SSD in a LC/Performa 580

[Quadraman]

Does anyone know if it's possible to install a SSD into one of these machines? I powered up mine recently, and get the floppy disk icon on the screen, like it can't find the hard drive anymore. It's been a long time, so the hard drive has probably crapped out from age, and I want something more modern in it, that I can buy new, so I don't have to mess around with used hard drives on ebay.

 

[Phipli]

Does anyone know if it's possible to install a SSD into one of these machines? I powered up mine recently, and get the floppy disk icon on the screen, like it can't find the hard drive anymore. It's been a long time, so the hard drive has probably crapped out from age, and I want something more modern in it, that I can buy new, so I don't have to mess around with used hard drives on ebay.

Something like a ZuluSCSI SD card adapter is your best bet.

SCSI to IDE adapters are very expensive.

 

[Quadraman]

Something like a ZuluSCSI SD card adapter is your best bet.

SCSI to IDE adapters are very expensive.

The 580 doesn't use SCSI, it uses IDE. I should have specified it was a 580.

Also, what is the largest capacity drive these are capable of addressing?

I'm thinking a IDE-CF adapter is going to be the way to go, but I'd like to see what other options are out there.

Thread title changed to reflect that it is a 580, that uses IDE, that I'm working with, and not an earlier model, that uses SCSI.

 

[Phipli]

The 580 doesn't use SCSI, it uses IDE. I should have specified it was a 580.

Also, what is the largest capacity drive these are capable of addressing?

Thread title changed to reflect that it is a 580, that uses IDE, that I'm working with, and not an earlier model, that uses SCSI.

Yes, that is an important detail - when you said "LC" you actually meant "LC 580"!

I've never pushed that family of IDE controllers really far - in the distant past people used to say 8GB maximum, but I've personally used the related Performa 630 with a 9GB disk... There are people online saying they have 40GB disks in them...

I anticipate that the maximum is 120GB as long as you're using a new enough OS (I think it is 7.5.2 or later).

I'd recommend partitioning the drive if you put a big disk in it, say make a couple of 2GB partitions and then a larger storage partition. You can basically have as many partitions as you want (not infinite, but more than you could ever need). Remember also, you don't actually have to format all of the hard disk if you don't want to. I have a 16GB disk in my SE with only about 3GB formatted (as three partitions), just to keep things tidy.

 

[Phipli]

Oh, also, my dad uses a cheap Compact Flash card adapter in his Quadra 630... but to warn you, I generally find that many modern / new CF cards just don't work in old computers. I have a couple of old 1 and 2GB ones that I use for such things.

 

[Nixontheknight]

Does anyone know if it's possible to install a SSD into one of these machines? I powered up mine recently, and get the floppy disk icon on the screen, like it can't find the hard drive anymore. It's been a long time, so the hard drive has probably crapped out from age, and I want something more modern in it, that I can buy new, so I don't have to mess around with used hard drives on ebay.

you can only install SCSI solutions in the 520-575, but with the 580, it is possible because it uses IDE and you can either buy an IDE SSD or an IDE to SATA adapter

 

[Quadraman]

you can only install SCSI solutions in the 520-575, but with the 580, it is possible because it uses IDE and you can either buy an IDE SSD or an IDE to SATA adapter

The IDE to SATA adapters I found on ebay require a molex, or mini molex connector. Does the power supply in the LC 580 have one?

 

[Nixontheknight]

The IDE to SATA adapters I found on ebay require a molex, or mini molex connector. Does the power supply in the LC 580 have one?

they should, all hard drives required the big molex connectors, and you can buy molex to mini molex (referred to as Berg) adapters

 

[3lectr1cPPC]

Also would be a good idea to get that 580 recapped if you haven’t already.

 

[Burgertrench]

I use a 32gb hyperdisk disk on module from eBay in my Performa 5400 and it's been bulletproof. I'd highly recommend one. You need female to female versions of both IDE and molex power cables to be able to connect the module to the edge connector inside this series of machine.

