# Sata on Powerbook G4



## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Hi guys -

I was wondering if it is possible to connect a sata hdd to my Powerbook G4 externally. Or better yet internally. And if its possible, what is the size limits on them? I think the internal is a 2.5" drive. Would I have to use a 2.5" drive externally too? And I think the internal is a 5400rpm drive. Could I use a 7200 rpm drive internally?

And what is used to connect the external drive? Where?

Thanx.


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## macthorough (Jul 5, 2008)

I would not touch the internals of the PBG4. i would slam the 7200 in an ext firewire enclosure.


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Thanks macthorough. No sata? 3 1/2"?


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Opening a laptop isn't that big of a deal, if it is something you are comfortable doing. Powerbooks do not support internal SATA drives, just ATA(IDE). Yes, they are standard 2.5" notebook drives, and you can throw a 7200rpm drive in it. As for drive size limitations, it depends on which Powerbook it is. The older ones have the 120 GB drive limit, and the newer ones don't. As for extrenal drives, you can use any drive, just make sure that you get the correct case to put it in, as there are SATA and ATA(IDE) drive enclosures. And there is no size limit for extrenal drives.


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## macthorough (Jul 5, 2008)

Well if you go with the internal type, don't forget to get Carbon Copy Cloner.

http://www.bombich.com/software/ccc.html


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Thanks Sinclair. My Powerbook stats:

PowerBook G4 1.67 GHz
PowerPC 7447a 17" Aluminun
(M9689LL/A)

So Im guessing that mine might be the newer variety, not sure. And I do appreciate the info. As soon as Im sure about everything Im going to shop for some way to plug in a new, bigger, faster hdd and clone the old one over which is just a 5400 rpm 100GB drive. Then use that for external storage. I just gotta figure out what is the largest size I can put into it and what kind of adapter(s) I need to connect the drive to the laptop. I guess Ill have to skip the external sata since its prob better to boot from the internal drive.

Thanks macthorough. I also have Clone X 3. Dont know which one might work better.


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Which one has a faster transfer rate? USB2 or Firewire?


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Now there is a trick question. USB2 is rated at 480 Mbit/s max, where Firewire is 400 Mbit/s max. In the real world, they never run at max, but Firewire does normally run at higher sustained speeds than USB2 does. Personally, if you can only find one or the other, it really doesn't matter, both will be plenty fast for you. As for your Mac, it should handle any size notebook drive you put in it. As for Clone X, it seems to be similar to CCC, only that CCC is free. But if you have Clone X already, that will do the trick. Buy the new drive, and a drive enclosure that it will fit in. Take the Powerbook apart and swap the drives. Put the old drive in the enclosure and connect it to the Powerbook. Turn the drive on, and then turn the Mac on and hold down the option key. You should get a screen that will list boot drives, and your old one should show up. Click it and then click the arrow and it will boot. Now format the drive in the Mac with Disk Utility, and then run Clone X. Once it is done cloning the drive, open the system preferences and select the Startup Disk pref pane. Select the internal drive and then save and shut down (not restart) unplug the external drive and then turn the Mac back on, and it should be good to go.


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Excellent info there sinclair, thanks!

One more question. I have a 100GB 5400 rpm hdd now and I want to replace it with a 7200 rpm drive. But all I can find from Googling is a 100GB 7200rpm hdd. Isnt there anybody who makes one bigger than 100GB that will fit in the Powerbook?


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## macthorough (Jul 5, 2008)

I could not find one either over 100gb almost found a 160gb but it was a 3.5"


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Thanks for looking for me Thorough. Seems kind of odd doesnt it?

Ive put another Gig of ram in this thing (this is the first time Ive ever worked on a laptop) and I would up the processor but I understand it is soldered onto the mainboard which seems to make it impractical to replace. So then I thought I would try to up the hdd. But it sure seems like a lot of hassle if I cant at least increase the capacity. I dunno. I guess just the rpm would make a substantial difference. Maybe its still worth it. Seems a shame I cant increase capacity too though.


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## V0lt (Sep 14, 2002)

I don't think it's worth the trouble... considering that this machine is already a few years old, it probably has reduced battery life. You don't want to make that worse by putting in a faster hard drive - those things eat notebook batteries like there's no tomorrow.

As far as I know, there aren't many 2.5" 7200 rpm hard drives anyway, and I will assume that they're pretty expensive when you do find them.

I would just go for an external enclosure like some other members have suggested. If it's SATA, it can be either 2.5" or 3.5" depending on the drive and enclosure you choose.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Yes, the CPU is part of the board, like almost most laptops out there. And if it wasn't, the PowerPC G4 CPU didn't get much faster than that anyway. 1.67Ghz is the fastest Apple used. It's still a great laptop, and I wish I had it. Upgrading the hard drive and maxing the RAM will give you another 3 years out of it, at least. Much more if you don't mind not having the lastest and greatest software. I have a 1Ghz iBook running 10.5 with the RAM maxed, and it does great. It is a bummer that 100 Gig is the largest drive at 7200rpm, and if you want larger, then go for it, as I don't think the hassle of replacing a drive is worth it for a couple extra rpm. But send me the link, as it'll be a nice replacement for my 40 Gig.


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

So you guys think that I might be better off booting off an external sata drive instead?


