[X4U] OT: using old tower Mac as a Firewire case?

[Linda]

On 12/10/06 12:07 PM, Michael Elliott wrote:

> I know that if I mount a Mac as a Firewire device at startup that all
> of the attached devices to it will also mount on the host computer.

I used to believe this is true, but I recently connected my G4 Quicksilver
in Target Disk mode, and only one of the two disks showed up on the desktop.
 
> I was wondering if anyone could comment on the plausibility of
> purchasing a beatup G3 (specifically Blue and White), pulling out the
> CD-ROM and/or Zip drive, putting IDE drives in all the slots, and
> then restarting the computer with the command-T (or just T) key held
> down, and then connecting to my Intel iMac by Firewire cable?  That
> way, I would still have a large case with a fan, and one power supply/
> power cord to worry about.

It might still use more power than the external disk cases individually --
you'd have to compare it to the cases that you'd use instead. One power cord
would be nice, but then again, if you trip over one power cord you've killed
power to ALL your drives rather than just one.

For me, if the power requirements were nearly the same, the dealbreaker
would be the noise of the case.