I'm not strictly looking to mod my old Pismo PowerBook, it's just that the power has failed after one drop on the floor too many, and I could do with getting a few files off the Hard Drive.
Is there anything I could plug the hard drive into that would let me access the data on it (not necessarily boot from the drive)?
EG, could I swap / add the hard drive to another machine? Could I somehow turn the HD into an external USB/Firewire drive that I could access???
If you have another powermac, you can get a 2.5-3.5 adaptor to put the hd in you mac. Just Google the above and you should get several hits. They are cheap too. Good luck. -maestro
If the drive is large enough to warrent it, (And you are not planning on repairing Mr.Pismo ) You could by an external firewire enclosure for it, easy to do, very nice. I did it with a desktop Hard Drive I had, It rocks.
mordaskyt - your idea is more what I was thinking. I don't know how to repair the Pismo, I looked on PBFixIt but it looks complicated.
I will put the drive back once the data is off, I just wanna get it off before I sell the Pismo on.
Coz it'll only take me an hour or so to ge tthe data off I don't necessarily need an external case, I could just leave the drive flopping about.
In this case, is there a cheaper cable that will let me just plug the drive into the firewire/usb, get the data off and then plug the drive back into the laptop??
Well, stand alone solutions do exist but are much more expensive than the enclosure kits. An external 2.5" firewire/USB kit can be had for under $20 on ebay. Really Maestro's suggestion (internal Adaptor) is the easiest and cheapest, Are you looking to connect the drive to a PC? that would be your only real challange with either the internal or the external solution, we could help you though. We could also help you figure out how to fix the Pismo, if you'd like.
Just wanna connect it to a Mac, which will hopefully see it as an external drive and let me get the stuff I need off.
I have a G4 Powerbook with a USB & Firewire, running OSX so I'm hoping to conect to that. the drive in the Pismo is OS9, though I'm only after data files, so am hoping that's not gonna be an issue.
It would be great if someone would be able to guide me in how to fix the Pismo, but honestly, I've never even used a soldering iron, so not sure I'm up for the job. If anyone on here is in London, UK and wants to help - let me know! :-)
In the meantime though, I'll get scouting eBay for an external kit for the drive. Do they have to be Mac compatible, or will anyone do?
Also, what determines whether I make it USB or Firewire when I put the drive in?
Searching for "2.5 firewire" on ebay will turn up lots of kits, there is no difference between the kits as far as Mac vrs PC is concerned. Any one will do. Basically you put the drive in the case and the case has either a Firewire, USB or both ports on the back, plug an ordinary cable in just like any other external device. Personally I would reccomend firewire over usb, Kits with both ports will use which ever cable you plug into the back after the drive is in. If your powerbook has USB 2.0 than either is fine, But if its a titanium, then firewire is the way to go. Once the drive is installed in the case, just plug in the cable and it should mount on the desktop fine.
Just be sure to buy a 2.5" (Laptop Drive) enclosure and not a 3.5" (Desktop Sized) one
I don't think my G4 Powerbook does have USB2 (it's a PowerBook G4 Onyx 15" (VGA) 667Mhz) so I rekon I might as well get a drive case that's just Firewire???
What do you rekon?
Next task will be getting the drive out! :-D
Post edited by: StillbornChrist, at: 2005/09/26 17:01
) You could by an external firewire enclosure for it, easy to do, very nice. I did it with a desktop Hard Drive I had, It rocks.
Previous Topic
Index
