adding drives to G3

[Jeff Carpenter]

Well, start out by finding your computer here:

https://www.apple-history.com/

I’m guessing that yours might be listed under 1999 as:
Power Macintosh G3 (Blue & White)

But you’ll have to look yourself and see if that’s it. Look at the chip speeds to be certain you have the right model. If that is it, it looks like the max RAM is 256 x 4 chips, or 1 GB total. It also looks like there’s space for 3 hard drives.

[Thaxter Clavemarlton]

[Mike Cohen] “It looks like there is a free IDE / ATA port on the ribbon cable, but there is really no where to mount another drive.”

Do you have a Zip Drive and a CDROM installed?
Is there any room ABOVE the CD drive?

I put some sticky Velcro on top of my DVD drive in a G4 and mounted another HD there.
You can also remove the Zip drive (who needs them with CD-Burners) and a HD fits nicely there (and it will hook into the power and ribbon that’s now connected to the Zip.)

And if you can find any other area that’s left “free” like under the PCI cards:
If you only have a couple of PCI cards installed and have those in the UPPER slots, there should be ample room to mount a HD in the case right below them.

To add more drives if you don’t have any more “free” ATA ribbon connectors, you can add another PCI card that will handle 2 to 4 more HDs for under $50.

[Mike Cohen]

Thanks to you both for the handy info. I do have a 2nd drive. It is just sitting at the bottom of the case in the front, and there is room at the back under the PCI slots.

Mike