Mac Pro Compatibility With Older SATA Drives And DVI Connectors

I soon plan to replace my 5 year old G5 with a new Mac Pro and need two questions answered so that I will know what options i have for the transfer of older data and apps. The Apple web site for the Mac Pro includes the following paragraph which gives me reason for concern:
Your Mac Pro includes four drive bays, allowing you to configure it with
up to 8 terabytes of storage using 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s drives, up
to 2 terabytes of storage using high-performance solid-state drives, or
any combination of each type of drive. Configure each drive bay
separately.
Does the phrase "using 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s drives" mean that the Mac Pro will ONLY work with 3Gb/s drives or that it performs best with 3Gb/s drives?
I currently have two internal SATA 250/300 GB Maxtors (Maxtor 7Y250M0 and Maxtor 6B300S0... both are 7200 RPM but I don't know the data transfer speed). Ideally I would get a Mac Pro with a single 1 TB drive, move one or both of these older SATA drives to the new computer, one temporarily and the other permanently in order to transfer data and Apps to the new machine. If this is not possible then the new machine will need to wait until after I get a new larger FW external drive to use as a data transfer medium (I had planned to do that anyhow). I need to do some advance planning for this so I need to know what to expect in advance. I noticed this possible wording ambiguity on Apple's description of the Mac Pro long ago, but now I need to find out the answer for sure. Apple, you need to be more specific with your words.
Can anybody answer this question for me?
My second question regards display connectors. Does the standard (no bucks added) display card include a standard DVI connector or only the newer Mini-DVI connectors. I think I see a standard DVI connector in the low res picture of the back of the Mac Pro but am unsure. My 5 year old Apple display bit the dust a year ago and I had to replace it with an HP 2009m display (mumble grumble) which does use a standard DVI connector. A new Apple display is too rich for my blood so I plan to continue using the HP display for now and need to find out if I will need a display adapter to go with it.
Many thanks to anyone who can answer these questions authoritatively.
For anyone who asks why I still run 10.3.9 on my G5, I can only answer response speed. New OS versions always act like a lead anchor on a machine with their added overhead and Tiger really does feel like a ball and chain tied to me... it just does not reaspond as fast as I do. I look forward to the speed of a new machine.
Phil Rogers
--

Does the phrase "using 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s drives" mean that the Mac Pro will ONLY work with 3Gb/s drives or that it performs best with 3Gb/s drives?
Any commercial sATA drive will do just fine. 7200 RPM is not a requirement.
WD "Green" drives have caused user complaints about "long delay until ready" when installed inside a Mac Pro, but are fine for backups.
You are making the leap from PowerPC to Intel Mac. Eventually, you should re-initialize your old drives to GUID partition table for best responsiveness.
Migrating your System will not be possible. Use the pre-installed System or Install a new System on a GUID-partitioned drive with the release DVD in the box.
Migrating your Applications is a Bad Idea. You should plan on re-installing all your third-party Applications from their release discs.

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Mac Pro (early 2008): older SATA drive compatibility

I have 2 Seagate Barracuda SATA drives pulled from my PowerMac G5 and I'm wondering if they are compatible with my new Mac Pro (early 2008) 2x-2.8 Quad.
500 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.9
250 GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.8
Will the drive bays on the new Mac Pro accept these drives?
Thanks.

I just put in a WD Caviar 750GB. To say it is faster than any other 7.2K drive I've used is an understatement. Never dreamed I'd ever see 90+ MB/sec, not without 15K drive. Tops out even my 10K Raptor which turns in 89MB/sec.
When did the 7200.8/9 come out? 3-4 yrs is a lifetime for a disk drive.
But if you just want something that works, they should be fine for your needs. There was a time when 75GB ATA drives were the new best thing, or 180GB that cost nearly $300 when it came out and first introduced a 'huge' 8MB cache vs 2MB that was being used.
I would reformat and reload the data, serves to insure the data is backed up, then reloaded, especially if it was formatted until an OS older than 10.4.4.

Mac Pro compatibility with Windows 7 and Bootcamp

This apple post : http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3920
says they will not support Win7 on older Mac Pro's (e.g. 2.66ghz dual). Does anyone know why?
When I try to instal Win7 on Bootcamp 3 I get a BSOD and it will not run.
Suggestions?

