Strange boot behaviour

[15yearsMDD]

Hi This is my first post here and pretty glad this forum exists.  My G4MDD dual 1Ghz, 2002.  Thats why my handle is 15yearsMDD, I have had this fully loaded with ATA100 which was obviously too much for the original PSU.  So I built my own ATX PSU converter cable which has worked nicely since I mounted it on top of the machine.  I have stripped out most of the redundant or no longer functioning things like the Modem from the Logic Board.  The CD burner which just died recently.  The Hard Disks except for one which still works though it makes some knocking sounds on the first partition the second partition has Tiger without the knocking sound.  On the first partition I re-installed 10.2.1 and 9.2.2 via the original install DVDs/CDs.  That boots but it has issues,

So here is the guts.  I bought a Kingston 120GB SSD SATA3 and an IDE to SATA or SATA to IDE Adapter.  The Adapter package reads: Bidirectional, converts Serial ATA to Parallel ATA Converts Parallel ATA to Serial ATA, Supports ATA100/133, Compliant with Serial ATA specification.  It has a Windows Vista Logo on the packet, Suitable for Driver/Suitable for HOST.

First off I tried it on the ATA66 internal bus of the MDD but it was quite strange and failed to boot any installation past the Apple Logo,

Then I put a Sonnet ATA100 PCI card and plugged the Adapter into channel 1 of the Sonnet PCI card,  I used the red SATA Cable that came with the Adapter.  It is correctly attached to the correct channel on the Adapter card with power attached too.

I have been able to Initialize the SSD both in OS9 and OS10.4.11 and installed Tiger to the SSD which boots but doesn't make it to the Blue Screen before the last stage of a Tiger boot.  It boots to the Apple Logo and the revolving gear wheel but the wheel stops and won't go any further.  At the first stage the red led on the Adapter is lit before the revolving gear wheel starts, when the wheel starts the red led goes out, then the gear wheel turns for a time and stops, then the red led comes back on when it has stopped and will not go any further

With OS9.2.2 I erased the drive. Formatted Mac OS extended, then copied the System Folder and the Applications Folder to the clean SSD.  With OS9.2.2 it makes it up to desktop minus the Menu Bar and what would be on the Desktop otherwise.  There is the black watch which the mouse can move but still no complete boot.

So I have ordered another cheapo adapter to try on the internal ATA100 bus which hasn't arrived yet so I am holding my breath for that.

The MDD will boot and behave normally with a ATA100 HDD on the ATA66 bus.  The SuperDrive will boot whatever I put in it whether it's 10.2.1 or 10.4 or even Ubuntu 12.04ppc.

I even tried holding down the shift key but that has no improvement.

Maybe it's just incompatible.  What does anyone else think?

[IIO]

"With OS9.2.2 it makes it up to desktop minus the Menu Bar and what would be on the Desktop otherwise."

this is a symptom i have seen on "normal" HDs, too.

it indicates that there is a problem with mounting one certain volume - it does not neccesarily have to be the boot volume and it also does not neccessarily needs to turn out to be in the need of repair when you check its integrity with whatever tool.

have you tried the usual suspects yet? mind you, you just added a new device. and even a new controller. so i would first at least try to reset the PRAM. eventually eventually even press the PMU button before that, too. (unplug the power cable, hold the PMU button down for some 3 seconds)

independent from the symtom you see: are you aware of the maximum volume size of 192 gb for OS9 boot?

i also own IDE to SATA adaptors which "dont work". if your simply doesnt work here and if you have a free PCI slot, you might want to consider getting an SATA card.

[IIO]

oh btw - there are people here with more experience with flash drives under OS9 than me - but an SATA III drive might also cause trouble - when your adaptor only supports SATA I -

at least for hardddisk, the rule is you can use III at II ports when you dont need the extra protocol stuff, and you can use II at I ports - but most opf the time you had to put the II drive in an I mode, using jumpers.

not sure what the best practice rule would be for SSDs or optical drives.

if the SATA parts dont understand each other that can cause reading problems in a way where you think it works but then suddenly it stops or gets slow

[MacTron]

In my experience bidireccional SATA to PATA adaptors are so problematic than I avoid using them. The unidirectional ones -when works- works great
Be ware than some modern SSDs (Sata III) don't work with Mac Os 9 ( as some Samsung EVO)

[15yearsMDD]

In my experience bidireccional SATA to PATA adaptors are so problematic than I avoid using them. The unidirectional ones -when works- works great
Be ware than some modern SSDs (Sata III) don't work with Mac Os 9 ( as some Samsung EVO)

Hi MacTron Yes Yes Yes.  The whole post has now been solved.  The New Unidirectional ATA-SATA Adapter arrived from China today, I live in Thailand, USD $5.87.  I put it on the SSD with one plug connection, and wished I'd put on the Apple ATA 6 Cable because, I could only mount the Kingston

KINGSTON SV300S37A120G:SATA III SSD

  Capacity:   111.79 GB
  Model:   KINGSTON SV300S37A120G
  Revision:   60AABBF0
  Serial Number:   50026B777404C16A
  Removable Media:   No
  Detachable Drive:   No
  BSD Name:   disk0
  Protocol:   ATA
  Unit Number:   0
  Socket Type:   Internal
  OS9 Drivers:   Yes
  S.M.A.R.T. status:   Verified
  Volumes:
Mac SSD:
  Capacity:   16.13 GB
  Available:   11.88 GB
  Writable:   Yes
  File System:   Journaled HFS+
  BSD Name:   disk0s10
  Mount Point:   /

Using only two mounting screws to the inside of the drive carrier and it was a tight fit and needed a lot of pressure to insert the  Apple ATA100 cable to the Adapter  ?

Anyway, wow, this is my first SSD.  The Biderectional Adapter had been able to only write to the SSD, because when I booted up, OS9 came up first (ATA66Bus) and I could select the pre-installed version of Tiger (via the Bi-derectional Adpater, which was on the Sonnet Tempo ATA100 Card, (I can't see any use for it in the MDD now the SSD is happy and updated to 10.4.11 without a hiccup and way faster, then ever.

I don't think I would buy another mechanical HD.  I am going to get some more Adapters.

[IIO]

I don't think I would buy another mechanical HD.

oh, you will when you suddenly have the need for 10 tb storage space.