WD3200KSRTL Caviar 320 GB SATA for internal drive? ok?

Hi all, I just wanted to make sure that this drive would be ok for an extra internal drive (actually it will be my 3rd internal) on my MacPro 2.66. I'll be using this drive for my Bootcamp/Windows partition also.
Western Digital WD3200KSRTL Caviar 320 GB SATA 3.5-Inch Hard Drive
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBSREU/ref=cmcr_pr_producttop
So, I just wanted to make sure it would be compatible with my MacPro?
And was also curious to see if anyone has had any issues with that specific drive?
If someone had another recommendation for a drive in the same price range I'd be curious to hear also. I do need to get it on Amazon though as I have a gift certificate I'd like to use up.
Thanks!
Jeff
Message was edited by: JeffrySG

I always edit out any 'ref' on links.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FBSREU/
I think you could do better though for slight more but high performance and excellent drive.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Western%20Digital/WD6400AAKS/
http://www.barefeats.com/harper14.html
Boot drives:
http://www.barefeats.com/harper9.html
But as to whether it works, yes.
WD now has new Caviar line. Same price.
http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=299

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3rd Party SATA raid cards for internal drives?

All --
Apart from the discussion as to if RAID actually benefits a home desktop system, I am wondering if anyone has the lowdown on using 3rd party SATA raid cards to support the INTERNAL hard drives on the Mac Pro series?
My Mac Pro is still slated to be built at Apple and for now I have the minimum memory and HD spec being requested at Apple, with the plan to upgrade the memory and drives from OWC or another vendor.
I've toyed with the idea of utilizing Disk Utility's software RAID features (e.g. RAID 0 for scratch disks, RAID 1 for boot, RAID 0+1 for all else.) I've also toyed with the notion of searching for a hardware raid solution which would allow me to transfer the internal SATA cable runs from the motherboard to a host adapter card for an internal multi-channel experience (with options to create and break mirrors to external devices for backup purposes.)
So....
Has anyone experience or utilized 3rd party hardware raid controllers which can connect to the internal HD bays? Are there limitations to this (ie, does the boot drive HAVE to reside off the internal motherboard controllers, or can an internal hardware controller successfully boot the system) of which ought be noted?
Finally, in the event that a host adapter card cannot drive the interna bays, can anyone give feedback to hardware SATA cards to power external drive bays with support for Disk Utility (to allow RAID1 pairings of internal drives to external snapshot-backup drives)?
Thanks for your time,
Ian Poulin
Richmond, Va

I am wondering if anyone has the lowdown on using 3rd party SATA raid cards to support the INTERNAL hard drives on the Mac Pro series?
There are many 3rd party controllers that support the internal HDs if an internal iPass connector is used. The problem is that some are bootable but most are not.
The Areca ARC-1680ix-12 and the HighPoint RocketRAID 4320 are bootable. However, the system cannot be installed via the Apple DVD. Instead the user needs to clone a boot drive with the proper drivers to the boot volume on the controller and then boot from the 3rd party controller.
The other issue I found is that these controllers do not support Boot Camp. If Boot Camp is desired, my recommendation would be to leave the internal HDs on the Mac Pro internal bus intact and use the 3rd party controller for external storage. This method provides four internal bays that are bootable, support Boot Camp and can be used for system backups. I use the 3rd party controller for external storage for large RAID sets and hot swapping hard disks.
With the internal bays intact and external hot swap RAID storage available the user can support Boot Camp, multiple system volumes and large external RAID sets. From my experience using a 3rd party controller with the internal HD bays always has some limitations. The user usually does not realize it unit later when Boot Camp does not work or the computer fails on a system upgrade or the controller does not work at all with a new version of Mac OS X.
Staying with the standard internal Mac Pro bay configuration will be the best configuration to avoid compatibility issues with future versions of Mac OS X. It is rumored that the new Snow Leopard may require 64-bit drivers. If that is the case, I would expect most if not all existing 3rd party controller drivers to fail. Some drivers will be upgraded after a few months while others may not. Having the internal Mac Pro SATA controller intact should at least allow the Mac Pro to boot if my guess about compatibility issues is correct.
can anyone give feedback to hardware SATA cards to power external drive bays with support for Disk Utility (to allow RAID1 pairings of internal drives to external snapshot-backup drives)?
There are a large number of external controllers that work with Disk Utility. Here are some of my favorites.
1. FirmTek SeriTek/2SE2-E and the SeriTek/5PM
http://firmtek.stores.yahoo.net/sata5pm2se2.html
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/firmtek/5pm/
2. Sonnet Tempo E4P
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/sonnet/mac-pro/
3. DAT Optic eSATA_PCIe8
http://www.amug.org/amug-web/html/amug/reviews/articles/datoptic/pcie8/
Have fun!

