SSD in a G4 cube? Here's a bracket!

[Cox Orange]

I used two different adapters, one is listed in this thread and fits the bracket quite well, the other one is from OWC. Both were set to "Master"

There is one chipset, the Marvel chip 88SA8052, that is said to be the most reliable/compatible with SSDs and Macs, here in ths forum. There is another adapter that features the jMicron

In my ibook G4 I have a 1,8" mSATA-III SSD (crucial m4, because at the tme it had the best garbage collection; TRIM doesn't work under 10.4/10.5), it has a Marvell20330 chip and works. (I wouldn't buy the m4, which is oooold anyway by now, not again, because I had two and both died after 1,5-2 years. Other people where totally happy with it).

These chips should be available on normal SATA-to-IDE adapters, too. Not only mSATA-to-2,5"-IDE. In fact I have a SATA-to-3,5"-IDE adapter with a Marvell chip (and a red PCB) in my PowerMac G4-AGP. I have the generic chinese SATA-to-3,5"-IDE adapter with the green PCB, too, but it took like hours to boot in my PM G4 and every action was done with several freezes. It also did only work when there is no other drive present.

And there is one chip called "Manhattan (158282)", that is guaranteed to work. It could very well be that this is the chip I have in my PM G4. I don't have th epossibility to look for it, now.

If you have the time, search this forum for "PowerBook G4 Marvell", I remember there were two threads where the chipsets where discussed at lenght. This search https://forums.macrumors.com/search/5399775/?q=powerbook+ssd+marvell&o=date&c[node]=145
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What 2.5 ssd (sata, msata) is it you bought?
I saw several 120 gb ssd for sale with different specs...

I use this https://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=hdssd&...iba+OCZ~1035_Western+Digital~2028_128~252_120 price comparison site, the preselection only shows manufacturers that themselves develop NAND chips. This selection is a naive way to be sure to get quality, but I admit with the cost for an old machine, you could buy from other manufacturers, too. I selected only 120-128GB for you, you would have to select the interfac you'd prefer, though (I don't know, which adapter you want to go with and what form factor fits in the Cube).

PS: if you totally can't get the SSD to run and are at an end in this forum try cubeuser.de (it's german, but you can post in english there. They are as friendly as us )

 

[mode11]

Yeah, Marvell 88SA8052 based adapters are definitely the ones to get. The Startech IDE2SAT2 (adapter that goes on the back of 3.5" SATA HDDs) has one, as does the Lycom ST-173-7 2.5" IDE to mSATA adapter. Both are excellent and work flawlessly, waking from sleep every time. Sleep support has been the biggest issue with older / off-brand stuff in my experience.

 

[claesjanwolff]

There is one chipset, the Marvel chip 88SA8052, that is said to be the most reliable/compatible with SSDs and Macs, here in ths forum. There is another adapter that features the jMicron

In my ibook G4 I have a 1,8" mSATA-III SSD (crucial m4, because at the tme it had the best garbage collection; TRIM doesn't work under 10.4/10.5), it has a Marvell20330 chip and works. (I wouldn't buy the m4, which is oooold anyway by now, not again, because I had two and both died after 1,5-2 years. Other people where totally happy with it).

These chips should be available on normal SATA-to-IDE adapters, too. Not only mSATA-to-2,5"-IDE. In fact I have a SATA-to-3,5"-IDE adapter with a Marvell chip (and a red PCB) in my PowerMac G4-AGP. I have the generic chinese SATA-to-3,5"-IDE adapter with the green PCB, too, but it took like hours to boot in my PM G4 and every action was done with several freezes. It also did only work when there is no other drive present.

And there is one chip called "Manhattan (158282)", that is guaranteed to work. It could very well be that this is the chip I have in my PM G4. I don't have th epossibility to look for it, now.

If you have the time, search this forum for "PowerBook G4 Marvell", I remember there were two threads where the chipsets where discussed at lenght. This search https://forums.macrumors.com/search/5399775/?q=powerbook+ssd+marvell&o=date&c[node]=145
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I use this https://skinflint.co.uk/?cat=hdssd&sort=p&xf=1035_Crucial~1035_Intel~1035_Micron~1035_SK~1035_Samsung~1035_SanDisk~1035_Toshiba~1035_Toshiba+OCZ~1035_Western+Digital~2028_128~252_120 price comparison site, the preselection only shows manufacturers that themselves develop NAND chips. This selection is a naive way to be sure to get quality, but I admit with the cost for an old machine, you could buy from other manufacturers, too. I selected only 120-128GB for you, you would have to select the interfac you'd prefer, though (I don't know, which adapter you want to go with and what form factor fits in the Cube).

