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mr8500 · #1 (**permalink**) 09-24-2006, 07:54 AM

Hey guys, Im trying to install a 2nd hard drive (seagate 120gig) to a G4 that is running 10.3.2 on it. Im pretty sure I have it all plugged in correcly. I tried setting the drive both as a slave and as cable select and the mac just wont see the drive. I am using Disk Utility to try and format the drive but no luck. Any suggestions?

Cory · #2 (**permalink**) 09-24-2006, 08:21 AM

what model G4? if I recall - I think some of the earlier models had a weird IDE bus that didn't support a slave drive.

mr8500 · #3 (**permalink**) 09-24-2006, 08:39 AM

Machine Model: Power Mac G4 (AGP graphics)
CPU Type: PowerPC G4 (2.9)
Number Of CPUs: 1
CPU Speed: 450 MHz
L2 Cache (per CPU): 1 MB
Memory: 1.12 GB
Bus Speed: 100 MHz
Boot ROM Version: 3.24f1

Joe · #4 (**permalink**) 09-24-2006, 08:40 AM

Just double check everything at these two links:

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=24342

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=31292

mr8500 · #5 (**permalink**) 09-24-2006, 08:47 AM

Could it have something todo with the fact that this comp can't run classic anymore? I cant seem to get it to work. When I try to start it up it says that it cant start classic?

Joe · #6 (**permalink**) 09-24-2006, 08:49 AM

Why can't it start classic? Maybe a dumb question but you do have classic installed right? But no, it really should not make a difference.

mr8500 · #7 (**permalink**) 09-24-2006, 08:55 AM

Not quite sure why, It has not worked since I installed OSX

MarkDouma · #8 (**permalink**) 09-24-2006, 09:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cory

what model G4? if I recall - I think some of the earlier models had a weird IDE bus that didn't support a slave drive.

Think that was the Early G3s (The Blue & White ones, I mean).

I have a "Yikes!" (PCI graphics motherboard, based on the BW G3) G4 400 MHz, which is the first G4, and it supports a second ATA/IDE drive sitting on top of the master drive which is in the bottom of the drive "sled". The Sawtooth, which is the kind the OP has should be identical in that regard...

Dupple · #9 (**permalink**) 09-24-2006, 09:38 PM

Maybe a reinstall is required. Installing 9 or Classic is optional. I've never installed either on my machine at home (Last of the T-Books), but all the machines at work (whatever flavour), still get Classic in every "Standard Build" image we install.

MarkDouma · #10 (**permalink**) 09-25-2006, 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mr8500

Hey guys, Im trying to install a 2nd hard drive (seagate 120gig) to a G4 that is running 10.3.2 on it. Im pretty sure I have it all plugged in correcly. I tried setting the drive both as a slave and as cable select and the mac just wont see the drive. I am using Disk Utility to try and format the drive but no luck. Any suggestions?

I think it should be set to Slave, if the main drive is Master (Some of the G4 models switched to Cable Select, but I think those were later than yours). You may want to double-check what jumper settings the original drive is set to. Sometimes a drive can have a "Master and is the only drive" and a "Master with slave present" setting that you may need to change. The drive will probably have a diagram somewhere on it. Try double and triple-checking the jumper settings to make sure that what you actually have set really is what you think it is.

You have the ATA cable hooked into both the drives as well as a 4-prong power cable connected to each drive? (I've swapped HDs in my G4 probably hundreds of times, and have on occasion forgotten to hook a power connector up (drive doesn't work too well if it's not on 8O)). Since you have the swing-down side-opening case, shut the Mac down completely, and then open the door and lay it down down flat. Then, listen closely as you turn the power to the Mac on. You should hopefully be able to hear both drives "spin up" meaning that they are properly getting power. (Larger and newer drives are so darn quiet these days though; the 13 GB Western Digital and 20 GB WD I had in my G4 made a racket though). If it's not spinning up, you'll need to figure out why and resolve that before it will show up in Disk Utility. (Don't run the Mac open like this for very long; shut it once you've determined whether the drives spun up or not).

You may also want to double-check pins on the ATA connector of the drive and make sure they're not bent. (I have a SCSI scanner that I probably connected and disconnected hundreds of times from that G4, and one time, no matter what I did, I could not get the SCSI scanner to show up. Tried booting in both OS X and OS 9, neither could see anything. Only after looking closely at the pins on my SCSI card did I notice that one of them was bent downward so that both it and the pin below it were going into the same hole in the SCSI cable. Fortunately, nothing blew up, and after straitening the pins out and carefully connecting the cable, the scanner showed up fine.

Until ruled out, your problem is definitely at the hardware-level; software-related stuff like inability to start Classic shouldn't affect it.

Hope this helps....