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Author Topic: The Definitive EVB-002 Guide to Adding Large Hard Drives/SSDs (Power Mac G3 B&W)  (Read 6212 times)

DieHard

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FBz and I have expanded our knowledge and broken known boundaries in the 1st quarter of 2022 with respect to installing large storage drives into various Power Mac G3/G4 models.  We will be explaining and showing real world results realted to upgrading internal storage with large IDE/PATA drives, large mechanical SATA drives, and of course, SATA SSD drives.  This topic/guide will ignore SCSI technologies and SATA add-in cards, since we will be focusing on the absolute cheapest way to go for our members on a low budget.

This low-cost approach to adding storage will target using internal IDE/PATA controller(s) with the $5 EVB-002-3 IDE to SATA adapter known affectionately here on the forum as the “bribge” IDE to SATA adapter. Also, we will included some new undocumented knowledge for G4s that can natively address drives larger than 128GB (macs that have an IDE controller that is 48-bit LBA compliant)

Lastly, we be adding information that has been discovered via trial an error for successfully installing different drive combinations into many beloved macs.  No doubt, this info will be valuable to beginners and have some real surprises in store for our veteran users.
« Last Edit: March 15, 2022, 05:21:00 AM by FBz »
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FBz

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Re:EVB-002 Guide to Adding Hard Drives/SSDs (Power Mac G3 B&W)
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2022, 03:46:53 AM »

Don't know about large Hard Drives or large SSDs with the B&W
or "Definitive"... but here goes
.;)

For more in-depth info & details concerning the G3 B&W:
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php/topic,6127.0.html


You have a G3 Blue & White Rev.1?



The Short Version.

Step 1. Get a Bribge EVB-002-3 IDE/PATA to SATA Adapter (from DieHard?).

Step 2. Attach the Bribge to a 128 GB SSD and place it on HD ribbon cable in last position.

             A. If you’ve a Rev.1 mobo there should only be one connector on end of that cable.

             B. Rev. 2? Just put it on the cable’s last position for now.

             C. Leave the jumper on the Bribge.

Step 3. Boot your Mac with an OS 9.2.2 installer disc and *format the SSD.

Step 4. Then after installing OS 9.2.2, reboot and enjoy your new SSD. 8)


You have a B&W Rev.2? Two-Drive Addendum:







Step 1. Remove the Bribge jumper & place Bribge on HD cable’s middle connector.
           (After the Rev.1 approach detailed above.)

Step 2. Attach a Seagate IDE/PATA HD to the last HD connector and double-jumper it.

             A. This only works with the Seagate HDs.

             B. This only works with the Seagate HDs.
             
             C. Seagate IDE/PATA HDs = 128 GB or less.

Step 3. Place the SSD on the Bribge, on the middle HD ribbon cable connector.

             A. Then reboot and enjoy both your new SSD and your old conventional HD too. 8) 8)

That’s pretty much all there is to it.
(*Format / partition with Apple’s Drive Setup 2.1- but you’re welcome to try Drive Setup1.9.2.)

And you should notice faster boot times, quicker machine response, etcetera.
So, no need to read any further… unless you like possibly being confused by facts.

NOW, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED. TL/DR
**************************************************






Seagate PATA (w/ double-jumper) on bottom
                    - SSD slave on top… no worries.


Not nearly as exciting as breaking the Digital Audio 128 GB HD limit.
But the Blue & White does benefit with the Bribge + SSD approach.
BUT NOT with just any old conventional PATA HD companion.

It must be a Seagate w/ the… "Master with non-ATA compatible slave”
option AND not over 128 GB each, for a two-drive setup.



OR use a Bribge + SSD alone.
You could also use a solo 128 GB SSD - on a Rev.1 board? (Mentioned up above.)




