Replacement hard drive for G3 iMac

August 27, 2005 10:57 AM

I need to replace the hard drive in a G3 iMac. What type of disc will I need?

My father's hard disc is showing unrepairabe errors. What do I need to look out for when choosing a new disc? I assume it will need a standard Ultra ATA drive - are there any limits on disc size or anything else I should know about? The current disc is a Seagate U series 5 20Gb.

posted by kenchie to computers & internet (5 comments total)

Any IDE drive will work, but the G3 iMac doesn't support drives larger than 127GB, so don't waste your cash getting anything bigger.
posted by boaz at 11:19 AM on August 27, 2005

I'm leaning towards this at the moment - Barracuda 7200.7 40GB UDMA100
posted by kenchie at 11:35 AM on August 27, 2005

Yeah, any 3.5" Ultra ATA drive should work. As boaz said, if you put, say, a 200GB drive in there, it'll show up as 127GB, since that's the largest size the ATA controller can cope with (though it will work).
posted by cillit bang at 11:40 AM on August 27, 2005

xlr8yourmac.com's drive compatibility database should be able to help you. They used to also have a replacement guide with lots of pictures, but I don't see it anymore. Others shouldn't be hard to find via Google.
posted by kimota at 12:58 PM on August 27, 2005

Here's some more very useful info.

Be aware that the CRT in a G3 iMac still holds lethal charge when disconnected, so stay grounded (literally, electrically) and be careful.

I did a few HD and CD replacements in iMacs when I worked at an Apple Store. Don't lose any screws inside it, be careful when you take the bottom plastic casing off, there are small clips at the front that will break if you force them in the wrong direction.

As for the disk itself, you *can* use a disk larger than 127gb, if you like, as long as you use some software that allows your Mac to. I can't remember what it's called, so I'm hosting it here. It's solid stuff, works a treat, but if you boot from another disk (ie. a Mac OS install CD/DVD) that isn't running these drivers (which it won't be), your computer will only see the first 127gb of the disk, and all Hell will ensue. Best bet? If you go this way, partition the disk into one 127.99gb partition, and however much you have left in another.
posted by armoured-ant at 1:24 PM on August 27, 2005