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#1 2008-05-09 2:46 pm
- thumbprint
- giant member
- Registered: 2003-06-22
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mirror door HD upgrade - feedback requested
Hi,
I have a dual 1.25 ghz mirror door G4 with two 80gb HDs in it currently. I want to add a 500gb ATA drive also. It looks like a simple straight-forward procedure, but I wanted to ask here before I screw anything up 
The two 80gb drives are mounted in the main drive mount on the right side, so I need to put this new one in the drive bays on the left, under the cd/dvd drive bays. This will partially block the airflow, which worries me a bit.
Also, I noticed that this new drive will be plugged into a second data cable, labeled ATA-66. Does this mean that the other two 80gb drives are running on an ATA-33 line?
I've never put more than two HDs in any computer I've owned, so I'm not sure exactly what to expect. Like I said, it seems simple to me, but i just want to make sure I don't do anything boneheaded...
Thanks
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#2 2008-05-09 4:40 pm
- D'Eyncourt
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- Registered: 2001-12-27
- Posts: 8798
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Re: mirror door HD upgrade - feedback requested
thumbprint wrote:
[snip]
Also, I noticed that this new drive will be plugged into a second data cable, labeled ATA-66. Does this mean that the other two 80gb drives are running on an ATA-33 line?
[snip]
According to MacTracker (donationware), your MDD G4 has two IDE buses--one is ATA-66; the other, ATA-100. Your 80 GB drives presumably currently are on the ATA-100 bus.
BOYCOTT SONY
"I think the question now is not whether you went to Vietnam or whether you didn't, whether you fought in the war or fought against the war. I think the only question is whether we can find a president smart enough never to make a mistake like that again"--Molly Ivins, way back in 1992
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#3 2008-05-12 9:11 am
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Re: mirror door HD upgrade - feedback requested
Cool, thanks for the link
I think I'm gonna put the 500gb drive in one of the ATA-100 slots then.
Any thoughts on the airflow situation? Like I said, placing a drive in the ATA-66 position will partially block airflow from the fan through the front of the chasis.
Since this will be an always-on computer, I think I'm just gonna play it safe and just not use one of the 80gb drives.
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#4 2008-05-12 1:59 pm
- D'Eyncourt
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Re: mirror door HD upgrade - feedback requested
Any thoughts on the airflow situation?
Sorry, I do not know--someone else with experience with the MDD will have to answer.
BOYCOTT SONY
"I think the question now is not whether you went to Vietnam or whether you didn't, whether you fought in the war or fought against the war. I think the only question is whether we can find a president smart enough never to make a mistake like that again"--Molly Ivins, way back in 1992
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#5 2008-05-20 9:44 pm
Re: mirror door HD upgrade - feedback requested
Hello there!
I have the same G4 1.25 dual. Here's a video tutorial that should make it easy for you.
Please go to
(1st) http://otherworldcomputing.com/ ,
(2nd) click the Tech Support Tab ,
(3rd) click Installation Videos ,
(4th) click Hard Drive Tab ,
(5th) look at list on the left side of the screen and choose either G4 Mirror drive and on the right click any size video to view.
I bought a hard drive and other hardware from them. Their Tech Support Tab is really great! It showed me how easy it was to install different hardware. They have tutorial videos for almost every Mac. Except for the Mac Air, which we know doesn't have a removable Optical Drive.
Good Luck!
eltwister
Last edited by eltwister (2008-05-20 9:47 pm)
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#6 2008-09-20 9:05 pm
Re: mirror door HD upgrade - feedback requested
The other problem you may find other then the heat from the drive itself which the cooling fans can handle but you are putting more load on the powersupply, I’m on my 2nd powersupply I have only two hard drives now in my tower and two HD’s on FireWire, yes I was running 4 HD’s inside! I do video work so the powersupply was working overtime! My suggestion would be put the 500 in the ATA-100 slot install your 80 in a external FireWire case, transfer your files to the new drive and keep the 80 for what ever!
1-G4 1.67 PowerBook (the little ladies)
1-Pismo PB (only a 400 for now)
Running 10.4.
and my old favorite 4 7600’s, all running G3’s Cards
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