Something to say about Western Digital Caviar 250 Gig?

I want to add a second drive to my 1,8DP G5 (PCI-X) and I can find available locally this disc:
WESTERN DIGITAL- WD2500JS
Western Digital 250GB SATA II 7200 RPM 8MB
I wanted to check that nobody had problems with this kind of disk. I'll get it from a PC parts supplier and wanted to know if there is something I'd have to switch or configure to make it works fine in Mac.
Thanks in advance

Hello all,
I have a Power G5 dual 2Ghz and have recently bought and installed a second HD. It happened to be a WD Caviar 250 GB, SATA-II, 16MB 7200 rpm, and it only lasted one month: it soon started to make metallic noises (as if the head was falling on the disk) and then crashed.
I first thought the disk was defective so I had it replaced with a new one, same model. As soon as I installed it (upper bay) this second disk also started to have the same problems as the first one and crashed after 4 days.
I was wondering if there is any known incompatibility. In particular, the disk is labelled as SATA-II, while the manual I got with my Power G5 talks about SATA disk: are they the same thing? Or do I have to set some jumpers/switches etc.?
I hope someone can help, I am desperate, I dont't know if my Mac has a problem or I'm just not using the right disks or the correct settings.
Any suggestions on some tests or anything I can try?
Thanks a lot in advance
/Andrea
PowerMac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.2)

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Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB drive - anyone using these in internal bay

Just a side thread to a current discussion I've started (http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=1125&start=0) to try to see if anyone can report positive results using a Western Digital Caviar Black in their Mac Pro, especially if they're doing so as the Startup Disk.
I have horrible performance with a new one and want to see if others have had good or bad experience.

Out of curiosity did you prepare the drive properly? Most new bare drives have not been partitioned for use on the Mac and also are formatted FAT32. Consider doing the following;
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
I have seen elsewhere some mention that WD drives have some configuration jumpers. You might check the information about the drive's configuration at the WD support site to be sure that the drive is correctly configured (if there is a need to do so, that is.)

Hi, I have an early 2008 24" iMac, I need more storage space and was wondering if I could fit a 3TB Western Digital Caviar Green HDD into it with out any problems? This is the one I've seen, Western Digital Caviar 3TB SATA 6 GB/s 64MB Cache 3.5 inch

Hi, I have an early 2008 24" iMac, I need more storage space and was wondering if I could fit a 3TB Western Digital Caviar Green HDD into it with out any problems? This is the one I've seen, Western Digital Caviar 3TB SATA 6 GB/s 64MB Cache 3.5 inch

My bad?
You're original response was questions/post about an iMac. Now you've edited it to ask about a Mac Pro?
You can more easily add internal drives in a Mac Pro.
Not too terribly easy to add/replace drives in an iMac.
If younhave questions about a Mac Pro, try posting in the Mac Pro forums.
Much more knowledgeable users there.

MSI 915GM Motherboard + 'Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB'

Hello.
Quick one.
I have an MSI 915GM Motherboard .
Will a 'Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB (7200rpm) SATA 6Gb/s 16MB 3.5 inch Hard Drive' work on my m/b.
Cheers.

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I'm looking at WD Caviar drives for my Mac Pro. I think the 640 GB models will be good enough for me, but I'm not sure which to get. Is the "Black" model (XL320M) much better than the older one (SE16 )? I've read a little about each of them, but I'm not sure whether or not there's a substantial difference in performance between the two. I compose/record music using Logic, and would be using this drive for sampler instruments, so it's important that it run pretty smoothly. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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the 16mb shouldnt be much of an issue with that drive.
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I've been using a WD 250 external for the last year and I love it! I just bought another to back up all my files from the first and use the first one while I travel. Since many internet cafes and friends have PCs, I switched the drive to MS-DOS FAT but only with the "erase free space". Will I still be able to do my Time Machine backups? I didn't erase the whole drive because I have my other backups that I want to keep on it. I noticed other posts that refer to partitions and according to my drive it has 2 but I'm not sure where to distinguish the space allocated for both...
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Erase free space just writes over all the unused disk space. It is a security feature, not a formatting option.
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The HD sled just pulls right out. Screw in the HD, attach the connector, pop the sled back in. Done. Can't make it too much easier thant that.

Great sale price for Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD6400AAKS 640GB

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Hi!
This is what I've got.
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AMD 2000+
256 MB 333mhz RAM (AMD Compatible)
Seagate ST330630A 30GB (an old drive)
Maxtor 6L080J4 80GB
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Promise 100 IDE-controller
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Lite-on LTR-40125W
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IDE5(IDE-controller1):
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And the Software:
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And finally the problem:
When I've hook my WD2000JB to the on-board raid everything seems to be working normaly. The bios finds the drive and makes a new array. Win2k boots up and finds the drive and I can create an partition. But when I've try to format it it the computer starts to freeze for a while and then acts like normal again. The HDD-led blinks as it should during the "normal" time, but when the comp. freezes it stops blinking. The formatation stops at 7% and the HDD-led stops lighting. I don't get an error eventhough it was several hours since it stoped. And the formatation takes like 30min for 1%.
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Can it be that the Western Disk doesn't work well with Raid? I've haven't heard anything about that, so...
Best regars,
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You can have a look at my hardware below...
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Mainboard: MSI KT3 Ultra ARU
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1800+
Display: ABIT Siluro GF4 Ti4200 AGP 4X
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Monitor: KDS Visual Sensations VS-190
Mouse: Microsoft USB Wheel Mouse Optical
NICs: 3Com 3C900B / DLink DFE-530TX
RAM: Micron DDR 266MHz (2x256MB DIMMs)
Sound: Avance AC'97 Audio
I've had similar problems where my system becomes very unstable at higher bus speeds. Installing Windows XP simply didn't work very good. However, I have ordered a new PSU today as a solution to this problem. Basically, CPUs and video cards are much more demanding and the more devices you have in your computer the more power you're going to need. I recommend purchasing the Enermax EG465P-VE (FCA) 450W ATX PS. It has a higher amperage rating and will most likely solve your problem.
Check your PSU and your bus speed settings...