If you look closely you see that EFI64 (UEFI 2.x) is the demarcation line of 2008 between support or not is EFI firmware.
2006-7 and you get the EFI menu prompt with 64-bit Vista and 7. Mac Pro and others pre-2008. Apple's idea of supported or not may not be ours. If you want to troubleshoot yourself.
BC 3.0 - built during the summer, before Windows Oct 22nd, buggy, and rushed. Often due to the HFS read feature, just rename "AppleHFS.sys" to something else is often enough. Not sure why your system is having trouble without knowing more.

Mac Pro compatibility with HP Designjet Plotter

Hi All.
My architectural firm are about to order some new Mac Pro's and a new HP Designjet 500 A1 plotter. I'm currently using a G5 on 10.4.7 and have just noticed that the HP 500 is not listed in the Printer Setup Utility.
Does anyone know if support for this plotter is available anywhere?
Thanks.

AJ -
We had the same problem with our old Designjet 430. Both OS9 and OSX were completely unsupported by HP. We had to fork out for 3rd party software for OS9 and the Gimp driver for OSX resulted in very poor quality plots.
I've had a look and there is a HP driver for the 500 for OSX, but for 10.4 it says:
HP Printers - Mac OS: Print only HP Drivers (non-Postscript) built into Mac OS X v10.4 (Tiger)
Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger and HP Driversback to top of page
The latest HP printer driver for this device is built into Tiger for print only functionality and does not require a download or reinstallation of any HP software to print.
This document applies to raster (non-Postscript) HP Designjet, Deskjet, Business Inkjet, and LaserJet printers.
In order to best take advantage of the latest HP driver and new Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger features, it is recommended that you delete original HP printer queues from Printer Setup Utility and create a new HP printer queue.
Tiger - HP printer setup instructions:
1.Upgrade install from Mac OS X v10.1, 10.2, 10.3 - select 'Reset Printing System" option (from the Printer Setup Utility pull down menu) to delete all previous printer queues. The HP printer queue can also be deleted manually from Printer Setup Utility.
2.From Printer Setup Utility, click on Add, select connection type (e.g. All, Bonjour, USB, Appletalk) and create new HP printer queue. The Printer Setup Utility is found in the Applications/Utilities folder.
3.Clean install - If there is a clean install of Tiger, follow step 2 to add a new HP printer queue.
That has me scratching my head because as I said, the 500 isn't listed in Printer Setup.
Any ideas?

Mac Pro compatibility with Xserve Raid

Are the two compatible? In other words, can I connect an Xserve Raid to my Mac Pro (asuming that I have a Fiber Chanel card)?
If above answer is yes, asume that the Mac Pro is connected to a WLAN at home via Ethernet or airport. This WLAN also hosts one more computer (PC). Will this PC have access to the Xserve raid data?
Finally (and asuming that cost is not a big issue-I know how much the Raid solution costs, even at minimum config), Do you think that the Xserve Raid solution (with the minimum configuration) is better/more reliable/faster/ than the Mac Pro internal solution? Take into consideration that I am a photographer (shooting digital and raw format ONLY) and I consume about 50-60Gb of disk space per month
Mac Pro 2.66 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

You might want to look at what some other photographers use, Port Multiplier controller and drive enclosures. Up to 5 drives per channel for a total of 20 drives.
XRAID would offer FC and more levels of RAID support, and concurrent access, especially with Xsan.
Take a look at the AMUG reviews:
Mac Pro 2GHz 2GB WD Raptor/ RE 320/160 Mac OS X (10.4.8) APC RS1500

Mac Pro compatibility with linux 64x / visa 64x

I purchased a Mac Pro for the power because I am an Architecture graduate student and I spend a lot of time modeling and rendering large and complex structures. Sadly, Maya, which I use a lot is only scripted for 32x on the Mac OSX. I have the options of installing 64x edition of Maya in either Linux or Windows. My question is which 64x operating system would be most compatible with my mac pro? I have five hard drives so its not a big deal to me where the OS goes as long as it will allow me to make the most use out of the system. My hope is that AutoDesk will get on the ball and release a 64x OSX edition of Maya but in the mean time I'm going to have to use an alternate OS... I'm also hoping the next addition of the mac OSX will integrate GPGPUs so that I can drop in another video card to bump up its processing power but that might be too much wishful thinking.