Transfer speeds for internal drive/FireWire

I have a 2 yr old PowerMac G5 with a single 160 Gb hard drive, so I have an internal drive bay available that has a 150 MBps SATA controler. Does that mean I won't get the expected speed from one of the big Seagate or Maxtor internal SATA drives with 1.5 or 3 Gbps transfer capacity?
If that's true, would I get faster transfers using an external drive via FireWire 800?
Thanks!

The maximum transfer speed of the 1.5 Gbps is actually about 1.2 Gbps (80% efficiency), or 150 MBps. So, in theory the 3 Gbps interface would be about twice as fast.
However, no single drive can achieve throughput at even the 1.2 Gbps level, so you're really not missing anything if you put in a drive with a 3 Gbps interface on it.
FW800 is 800 Mbps or 100 MBps at 100% efficiency. Real world transfer speeds would be in the 80MBps range at best. That's also a pretty tough speed to reach for a single drive. My 10,000 rpm 150GB Raptor drive can benchmark at or above that level, but many drives won't be able to.

Size limit for internal drives?

I have a G4 Silverdoor with dual 1.25 GB processors. Currently, it has three internal drives, 120 GB each. Is there a size limit to the fourth drive? I was thinking about getting a 400 or 500 GB internal drive.

Is this your system? Mac Upgrades
They say:
Internal Hard Drive Upgrades
The PowerMac G4 Quicksilver can can take internal IDE hard drives of sizes up to 120GB. Up to two extra drives can be added alongside your existing hard drive - a straight replacement is obviously possible as well.
If you want to use a larger hard drive you will need to install a high-spec IDE controller into a PCI socket. See the expansion cards section at the end of this page for details on available cards.
It is also possible to use the new SATA drives in this machine, with the purchase of a SATA controller card.
G4 AGP Mac OS X (10.4.8) RAM: 1.12 GB; ATI 9800.

Using external scsi for internal drive.

Hi people. I have a beige g3 desktop and recently bought a sound card (pro tools project pci) that has a scsi port for external drives. The card wont work without a drive atached, and I was wondering if I could use a 50 pin centronics to 50 pin internal cable adapter to use an internal scsi inside the g3.
External scsi cases are cheap but I am trying to make some sort of portable set up and would love to avoid them.
I saw adapters on the web but could not find any here (argentina) and it is a headache to get one sent here.
Anyone have any experience with this?
Thanks in advance
Pepo

I've never used the Digidesign Pro Tools Project card, so is the external hard drive strictly needed to terminate the card's SCSI bus or does the card's configuration software require it? If you just need termination, is the card's external port the HD-50 SCSI-2 type? If so, would this active terminator solve the problem? If the interface isn't the correct one to match the one on the PCI card, could you connect a Centronics-50 active terminator to the end of the cable?
If you need to have a hard drive connected with the setup, were you planning on running the external cable through an unused PCI slot opening in the back? For a clean-looking installation, you could install an adapter like this one, in place of the PCI slot's blank cover. Unfortunately, it prevents the use of the PCI slot for other cards, and this adapter has an external DB-25 port, requiring the adapter to Centronics-50. A standard 50-conductor SCSI ribbon cable would connect between the hard drive and the interior port on the adapter card. I don't know if you've noticed, but just behind the left-side drive bays in the G3 desktop, you'll see a removable piece of metal that closes off the inside corner of the drive bay chassis. You can remove that piece of metal, and provide a path for the drive's data cable to reach the PCI slot area of the computer. It's easier than routing the cable back through the slot behind the CD-ROM drive, which is usually too crowded with cabling anyway.

Need for internal drives?

Can I install MacOSX from an FireWireCDDrive on a FireWire HardDrive when the Mac contains no more internal drives?

Depends on the mac. Not all machines will boot from the firewire bus. What machine are you trying this with?

Should I Get A PCI Sata Card For Internal Drives

I'm transferring Files from old G4 to a new G5 and it's taking forever. The sata drives seem to work slower. When I transfer the same way(Firewire)on my G4 it's much faster. Someone said to get a PCI sata card and hook up my internals to that instead of the factory connection. That it's faster that way. I'm going to have to burn to dvd and transfer that way, but it seems to defeat the purpose. Any suggestions are appreciated.
G5 Dual Core 2.0 with 2.5 GB and 2 250 Drives

Come to think of it, the last time I needed to transfer some media from my G4 to G5, the quickest and easiest way (mind you they are in separate rooms), was to pop out the G4 drive and use one of these cheap IDE USB adapters. Since the G5 is USB2, the process was pretty quick.
My guess about the G5 in target mode is there must be some kind of overhead, but the SATA is FAR and away faster than the FW connection between them, so a SATA card won't help.
Shane Ross and I are currently using "popsicle stick" internal RAIDs in our G5s. See this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/click.jspa?searchID=-1&messageID=2162848
Patrick

External enclosure for internal drive?

