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SSD Solution For 5500
Posted by: 3lectr1cPPC on 2023-04-06 12:39:33
Are you sure? Doesn't it depend on the drive and adapter model? I thought some people did this.

Note don't use the beige G3 as a basis for this sort of thing, the beige g3 ide has more quirks than... a quirky thing covered in quirk sauce, with a quirk stuck in it served on a quirk, with a side of quirks.
Well the ones I’ve known are NOT happy in PowerBooks. The really expensive one (forget the brand) works in the 2400 from what I’ve heard I think.
Posted by: macuserman on 2023-04-06 12:58:33
I believe it does depend on the adapter, specifically what ATA/IDE transfer modes it supports.

I'm fairly certain that all of the PCI architecture Macs that used IDE support drives up to PIO4 16.7MB/s with the B&W G3 adding UDMA 2 ("UDMA/33") 33.3MB/s and G4's eventually supporting even faster modes.

But the adapters sometime don't support the oldest/slowest transfer modes. I used this model adapter, which does PIO4 16.7MB/s and up:

It works just fine in my Performa 6360/PB3400 but no dice in my Quadra 630/PB1400 which only support up to PIO 2 8.3MB/s. Use compact flash in those.
This gives me some hope. I was tickled to death when it worked. The one I have is this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GRMUQRG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1 and it appears to support PIO 0-4 at least that's what the datasheet of the chip says anyways if I'm reading it right. http://www.users.on.net/~fzabkar/temp/JM20330_Spec_Rev.-2.3.pdf


Wanted to add this link to my thread as well to another thread I found that was related and I ended up reading through as well.

SSD in a 6500, anyone successfull?

I'm having no joy getting an SSD hooked up to this machine. Tried two different PATA-to-SATA converters (every jumper setting imaginable, or using no jumpers at all etc.) and no luck. SSDs refuse to show up in Disk Utility (on 8.5 or 9.1 startup CD). I'd like to try a PATA SSD before I give up...
68kmla.org 68kmla.org
Posted by: mg.man on 2023-04-08 02:13:46
I'm apparently not the first to have this thought!
Ooo... that *is* neat! I've actually been thinking about replacing the Zip in my PM6500 with something else - maybe a JAZ drive. I hadn't thought about just dremel'ing out a rectangular opening - I do have one or two blank bezels. 🤔
Posted by: Phipli on 2023-04-08 02:19:16
Ooo... that *is* neat! I've actually been thinking about replacing the Zip in my PM6500 with something else - maybe a JAZ drive. I hadn't thought about just dremel'ing out a rectangular opening - I do have one or two blank bezels. 🤔
I had a SCSI Hard disk up top for a while, but it ended up in my IIci.
Posted by: macuserman on 2023-04-10 11:19:13
Alright so I'm happy to report that my replacement msata parts arrived and I now have a 64GB transcend SSD with 9.1 installed htat works in both my 6500 and my 5500, bonus it mounts using standardish hardware and looks quite tidy vs the velcro nonsense funkiness of the compact and SD card solutions. I realize I mostly solved my own issues here, but I am very grateful for all of you chiming in and encouraging me along the way. 🙂
Posted by: macuserman on 2023-04-10 11:21:58
Full parts list of links in case anyone else wants them.

Drive sled adapter that allows you to mount it to the factory drive sled.
eshop.macsales.com

2.5 to 3.5-inch Drive Adapter Bracket for Apple Mac Pro

Securely and easily install a 2.5-inch hard drive or SSD in a 3.5-inch side mount drive bay within a Mac Pro or Power Mac G4.
eshop.macsales.com eshop.macsales.com

64GB transcend SSD

Msata to IDE adapter

IDE 2.5 to 3.5
Posted by: nathall on 2023-06-17 12:47:58
That's worth trying, I'll maybe try that next. I do think there is something unique about the AIO machines though that is different from the 6500/6400 machines. With these SSD adapters it's not that the drive isn't detected, it's that the computer won't even turn on the CRT with them attached, as soon as I swap to a spinny disk though we are back in business.

I wanted to add, I don’t think its an AIO vs tower issue… Something to do with the entire x400/x500 line I think. I have a StarTech IDE/SATA adapter in my 6300 with a 128GB WD solid state drive that works great. Really fast, too. The same hardware moved over to the 6400 and it does exactly as you describe— will power on and chime but do nothing else. No video, and does not seem to boot.

I got daring one day and boot the machine from the internal SCSI hard disk and then hot-plugged the adapter and SSD in to see if the machine would see it, and it did not. I gave up on trying that sort of thing in the 6400 after that. I skimmed the rest of the thread and it looks like maybe you found a solution, I’ll have to come back later and read it in detail. On my way out the door right now.
Posted by: ObeyDaleks on 2025-07-12 09:47:08
Just wanted to share my solution. I ended up using the Sonnet ATA card with Startech SSD adapter and a generic Kingston SSD.

I knew this would work since the same solution works in the 5500's contemporaries, but I didn't have a solution for placement. Until today! I decided to just mount it internally and feed it power from the PCI connector. Works a treat, looks reasonably clean, and is just as fast and reliable as other PCI Powermacs with the same setup. Disk speed in MacBench scores about 3.6 times faster than stock G3 300Mhz.

P.S. I have tried other solutions before, including mSATA adapters described above, but none really worked reliably. Plus the original ATA implementation was way too slow.


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