Well, a more powerful Mac Pro should come out sometime in mid-2009.
Snow 10.6 will probably require 64-bit drivers and updates to any applications, 3rd party controllers, plug-ins and the works.
http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/10/17/nvidia.quadro.cx.for.cs4/
http://www.macrumors.com/2008/06/15/snow-leopards-grand-central-and-opencl-detai ls/
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/16080
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/10/28/roadto_mac_os_x_snow_leopard_64_bit_to_thekernel.html
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/opengl-directx,2019-7.html
http://www.barefeats.com/harper19.html
Unless there is a seachange, and graphics changes quickly while Apple stays a generation behind the curve.

Mac Pro compatibility with my Sony Vaio lap top

I think I am going to take the leap into mac. I really like the mac pro, but I am not ready to trade in my lap top. Am I going to have any problems switching back and forth from the Mac Pro to my Sony Vaio lap top?

You can run Windows on your Mac Pro. And you can be sure that it is proven machine today.
As for speculation about future products, what when and if, my guess is 2009 will be busy for Intel's rollout of Nehalem in mid-year, and 10.6 eventually, and while they will definitely improve the quality and performance, I'd worry about those 12/31/2009, not 2008.
Take a look at the Apple Store Specials link for Apple certified refurbished equipment.

Older mac OS compatability with versions of elements and photoshop

Hello. Is there a nice easy to read table out there to list this? I did find one for Elements but only deals with versions of OSX. Thanks. PCguy

For Mac OS 9 (9.1 and later), the newest versions that work are photoshop elements 2 and photoshop 7
Photoshop 6 and photoshop elements 1 work as well,
Older versions are probably too out of date, though they do work.
Photoshop Elements 2
Macintosh
PowerPC® processor
Mac OS 9.1, 9.2.x, or Mac OS X v.10.1.3-10.1.5
128MB of RAM with virtual memory on
350MB of available hard-disk space
Color monitor capable of displaying thousands of colors at a resolution of 800x600 or greater
CD-ROM drive
Photoshop 7
Macintosh
PowerPC® processor (G3, G4, or G4 dual)
Mac OS software version 9.1, 9.2, or Mac OS X version 10.1.3
128 MB of RAM (192 MB recommended)
320 MB of available hard-disk space
800x600 color monitor with 16-bit color or greater video card

Upgrade my Macbook Pro 17" with solid state drive and RAM?

My MBP is a 17" mid-2009, 2.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, Memory 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3, Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT 512 MB.
I am an architecture student. I use 3D modeling programs like SketchUp, Revit, AutoCad, etc. According to these software websites, my MBP is sufficient. However, when I'm running these programs, I get the apple "beach ball" a LOT, along with a lot of lagging even when I'm working on simple models. After doing some research, it appears that upgrading my RAM to 8GB (my model's max capability) and buying a solid state drive would help my MBP run much faster and much cooler.
My questions:
1. What brand and exact product #/link to this (if possible) of RAM (2 x 4GB sticks) and SSD should I purchase?
2. Which SSD GB option should I purchase? I chatted with OWC online and was given this variety of SSDs.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/internal_storage/SSD/Mercury_Electra_3G_Solid_Sta te
3. I was also given this product bundle recommendation. It's cheaper than buying everything individually, but I'm not sure if I need the tools and I don't understand the purpose/advantage of having the "OWC Express Silver Enclosure".
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/YSSDMP240/
I just want my MBP to run as fast as possible while running my modeling software w/o spending an arm and a leg if possible. But I don't know if it's worth the trouble and expense to upgrade my current MBP, which I love, or just getting a new MBP or Mac desktop. And if I should just get another Mac, I don't know which one I should get.
Another thing I have seen is the Mac Mini. Is it possible to plug this or any other external device to my MBP in order to accomplish my performance goals without having to modify my MBP or buy another Mac?
This is the first time I've posted any help questions to the Apple Support Community. I really appreciate any advise you Mac experts can give me. I called one of the Apple Stores, but I was definitely not satisfied with the inexperienced rep's answers.
Thanks!

1. OWC or Crucial are recommended sources for memory. You can usually find a 5% off and free shipping code for Crucial on retailmenot.com. On crucial just key in your system information in their memory selector.
2. Your system likely supports SATA II speeds, so the SSD OWC pointed to would work. I installed one in our 2010 mac mini and it's working well. I originally installed their 6G drive however it ran at SATA I speeds. Turns out the 3G which is specd for SATA II is what was needed and works fine.
3. The OWC package they recommended includes a case to put your existing hard drive in. That helps to be able to transfer your data back to the SSD then you can use it as a backup drive or as an external storage device.

How to reinstall Mac OS X with dead hard drive and no DVD drive?

