MP 1,1-5,1 Any ideas on how I might connect my new 8TB HDD to my 2008 Mac Pro?

[Moorgan]

My backup/TM drive failed a while ago so I got this one to replace it. The only problem is that 2 (in 4) of the holes for the screws to mount it internally are in the wrong place. I thought about returning it, but I checked and it’s like that for every single HDD of this size or larger. I guess the world randomly decided to change the standard position for no apparent reason at some point before these sizes existed.

I got it on sale for ~$140, which is cheaper than most 6TB drives. So I don’t want to downgrade. I’d use duct tape but Apples slider mounts are so close together the duct tape would probably prevent it from sliding in.

If I had a 3D printer or crafting equipment I could easily make adapter brackets, but I don’t. I looked for an existing one for sale, but found no sign of one existing. Any thoughts/suggestions?

Edit:
I just noticed the 2009-2012 Mac Pro mounting trays look just like mine except that they have 2 extra screw holes to support both kinds of drives: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/images...prodbktlg6_hard_drive_bracket_for_1213098.jpg
Does anyone know if they will also fit in a 2008 Mac Pro? Looks like they’re selling for ~$25.
Never mind, found that answer here: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/mac-pro-hard-drive-trays-compatibility.2097654/
I still need a solution though.

 

[chabig]

Look for other holes. There are usually more than four holes, so you ought to be able to find some that match. If you can't, just use two screws.

 

[Moorgan]

It has only 8; 4 on top and 2 on each side. The ‘08 Mac Pro top mounts internal drives. The ones that do line up are the front 2, meaning the majority of the weight is unsupported. The drive will be hanging and putting a ton of strain on those 2 points, eventually breaking the plastic of the HDD. At which point it will yank out, probably snapping the SATA port, and its full weight will crash down into the fan of my video card, smashing that too.

 

[chabig]

None of the side holes fit? That's weird. I'm afraid I can't help then.

 

[Moorgan]

Top mounts only have 4 screws going straight down, and Apple makes it so snug the sides of all the drives are basically touching.

 

[KeesMacPro]

There are drive sleds available with 6 screw holes , according to the newer standard screw distance.
Unfortunately these sleds only fit in a MP 2009/2010/2012.
Drive sleds for a MP 2008 are a bit longer .
What you could do is buy a 6-hole sled, cut of the legs and mount that to the drive.
This way your new drive will be mounted as safe and stable as it should.
Not pretty, but functional ; )

Somebody in this thread had the same idea (post #15):

MacPro3,1 Drive sled screw holes 8TB 10TB drives?

Hi, I currently have 4 x 4TB drives in my MacPro3,1 2008 8core 2.8mhz I'd like to put 8TB or 10TB drives in but OWC told me that the screw holes on the bigger capacity drives have changed location and my MacPro drive sleds wont work. Has anyone found drive sleds/brackets which will work in...

forums.macrumors.com

The sled I'm referring to:

OWC Hard Drive Tray / Sled / Bracket for Mac Pro (2009, 2010-2012)

OWC Hard Drive Tray / Sled for Mac Pro (2009, 2010-2012), compatible with all 3.5-inch drives, including 6TB-18TB drives with new (2014+) screw mount standard.

eshop.macsales.com

 

[arw]

The cheapest option (besides 3D printing one) is to somehow install the HDD above/below the ROM-drive and connect it to the second SATA cable.
Just make sure the HDD is fixed/ doesn't vibrate otherwise you risk damaging it.
Edit: Or you could just screw in 2 screws and gaffer-tape the other end to the sled for support.

 

[KeesMacPro]

The cheapest option (besides 3D printing one) is to somehow install the HDD above/below the ROM-drive and connect it to the second SATA cable.
Just make sure the HDD ist fixed/ doesn't vibrate otherwise you risk damaging it.

Excellent idea, but IIRC the optical drive in a MP 2008 is IDE , so a IDE to SATA adapter is needed.
The MP 4,1/5,1 has a SATA cable in the optical bay.

I think there are 2 free SATA connectors on the mainboard of the MP 2008 as well, so a cable running from there to the optical bay would work too.

