# PPC MAC G4 Tower type - SCSI Issue



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

Hello... Please bear in mind I am a Windows user but help out in a small Hobbyist studio with MAC equipment- One of the Mac's is a G4 which was bought from new many years ago and has worked faultlessly.

There is much old archive media on this Mac which was complied with Media100 and we decided it was time to get all the media off and transfer it to the newer Mac's.

Whilst checking in Media100 edit suite for the various video media the MAC just shut down ( not crashing but as if the power was just removed ).. It had never ever done this before.

Pushed the On button and it started up but after a minute it shut down again ( just as if the button had been pushed to turn it off ).
Tried again and it started up and continued to run but then we noticed that the two internal SCSI Hdds were missing from the desktop icon position.

The Main Hdd was showing and also three firewire off board drives were showing.

Opening Media100 and loading a project showed the SCSI drives (NOT RAID) could not be found.

Opening the case I removed the two SCSI drives and powered them up from a separate supply and they both spin up. 

I removed the SCSI card ( ATTO ExpressPCI UL3D ) and powered up the Mac. I looked in the About Mac and looked for the devices connected and obviously the SCSI did not appear.
I re-fitted the SCSI card but did not connect the drives and powered up and the in the devices connect it did not show the SCSI card.
I then connect one of the drives and did the same routine and SCSI did not show up. I then disconnect that drive and connect the other drive, etc and that did not show up. I connected both drives and they *both* appear in the devises connected. ? but they cannot be accessed.

Any guidance would be appreciated

The picture shows how it looks in the Devices connected..but not accesable


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

I think the picture did not get uploaded. Hope it has now,,,


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

OH one last thing to mention is that the two SCSI drives are just individual storage drives and not in any RAID configuration. Thanks again for any help


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

It sounds like the SCSI controller card has failed or in the process of failing. 
If you have another computer with a SCSI controller, you can try attaching the drives to it to see if they are recognized. 
Try a different SCSI controller card and see how you get on.


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

Hello. Thanks for you input. Frome your experience, if I get another card of the exact same type ATTO ExpressPCI UL3D ( which I have seem on Ebay ) will it need configuring or will it just detect the drives. As I mentioned, they are not configured in a raid format, they are just two individual HDDs for storage. Thanks again...


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

If you get the same exact card, then you can just replace the old card with the new attach the drives and everything should be as it was. No configuration of drivers required


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

That sound great... If I can't get the exact card but one that will work with those HDDs, I guess I will have to configure it with some sort of utility but will that lose any data?


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

> No configuration ot drivers required


No, if you get the same card, It will recognize your drives, no utility required. 
The only time you would have to worry about that, is if your drives are in a RAID.


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

OK I will let you know how I get on.. Oh one other thing, I have read somewhere that a SCSI to USB device also exists. Do you know if these work to get any data of a SCSI that it not RAID?


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

The problem with a SCSI to USB adapter is that there are a few different versions of SCSI, so you have to get the right pin structure. Second, data transfer rate will be much slower over USB. A SCSI card Adapter from Ebay will cost less and be more reliable then a USB adapter.


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

Hello.. If I get another SCSI card which is MAC compatible, will it need configuring with a utility or will it just detect the two HDDs on power up ?

OK on the SCSI to USB. My thought were just to get the Data off the SCSI and replace the SCSI with a regular IDE HDD and put the Data on that so that I can run the Project and save them as the system will not be used once the Data has been take off.. I much appreciate you guidance Thanks


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

> No configuration or drivers required


 You keep asking the same question and I keep answering it the same way. It should work without configuring or a utility.


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

OK sorry about that. I did not realise you were talking about the same card and also about any other card.. Apologies.....


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

I have order another card of the exact same type so will let you now how it goes


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

Keep us posted


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

Hello.. Well I got another SCSI card of the exact same type and the results are just the same. In the System Profile tree it shows the SCSI and the 2 HDD. If I unplug the ribbon from the card it does not show any SCSI in the system profile tree.. Any other ideas?


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

Any ideas?


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

hello anyone there?


----------



## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Did you try putting the card in a different slot? And are there any other Macs you can put the card into? Also, exactly which G4 tower is it? What OS X version is it running? Do the drives show up at all in Disk Utility?


----------



## jeb0007 (Sep 15, 2012)

Hello... Yes did try another slot and the MAC did not like it at all,,,,,Just powered up and run fan very fast... Put is back in original slot ( Last slot on the Other edge ) and all OK from BOOT,,, We have a G5 but it does not have any Molex connecters ( Only Sata ) for the Old HDDs.. It is running 10.2.4...It is a G4 Tower with sort of curve shape rather that like the G5 Silver tower. The Drives do not show up in Disk Utility. They only show in the system profile List,,,,,, I will let you know any progress


----------



## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

you can get a male SATA to Female Molex adapter


----------



## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

There were seven different models of the G4 tower (PCI, AGP, Gigabit, Digital Audio, Quicksilver, Mirrored Drive Doors, and Firewire 800.), each had unique traits that require different methods to work with. It's important when it comes to troubleshooting them.


----------

