installing new hard-drive

[mactib]

Well, I will be installing a new hdd on my sawtooth G4 AGP. I am thinking of getting a 120 gb barracuda. right now the g4 has a 20gb hdd. Can I install the hdd without a SATA controller? I have heard the system can not handle more than 128 gb. So what should I do?
And what is the procedure for installing the hardware on my computer? The OS is 9.something.

Thanks guys

 

[disconap]

Is the new hdd a SATA drive? If so, you'll need to buy a SATA PCI card for your Sawtooth. You should look at PATA (aka IDE) drives, they are about the same price, sometimes cheaper, and they work natively with your system...

And yes, 128gigs is the cutoff for the Sawtooth. You can buy a software driver that allows you to partition larger discs, are you can buy a hardware controller that allows you to use larger drives (I have one in a b/w, it has a 200gig drive in it, works fine).

Installing in the Sawtooth is easy. Open it up, look at the bottom of the case; the hard drive will be to the right. Disconnect it and unscrew the single screw on the bottom of the plate (roughly centered just in front of the drive) and lift out the cradle. You can add a second drive to the cradle or replace the drive in it. Slide it back in, reconnect, and you're done...

 

[mactib]

does that mean I can install a 120gig hdd without trouble?
(What I thought was, "a sawtooth can not have more than 128gb of hdd".)
But what I infer from your posting is that, "a sawtooth can not have a single hdd of more than 128gb" i.e. a sawtooth can have more than 128 gb of hdd in total.

Am I right?

 

[disconap]

Yes, your Sawtooth will be fine with a 120gig drive, provided it is PATA/IDE. The 128gig barrier is PER drive, as in one single drive cannot exceed 128gigs. Again, you can buy a software driver or a hardware controller that changes that (I don't suggest the software driver).

 

[mactib]

how will the system recognise the hard drive? is there any procedure I need to do to install it? you know installing the OS and stuff. I don't have an OS DVD...so..how do I do it from the hdd that I have right now?

thanks

 

[disconap]

Try this. Install the second drive as a slave, run it and clone your old drive to the new one.

 

[mactib]

but my G4 is OS 9.0.4 , so any other solutions?