120 Gb disk limit

gary.rowlands · 04-18-2004, 05:45 PM

Hi guys, can anyone give a definitive answer to the hard drive size limit argument with reference to a G4 Quicksilver, I've got a 60 Gb internal and a 80 Gb internal but would like to get the biggest disk I can to replace the 80 Gb (in the disk one position) and replace the disk 0 (60) Gb with the outcoming 80 Gb but I've heard conflicting stories on the subject.

Thanx in advance, Gary

saint.duo · 04-18-2004, 06:45 PM

The quicksilver G4s used an ATA controller that only supports drives up to ~128GB, I believe this is 32 bit addressing (someone correct me on that part if I'm wrong). I have seen a few here and there that will recognize larger drives. A coworker of mine has one such machine. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that on some boards (not models), a different controller was substituted when the one specified by Apple was not available.

On some of Apple's specifications (like optical drives), they list a "minimum" specification, but you may end up with better depending on parts availability when a machine is being built.

Officially, the only G4s to support drives larger than 120GB (since the next step made is 160GB) is the Mirrored Drive Door models (rear drive connector only) and the FW800 models (both the rear and front connector, but not the optical drive connector).

edit: The official solution to using larger than 120GB drives is to use something along the lines of the Sonnet Tempo 133 PCI card.

DeltaMac · 04-18-2004, 06:49 PM

The maximum size IDE device supported on your Quicksilver is 128 GB. A 120 GB HD (or two) will work fine. If you want to use a larger size device, you must connect those drives to a PCI IDE adapter card that supports ATA-6.

gary.rowlands · 04-19-2004, 02:51 PM

Thanks very much for the info everyone, Gary

yellow · 04-19-2004, 03:16 PM

Or, use a large drive in a firewire enclosure. There's no such size limitation there.

trevor · 04-20-2004, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellow


	Or, use a large drive in a firewire enclosure. There's no such size limitation there.

Firewire doesn't have a size limitation, but some older firewire to ATA bridge boards do. Not every firewire case can handle drives larger than 137 GB.

Trevor

mclbruce · 04-20-2004, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yellow


	Or, use a large drive in a firewire enclosure. There's no such size limitation there.

I thought that if a Mac doesn't support large sized IDE drives then it will not be able to format large size firewire drives. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong or clear up this issue.

yellow · 04-20-2004, 07:53 AM

The Firewire bus doesn't have the limitations that ATA has. I have a Quicksilver at home whose ATA would limit it to 128GB without a new ATA card. But I have a 160GB FWdirve, and a 200GB FWdrive.

saint.duo · 04-20-2004, 09:46 PM

For an extreme case, I have eight 250GB firewire drives connected to my B&W G3 server. It formated those drives just fine.

mclbruce · 04-21-2004, 01:46 AM

Thanks yellow and St.Duo for clearing that up.

04-18-2004, 05:45 PM	#1
gary.rowlands Prospect Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Conwy UK Posts: 26	120 Gb disk limit Hi guys, can anyone give a definitive answer to the hard drive size limit argument with reference to a G4 Quicksilver, I've got a 60 Gb internal and a 80 Gb internal but would like to get the biggest disk I can to replace the 80 Gb (in the disk one position) and replace the disk 0 (60) Gb with the outcoming 80 Gb but I've heard conflicting stories on the subject. Thanx in advance, Gary __________________ Gary, GW7TED

04-19-2004, 02:51 PM	#4
gary.rowlands Prospect Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Conwy UK Posts: 26	Thanks a lot chaps Thanks very much for the info everyone, Gary __________________ Gary, GW7TED

04-18-2004, 06:45 PM	#2
saint.duo MVP Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 1,084	The quicksilver G4s used an ATA controller that only supports drives up to ~128GB, I believe this is 32 bit addressing (someone correct me on that part if I'm wrong). I have seen a few here and there that will recognize larger drives. A coworker of mine has one such machine. If I had to venture a guess, I would say that on some boards (not models), a different controller was substituted when the one specified by Apple was not available. On some of Apple's specifications (like optical drives), they list a "minimum" specification, but you may end up with better depending on parts availability when a machine is being built. Officially, the only G4s to support drives larger than 120GB (since the next step made is 160GB) is the Mirrored Drive Door models (rear drive connector only) and the FW800 models (both the rear and front connector, but not the optical drive connector). edit: The official solution to using larger than 120GB drives is to use something along the lines of the Sonnet Tempo 133 PCI card.

04-18-2004, 06:49 PM	#3
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 8,531	The maximum size IDE device supported on your Quicksilver is 128 GB. A 120 GB HD (or two) will work fine. If you want to use a larger size device, you must connect those drives to a PCI IDE adapter card that supports ATA-6.

04-19-2004, 03:16 PM	#5
yellow Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 10,677	Or, use a large drive in a firewire enclosure. There's no such size limitation there.

04-20-2004, 07:53 AM	#8
yellow Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 10,677	The Firewire bus doesn't have the limitations that ATA has. I have a Quicksilver at home whose ATA would limit it to 128GB without a new ATA card. But I have a 160GB FWdirve, and a 200GB FWdrive.

04-20-2004, 09:46 PM	#9
saint.duo MVP Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Seattle Posts: 1,084	For an extreme case, I have eight 250GB firewire drives connected to my B&W G3 server. It formated those drives just fine.

04-21-2004, 01:46 AM	#10
mclbruce Hall of Famer Join Date: Mar 2002 Posts: 3,878	Thanks yellow and St.Duo for clearing that up.