PS: if you totally can't get the SSD to run and are at an end in this forum try cubeuser.de (it's german, but you can post in english there. They are as friendly as us )

thx!
I will try to order the Manhattan (158282) - saw a Danish site where they still sell it (I live in DK), I do wonder though why the OWC SSD (OWCSSDMXLE120) SATA/IDE adapter doesnot work at all...might return it.
Btw: how did you manage to install OS 10.5.6 without getting the USB overcurrent notice?
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Yeah, Marvell 88SA8052 based adapters are definitely the ones to get. The Startech IDE2SAT2 (adapter that goes on the back of 3.5" SATA HDDs) has one, as does the Lycom ST-173-7 2.5" IDE to mSATA adapter. Both are excellent and work flawlessly, waking from sleep every time. Sleep support has been the biggest issue with older / off-brand stuff in my experience.

Thx! I ordered the Manhattan SATA 300 to IDE Converter

 

[Cox Orange]

Btw: how did you manage to install OS 10.5.6 without getting the USB overcurrent notice?

Oh, my mistake. I think I never installed 10.5 on it. I only had 10.4.11 on it.

 

[DavNeil]

Not sure it is right or wrong adding a reply after so long, today I installed HP SATA 120GB in Cube. One type of adapter didn't work (slim with no capacitors). I could not squeeze the current IDE and Power adapters to connect and had to add flex IDE extension and molex for power to get more wiggle room. It works fine. Sleeps and wakes up fine. Now I am going to repeat the same in my MDD.

I am on 10.4.11 and I went through many hoops to get 10.4.11 from original HDD to SSD. Used Firewire adapter for SATA SSD as target and old Firewire CD Writer shell for Original HDD on Mojave machine (2009 4,1 --> 5,1 Mac). Then found that my adapter is bad because Cube will not boot but after replacing the adapter it just worked fine. I have Lacie external Firewire adapter also which I used to boot original HDD as external for Cube because I wanted to partition 120GB to 100+10GB so I can install OS 9 on 10GB.

I have ordered two more adapters from Hong Kong one with regular caps and other with tantalum.

 

[cosmichobo]

My Cube has been sitting idle for a long time, taunting me over the Harmon Kardon speakers that I need to solder. Feel like it needs some love and first thought was to try out installing an SSD. Google lead me here... and - not sure I'm so keen now! Sounds like it's going to be not-so-simple.

Eventually though, I'm guessing if I want to keep the Cube alive, this will become necessary...

At first thought, was hoping it would help keep my Cube quiet, but then remembered I've got the 1.5Ghz Sonnet card, so - that fan's gonna keep on running.

Still - should get the soldering done (needs a new USB plug) so I can start using it to play music. Also had it playing a family slideshow on my 15" Studio Display, which the kids love. In fact - I should start it right now - my teenager has 5 friends over now COVID restrictions are easing. Will embarrass the hell out of him...

 

[mode11]

My Cube has been sitting idle for a long time, taunting me over the Harmon Kardon speakers that I need to solder. Feel like it needs some love and first thought was to try out installing an SSD. Google lead me here... and - not sure I'm so keen now! Sounds like it's going to be not-so-simple.

Eventually though, I'm guessing if I want to keep the Cube alive, this will become necessary...

At first thought, was hoping it would help keep my Cube quiet, but then remembered I've got the 1.5Ghz Sonnet card, so - that fan's gonna keep on running.

Still - should get the soldering done (needs a new USB plug) so I can start using it to play music. Also had it playing a family slideshow on my 15" Studio Display, which the kids love. In fact - I should start it right now - my teenager has 5 friends over now COVID restrictions are easing. Will embarrass the hell out of him...

What's your concern with fitting an SSD? One issue with the Cube is that Apple cut the cabling exactly to length, to keep it neat. This doesn't give you much leeway when fitting drive adapters. This can be a problem as IDE and SATA drives had their connectors in different places. A simple solution is to use a 3.5" to 2.5" IDE adapter, then use a 2.5" IDE to mSATA adapter. I gave details in my Feb 2018 post above.

For information, I have a cheap 120GB KingSpec laptop IDE SSD in my Cube, which came with my Pismo. The laptop wouldn't wake from sleep with it in, but it works fine in the Cube. If buying new though I'd go the mSATA route, as it's more modern and easier to know exactly what you're getting.

I've got a 1.2GHz Sonnet in mine. I fitted a 10mm Panaflo in the bottom, but with a little bending of tabs I believe a standard 25mm fan actually fits fine. If you're taking the logic board out anyway to replace the USB sockets, it would be easy to fit an 80mm Noctua - perhaps the slower-spinning Redux model.

