IDE/PATA to SATA for iMac G3 rev a

[yomatiase]

I bought this to add an SSD to my iMac G3 rev a

Amazon.com

The SSD is detected if I connect the adaptor to an USB adaptor, but it is not detected when directly connected to the computer.
The same happens to two iMac G4s

Do you know if I need an special specs IDE/PATA to SATA adaptor?

 

[Kai Robinson]

@Action Retro has had probably the most experience with these - all I know is - they're picky as hell.

 

[phunguss]

Picky as hell is correct. I read somewhere else that you should only use the red boards vs the green ones.

Verify your master slave configuration. It may not be possible to change your master slave on the cdrom (likely your 2nd device), so you may want to consider a 2nd board and swap out the cdrom for a SATA one as well.

 

[yomatiase]

Today I saw a video form @Action Retro
He recomended this Disk on module

Looking on Amazon, I found also this one, more capacity same price, but I dont' know. It would be better for OSX on an iMac g4 and cube.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

Picky as hell is correct. I read somewhere else that you should only use the red boards vs the green ones.

Verify your master slave configuration. It may not be possible to change your master slave on the cdrom (likely your 2nd device), so you may want to consider a 2nd board and swap out the cdrom for a SATA one as well.

This correlates with what I have heard - specifically the startech adapters with red pcbs like THIS one.

I have had green ones work before but they are really hit or miss. The majority of them dont work in my macs.

 

[Windsor]

I have recently purchased two of the StarTech adapters (from Amazon) and they worked perfectly on an MDD 1.25-DP, a Sawtooth G4 and a B&W G3 (though the early ATA chipsets still limit drives to 128GB). I did attempt to use it for an optical drive on the B&W which did not work, but I don't know that it was a fault of the adapter.

From what I recall from an Action Retro video, the Disk-on-module was the most limited on performance. But if you need that packaging, it could be a good option. The StarTech adapter does add a bit of clutter to the back of the drive, but in my applications it fit.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

To drill down on the green adapters that DO work in some of my powerPC macs. I have three of these green pata/sata adapters marked RXD-629A7-7 that DO work - one in a revb bondi and another in my QS and a third in my win2k Dell Dimensions xps r450. Not going to pull apart the g3 lol but here’s some collage pics of my QS in action.

I haven’t tried this adapter in any of my other PPC macs BUT again it does work well in my QS & bondi imac g3, so if you have one of these in your junk box, you might have luck with it in a ppc Mac.

*Edited to correct the pata/sata pcb identifier.

 

[yomatiase]

Thanks!! I ordered a variety of adapter to test. I'll Keep this thread posted on findings.

 

[Certificate of Excellence]

One thing that really bugs me is that for the life of me I cannot see the print on the chipset. Even with my magnifying glass I cant make it out. In my defense the chipset on this particular adapter is absolutely teeny-tiny.

Gettin' old!
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.
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Ok, took the magnifyer off my helping hands and it did the trick. The print on everything is so faint. Anyhow,

IC was three lines
L1. IDE-SATA
L2. D0F
L3. 876LV1241

There were two what look like linear voltage regulators each with two lines.

L1. AMS1117
L2. 3.3 8AGJ3244T

L1. AMS1117
L2. 1.8 1642

Most everything else can be read. With all of this being said, I purchased these pata sata adapters about 10 years ago off ebay and unfortunately I could not find a duplicate at this time. Man that was some tiny faded text LOL. Also, a full pic might be useful to someone so here ya go.