 

[shadedream]

It is unlikely that an IDE to SATA adapter will work in the machine anyway. Likely something to do with the way Apple implemented IDE early on not being compatible with how these cheap modern adapters work. The earliest machine I could get one to work reliably in was a G4 cube. My beige G3 sort of worked but had a bunch of weird issues in the OS (I don't remember the details now, it's been quite a while). Best option for those older machines would be a CF or SD to IDE adapter unless you get a hyperdisk or something. I'm not sure you'd really even see a speed improvement over what they can offer anyway on a machine that old.

 

[David Cook]

It is unlikely that an IDE to SATA adapter will work in the machine anyway. Likely something to do with the way Apple implemented IDE early on not being compatible with how these cheap modern adapters work. The earliest machine I could get one to work reliably in was a G4 cube. My beige G3 sort of worked but had a bunch of weird issues in the OS (I don't remember the details now, it's been quite a while). Best option for those older machines would be a CF or SD to IDE adapter unless you get a hyperdisk or something. I'm not sure you'd really even see a speed improvement over what they can offer anyway on a machine that old.

I've had excellent results with a modern IDE to SATA adapter in the Quadra 630 series. They're inexpensive -- so it is definitely worth trying to see if it will work in a 580 (which came out after the 630).

 

[Phipli]

I've had excellent results with a modern IDE to SATA adapter in the Quadra 630 series. They're inexpensive -- so it is definitely worth trying to see if it will work in a 580 (which came out after the 630).

Some 630s were fitted with 580 boards. They're extremely similar, or even identical, depending on which board you get.

 

[David Cook]

Some 630s were fitted with 580 boards. They're extremely similar, or even identical, depending on which board you get.

Very interesting. I didn't know that. I do have several late Quadra 630s with dual memory slots (rather than a ROM simm slot). I'll bet those match the 580.

 

[Phipli]

Very interesting. I didn't know that. I do have several late Quadra 630s with dual memory slots (rather than a ROM simm slot). I'll bet those match the 580.

Yes, that's it, the two SIMM boards. They also have a GIMO slot and four holes around the CPU. They're the only 630s that can take a DOS card.

 

[shadedream]

I've had excellent results with a modern IDE to SATA adapter in the Quadra 630 series. They're inexpensive -- so it is definitely worth trying to see if it will work in a 580 (which came out after the 630).

Interesting, I'd be interested to know which one if you had good results. I tried three different adapters (two were the same make) and they all had issues in newer machines than a 630. I believe I tried one (or an IDE to mSATA adapter?) in my crumbling 630 and had no luck at all.

 

[David Cook]

Interesting, I'd be interested to know which one if you had good results. I tried three different adapters (two were the same make) and they all had issues in newer machines than a 630. I believe I tried one (or an IDE to mSATA adapter?) in my crumbling 630 and had no luck at all.

The StarTech brand IDE to SATA worked in several of my 630s.

Amazon.com

I've successfully paired it with:
PNY 120GB SSD https://amzn.to/3YLrfkW
Kingston 120GB SSD https://amzn.to/3OCkDAI
ADATA 128GB SSD https://amzn.to/3QME10s (only 256GB seems to be available now)
and Samsung 128GB which I can't find a link to.

However, when I tried using the StarTech adapter in my Power Macintosh 4400, the ATAPI CD drive refused to read. Switching to either of these "knock off" adapters worked:
NFHK https://amzn.to/3P5ShAg
Kingwin https://amzn.to/3QIGGIE

Previously, I assumed all the adapters were basically the same chips and boards from China. But, I can attest first-hand that the StarTech behaved differently than the NFHK and Kingwin in the Power Macintosh 4400. Perhaps different revisions of the chip?

 

[shadedream]

Interesting, I just checked, I have the same StarTech and SinLoon. Neither of them worked in my beige G3 systems. I can't recall if I tested in my 6400 or Q630 though. I have a second of one or the other which is in my G4 cube and working fine there. I was using the Kingston SSDs.

 

[Phipli]

Interesting, I just checked, I have the same StarTech and SinLoon. Neither of them worked in my beige G3 systems. I can't recall if I tested in my 6400 or Q630 though. I have a second of one or the other which is in my G4 cube and working fine there. I was using the Kingston SSDs.

My G3 is more picky than my 630