 

[cosmichobo]

Thanks for the reply @mode11

Last time I tried "adapting" a HDD was for an Apple TV (1st gen) - upgraded to a 1TB SATA drive via an adapter; also had to dremel a few things to get it to fit. Worked fine for a few days - then died. The adapter card had a black spot - so seems it had issues.

Partly my issue is - I've just been dismissing myself too much lately. So long as I can find the correct parts, I don't doubt that I can set it up OK - then I have a Leopard DVD to instal the OS -- though I see some people prefer Tiger for their Cubes. Might look further at that...

RE the USB / soldering - did I mention a bunch of maurading teenagers - didn't go to sleep til nearly 1am, and then up at 6am... Clearly was tired when I wrote the above post! I missed mentioning that the soldering is for my Harmon Kardon Soundsticks. I got the sticks cheap because they were untested... turns out they work, but the male USB connector was no good. I spliced in another cable and the speakers were working fine... This afternoon, I soldered the wires... heat-shrinked them... connected to the Cube, and got about 3 seconds of great music, then - sounded like a dying modem! Seems I have a short...

 

[mode11]

Thanks for the reply @mode11

Last time I tried "adapting" a HDD was for an Apple TV (1st gen) - upgraded to a 1TB SATA drive via an adapter; also had to dremel a few things to get it to fit. Worked fine for a few days - then died. The adapter card had a black spot - so seems it had issues.

Partly my issue is - I've just been dismissing myself too much lately. So long as I can find the correct parts, I don't doubt that I can set it up OK - then I have a Leopard DVD to instal the OS -- though I see some people prefer Tiger for their Cubes. Might look further at that...

RE the USB / soldering - did I mention a bunch of maurading teenagers - didn't go to sleep til nearly 1am, and then up at 6am... Clearly was tired when I wrote the above post! I missed mentioning that the soldering is for my Harmon Kardon Soundsticks. I got the sticks cheap because they were untested... turns out they work, but the male USB connector was no good. I spliced in another cable and the speakers were working fine... This afternoon, I soldered the wires... heat-shrinked them... connected to the Cube, and got about 3 seconds of great music, then - sounded like a dying modem! Seems I have a short...

When you say it has a 'black spot', are you talking about one of those adapters where the 'chip' is a blob of black epoxy? That type of manufacturing seems to be bargain basement wherever it's used. An adapter like I suggested above will be much more reliable, and won't require any dremelling to fit (God forbid). You can use a sticky pad to mount the SSD, but a cheap metal 3.5" to 2.5" drive adapter will let you retain the heatsink that normally goes on the 3.5" HDD, keeping an OEM appearance.

Leopard will run fine with your 1.5GHz CPU, though for Core Image an Nvidia 5200 or 6200 would be ideal (though any CI-supporting card won't have OS 9 drivers, if that matters). Depending on what you're using the Cube for, CI probably won't make that much difference. A card that at least supports Quartz Extreme would be good though (i.e. not the stock Rage Pro 128). Leopard is better for software compatibility, especially web browsers, and looks more modern. I find Tiger generally more performant on G4's, though, and better for 3D games (higher / more consistent frame rates, no screen tearing, more reliable etc.). The old Camino G4 browser runs well under Tiger (just don't do your Internet banking with it!). Tbh, no one should be trying to use a Cube for anything remotely demanding (by modern standards) anyway.

Good luck with the SoundSticks. We have a pair of SS III's in everyday use on an Intel Mac, and they sound great.

 

[cosmichobo]

When you say it has a 'black spot', are you talking about one of those adapters where the 'chip' is a blob of black epoxy? That type of manufacturing seems to be bargain basement wherever it's used. An adapter like I suggested above will be much more reliable, and won't require any dremelling to fit (God forbid). You can use a sticky pad to mount the SSD, but a cheap metal 3.5" to 2.5" drive adapter will let you retain the heatsink that normally goes on the 3.5" HDD, keeping an OEM appearance.

Leopard will run fine with your 1.5GHz CPU, though for Core Image an Nvidia 5200 or 6200 would be ideal (though any CI-supporting card won't have OS 9 drivers, if that matters). Depending on what you're using the Cube for, CI probably won't make that much difference. A card that at least supports Quartz Extreme would be good though (i.e. not the stock Rage Pro 128). Leopard is better for software compatibility, especially web browsers, and looks more modern. I find Tiger generally more performant on G4's, though, and better for 3D games (higher / more consistent frame rates, no screen tearing, more reliable etc.). The old Camino G4 browser runs well under Tiger (just don't do your Internet banking with it!). Tbh, no one should be trying to use a Cube for anything remotely demanding (by modern standards) anyway.