Hey,
I need to reinstall Mac OS X 10.6 on my Mac Mini as my hard drive doesn't appear to be booting. However, I cannot reinstall it through the OS install DVD as the DVD drive is not working either. I don't have any other Macs on hand to help create a boot disk or something so does anyone else have any solutions?
Thanks,

Your going to need a external blank (preferably Firewire 800) drive if your not capable of replacing your Mini's internal drive.
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/
Your going to need a external DVD drive, or use a friends Mac with one and follow these instructions to place 10.6 on a bootable USB thumb drive to install on the external or new internal drive.
http://www.maciverse.com/install-os-x-snow-leopard-from-usb-flash-drive.html
To boot from the external drive, hold the option key down on a wired keyboard and select it to boot from, set it as the Startup disk in System Preferences.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

Apple new macbook pro dosent have a disk drive. Does the older model have a problem with the disc drive and so is removed in the new model?

apple new macbook pro dosent have a disk drive. Does the older model have a problem with the disc drive and so is removed in the new model?

No. Apple replaced the disk drive with a solid state drive (SSD) instead. The SSD is faster the old disk drive.
Allan

HT1338 I own the Mac Pro Desktop with the older OS X 10.5.8. Can I upgrade to a newer version?

I own the Mac Pro Desktop with the older OS X 10.5.8. Can I upgrade to a newer version? Will it affect my docs etc currently stored on hard drive's? How much will this cost?

If you have a 2006 or 2007 model you can upgrade it to Lion - 10.7.x. If it's a 2008 or later model you can upgrade to the current version of Mountain Lion. Doing so requires Snow Leopard 10.6.8:
Upgrade Paths to Snow Leopard, Lion, and/or Mountain Lion
You can upgrade to Mountain Lion from Lion or directly from Snow Leopard. Mountain Lion can be downloaded from the Mac App Store for $19.99. To access the App Store you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.6 or later installed.
Upgrading to Snow Leopard
You can purchase Snow Leopard through the Apple Store: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard — Apple Store (U.S.). The price is $19.99 plus tax. You will be sent physical media by mail after placing your order.
After you install Snow Leopard you will have to download and install the Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1 to update Snow Leopard to 10.6.8 and give you access to the App Store. Access to the App Store enables you to download Mountain Lion if your computer meets the requirements.
     Snow Leopard General Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel processor
       2. 1GB of memory
       3. 5GB of available disk space
       4. DVD drive for installation
       5. Some features require a compatible Internet service provider;
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       6. Some features require Apple’s iCloud services; fees and
           terms apply.
Upgrading to Lion
If your computer does not meet the requirements to install Mountain Lion, it may still meet the requirements to install Lion.
You can purchase Lion by contacting Customer Service: Contacting Apple for support and service — this includes international calling numbers. The cost is $19.99 (as it was before) plus tax. It's a download. You will get an email containing a redemption code that you then use at the Mac App Store to download Lion. Save a copy of that installer to your Downloads folder because the installer deletes itself at the end of the installation.
     Lion System Requirements
       1. Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7,
           or Xeon processor
       2. 2GB of memory
       3. OS X v10.6.6 or later (v10.6.8 recommended)
       4. 7GB of available space
       5. Some features require an Apple ID; terms apply.
Upgrading to Mountain Lion
To upgrade to Mountain Lion you must have Snow Leopard 10.6.8 or Lion installed. Purchase and download Mountain Lion from the App Store. Sign in using your Apple ID. Mountain Lion is $19.99 plus tax. The file is quite large, over 4 GBs, so allow some time to download. It would be preferable to use Ethernet because it is nearly four times faster than wireless.
     OS X Mountain Lion — System Requirements
       Macs that can be upgraded to OS X Mountain Lion
         1. iMac (Mid 2007 or newer) — Model Identifier 7,1 or later
         2. MacBook (Late 2008 Aluminum, or Early 2009 or newer) —
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         3. MacBook Pro (Mid/Late 2007 or newer) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         4. MacBook Air (Late 2008 or newer) — Model Identifier 2,1 or later
         5. Mac mini (Early 2009 or newer) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         6. Mac Pro (Early 2008 or newer) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
         7. Xserve (Early 2009) — Model Identifier 3,1 or later
To find the model identifier open System Profiler in the Utilities folder. It's displayed in the panel on the right.
Are my applications compatible?
         See App Compatibility Table — RoaringApps.
     For a complete How-To introduction from Apple see Upgrade to OS X Mountain Lion.
Back up your current system to an external drive or to an available internal drive by making a bootable clone:
Clone using Restore Option of Disk Utility
1. Open Disk Utility in the Utilities folder.
2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag
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5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
      the Source entry field.
6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Destination means the external backup drive. Source means the internal startup drive.

