Mac Not Seeing PATA Hard Drive

[Project 2501]

I'm getting close to retiring my old Mac. I finally moved/reinstalled my software and transferred my data.

Now that I have a stable system, I decided to add my second SATA drive (for Windows 7) and a PATA drive I never got to installing on my old Mac. The SATA, naturally, was recognized without problems. However, the PATA drive is invisible to Mac OS.

The BIOS sees the drive, so it is powered up and properly connected. In the BIOS, "GSATA 0_1/IDE" is enabled and set to "AHCI". I tried setting it to "IDE", but no change. The drive is currently set as "master".

I have the JMicron36xATA and JMicron36xeSATA extensions in the extras folder (used kext utility to rebuild the mkext file just in case).

Disk Utility doesn't see the drive, and the System Profiler doesn't show anything on the ATA bus.

Any ideas?

 

[flatfoot]

I think I read in Tony's introduction to iBoot Supported that the jumpers on the IDE drive(s) have to be set to Cable Select for IDE support to work. I'm not sure but think it's worth a try.

 

[MacMan]

I think I read in Tony's introduction to iBoot Supported that the jumpers on the IDE drive(s) have to be set to Cable Select for IDE support to work. I'm not sure but think it's worth a try.

Yes, Cable Select has to be set for IDE drives to be detected.

 

[Project 2501]

Thanks for the tip. I'll give it a try tonight... yet another case of RTFM!

 

[flatfoot]

Please report back whether it worked or not since I also need to make use of the IDE capability to be able to use my old IDE DVD burner and not have to buy something new just for the install. (I won't really need it later in day-to-day use.

 

[Project 2501]

Okay, here's what happened...

I tried setting the jumper to 'cable select' and it didn't work. I tried changing the drive's position on the cable (does this matter?).

I also tried setting the "GSATA 0_1/IDE" port to "IDE" instead of "AHCI". Also tried different positions on the cable.

Last, I tried deleting the kexts and rebuilding the mkext, because a commenter on the blog said that 10.6's has drivers that work for him. Again, tried different positions on the cable.

I'm stuck. Not critical, but it would be nice to get some use out of this old drive. I know the drive is working, because I tested it using a quick-and-dirty external USB-IDE bridge they sell for $20. Was able to format it using Disk Utility without any problems.

 

[humara]

1st step, read this thread:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1960&hilit=pata&start=10

2nd step, securely disposed of pata drive

 

[MacMan]

When tonymac and I were initially testing JMicron36xATA, he had problems that were due to a bad IDE cable. Once he swapped the cable everything was fine.

 

[Project 2501]

Then I'll try another cable this evening. I just used the one that came with the Gigabyte motherboard. I have a cable that a salvaged from another Mac that I know was working... I hope it is long enough to reach.

Since I am setting the jumper to cable select, does it matter which position I use for the drive? I believe the one on the very end of the 80-wire cables is recognized as 'master', correct?

Should I keep it set at 'AHCI' or 'IDE'?

 

[MacMan]

Since I am setting the jumper to cable select, does it matter which position I use for the drive? I believe the one on the very end of the 80-wire cables is recognized as 'master', correct?

Should I keep it set at 'AHCI' or 'IDE'?

It's been a awhile since I tested this, but I remember that it should work in either position. Also, AHCI/IDE is for the configuration of the SATA ports on that controller only and has no effect on IDE operation. As long as GSATA 0_1/IDE Controller (in the BIOS) is enabled, the IDE port is live.