If I replace the 80 GB hard drive that will be coming with my Macbook with a lareger drive running at 7200 RPM, I would like to convert the stock one into an external drive.
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Unfortunately there isn't a cheap Firewire enclosure yet. There is a really good USB one, which I have <a href="http://cavemonkey50.com/2006/07/coolgears-25-inch-sata-to-usb-hard-drive- enclosure/"
reviewed on my website</a>.
As far as Firewire v. USB, it depends what you'll use the drive for. If it's just for occasional backup or file storage, USB will work fine for you. However if you want to transfer huge files back and forth between the drive often, you'll definitely want a Firewire connection. There is a great benchmark comparison that you should check out to see the actual performance difference. Now just keep in mind that the MacBook only has a Firewire 400 port.

Dv 5000, how available sata for hard drive recovery

before I open her I wantred to know if there is a extra sata input on the motherboard for data recovery purposes?
regards

Hi,
Please try this (free):
http://www.easeus.com/resource/drive/external-hard-drive.htm
I don't know make and model of your external drive but on some models you can not find SATA/IDE connector, you have to use a different connector. Hope the link above helps.
Regards.
BH
**Click the KUDOS thumb up on the left to say 'Thanks'**
Make it easier for other people to find solutions by marking a Reply 'Accept as Solution' if it solves your problem.

Does PPC G5 support SATA II internal drives?

I want to change my 80gb system drive to a Western Digital RE2 500gb, it is a SATA II & I'm not sure if my computer supports that with no problem. I can't seem to get a clear answer. Does anyone know for sure or has one up & running with the second their drive functioning as normal?

I've got an original series G5 1.6 Ghz single processor and I just added a Maxtor 500 GB drive that is SATA II as well as being backward compatible with SATA I as stated by OWC and the manufacturer of the drive.
I'm also using my 500 GB as my "digital audio drive" in my recording studio using MOTU Digital Performer and various other audio applications. I've kept my original 80 GB system drive in place for the moment till I can afford a larger, faster start up drive. I needed to get a large drive for the audio files first.
While I can't speak directly to the Western Digital drives, I can say that the Maxtor with SATA I/II interfaces is fine and seems to be working without any problems. To be completely candid, I've only had the new 500 GB Maxtor drive installed for a little over a week, but I have been using it without any problems so far.
So to answer the SATA II part of your question, I believe that shouldn't be a problem if the Western Digital drive is backward compatible like the Maxtor is. Most are from what I've seen, but I guess you should carefully read the specs on the WD drive to be sure it's backward compatible too.
Hope this helps a bit.
John

Whose SATA 750Gb internal drive to buy?

I have the Sonnet Tech, TSATA PCI to SATA controller (TSATA), It is a 2-port, 1.5Gb/sec internal.
I am trying to find a compatible 750Gb SATA drive, I was going to buy the Seagate until I read there is a problem with the firmware, something about 32mb cache not being recognized and it running dog-slow, also something about nor being able to flash the firmware form a MAC?
I also read on the Western Digital site they don't support MAC? Do they mean G4 IDE? or G5 SATA?
I'm sure they are not considering what third party interface I might have i.e. Sonnet.
Whose 750 SATA works well with Sonnet?

If this is the Sonnet PCI card you refer to - http://www.sonnettech.com/product/temposerialata.html.
then this site :-
http://www.macupgrades.co.uk/store/machine.php?name=powermac-g4-digital-audio#in t-hdd
lists some choices
or
http://lowendmac.com/ppc/digital-audio-power-mac-g4.html
this mentions the correct firmware upgrade
also take a look at
http://lowendmac.com/musings/mm07/1005.html
or try xlr8yourmac
http://forums.xlr8yourmac.com/drivedb/search.drivedb.lasso

Connector types for internal drive

I purchased a replacement drive for my iMac and it appears to have a differnt connector type (pins vs. slot tabs). Is this because the drive doesn't say SATA on it? PS: I thought that was what I was buying...argh! Is there something else that I should be aware of? Does it matter SATA-150 or SATA-300?

