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General discussion

Problem Installing 2nd HD on G5

Apr 26, 2007 4:49AM PDT

I'm trying to install a second SATA drive HD on a 2-processor 1.8 GHz G5 (OS X 10.4.9). The problem
is that once installed, the Disk Utility thinks that the drive has a capacity of 0 GB and
therefore won't let me format, erase, partition etc. Anybody know if this means that (a)
I've done something wrong or (b) the disk is defective?

The drive in question is a Maxtor DiamondMax10 Internal 250GB Hard Drive
(Serial ATA-150, 7,200 RPM, 16MB - MPN: 6L250S0), which should fit the specs of the Mac.
Strangely, when I look at the drive using the system profiler, it's visible, but the profiler thinks that the drive is a "Maxtor Sabre"

I've removed the drive from the bay and reinstalled it - nothing seems to be wrong with the way
the cables are attached. Also, the Seagate/Maxtor site says that there shouldn't be any issues
with adjusting jumper pins.

Discussion is locked

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Problems
Apr 26, 2007 9:52PM PDT

During one of my very short, intermittent and unreliable uptimes,(gotta love Comcast) I took a look at the specs and like stuff and have to agree with you.
There should be no problem with installing that drive, in that machine, as long as all the instructions are followed.
I was going to suggest the Maxtor site but you had already gone there.

It is possible, but unlikely, that the drive is actually partially DOA. Obviously it spins up, it's seen in the system profiler, but is not recognised for what it should be and has a capacity of zero.

My gut reaction here is to return that one and try again with another.

Sorry, best I can do right now

P

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Apple G5
May 8, 2007 1:37AM PDT

This is what I found on the Apple G5 sight
Storage
Two 3.5-inch hard drive bays, each with a 150MBps Serial ATA controller; with the following hard drive options:
1 80GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA; 8MB memory buffer (1)
1 160GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA; 8MB memory buffer(1)
1 or 2 250GB 7200-rpm Serial ATA; 8MB memory buffer(1) (build-to-order option)

The only thing I can see and I doubt it is the problem but still. Your Maxtor has a 16MB memory buffer
I have a G5 5 PowerMac 2.5GHz with two SATA hard drives 1 160GB seagate(OEM) & 1 200GB Maxtor I put in both have only 8MB memory buffer's . The only other thing that could do that are if your not using the G5's Power & SATA cables, DOA Hard Drive. I would boot off the Tiger DVD hold down the C key when staring your mac then try it using disk utilities to rule out software problems on the G5. If that dose not work return the Hard Drive for a 8MB memory buffer Hard Drive.
Apple's help sight: http://support.apple.com/specs/powermac/Power_Mac_G5_Late_2004.html
Hope I helped,
Thomas

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I think I found the problem firmware or poorly made drive
May 8, 2007 1:48AM PDT
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yup, I'm pretty sure it's the firmware
May 8, 2007 2:22AM PDT

Thanks Thomas.

In the time since my original post, I too had concluded that the problem was likely with the firmware. i've returned the drive and a replacement is on its way.

Marc

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"Maxtor Sabre" problem
Jun 5, 2007 5:07PM PDT

I got a Maxtor 6L250S0 drive and had the same problem. I had the problem and spoke with tech support and they sent me another one and it had the same problem. I put them both in and after playing with it for hours, in desperation (and forgetting that SATA drives don't have master/slave settings) I moved the jumper on one of the drives and it was instantly recognized as a Maxtor 6L250S0 and not a Maxtor Sabre. I put the jumper back and it went back to a Maxtor Sabre. I removed the jumpers and both drives are recognized as Maxtor 6l250S0 and both work. I checked the tech support website and it says the jumpers are only for factory use as there is no master/slave on these drives but, there is not a word anywhere that says if the jumper is in there (at least on the 2 pins to the left if looking at the back of the drive) it will screw you up.

Although my system is a PC, I'll bet the solution works for a Mac and it is not a new problem as I found several threads much older than this one with the same problems on PCs but they were way too old to post a reply. I don't understand why Maxtor (now Seagate) just doesn't take the jumper off as it has no use for the end user.

Gary

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GARY...YOU'RE A LIFESAVER!!
Aug 8, 2007 11:01AM PDT

A big thanks to Gray for his solution.

I had received my SECOND set of (2) Maxtor 6L250S0 "QuickView" (OEM version of DiamondMax) 250GB hard drives from an online retailer. I returned the first two on the recommendation of Seagate Tech Support because my BIOS would not recognized them until I changed the SATA configuration to "IDE", and then both drives reported as having errors. Also, they were showing up as "SABRE" instead of 6L250S0 (model #).


Seagate (who couldn't even find the drives by model number, I had to give them the S/N's) told me it was "bad firmware". OK, back they went...but a week later when I installed the NEW replacement drives they did the exact same thing!! I was having a hard time believing that ALL the drives had bad firmware, but just to be safe I decided to Google if there was any information about how to flash the firmware...that's when I came across this thread.

I read Gary's solution and, sure enough, as soon as I removed the jumpers the drives worked perfectly. It sure would have been nice for Maxtor to include this little tidbit of info with their product...but perhaps they do with their retail versions.

Thanks again, Gary, you saved me a lot of time, frustration...and money!! I was ready to go out and purchase retail drives locally (at three times the cost I paid for these).

Dave