiring?

We already got an external hard drive to back-up everything on the main drive, but I would like to know what my options are for replacing the hard drive. Is it a good idea to buy a new drive (and if so, is replacing it something two people of above-average intelligence can figure out... or if not, should we take it to a Mac store or where?)... or is the whole computer kaput?

Input very welcome. Thanks in advance for helping me defragment. I mean defrazzle.

April Carter

[scottiB]

You haven't written which G4 you have, but replacing the drive is a simple operation. The procedure is detailed in the G4's User's Manual (if you don't have it, manuals in PDF format can be found here.)

Depending on your G4's vintage, you can add a drive up to 120GB in size (733/867/DP800 G4s and before) or as large as you can find (800/933/DP1000 G4s and after).

If a drive begins to make noises that you haven't noticed, it MAY be going south. Back-up again, if you need to, and pick-up Alsoft's DiskWarrior to run a diagnostic (a must-have utility in any case). In my experiences, half the time, the drive is mechanically failing; the rest, either DiskWarrior or reformatting the drive has remedied the situation. I err on caution's side and swap the drive for a new one if it happens, now.

A new drive can greatly increase performance especially if you choose one with an 8MB cache (the specs will note if it does). A next question is, "Which brand to buy?" Many on these boards have favorites. I've bought from all the major manufacturers (IBM/Hitachi, Maxtor, Western Digital, and Seagate) and haven't had any problems with any, but I prefer Seagates. They're usually quieter.

A mighty "Huzzah!" for you having a back-up--and good luck.

[aprilcarter]

Thank you, scotti! I appreciate the info.

[angelmb]

Originally posted by aprilcarter:
I have a G4 (okay, okay... no jokes)

hey april!, that was the supercomputer for the rest of us nothing wrong there

I love my B&W G3 (okay, okay... no bad jokes)

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

Definitely upgrade to 10.3.3, it's quite an improvement. And what's wrong with G4s, mine's 3 years old and still running strong!

[aprilcarter]

Nothing's wrong with a G4, or a G3, for that matter... I just hear G5 this and G5 that... and I work at a place that keeps up to date (which I guess could be worked into the back-up plan if the G4 dies). Hee.

[sith33]

Just so it's clear, the "ca-chunk ca-chunk ca-chunk" or "clickclickclickclickclick" noise which it sounds like you're describing is the harddrive's way of saying "I'm dying, replace me!" Usually a sign of a damaged sector on the disk, which is usually the result of misalignment or some other form of serious damage...

[David Lee]

I have a G4 too (all bad jokes welcome)! In my experiance over the years working with many different HDDs I have found that, just like people, they all have a "perwsonality." Some are quiet, but a little slow when handling small file and fast when copying large files (Seagates) and some are relatively noisy but fast at any task (Hitachi-IBM), and some have a sort of comprimise character, good at everything (Maxtor - available in both liquid bearing and non-liquid types). Of course this is all my personal opinion, and not the final word on the subject in any way. I use Seagtes when I need a quiet disk, and Maxtor or IBM (now Hitachi) when performance is most important. And as posted above, the 8MB cache disks are definitely faster in any case. Choose a 120GB for a good price/size/cost balance now, and for compatability with the onboard IDE controller in the older G4s or a bigger disk if you have a leter model G4. All of the disks mentioned above, and no others, should work well for you, just choose the "character" you prefer. But do it before the old disk dies on you, it is easier to transfer data than it is to replace it!

[tooki]

I have to be the dissenting voice on the whole 8MB cache deal: yes, it helps. No, it doesn't help much. (It only helps significantly with performing the occasional small write operation. It doesn't help with reading, nor with writing larger files -- the drive mechanism is the limiting factor.)

So if you see a drive with an 8MB cache for trivially more than a 2MB drive, go for it. And if the 2MB is a lot cheaper, don't feel bad buying it -- you'd never notice the difference anyway.

tooki

[aprilcarter]

Hey, everyone, thank you so much for your contributions.

Last night, I got Alsoft DiskWarrior as suggested by ScottiB, and it showed major fragmentation: 18% on one drive, 29% on another, and 58% (!!!!) on the third.

After running DiskWarrior a couple of times on each drive, the computer shows 0% fragmentation on each disk and hasn't made the noise again... but I didn't have it on that long afterward. So, I definitely will be watching it closely and will probably order the new drive anyway. I also will be running regular maintenance with DiskWarrior on all computers I'm responsible for. My roommate (it's actually his computer) admitted he's never even run a utility program on it.

Thanks again, everyone.

April Carter

[GoGoReggieXPowars]

It's good to have a backup anyway, with large drives so darn cheap these days. I bought a regular Western Digital 120G drive 2 Christmases ago with a good mail-in rebate, and when I opened the box it was one of the SE versions with 8M cache! Can't argue with that

[angelmb]

I fear that the IBM HD on my B&W is in bad condition, defective sectors. Due to the G3 ATA bus is not first class, I am interested about noise, please, I want a silence hard disk, I know which one avoid, western digital 8 mb cache, I can not -->

[bwana]

Talking of hard Drive: The drive you shoud avoid is Western Digital. It used to be good drive but after 100 GB, it's quality has gone bad. I have 2 out 2 WD drive failed several time and I could back up data all tiem except once where I lost 90 GB worth of data. WD ofcource replaced drive under warrenty but now I would not trust it.
IBM drive I found to be best.

G4 is good but G3 is good too. I am using several Beige machines manufactured in 1996 with Jaguar without anby problem. Only problem is jaguar installation. It takes several tries sometimes to get install or sometime first try.