Hey folks...so, this is the first time I'm trying this. The drive was an 80 gig Maxtor external HD, and it bit the dust. I want to convert this to a 250 gig SSD external drive for my G4 MDD. What kind of adapter must I get to hook up the SSD?
Converting An 80-gig External To A 250 gig SSD-Need Advice
- Thread starter 2112st
- Start date
It should. But first I have to ask, what is the interface on the external drive connecting it to the computer? If USB, then it may be easier/cheaper to just buy and external case already designed for a SATA drive.
Example on Amazon, USB 3 and backward compatible with 2.0 and 1.1
Example on Amazon, USB 3 and backward compatible with 2.0 and 1.1
I already ordered a Crucial 250 gig SSD and this. The Maxtor HD case is still good, so I want to continue to use it.
Amazon.com
www.amazon.com
I forgot-yeah, it's USB.
Interesting side note: I wonder if there is a limitation to what size HD my MDD can view. I have a 1 TB Iomega drive, and while I can view it on my Mac Mini, I can't view it on the MDD; I get a prompt saying its "not recognized by this computer". (This is under Tiger; I have dual boot-the other is OS 9.2 on a separate drive-SSD)
The 5-port USB 2.0 PCI card works fine; it arrived last night and I installed it this morning.
Even though the external case is still functional, you would be better off leaving the existing drive in it. It is likely PATA to USB 1.1, which really limits the speed/throughput. Adding another PATA to SATA adapter with an SSD is not really going to improve speed. Now that you have a USB 2.0 card, the Amazon 2.5 USB case would be ideal, as it would give you up to USB 2.0 speed.
USB 1.0/1.1 are limiting your throughput
USB 1.0/1.1 are limiting your throughput
- USB 1.0/Low-Speed: 1.5 Megabits per second (Mbps)
- USB 1.1/Full-Speed: 12 Mbps.
- USB 2.0/Hi-Speed: 480 Mbps. (60MB/s)
- USB 3.0/SuperSpeed: 5 Gbps.
I could save that adapter to put an additional internal drive in the MDD-I still have spaces for two additional drives in it. I might just order that external case you recommended! 
If that adapter doesn't fit in the maxtor case (hopefully it will), I would look at an external hdd case that has a broad I/o choice like USB1/2 & FW 400/800. Something like this mini g-drive would do the trick & is pretty cheap (not my auction/no relation). IIRC they fit a 2.5" formfactor/SSD, are all aluminum, and would give you a lot of flexibility between Macs with the I/o.
Too bad that dual 1.25 MDD doesn't have FW800. Good luck!
Too bad that dual 1.25 MDD doesn't have FW800. Good luck!
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1) Mount the SSD in your MDD, using either
1a) A SATA controller, as detailed in https://tinkerdifferent.com/threads...i-power-mac-impossibru-updated-11-22-23.1494/
1b) Using that red IDE-to-SATA adapter you posted a picture of. YMMV, these are fickle computers
2) Get something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Warmstor-Adapter-Computer-Connector-Converter/dp/B076WZ1N4K/ to hook up the Maxtor drive to USB.
3) Copy the files from the Maxtor to the SSD. It will take forever because of USB speeds, but you'll only have to do this once.
1a) A SATA controller, as detailed in https://tinkerdifferent.com/threads...i-power-mac-impossibru-updated-11-22-23.1494/
1b) Using that red IDE-to-SATA adapter you posted a picture of. YMMV, these are fickle computers
2) Get something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Warmstor-Adapter-Computer-Connector-Converter/dp/B076WZ1N4K/ to hook up the Maxtor drive to USB.
3) Copy the files from the Maxtor to the SSD. It will take forever because of USB speeds, but you'll only have to do this once.
If you want FW800, you can readily source a fw800 pci card on eBay. I saw a couple for $20 & is how I got fw800 into my quicksilver. Max thruput is 800mbits. Crushes USB2 at 480 but I suppose you need to have a FW800 device for that to make much sense.
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This reminds me of my ext 1tb backup for my 08 a1048 mb. The case died a horrible drop death fracture but the guts survived - just the pcb and the hdd sitting as a book end on one of my book shelves connected to the mb via a long usb cable. lol jank I guess but it works for me.
Sorry for the lack of responses; just getting back to this now. I should add: this is all experimentation. Thank you all for your helpful responses!! 
Now…while yes, I’m sure this will be slower due to USB 1.0, I still want to see what happens when I make this mod on the Maxtor external HD. This is the adapter I’m using. Curious: how would I set this to cable select?
Now…while yes, I’m sure this will be slower due to USB 1.0, I still want to see what happens when I make this mod on the Maxtor external HD. This is the adapter I’m using. Curious: how would I set this to cable select?
Alas, this set-up will need to go internal (which it was going to do eventually, anyway). While the connections work, it won’t physically go into the case, unless I have extensions for the data and power cables that can wrap/fold.
So, this 250 GB SSD will go on the ATA 66 connector in the G4 MDD. Do I set it to slave? (The OSX HD & OS9 SSD are on the ATA 100 connector and set to cable select.)
Okay, did what you said, left the new SSD (OSX Internal Storage) on slave, and it works…
…except for power cable management. I’ll need to make a drive to MicroCenter.
Okay, I decided to have the second internal SSD run off the same chain as the DVD drive. At least, I won’t have to worry about power cable management for the time being. I’ll need to set the DVD drive to master…except it doesn’t indicate how. 
Edit-never mind. Found out...
Edit-never mind. Found out...
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