G3/266 internal SCSI?

[beautyfish]

Hi. I have a desktop G3/266 with internal IDE hard disk and CD rom. I am told that there is room for another hard disk in the case. Is there any reason why I can't (or shouldn't) install an internal 9 gig SCSI drive for Protools24 use? I have been told that the G3 internal SCSI bus is faster than the external, and I could use the extra rack space saved by an internal drive. If it is advisable, please answer the following.

1. Anything special I need to tell my Mac dealer's tech guys about installing the drive.?

2. Of all the 9 gig drives on the approved list, which ones are the best for this type of internal installation?

3. If I decide to go to an Adaptec card for more speed/tracks later on, does an internal hard disk create any problems?

Anything else would be appreciated... I only want to do this one time.

Jim

[Steve Rosenthal]

I have been told that the G3 internal SCSI bus is faster than the external

I'm not sure about that. I'd have to check. I'm pretty certain that the SCSI bus on the Beige G3s is a single bus both for internal and external use, and it's slow, narrow SCSI.

Depending on the amount of tracks you hope to work with, this may not be the ideal setup. Slow, narrow SCSI can handle 16 tracks of 16 bit audio fairly well, but more tracks at a higher bit depth will be a bit much for it.

1. Anything special I need to tell my Mac dealer's tech guys about installing the drive.?

There's nothing special about installing the drive.

You may want to consider a fan kit to add extra cooling for the drive. This will cost around $50. APS makes them ( http://www.apstech.com ), and so does Granite Digital ( http://www.scsipro.com ), I belive.

2. Of all the 9 gig drives on the approved list, which ones are the best for this type of internal installation?

The newer Seagates (Barracudas and Cheetahs) are cooler and consume less power. The new IBMs are also very nice and run fairly cool.

3. If I decide to go to an Adaptec card for more speed/tracks later on, does an internal hard disk create any problems?

Having an internal HD is fine -- as long as you don't need to take your drive to another studio.

If I'm right about the SCSI bus on the Beige G3s, you'd be better off with a SCSI accelerator regardless. You can still keep your drive mounted internally, since there are internal connectors on the SCSI cards.

--Steve Rosenthal, Digidesign ETS