Putting more hard drives in MDD G4.

[macgeek2005]

I have a question about putting in a 3rd hard drive into my MDD.

I've got 2 80GB hard drives in the two ATA/100 slots in the back of the computer. One of them is set to Master, and one to Slave.

What do I set the third hard drive too when I put it in one of the front bays?

And also, what kind of hard drives work in these other bays? I have a 10GB Ultra ATA/33 hard drive. Will that work? It says they're Ultra ATA/66 bays, does that mean ONLY ATA/66 hard drives will work??

Does that mean I can never put 4x 750GB hard drives in my computer??

Thanks.

 

[macgeek2005]

Because of all the great help you guys gave me, I was able to figure out how to put the 3rd hard drive in.

I set it to Cable Select, and I plugged in the "ATA/66" Cable into the Motherboard, even though the Drive is a ATA/33 drive.... but that's what did it. The ATA/33 Cable was already in the motherboard, but it didn't show up in the computer, so after I plugged in the ATA/66 Cable, it worked.

Thanks again for all the wonderful help you guys gave me.

However, i'm still curious. Will the ATA/66 drive bays take ATA/100 hard drives? Or absolutely not? Where do I get ATA/66 hard drives of fairly large capacity?

 

[someguy]

Because of all the great help you guys gave me, I was able to figure out how to put the 3rd hard drive in...
...Thanks again for all the wonderful help you guys gave me.

Please tell me that wasn't a sarcastic comment.

 

[macgeek2005]

Please tell me that wasn't a sarcastic comment.

Do you know if I can put 4 ATA/100 Hard drives in my computer?

 

[Doctor Q]

Thanks again for all the wonderful help you guys gave me.

Being rude in that way was uncalled for. You won't always get an answer to a technical question, and certainly not within 30 minutes on the weekend. Members are not here to serve you; they are here to help each other when they happen to be online and happen to know answers.

 

[crazytom]

Yes, you can put 4 ATA/100 drives in your MDD. The drives on the ATA/66 controller will be slower and are limited to 137Gb...you can put in a larger drive than that, but it will only use 137 Gig of space...and operate at the slower transfer rate.

You really have to watch out for heat issues, especially for the second drive in the ATA/100 slot (closest to the heat sink). I'd recommend a slot fan and to blow out the dust on a monthly basis.

I had 4 drives in my machine, but it quickly toasted the second ATA/100 drive. Since I didn't use them all the time, I went to external FW drives that I can power up only when I need them.

Hope that helps.

 

[Fleetwood Mac]

Do you know if I can put 4 ATA/100 Hard drives in my computer?

You've had quite the day haven't you macgeek?

As for your question, it's a tough say. My advice, try it. It probably won't fry anything, so if you have the drives on-hand give 'er go.

 

[Eidorian]

Because of all the great help you guys gave me, I was able to figure out how to put the 3rd hard drive in.

30 minutes and you complain...

I'm not sure about that 137 GB limitation on the ATA-66 channel. Still, yes you can put 4 ATA-100 or ATA-133 drives in. They'll clock down to the proper IDE bus speed.

 

[crazytom]

It appears my information was outdated. So, anything after system 10.2, you can format higher than 137Gb.