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The internal drive on my iMac (intel) is small (300G) and corrupted. My idea was to buy an external firewire 800 drive and use it as the boot disk.
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thanks
Dwight

Here is a list of WD bootable drives:
http://wdc.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1787/related/1/session/L2F2LzEvd GltZS8xMzUxNTIzMzIwL3NpZC9ueUFYc1g5bA%3D%3D
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I have been doing research for the past hour on various postings, but I can't seem to find an answer or solution.
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Nicole

Hi Nerowolfe,
Thanks for your quick response. The drives are indeed Firewire 800/400 drives, but they also have USB 2.0 on there. I always use Firewire 800 to transfer data, but in reading other people's postings about Western Digital drive issues, they suggested that the only way to "read" the drive after receiving one of these error messages is to connect through the USB port, rather than FireWire. My disk was still not mounted when I tried USB, but it was able to see it on Disk Utility, where I then performed "repair disk" and then received the disk error message.
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Has anyone tried a Western Digital SATA RAID hard drive on a non-RAID controler?

Because of a compatability problem, I want to try a different brand of SATA II drive on my non-RAID motherboard. The WD RAID drives have great specs but I don't know if they will work. WD says they are ONLY for RAID and not to put them on a non-RAID board. My theory is that they will be more reliable over the long term because they are a heavier duty drive.
Has anyone tried this and if so, what were the results?

I think there was some confusion about what I am asking. It is definately not a duplication of my other post and some of the information in that other post is incorrect because I JUST found out that my motherboard controller IS a RAID controller even though I am not using it as one. I will correct that when I am finished with this post.
The other post was about a specific model of Maxtor drive that doesn't work on my motherboard. This post is about Western Digital. The only reason that I even mentioned the word RAID in my previous post is that there is a known compatibility problem with RAID controllers and that drive. I wanted to emphasize that my problem was not the one of that known compatibility problem, but because it is a RAID controller, it might be that problem.
When you use the motherboard's controller as a non-RAID controller, you do format the drives individually, not as a RAID. I know that because I did it that way, not realizing I even had the option of using RAID on this board. That works fine on one model of Maxtor hard drive and does not work at all on the other model of Maxtor hard drive.
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Here is a link to the WD site's description of one such drive. There are several other WD RAID drives, this is just one example... http://www.wdc.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=238&Language=en It does not state whether or not they will work well in a non-RAID environment.

Western Digital or Seagate Barracuda?!

Hi,
I would like to purchase an additional 250gb ATA drive for my 1.25ghz G4 MDD. I previously posted on here regarding the better of the two between the Seagate or Hitach drives, but I have now ruled out the Hitachi. However, I am now divided between the Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 and the Western Digital Caviar SE. I would like to know peoples recommendations/experiences with these drives. It really is important that the drive is reliable, fast and also very quiet (all of which these drives claim to be). I did read a review that the Barracuda 7200.10 drive made a pecking noise when being accessed and therefore I would like to know if anyone else has noticed this.
All feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

Hi-
The 7200.10 series has been plagued by firmware problems that can cause slow read or write speeds in a Power Mac (or Mac Pro for that matter). Though most reports concern the SATA version, I am concerned with the 7200.10 and the native controller of a Mac. If the drive were the 7200.9, then I give it 5 thumbs up...
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Hello,
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I've got the 120GB passport and it's worked when I plugged it into the right-side port. But I prefer my connections on the left (to keep room for my mouse) so I got a powered Kensington Dome hub that I run thru my left USB port and have plugged the HD into the hub and that also works.

How do I erase an older Western Digital 1TB mirrored hard drive? Newer drives can be erased via a WD Utility, but the WD site says to "ask Apple" about the older ones.

I have a MacBook Pro with OSX 10.7.5. The hard drive is approx. six years old - a Western Digital for Macs, mirrored with 1TB on each half.
Because the drive is "infected" with Time Machine backups that I can't erase, I have removed all important files from the drive and now want to wipe it clean. I've done this with new drives, via the WD Utility that came with the drive, but the older drive doesn't have such a utility. The WD site only has a protocol for PCs.
I find nothing on the Apple site itself. Can you community members help??
(I've tried various ways of deleting the Time Machine backups, but nothing has worked. The instructions for that, which I read on a community support site, were too advanced for me to understand. A Mac IT guy tried to erase the backups, but he didn't know how either. So that is why I'm erasing the drive totally. I've learned my lesson and have a dedicated Time Machine drive now.)

Please be clear:
This is a mirrored RAID that you use as the startup disk?
You now have a different startup disk and wish to erase the RAID mirror?
Do you wish to continue using the RAID for backup?
If all you want to do is erase the RAID to get rid or the Time Machine backups, the use Disk Utility to erase the mirror disk mounted on the Desktop.

Something to say about Western Digital Caviar 250 Gig?

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