Can I config. a SSD with two SATA drives on a RAID pro card?

Hello,
I'm planning to order the new Mac Pro (hexa 3.33) and want to run OS X and my main applications off of it for speed. I was planning to get two SATA drives and connect them with a RAID pro card. Is this set up compatible (i.e. running an SSD with a RAID pro card installed in the system)?
The reason why I'm asking is that on the APPLE build your MAC site there is a note about the RAID pro card:
"Note: Solid-state drives are not compatible with the Mac Pro RAID Card in either RAID or Enhanced JBOD mode. To add a solid-state drive to your Mac Pro in any drive bay, you must deselect the Mac Pro RAID Card."
Thanks for your help guys (and gals)

Thanks. I have the Apple RAID card in my Early 2008 Mac Pro and it's served me reasonably well. I use it for RAID-5 and I don't care about booting Windows so that's not an issue for me (though I confess that I hadn't even considered the implications for Windows).
I bought the system with one Apple drive (a 1TB Hitachi) and added three additional Seagate 1TB drives and have had no problems beyond the need to replace a failed drive, and in that case the array was rebuilt and the system is behaving well again.
Ah, so you're talking about third-party SATA controllers that go in a PCI Express slot, to which one would connect a third-party RAID enclosure via eSATA, is that correct?
Concerning the additional SATA ports on the Mac Pro motherboard: I don't know about the just-announced models, but MacSales was/is selling a SATA cable for the prior model--apparently that model has one additional SATA port (not two) on the motherboard.
By the way: I had a question in another thread (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2545031) about whether it's possible to upgrade my Apple-card-managed RAID-5 array in place. If you (or anyone else with expertise) could take a quick look, I'd appreciate it.

I cannot change song order on playlist with highlight and drag. I have turned off shuffle and highlighted the far left column( up/down arrow) of playlist. My mac pro is running 10.5.8 and am using itunes 10.4.

I cannot change song order on playlists (old or new) with highlight and drag. I have turned off shuffle and highlighted the far left column (up/down arrow) of playlist. My mac pro is running 10.5.8 and am using itunes 10.4. I can't drag and drop "music" to "playlist" but can right click and get the option to "add to playlist." No such option for moving song within playlist, only the up and down arrow which moves song from top to bottom list, so if it is #4 from top it will move to #4 from bottom. Stupid I know. I spent over an hour with Apple support, reinstalled itunes, restarted and rebooted computer. Networked with my laptop which is running 10.6.8 and itunes 10.4 and it can drag and drop. The final Apple support solution was to reinstall my operating system. I would prefer not to. Any other ideas?

After looking at other people's posts, I think it's official: there is a bug. Itunes support said I should not have lost the drag/drop tool and I haven't on the laptop that is running itunes 10.4 and operating system 10.6.8. I chatted with someboby who lost both his drag/drop and side scroll and what we have in common is a wacom tablet for a mouse. My laptop is a wireless mouse. I reinstalled whatever updated driver that wacom has out there, shut the system down for night, hoping for magic, but alas none to be had. So if I want to change song order, I network the laptop and desktop, share the screen on the laptop, drag and drop to my heart's content and curse Apple for making me work this hard to find the tool that was once at my fingertips. Apple also let me know that if I want to share songs in household that the hundreds on songs that were purchased for .99 need to be repurchased for another .30. Maybe Apple is holding my drag/drop tool captive til I pay up the money or Maybe the next update will fix the problem, I for one give up for now.

Why dont the Mac Pro's with Retina Displays have a CD/DVD drive?

Why dont the Mac Pro's with Retina Displays have a CD/DVD drive? Will Apple eventually stop producing CD/DVD drives?

Gethin R wrote:
Why dont the Mac Pro's with Retina Displays have a CD/DVD drive?
Because Apple did not put one in there.
Will Apple eventually stop producing CD/DVD drives?
We can't really answer that, but it would not surprise me. More and more of the computers being produced by Apple lack an internal optical drive. If you really need one, get an external such as LowLuster suggests.
Best of luck.

Mac Pro Compatibility With Older SATA Drives And DVI Connectors

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