The Power Mac G4 (Mirrored Drive Doors) and education model of Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver 2002) computers work with ATA and ATAPI internal storage devices that are set for cable select mode.
The cable select feature forces the device to set its ID as either master or slave, based upon its position on the ATA/ATAPI cable:
- If the device is attached to the end of the cable, then it identifies itself as a master.
- If the device is at the middle cable position, then it identifies itself as a slave.
Since cable select mode forces the drive to set its ID based upon its position on the cable, hard drives and optical drives can be easily configured.
When installing additional ATA and ATAPI drives from another manufacturers, check the documentation that came with the drive, or check with the manufacturer to find out how to set the drive to the cable select mode.
Note: For the cable select setting to work properly, the cables you use must work with the cable select feature. For this reason, the original Apple cables that came with the computer should be used when installing additional drives. Some cables made by other manufacturers may not correctly work with the cable select mode.