HD Limitation

jhazeljhazel
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I've got a 200 GB hard disc I put in my Mac as a secondary drive exclusively for iMovie and iDVD projects. The problem is that the OS only says it is a 127 GB (formatted) drive. Is this similar to the Windows disc limitation that had to be overcome with SP1? I am up-to-date on my Mac OS but I'm not sure I've reformatted since the last few updates. Will that solve my problem or is there another solution? The Mac is a Dual 800 QuickSilver with 1.5 GB RAM and running OS X.3.





Thanks,



Josh

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    ionyzionyz Posts: 491member
    Your Mac doesn't support "Large Drives", aka 48-bit addressing. Only 120GB is accessible with the onboard IDE connectors. If you want to use the entire drive you'd need an ATA card such as the Sonnet Tempo ATA133.



    Interestingly enough, Sonnet also has an explanation on the matter.
  • Reply 2 of 5
    osprey76osprey76 Posts: 5member
    I used that card for a 180GB drive in my Gigabit machine. It works well.



    The only issue I've seen is if your boot drive is connected to the PCI card. The computer sees it and boots fine unless you zap your PRAM or it is the first time you try to boot from a drive connected to the card. The Mac doesn't know where to look unless you boot from a drive connected to the motherboard or a CD. So, you have to go into Startup Disk and choose the PCI-connected drive and restart. After that it works just fine on any kind of startup or reboot.



    If you are just using the PCI attached drive for general storage and not booting, you'll have no problems. (Otherwise, you just have a hoop or two to jump through.)
  • Reply 3 of 5
    jhazeljhazel Posts: 28member
    Thanks for the responses. I read up on it last night after posting and came to the same conclusion. That really bites. I think I've got the pci card that came with the drive so I will try to install it tonight and see if it works. Hopefully I won't have to buy a "Mac-specific" card for this purpose. I've got a 120 GB drive I can put in there and just put the 200 in my PC but I'd rather have it the other way if possible...
  • Reply 4 of 5
    osprey76osprey76 Posts: 5member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by jhazel

    Hopefully I won't have to buy a "Mac-specific" card for this purpose.



    Yeah, that's worth a shot. I don't think I even tried with the PCI card that came with my large drive. My USB 2.0 card is an $11 item I read about on xlr8yourmac.com and it has worked fast and flawlessly with no additional software. It uses the NEC chipset that Apple puts in its machines and is recognized natively by the OS. With luck, your ATA card might be, too.
  • Reply 5 of 5
    ionyzionyz Posts: 491member
    Definitely, try the off-brand stuff to see if it works. You will save a bundle.
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