Performa 6218CD Hard Drive Replacement

[GerrySch]

I've searched this site for Performa 6218CD Hard Drive replacements but found nothing specific, so I'm posting my question here. If there is a previous post that answers my question, please let me know.

Anyway, I bought a used 6218 years ago (with Apple Color Monitor) from eBay but life got in the way and never unpacked it. Since my SE/30 is now working reliably and I've got more space to tinker, I want to get in to it. After reviewing the specs, I found it has an IDE HD. The first thing I'd like to do is replace the HD with a BlueSCSI type of solution but I haven't seen anything like that. I have PC-based SSD replacements in my PCs but I'm sure Apple did IDE differently. Since IDE-based Macs were short-lived, are there any SSD based solutions available? I do have IDE to SATA adapters and plenty of SATA drives but will they work on a Performa 6218?

I'm also really excited about the Apple Color monitor (I completely forgot about it) as I can use it on my LC475 as well as the 6218. Can I use a 15-pin DB A/B selector box to switch between the two Macs? So many possibilities!

Thank you for your time and sharing your knowledge,
Gerry

 

[Byrd]

Hi Gerry,

I'd look into a 3.5" IDE to Compact Flash adapter as a "solid state" solution for your Performa. Macs with early IDE implementation (such as your 6218CD) do not work well with cheaper, faster solutions like IDE to SATA/SSD, IDE to SD, IDE to mSATA adapters. Compact Flash is essentially a pin straight implementation of IDE and therefore the most compatible solution. Large CF cards (32GB+) aren't super cheap but I've often lucked out finding a second hand one on eBay for a fraction of the RRP.

 

[nathall]

I use this one in my 6300/120. Architecture is similar enough I’d wager it would work in any 62xx:

StarTech IDE to SATA

It works with any SATA drive, spinning or SSD I’ve thrown at it. Right now I have a 132GB SATA Seagate Barracuda in there but previously had a 256GB WD SSD (formatted to 128GB) that worked great. Barracuda actually boots faster though.

 

[GerrySch]

Great, thank you both for that information. It helps me a lot.
Gerry