This is an Apple-IBM DCTA-24090, a 4 GB internal hard drive that shipped with the PowerBook G3 WallStreet.

I pulled it out of the ‘Book last week to test it with the 64 GB KingSpec SSD – the HDD was noisy and slow.

• See: SSD in a PowerBook: KingSpec PATA PA25-64 SSD.. yay or nay

Unfortunately, the KingSpec SSD isn’t even recognized in the wallstreet. There’s a jumper that sits on the SSD which needs to be removed in order to connect the IDE connector. Once you power it on, it isn’t detected at all. So it looks like KingSpec SSDs are good, but for G4 ‘Books.
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A little history

Nearly 20 years ago, notebooks shipped with entirely different ordinances of storage, capacities, and drive connector standards. 4 GB was a sizable amount of storage in 1997 – 1998 around the time Low End Mac was founded.

For a while now, individual files could easily exceed even thrice the capacity of this drive.

• This is an Ultra-ATA IDE 2.5″ drive. It is an older parallel interface standard used before the days of SATA (Serial ATA). Ultra ATA speeds are mostly measured in MB/s.
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• The number after the “ATA/” denotes the maximum transfer rate.
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  • Example: ATA/33 = A transfer rate of up to 33 MB/s.
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• Here are 4 ATA standards: ATA/33, ATA/66, ATA/100, and ATA/133. This drive is an ATA-3 or ATA/33 Hard drive, which means it can function between 16.6 – 33.3 MB/s

Editor’s note: ATA-3 is when S.M.A.R.T. was added to hard drives, which resulted in much more reliable drives. (Self Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology)

• See: Hard Disks – What IS ATA and Ultra ATA?
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I don’t know with complete certainty if the drive is dying, or if the machine is just this slow. Once the extensions are loaded up it seems to be okay, and it even shuts down rather quickly too. It’s running Mac OS 9.0.4 with PowerPC Enabler 9.0.4, with many apps installed.

Perhaps I let instant gratification get the best of me and became spoiled by modern tech. Still, this KingSpec SSD won’t dishearten me – an SSD is quieter, less power hungry, and a pinch faster. Just have to find the right one!
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In Conclusion

It’s interesting to see this thing kicking around almost 30 years later, especially untarnished. Also the thing’s a little heavier and taller than many of the IDE Hard Drives that shipped with ‘Books in the 2000s – that stood out to me.

I always like to see older technology pictured with a story behind it. This is what laptop storage looked like in 1998.