Hello everybody,

it has been some time since I've dabbled with MorphOS last on my since deceased PowerMac G4 Quicksilver. I am, however, getting a Mac Mini G4 and am looking into getting Morph OS on it again! Great to see the progress that has been made in the past few years!

The Mac Mini doesn't come with a HD and I want a modern solution (either SSD or m.2) anyway.

I've looked through the wealth of adapters offered on ebay, but I'm not sure which to pick. There is the size issue, as space is rather scarce inside the little case. I also know from Mac forums that compatibility definitely is an issue with some adapters and the Mini won't work with any IDE<->SATA adapter.

Can anyone recommend me a model that is known to work?

Thanks in advance for your help!

I use a

Delock IDE->mSATA Adapter

in both my Mac mini and PowerBook for years now. The required mSATA module is probably not that common any longer but at least the solution fits nicely with it's 2,5" frame and doesn't overheat opposed to some other (often cheaper) china solutions.

Quote:

Not a particular one, but i bought two (one for the mac mini the other one for the Powerrbook) different el cheapo ide to mSATA adapters from ebay for really low money (some chinese sellers) and both work reliable since i got them.
Both are opreated with Kingston mSATA SSDs.
My bang for the buck advice: cheap mSATA IDE adapter, + quality SSD. Works for me.

Thanks to both of you for taking the time to answering!

I've received the Mini yesterday evening. It works well, booting fine from the OSX CD that came with it. I've robbed my hobbyist basement chest of computer stuff and even came up with a nameless cheap IDE->Sata adapter in a black 2,5" case as well as a 128 GB mSATA module that I once got for free with an order. Had totally forgotten about it.

Unfortunately, the Mini doesn't recognize it. I have no means to verify if it's the adapter or the module, so I guess I'll go and look for that delock adapter @cyfm suggested and go from there.

If somebody has any other suggestions, I'd appreciate it.

[ Edited by Chefsessel 31.12.2022 - 10:07 ]

Alright, just ordered the Delock converter. It's not cheap - to be had for about 35€ but including a fitting frame. I also ordered a Kingston KC600 256GB mSATA. I hope the combo will work. I'll report back here once I received and tested it, just in case somebody else runs into the same problem.

Thanks again for the helpful advice!

[ Edited by Chefsessel 02.01.2023 - 11:59 ]

Quote:

I'd go and check if that adapter doesn't have a MASTER/SLAVE/CABLE SELECT jumper. I once saw one (Delock if I remember correctly) that was misbehaving in PowerBook G4 just because it was jumpered improperly and conflicted with optical drive.

Quote:

At least the Delock is one of the adapters which has the option to change that config. Mac mini requires cable select if I remember correctly.

Here in article 5. are photos of three working adapters + SSDs.

Unforunatelly I have no product names, only more photos, if you are interested.
I confirm, that first two adapters have not jumpers for Master/Slave. So as cyfm said, selection done by Cable select.

Adapter in 5.2 should have jumper marked "HDD select" , but it is not soldered - i.e. stays open.



[ Edited by sailor 06.01.2023 - 12:09 ]

This worked for me:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01GRMUQRG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Outfitted with this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JJ3XCLF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The first drive I purchased was a name-brand (Transcend) and it didn't work.

TJH

You can find IDE adpaters in Vesalia.de shop for example these:
https://www.vesalia.de/e_cfide1825.htm

https://www.vesalia.de/e_ide25cfx2hdd.htm
This last I bought although still I don't used.

> https://www.vesalia.de/e_cfide1825.htm
> https://www.vesalia.de/e_ide25cfx2hdd.htm

CompactFlash and SATA/mSATA are different things.

Quote:

I have a slight problem with such adapter and PowerBook A1139.
The harddrive works OK in all three modes (CS, Slave and Master), but the optical drive is not recognized in any of these (like - at all, the machine doesn't see it's there. It just gets power, so it spins up a little on boot). When I unplug the harddrive the SuperDrive starts working again and I can boot from CD with no problems.

I'm starting to think there's something wrong with the cable connecting SuperDrive to the motherboard.