---------- Original message ---------- Subject: [Cube] need hard drive for Cube Date: Friday, 07. October 2011 From: liza bear <lizajbear at yahoo.com> To: cube at listserver.themacintoshguy.com > topics+ > > 1/ what is the best data retrieval place for a cooked hard drive (20 GB)? > > 2/ would it be safe to install a new drive in this Cube? The reason the > drive burned out is because the Cube overheated because something > had mistakenly been placed on top of it for a couple of hours while > editing video. Not sure whether the CPU or the video card, or other > components, were also affected. > > 3/ Alternatively, would purchase a Cube with upgraded CPU and preferably > upgraded video card in good running condition. > > Any suggestions welcome. > > Thank you. > > Liza Hello Liza! What is the status of your repair efforts? Could you find out, if 1) the Cube's processor still works? 2) the graphics card is still working? Does the optical drive in your Cube still work? If so, boot from the Install CD/DVD to see if you have graphics. Alternatively you could run a full system test using AHT: http://support.apple.com/kb/TA25411 If you don't have an AHT CD, you'd have to burn it on a different computer; you can get it here: http://www.info.apple.com/support/aht.html Runnig AHT (just boot the CD and start the tests) should tell you if your Cube is still alright. Then you can replace the HDD. You can safely get any standard 3.5 Inch IDE HDD of any size. The best capacity/price ratio are 500 GB HDDs, but the Cube can (normally) only use 128 GB of it. In Europe: 500 GB ~65 Euro i.e. 0.13 Euro / GB 320 GB ~65 Euro i.e. 0.20 Euro / GB 250 GB ~55 Euro i.e. 0.22 Euro / GB 160 GB ~50 Euro i.e. 0.31 Euro / GB You see where I'm getting to? I'd personally rather pay 65 Euro for 500 GB than 50 Euro for 160 GB. You have to be patient to replace the HDD, because this task isn't that easy to accomplish. But it's quite managable. If you need help, watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk7wM3Q65Mg If you utilize a trick during the installation of Mac OS X you can make two partitions: a) 128 GB for Mac OS X (the native limit for the Cube) b) [rest] for additional files (will be available once you apply a simple hack) What you need for this procedure: a) a Mac OS X 10.5 Install DVD b) an internal or external (FireWire-400) DVD drive -or- b) another Power Mac with an internal DVD drive ONCE some patience and time to get it going, then it will just work. Feel free to ask. And tell us what's going on. Cheers + good luck, Andreas aka Mac User #330250