[G4] Re: Help with Installing a Seagate SATA drive on a G4

[Sean Collins]

Dick:

Not all PCI cards work in Macs.  Drive controllers, like Video cards, 
must have Mac compatible ROMS on board.

>Looks like the SYBA card will go back to Fry's and I refuse to pay $80 for a
>Mac card that looks just like the PC card.

The Syba cards are not Mac compatible.  Their web site says so:

"Q: What kind of OS does it support?
A: Our controller card only support Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP and Linux OS"

>  Anybody been able to get a PC PCI Serial ATA controller card to 
>work on a Mac?

Yes.  I've been using the FirmTek 1S2 for about 2 years now.  It 
works great.  Other Mac compatibles come from Acard, Sonnet and SIIG.

As with all these products, you'll pay a premium for being a Mac 
user, but it pays off in the long run.  SATA drives are cheaper than 
parallel IDE drives, specially at higher capacities.  Back when I 
bought my Firmtek card ($45 special from OWC), the cost of the 
controller + 200 GB SATA drive was only $20 more than the cost of an 
IDE drive alone.

Sean