Good luck with the SoundSticks. We have a pair of SS III's in everyday use on an Intel Mac, and they sound great.

The ATV adapter was a cheap-ass thing from China. The "black spot" - I meant it had a burn mark. The drive still works - though not sure where I'd use it now; SSD is so much better. The ATV itself has gone to recycling; I was repairing it for my brother who has Down Syndrome; he'd successfully been using it for a few years when the original HDD died; had hoped to keep him in the same "environment" as it was easy to navigate, but at that point my mother said not to worry - he could go back to DVDs.

When I bought the Cube - firstly it was purely because I'd ALWAYS wanted one, but secondly I was hoping I could use it as a sexy HTPC. This was about 6-7 years ago now. I explored the option, but consensus from a few sites was that whilst it may be ok for SD video, it wouldn't handle HD, and my own testing confirmed this. It could play a DVD-RIP really well, but most my media isn't direct rips, and I was moving more toward HD. I'm now largely HD material, using Plex, with an XBox One S as the HTPC, so - that job has now been filled.

What I'm looking to use the Cube for now is to play music with the Sound Sticks, and also be a "live picture frame" (17" LCD Studio Display). It's really nice having a slideshow playing, with pics that make us all stop now and then to take a look. The problem with the Cube though - it's very noisy - louder than my MacPro. Hence idea to go to a SSD.

A stock Cube would probably be better for me now it doesn't need to be super massively fast... silent would be perfect... but I don't have a stock motherboard for it. When I get round to swapping the HDD, I'll also pull the fan. I've only blown some compressed air over it - haven't tried to clean it properly yet, as ultimately the Cube hasn't had a lot of run time since I got it. (It arrived without the power cable to power the ADC port; that took some time to resolve too!)

Incidentially - my Cube has a Nvidia GeForce2 MX card, and maxed out RAM, but worryingly - I just checked the self diagnosis, and it's failing on its external cache. I gather from googling that this isn't a good thing...

 

[mode11]

The problem with the Cube though - it's very noisy - louder than my MacPro

That's strange. There's only 2 possible sources of noise (assuming the 2MX is passive) - the base fan and the HDD. If it's the original HDD, they can be pretty noisy. It's surprising how loud the contemporary (fan-less) G3 iMacs were, for the same reason. The base fan depends on what's down there, but any 25mm fan can run silent whilst shifting more air than a slim 10mm one.

it's failing on its external cache

May want to investigate software that can slightly down-clock either just the cache, or the cache + CPU. 1.5GHz is at the upper end of what a G4 can run at, assuming it's a 7455 G4 (the later 7448's didn't have any L3 cache).

 

[ervus]

This bracket looks full size. One of my cubes has the VRM relocated to give more room for the video card and also give the VRM some cooling air. I made a little metal bracket to hold the VRM and a mSata SSD in the area of the 3.5" drive bay.

 

[cosmichobo]

That's strange. There's only 2 possible sources of noise (assuming the 2MX is passive) - the base fan and the HDD. If it's the original HDD, they can be pretty noisy. It's surprising how loud the contemporary (fan-less) G3 iMacs were, for the same reason. The base fan depends on what's down there, but any 25mm fan can run silent whilst shifting more air than a slim 10mm one.



May want to investigate software that can slightly down-clock either just the cache, or the cache + CPU. 1.5GHz is at the upper end of what a G4 can run at, assuming it's a 7455 G4 (the later 7448's didn't have any L3 cache).

I've just purchased one of the IDE/SATA cards, and a 120GB SATA SSD. Hopefully I'll be able to get it all together.

Once that's done, I'll see if the noise issue is resolved; if not, I'll pick up a fan too.

Regarding software to slow the Sonnet card / Cache... Got any pointers?

 

[reddrag0n]

wondering if anyone was able to find or create the bracket to mount an aftermarket dvd rom in the cube? there was one some time back on the cubeowners forums that did that, but i have yet to find it anymore.

copied from the old cubeowners forums...