 

[Soba]

Some enterprising designers have created 3D prints of drive sleds for the 2008 Mac Pro. Patterns are available online to print your own, but I'm not sure where you might buy one that's ready-made.

I once mounted such a drive by using the 2 screw holes that did line up and then using a very long piece of electrical tape to wrap the loose end of the drive entirely in several complete circles of tape so that there was virtually no chance of the drive falling free and torquing the connector. It worked fine, but it wasn't intended for long-term use and I don't recommend this because if the drive does somehow come loose, it can ruin the connector or even destroy your Mac.

If none of this is appealing, consider an external option. I use a Newer Tech PCIe SATA card for cloning off-site backups on my Mac Pro 2010 and it works great. No drivers required for Mac OS X 10.5 or later and it also works in Windows or Linux. It's even bootable if you have a need for it.

NewerTech® : Storage : MAXPower eSATA 6G Pro PCIe Controller Card

NewerTech MAXPower eSATA 6G Pro PCIe Controller Card - easiest solution for adding 2 SATA 6Gb/s ports with DRIVERLESS Plug and Play install.

www.newertech.com

It's also SATA 6Gbps and performs a bit faster in real-world use than the internal connectors (which are 3Gbps).

 

[rpmurray]

I was in the same situation with my HGST 12TB drives. I went to Lowe's and picked up some aluminium L-bracket. Cut off 2.5 inch pieces and used some 3M strong double-sided tape to adhere it to the front inside of the tray so it forms a C so the drive has a little ledge to sit on. I made them 2.5 inches so there would be room on either side to get your fingers in to pull the tray out. Used a few of those little adhesive bumpers so the drive is not resting on the bare metal of the ledge so it doesn't vibrate. Had to remove the two screws on the tray closest to the front (they just pop out) so they didn't get in the way.

 

[arw]

Or use a PCIe SATA card with internal header.
Or take the opportunity and install a PCIe USB 3.0 card with an additional internal USB 3.0 header and connect a USB 3.0 to SATA adapter.
Edit: I‘d go rpmurray‘s way and would try to somehow modify the original sled.
Edit2: Looks like the two free SATA connectors are in the top left area of the motherboard.
There are brackets to mount the HDD instead of a second optical drive (5.25 to 3.5 bay adapter).
You‘d then just need a Molex to SATA Power adapter cable and still had your 4 original bays unoccupied.

 

[MarkC426]

You could get an external enclosure and connect to USB.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

I guess you guys couldn't punch a pairs of new holes on the sled and use flat head screws, could you?

And what's wrong with just 2 screws? Paranoia?

 

[KeesMacPro]

I guess you guys couldn't punch a pairs of new holes on the sled and use flat head screws, could you?

It's not just a matter of "punch a few new holes".
If you take a closer look at the construction of the sled you'll see that the parts where the mounting holes are , are on a different level to maintain a certain distance between the drive and the chassis where it slides in.

And what's wrong with just 2 screws? Paranoia?

This is a rhetorical question I suppose...

 

[Soba]

And what's wrong with just 2 screws? Paranoia?

The sleds in the classic Mac Pro do not support the drive from the bottom—at all. The drive is mounted upside-down and two screws are not adequate to secure the drive against falling, torquing the drive connector, and thus damaging or wrecking the Mac. You are fighting against gravity, and if you try to do this (as the OP learned), you will find it is not possible.

Do not use only 2 screws to mount a drive in a Mac Pro drive bay without some additional support.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

The sleds in the classic Mac Pro do not support the drive from the bottom—at all. The drive is mounted upside-down and two screws are not adequate to secure the drive against falling, torquing the drive connector, and thus damaging or wrecking the Mac. You are fighting against gravity, and if you try to do this (as the OP learned), you will find it is not possible.

Do not use only 2 screws to mount a drive in a Mac Pro drive bay without some additional support.

It's actually much harder than you think to dismount the drive from the screws and anything attached to it (the sled). I did tried with a dead HDD and aluminum of the same thickness. Detaching the HDD will require broken the screw or the aluminum hole.
Further more, the additional support you need is right there: the plastic SATA socket.

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

It's not just a matter of "punch a few new holes".
If you take a closer look at the construction of the sled you'll see that the parts where the mounting holes are , are on a different level to maintain a certain distance between the drive and the chassis where it slides in.

