Mac hard drive size limit 128 gig - Q on controller card

[freshspin]

I hope you can help me decide what to do.

I'm upgrading a older Power Mac G4 to use a larger hard drive. (160 gig Seagate Baracuda Ultra ATA/100)
I didn't realize the older Mac's have a size limit of 128 Gigabytes.
I read on the internet that the "powermac's built-in IDE controllers are not lba48-compliant, and will forever see that drive as 128gb. The only two ways to use that drive properly are to stuff it into an lba48 compliant ("large drive capable") firewire enclosure and firewire it, or purchase and install an lba48 compliant IDE controller card (all new ones are) and plug into that."

They went on to say that one can expect a lot of problems if the hard drive is left in without changing the controller card. The mac will keep trying to fix it.

My question, should I give up on this idea, and install a smaller drive, or can you recommend a cheap LBA48 controller card that would work?

 

[Excelsior]

an external firewire case isnt a bad idea.

 

[n0cmonkey]

[Maybe?]http://www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail~dpno~115192~Action~ACCESSORI
S.asp[/L]

 

[LiekOMG]

Give this a try: http://www.speedtools.com/ATA6.shtml

 

[freshspin]

Thank you for the link to the PCI controller on MacMall. It's definately something I should consider. $30 is a lot lower then I could find at other sites.
www.macmall.com/macmall/shop/detail~dpno~115192~Action~ACCESSORIES.ASP

Any other suggestions on a hardware solution?

Thanks for the link to speedtools. I hoped there would be a software solution, however I'm a little hesitant to buy it after I saw several posters said to stay clear of it.
I found other posts saying they never received the software after buying ($25) and couldn't reach the company afterwards. So I think the hardware solution is the way I should go.

 

[earthman]

That card on MacMall is NOT a mac card, its PC only. How do I know? I bought one. FYI Speedtools (Intech Software) has a bad rep for poor customer service and possible issues with certain hardware. Be cautious before you buy anything from them.