Failed, other attempted Workarounds:

You can use a Seagate (or any other brand’s conventional HD) in
conjunction with a Bribge in the B&W. Go ahead, give it a try and
let us know how it goes. Always open for another possible solution.
But while other hard drives might be initially recognized and boot
2-3 times, back and forth… they then fail utterly and very quickly.
The B&W’s simply will not tolerate it - so it’s best to stick with a
Seagate (128 GB or less) and skip the headache(s) and lost time.
Even a SATA drive (with Bribge / master) will boot once or twice
with an SSD as slave… but that too also fails after 1-2 boots.
(Did test a multi-partitioned 750 GB SATA HD and was thrilled
…at first - but that didn’t last long.

Two Bribges and two 128 GB SSDs in a B&W (master & slave)
won’t work either. Unless you put one of them on the…
Multi-Word DMA bus. (Ha-ha.)

Even tested Intec’s High Capacity (“ATA Hi-CAP”) formatting
approach attempting to break the 128 GB barrier & cannot
recommend that either.

(Maybe same w/ upcoming G4 AGP & Sawtooth w/ Bribge too.)


From Intech’s “Read Me” doc:

“Blue and White G3's. Among the problems present in the Ultra-33 ATA
controller on the Blue and White G3 computer is the inability to do 48-bit
addressing with any type of DMA writes. If you have this machine,
you’ll need to connect your extended capacity ATA drive to the
Multi-Word DMA bus (the same bus your CD/DVD ROM is connected to).


Do not connect an extended capacity drive to the Ultra DMA bus.
It will cause your computer to hang.


Okay, now onto the Baselines:

On the left, a conventional 60 GB Seagate PATA drive.
On the right, a 128 GB Inland SSD w/  Bribge.
Both solo, benchmarked alone und separately.



Not a massive difference at first glance.
But compare the READ times - as the SSD excels considerably.
Faster boots, quieter, less heat & reduced strain and drain on your PSU.
AND with SSD prices declining - you want a new or used conventional drive?


Here’s the Bribge + SSD approach.

Seagate as master, SSD + Bribge as slave. 2 drives.
All bootable partitions. Seagate ID=0. SSD ID=1.


Seagate was divided into 2 equal-sized partitions for Tiger and OS 9.2.2.
While the Inland SSD was then partitioned into 4 equal partitions.


The SSD’s OS 9.2.2 benchmark as a slave w/ Seagate as master:



Very miniscule changes in performance over the (solo) baseline benchmark noted up above.


SO don’t even think about the Multi-Word DMA bus mentioned by Intec.
“Which is the same bus your CD/DVD ROM is connected to”.
Here are those results with a solo SSD.


128 GB Inland SSD on the DMA bus. Nooooo!

NO thank you.


  Blue & White stats compared w/ G4 AGP and 733 Digital Audio
  Really? Was a 450 AGP worth $1,000 more… 6 months later?
  (Ultra ATA/33 vs. Ultra ATA/66.)


“Ultimate Mac Comparison” feature via... https://everymac.com/ultimate-mac-comparison-chart/
Again, the above graphic used with permission from EveryMac.com


AND as if you’ve not burned your eyes enough here already…
B&W - Adapter Shootout / Added Value BONUS!

Also, compared the Addonics and StarTech adapters against the Bribge EVB-002-3 bridge
adapters and found minimal performance difference between the three. BUT if you’ve the
extra $$$ for the “red ones” knock yourself out for an extra 10-15 dollars each.
(Or smarter to hit DieHard up for some low-cost Bribges.)

*Results / differences may vary - with newer G4 machines?


+/- 1MB/sec on bigger numbers for both adapters, compared to current results.
The above shootout comparison was completed 03/04/2022.

I did warn you. ;)
« Last Edit: March 15, 2022, 05:37:11 AM by FBz »
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DieHard

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The B&W G3 tower holds a special place in my heart as the first Power Mac to really be able to break out of Music/MIDI sequencing and become a viable complete DAW solution; it was the first machine that I did not use an outboard mixer to finish projects. At the time, we were all using fast 10K SCSI drives and ignoring the IDE Bus.

After the exhaustive details, provided by FBz, although the G3 B&W undoubtedly has style, I am going to recommend to newbies to skip this model and grab a DA, QS, or MDD G4.  If you already own one, FBz really outdid himself and deserves a bunch of accolades for this amazing guide :)
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