Featured Ad: parism's optical drive brackets

Posted by CubeOwner - 09-17-05 17:49 - 5 comments

CubeOwners are a creative and crafty bunch. One who proves that theory recently is parism. He has fabricated a new "bracket" that you can use to install a new Combo or SuperDrive that was intended for a laptop, not a Cube. While there are excellent off-the-shelf drives that fit perfectly in your Cube, some of us like to save a few bucks and purchase drives that aren't fitted specifically for Cubes. Enter paris with his custom bracket solution which makes any compatible laptop drive fit inside the Cube - without the need for even any screws!. It's basically a sleeve that you slide the drive into the bracket and then slide the bracket assembly into your Cube. No muss, no fuss - perfect fit every time. As an added benefit, he's included a grooved side so there is no strain to the IDE cable. Paris is offering these custom brackets in the CubeOwner Classifieds for only $25 ($27.50 outside the US), which includes shipping. If you send him a postcard for his collection, he'll give you a $2 discount. I purchased a few set of paris' earlier designed brackets and I was very pleased with the transaction and with the quality of the brackets themselves so I have no qualms about recommending that you do business with him. I'm even buying a few more sets of his new bracket to have on hand for clients. OOPS - I actually purchased those brackets from another CubeOwner: quadric.... my apologies for the confusion! Both CubeOwners are still A-OK with me For additional info, visit http://www.cubeowner.com/classifieds/showp...php?product=226

Description:​

UPDATE: I am currently back-ordered for 2 weeks or so. If you want a set, you can still email me but be prepared to wait for that time. I will email you as soon as a set is ready for you. In the meantime, you can use this time to get your optical drive and the mini-IDE/power connectors. DESCRIPTION: This is a completely new design for installing a laptop combo or superdrive in your Cube. I've made brackets before but they relied on screws and sticky tape to keep the drive in place. Alignment of the drive to the Cube's top part was not very easy. So, I designed these brackets with three features in mind: lack of screws, perfect alignment all the time and ease of use. They are amazingly easy to use: slide them to the sides of your laptop drive and then slide them into the Cube's core. That's it! The drive is perfectly aligned and will not move in any direction due to the way they are designed. No screws are necessary and the whole assembly is completely reusable. No sticky tape to use! Not only that but they also have a grooved side so that there is no strain to the IDE cable! You will not be disappointed... $25 shipped in the US, $27.50 anywhere else. Send me a postcard and receive $2 discount! Look for more custom Cube parts soon...​

 

[reddrag0n]

i contacted the post owner, and i informed him that there is a bracket for the cd/dvd roms for the imac g3's and cubes.

iMac G3 / Powerbook G4 / G4 Cube adapter for standard slimline optical drives

 

[cosmichobo]

My Cube's optical drive operates, but doesn't spit the disk out properly when the Cube is in its upright position - common issue I gather.

I read that you can put the belt in some boiling water for 15min, and that will cause it to tighten up a little, and help with ejecting. So - I am considering doing this when I get my Cube open in the next few weeks. Assuming I can get the belt easily enough.

 

[Wouter3]

I have taken my old DVD drive completely apart and cut of the underside with a Dremel. I then installed a new slimline DVD drive with double sided tape in the old empty DVD case. You also need a slimline adaptor as the original Apple adapter is the wrong way around for a new slimline drive. E.g. https://www.ebay.nl/itm/153946274498?hash=item23d7e9bac2:g:wFQAAOSwRlFdFLah

 

[dr.zeissler]

If you don't use an apple drive with apple firmware you will likely run into some problems. I think PS1 Games will not work. You can repair the CD/DVD Drive. I have done that and it works perfect!

Beside that you can take out the HDD and use an SSD. Only one downside on this. You will get "?" If you change the bootpartition the first restart, the second it's OK, don't know why, but that's not a big issue if you don't change the startup-partition everytime. I mostly run OS9 and sometimes OSX. I will reinstall Linux-PPC too (perhaps YDL) but currently I checkout MOS while booting via open-firmware from a TFTP (Boot.img) and then from the USB-Stick because MOS don't like OS9, but there are actuell big Problems with the original Apple Studio-Display that came with the cube. I don't have the exact timings on that and therefore I have lot's of problems getting a picture on the screen. Only way actual is holding ctrl while booting MOS, but that can't be the end solution.

 

[cosmichobo]

OS 9... I forgot the CUBE could do OS 9...

Stupid I know, but I've been dying to play Puyo Puyo for ages!

Puyo Puyo - Macintosh Repository

This is a budget priced re-release of the original game (Japan only). Like the Windows version, the original was published by Bothtec and the...

www.macintoshrepository.org

From memory under OS X / Classic it either didn't play or - maybe wasn't good game play. Christ, that was a long time ago...

May have to set up my SSD with 2 partitions. Just waiting on the ATA/SATA adapter to arrive...

 

[dr.zeissler]

I have a lot original games and I keep installing the next days
I managed to get the 15" Studio Display working in MorphOS.