Factory options for G4 GbE

[ict]

Hi guys!

After a while spent waiting for the right opportunity to come along, I've now become the happy owner of a DP 500 MHz/Gigabit Ethernet Power Mac G4. This machine acquired quite a few upgrades over its decade-long service life but since I already have some newer and overall faster OS 9-capable hardware, I'm looking to set this system up as more of a museum piece and gradually restore it back to its original factory configuration with a few Y2K-appropriate additions. To this end I've tracked down a few of the build-to-order options that have been replaced over the years, but I'm having trouble finding the right hard disks to throw back into it.

It's a bit of a weird question, but does anyone know what particular models of hard disks were used in the GbE G4s? I'm looking to refit my system with the standard 40 GB ATA disk as well as a pair of 36 GB SCSI disks, and according to the service source diagrams these options had part numbers 661-2323 and 661-2321. I can't seem to find any examples of either. It seems like Apple tended towards IBM disks for the most part around this time from my own experience, but I've also seen many Seagate and Quantum parts used as well in both ATA and SCSI systems.

Thanks for reading.

 

[omidimo]

For what its worth, at the time I recall a lot of the stock drives we (being the lab I worked in) was getting Quantums, but on bare bones (5400rpm) stock configurtions they might have been WD or Maxtors. Suffice it to say, most of those stock drives were yanked out immediately and replaced with a better drive. 

 

[Franklinstein]

Yeah those part numbers for the drives don't always mean anything specific; they're Apple internal and usually they just spec speed and/or capacity, not make/model. If you're trying to build a perfect as-shipped Mac, you'll also want to get the ones with the Apple marks on them.

That being said, as mentioned these were mostly Quantum or WD, maybe Maxtor, possibly IBM or Seagate. The SCSI drives were most probably either IBM or Seagate, though they could have been Quantum Atlas series drives. At the time this computer was new, Apple wasn't really using Hitachi, Samsung, or Fujitsu 3.5" drives. 

 

[ict]

Suffice it to say, most of those stock drives were yanked out immediately and replaced with a better drive. 

As I continue my search, I'm really starting to like this idea.

Yeah those part numbers for the drives don't always mean anything specific; they're Apple internal and usually they just spec speed and/or capacity, not make/model.

Definitely looks like it the more I'm searching around. I think for the time being I'm going to forego the original disk and fit an appropriate higher-end model instead.

I'm currently debating between the DiamondMax Plus 45, DiamondMax 80 and the Deskstar 75GXP. The 75GXP seems like the best performer and they're also quite easy to find, but that reliability record makes me hesitate. It seems like even examples that have survived this long can still be at risk of head crashes and PCB failures. Maybe I just need to look into some Atlas 10Ks instead.

Thanks for helping me out!

 

[Cory5412]

Looked through my photos from when I was working on VTools.

On the QS'02, Apple shipped a Seagate Barracuda ATA IV model ST340016A as the base 40-gig disk. (Granted, the QS'02 is at the tail end of when Apple would have been using 40GB disks, I believe the base MDD came with a 60 or 80 gig disk.)

It has an Apple logo on the sticker as well.

If you go on eBay and look for "Apple 40GB IDE disk" I suspect you'll find something "good enough."

 

[omidimo]

If you go on eBay and look for "Apple 40GB IDE disk" I suspect you'll find something "good enough."

Solid advice, a lot of the older disks are still floating out there. When the machines were pulled from service and sent to recyclers they sometimes took the drives out to sell separately or to "destroy" if required. 

I installed many DeskStar 75GXPs around that time, and somehow survived without data loss, but they were replaced with larger drives after the DeathStar scare. 

 

[ict]

I did come across a few (rather expensive) Apple OEM'd Deskstar 40GVs last night while looking around, they didn't carry the Apple part numbers I was looking for but they also seemed a little too old to have been pulled from DA G4s or 2001 iMacs. I'm sure as Franklinstein said there were a variety of different options that the service source diagrams didn't list.

I think I might take a gamble and pull the trigger on a 75GXP, from what I've been reading it looks like you can avoid some of the potential issues if you keep them cool and apply firmware updates.

 

[Cory5412]

At worst: these machines have USB. Once you have a setup you like, if you're in OS 9, just copy the disk to a USB drive. If you're in OS X, superduper the disk to a USB drive.

EDIT: I should clarify. You can boot Mac OS 9 from USB on these machines. OS 9 itself can be transferred/copied to another disk purely by selecting all the files, then copying, then using Startup Disk or holding option upon rebooting.

These machines cannot (easily, to my recollection, but I was told differently a few years ago, so ymmv) boot OS X from USB, but you can probably (I should actually test this too) run superduper or ccc from a USB drive when booted to an OS X install CD, and you can boot OS X from a firewire device.

Duplicating an OS X install is more complicated than an OS9 one. CarbonCopyCloner and SuperDuper were/are popular tools to do that. I believe Disk Utility and/or some command line tools may be able to do it as well.