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## macthorough (Jul 5, 2008)

I would not boot off an external hard drive (you will be opening a can of worms). I stand firm on the fact you should leave the internal hard drive how it came from Apple and get an external hard drive. Call apple????ray:


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

I guess the question is what are your plans for the Mac? Truth is putting a 7200rpm drive will not make it boot any faster. I doubt you'd notice a difference. If you plan on doing photo and video work, you can keep the apps on the internal hard drive, and hte files on the external, which is what you should do with a laptop anyway. I personally think putting a 160 gig or 250 gig drive in it isn't a bad idea. Look here on how to do it. If you don't like the look of it, then don't do it.


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Thanks guys. The only reason I wanted another drive was for more space and MORE speed within the OS which is 10.5.

Thanks Sinclair, that is the site I was going to use for the hdd swap 'operation'.

I guess the only thing I need an external hdd for now is to be able to merge partitions and for storage. I have gone thru all kinds of hoops because of how difficult it is move and merge partitions the way you might on a pc w/Partition Magic. Mac ... at least this old one that I have, makes it very difficult to do anything but create partitions and thats it. If one is too small and you want to use part of another ... too bad. You have to do it from another drive or reformat and start from scratch again. And I use Drive Genius.

Can I use a desktop Sata for external storage? That would be cheap and fast.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Well, if you put it in a sata to usb2 or sata to firewire case yes. You could also get a sata card for the card slot and then use a sata internal to sata external and connect it to the card.


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## macthorough (Jul 5, 2008)

"You need to restart your computer. Hold down the Power button for several seconds or press the Restart button." :4-thatsba


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

??? Your post seems out is place.


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## V0lt (Sep 14, 2002)

I think he saw that this was a post about an apple and just assumed that the solution would be to restart 

J/k, j/k, but at least that's how it was before OSX.


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## macthorough (Jul 5, 2008)

Sorry it was my weak attempt at humor. Meaning this Blog gave me a KP! I was trying to infer I see KP's in the near future with all this HW tweaking. I don't see the purpose to go thru all this for HD space. I would guess that 99 out of 100 (non -geek) users would just get 1 or more large ext FW HD and move there data off their internal drive to their external drive (specifically the data they don't need to carry around). Who boots their PB on a ext dirve? Who wants to waste all that time surgically removing a PB HD? If the user wants to play around with their HD's then buy a Mac Pro or a Dell. The only time I've seen people open Apple laptop to upgrade it was when their AppleCare or warranty ran out and HW and problems are occurring. So they upgraded the PB to sell the PB to get rid of a problem. My advice is if it aint broke dont fix it!:wave:


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Im more interested in speed than space. I know I can get space externally but the speed has to be internal and I figured why not add space at the same time?

Sigh ... aw well. I always build pc's that are upgradeable. For instance this shuttle that I currently use (even though it appears to be tiny) has 4GB of ram in it although XP only recognizes 3GB. My Vista (dual boot) recognizes the 4GB though. (I dont care for Vista at all) But the mobo will accomodate up to 8GB of ram whenever it becomes available. And on and on ... But I can start relatively cheap and build on as my finances and technology and desire allow or incline me to.

I guess I'll have to settle for a newer laptop as Thorough has suggested. And even then, the upgradeability will most likely be rather limited I suspect. This is my first laptop. I really like Mac. But I like to tinker with stuff too. I guess the laptop industry doesnt like consumers like me too much. Maybe we sort of 'go against the grain'. Such is life isnt it?


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## macthorough (Jul 5, 2008)

Good Luck!


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Thanks thorough. What is the most powerful or the most upgradeable Mac laptop available today? Do you happen to know?


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## macthorough (Jul 5, 2008)

If you purchase a apple laptop then get one you don't have to upgrade cause if you upgrade something then it voids the apple warranty in most cases. So if you like the Mac Book Pro get it and max it out, if you have the cha-ching for it!!! I would also recommend buying the applecare protection plan....


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## macthorough (Jul 5, 2008)

oh and this is my fav MBP http://store.apple.com/us/configure/MB134LL/A?mco=NzUyMzc4


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Thanks for the link Thorough. I prob wont worry too much about warranties (I still get them) because I imagine that by the time Im ready to upgrade it will be out of warrantee anyways. Im up to $2,568.00 on that Pro you linked me to. Opting for the Sata (I already have whatever software I need). I can add/replace memory a lot cheaper but the remote is a nice feature. Isnt it amazing how much diff you pay for 1/10th of a GB upgrade for the processor? $250! 

Wow, that Mac Pro sure looks nice.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Well, the Macbook Pros only come SATA. And there is no real upgradability on a laptop, so it will also be what you buy it at, except for the RAM and hard drive. Like I said, even if you put a 7200rpm drive in your Powerbook, I doubt that you will see any difference in speed. If fact, the right 5400rpm drive will read/write data faster than a 7200rpm drive. It's really the bus speed and the disk cache that will effect the speed. The bus sped is set on the laptop, but if you get a drive with a bigger disk cache, it will seem faster than the drive in it. If you decied to get a new Macbook and need a good home for the Powerbook, let me know! :winkgrin:


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## janice. (Jul 29, 2008)

Oops, I meant the 7200rpm sata. 

I will indeed. That Mac Pro looks like the way to go tho.


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