01-26-2010, 09:00 AM

Here's a question about a Mac legacy desktop.

Can an IDE/ATA hard drive be used in a 7300\200 running OS 8.1? This Mac controls a dedicated video editing system.

What hardware would be needed to incorporate the drive? And would 8.1 automatically recognize the drive once installed?

I'm a Mac novice so any help would be appreciated.

01-26-2010, 09:11 AM

The Powermac 7300/200 uses a SCSI hard drive.

Thus you can't use an IDE/ATA directly...but with an adapter...or a special "Nubus" expansion card you can. These cards were available about 10+ years ago, and might be a bit harder to find these days.

You mentioned that you're a "Mac Novice". This is actually a more complex project than you think...since:

- it's been about 10-12 years since Apple used SCSI hard drives,
- software availability & compatibility (OS 8.1) is very thin (unless you already have what you need)
- and technical support is hard to find (but Mac-Forums is a good place to visit)

If you're asking this question because you happen to have an extra IDE/ATA hard drive laying around...it might just be easier to locate & purchase a new or used SCSI hard drive.

HTH,

- Nick

01-27-2010, 11:22 PM

There is a extra bay for another SCSI drive. There is a size limit for the start up drive. If you add a USB card {rev 1} and upgrade to 8.5 + you could use an external USB drive. Now you can also add an external SCSI rad with multi drives. That model has 3 PCI slots and there are IDE controler cards that will work but they have to be for a Mac.