Really, so how did OWC do that? How did Apple do that? Magic? Or just simple engineering?
And I did write "punching", not "drilling", even though a careful drilling + edge grinding may also work with a flathead screw of proper length.

 

[Soba]

It's actually much harder than you think to dismount the drive from the screws and anything attached to it (the sled). I did tried with a dead HDD and aluminum of the same thickness. Detaching the HDD will require broken the screw or the aluminum hole.

It is not even possible to mount the drive straight in the OP's situation. This doesn't work, hence the reason for this thread.

The drive droops at a significant angle (which will increase with the passage of time) when mounted with only the two screw holes that are available when these old sleds are paired with new drives. You do not want a SATA connector making contact at an angle because it will almost certainly damage the SATA connector of both the Mac and the hard drive.

Your sig says you have a flashed 2006 Mac Pro. Before posting again, try to mount a 6TB+ hard drive with the new screw configuration in one of your sleds. It is not workable in a running system.

 

[KeesMacPro]

Really, so how did OWC do that? How did Apple do that? Magic? Or just simple engineering?

I see no point at all in getting into this, in fact I regret I responded to your first post.

 

[Macschrauber]

1st you can't swap 1.1 to 3.1 with 4.1 to 5.1 sleds, its not just the length it is the V-cut for the lock mechanism what differs.

I tried to butcher 3.1 Sleds into 5.1 - the V Cut is the problem.

the 3.1 has Pata for optical drives, needs a sata cable routed. There are 2 more unused ports on the logic board near the plugs for GPU extra Power.

 

[KeesMacPro]

the 3.1 has Pata for optical drives, needs a sata cable routed. There are 2 more unused ports on the logic board near the plugs for GPU extra Power.

See post #8 ; )

 

[arw]

If you‘re going to install it in the optical bay (routed SATA-cable & Molex-to-SATA-power connector), I recommend avoiding the following bracket design.
Speaking from experience, while it works without a doubt, the direct metal-metal coupling can lead to nasty vibration noise. So better search for a design with some sort of damping grommets.
Edit: sth. like the 2nd picture looks promising (3.5" To 5.25" SSD HDD Hard Drive Disk Shock Absorption Bracket Dock Mount Holder)

 

[KeesMacPro]

If you‘re going to install it in the optical bay (routed SATA-cable & Molex-to-SATA-power connector), I recommend avoiding the following bracket design.
Speaking from experience, while it works without a doubt, the direct metal-metal coupling can lead to nasty vibration noise. So better search for a design with some sort of dampening grommets.

Definitely agree with you.
OWC sells an elegant solution with silent blocks instead of metal-metal mount and a SATA cable set for the MP 2008.

OWC Multi-Mount: 2.5" to 3.5" Hard Drive Adapter Bracket Set

Want to add storage with the speed of SSD for your desktop, but don't have a 2.5" hard drive bay to install it into? OWC has you covered with Multi-Mount.

eshop.macsales.com

 

[arw]

Definitely agree with you.
OWC sells an elegant solution with silent blocks instead of metal-metal mount and a SATA cable set for the MP 2008.

OWC Multi-Mount: 2.5" to 3.5" Hard Drive Adapter Bracket Set

Want to add storage with the speed of SSD for your desktop, but don't have a 2.5" hard drive bay to install it into? OWC has you covered with Multi-Mount.

eshop.macsales.com

I saw them too, but all 3,5“ versions are sold out, that‘s why I looked on eBay.

 

[MarkC426]

Seriously why not try something like this (with the correct hole positions) for £20:

RSHTECH Hard Drive Enclosure USB 3.0 to SATA External Hard Drive Caddy for 3.5 inch SATA I/II/III HDD SSD up to 16TB Drives,Support UASP & Automatic Sleep Function (Silver)

RSHTECH Hard Drive Enclosure USB 3.0 to SATA External Hard Drive Caddy for 3.5 inch SATA I/II/III HDD SSD up to 16TB Drives,Support UASP & Automatic Sleep Function (Silver)

www.amazon.co.uk

Ok connected to USB2 won't be super fast, but fine for TM.
Your initial backup may take a while.