Hello,
If it is the only drive in the system, then it should work with the jumper in the position that the drive arrived with it in.
The drive should have a picture somewhere on the label or printed / etched on the surrounding area near the jumpers.
There should be a Default / Only Drive / Single setting. A Master Setting. And a Slave Setting.
If it is the only drive (as it would be with an iMac G5), then it should be set as Default / Only Drive / Single (or whatever the drive's label terms that as).
If there is no such setting, then it should be in "Master" setting.
But, if you remember how the drive arrived, I'd place the jumper there.
Once the drive is installed, it will not be recognized until it has been formatted.
Once you boot from the restore / install disk, you will see some menus at the top of the screen. Look through the menus for Disk Utility.
Then, once Disk Utility is open, it should show the drive in the left-hand side. You can then select the drive, then move to the partition tab and either set it up in one large partition or divide it up if you desire to have it separated into 2 or more volumes.
You can read about the general partitioning and formatting procedure here:
http://www.kenstone.net/fcphomepage/partitioningtiger.html
Once it has been partitioned and formatted, then you can exit Disk Utility and continue on with the OS X installer.
I hope this helps.

What format do I use for internal drive?

I want to install a new internal harddrive into my Macbook. What format should I use for it?
Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
Mac OS Extended
Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled)
Mac OS Extended (Case-sensitive)
MS-DOS (FAT)
ExFAT
I know MS-DOS(FAT) is what I should use for external to work on mac and windows. Can't remember which to use for the internal. I have an Intel-based Mac.
Thanks for your help.

I use SuperDuper for cloning my OSX volumes and it does not change the size of the destination partition to the size of the source partition.
So, you can make the destination partitions size to your liking and the cloning will not change it afterwards.
Keep in mind that SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner cannot clone a BootCamp Windows partition to a new harddisk, only OSX partitions.
But Parallels doesn't need to have a Windows partitions but is mostly just two files plus the Parallels app on your OSX partition.
And therefor it would be cloned with the rest of the OSX.
Stefan

IDE over SATA for Boot Drive

If I have an IDE HD (Hitachi Deskstar 160GB) install along with my WD Sata 250 my BIOS always chooses the IDE drive to boot from. When the IDE drive is detected the sata does not show as available.
How can I have both installed, but boot from the SATA?

Quote from: Maesus on 12-January-07, 22:56:07
can you change the HDD sequence in the BIOS ? Pick the HDD you wanna boot as the 1st HDD.
No, I cannot choose the HDD. If the both the SATA and IDE is physically installed, the SATA does not show .
However if I press F11 during the boot, both the ARE listed. Using F11 to boot, I have booted from the SATA. The IDE shows in WinXP as a "disk drive." I rebooted to see if any subsequent boots would you the SATA (thinking that the F11 function sets it as default), but the boot was with the IDE.

Is there a size limit to internal drive?

For some reason I remember there being a size limit for internal drives on the Power Mac, dual 2.0 GHz G5. I have one 250 Gig drive installed, and want to add another 500 gig drive. Will the drive exceed the size limit?
If the size is ok, does anyone have a recommendation for a reliable, reasonably fast 500 gig drive?
Thanks.

I'm so glad you asked about this. I just bought a G5/1.6 GHz that has an 80GB and I wanted to install a 500 GB second drive but the manual did say that the maximum total between the two drives couldn't be more than a total of 500 GB between the two drives.
Do we know people that have done/are doing this? I use my G5 for audio recording and that's why I wanted a large second drive and I was thinking that since I'd already had the 80 GB drive already in the G5 I'd have to put nothing larger than a 400 GB in the second drive slot so I wouldn't go over that 500 GB limit I read about in the manual.
Excellent news if this really is the case that there's no limit to the size of the additional hard disk.
Since we're on this topic, (I realize this is probably covered elsewhere), but does this same theory apply regarding the 4 GB memory limit that Apple states in the owners manual for the G5 1.6 GHz model?
It's got four DIMM slots for a maximum of 4GB using four 1 GB DIMMS.
Is it possible to use four 2 GB DIMMS and get 8 GB of memory running in these earliest G5's?
The other two other models of the G5 that were released with the 1.6 Ghz were the 1.8 GHz and the Dual 2.0 GHz G5's and they have eight DIMM slots and are capable of using 8 GB.
So I was wondering if this too was due to Apple not having access to 2 GB DIMM memory modules back in those days (2003) that would have allowed the G5/1.6GHz models to run with 8 GB RAM installed in four slots?
Thanks guys, really glad I found this post before I bought a smaller hard disk because of what I read in the manual.
Best,
John

WD3200KSRTL Caviar 320 GB SATA for internal drive? ok?

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