Has anyone tried an SSD in the X41? *PICS*

[systema]

Win7 is pretty smart and will pickup most drivers. So fresh install is almost as easy as cloning. Most of the ThinkVantage utilities are not needed, i.e. Access Connection, Power Manager and Presentation Director. The Lenovo SSD should not cause the beep at boot time.

Got it, I thought people were cloning because issues with undetected HDDs in the BIOS - now I realize it's just for the ease! I do always do fresh installs, though I've used Acronis a few times to recover a broken install. And yes, win7 updates solved most of my driver issues. A few drivers that I added were Lenovo Hotkey and Lenovo System Interface win7 beta drivers (ladder one solved my issue with having no audio). Only minute issues I have now is no auto-rotate when switching to tablet mode (button works, but it's a bit annoying to have to press every time) and inability to read SDHC cards (tried an 8gb sandisk).

I might even try ghosting my current win7 install once my ssd arrives, if all goes well!

Thanks for the info, again

[mhca]

Yes, you'll have to live with the beeps.

I thought that I actually had no problems with beeps while using it in the start with bios 2.09 and bios alarms all set to disabled...
But now I realise, that I also have problems with the beeps. Dunno if it arrived after downgrading to bios 2.08 and then up to 2.09 again.

Are you sure, that the beeps cannot be avoided? Sucks not to be able to turn on the laptop during class

I am not able to pull the case apart due to some of the screws are destroyed, or at least on of them. So unmounting the speaker is not an option.

[systema]

p.s.3. In this thread I've read some people's remarks about not being able to use SDHC cards in their SD reader. I managed to solve this a long while ago (with a 3rd party driver for the internal SD slot I believe). My 8GB Kingston SD4/8GB works fine in my X41 tablet! I can try to look it up / figure that out again if people are interested.

Would love for you to share this I can't read my 8gb sandisk SDHC card in my SD card slot on the x41t. Thanks!

[sjthinkpader]

...
I am not able to pull the case apart due to some of the screws are destroyed, or at least on of them. So unmounting the speaker is not an option.

Removing screw head

[mhca]

Removing screw head

Haha.. Yeah, didn't think of that.
Last time I wanted to disassemble the case, was for maintenance to change thermal paste on the CPU and clean the fan, maybe even give it a small droplet of oil.

But is it possible to unmount the speaker used for these warning beeps?

Regards, Martin

[T41Tablet]

Would love for you to share this I can't read my 8gb sandisk SDHC card in my SD card slot on the x41t. Thanks!

It worked for me with Windows 7, comes up as "SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller" in the device manager and the driver was supplied by windows.

My 8GB SDHC card works fine, and I use it for Readyboost

[sjthinkpader]

Haha.. Yeah, didn't think of that.
Last time I wanted to disassemble the case, was for maintenance to change thermal paste on the CPU and clean the fan, maybe even give it a small droplet of oil.

But is it possible to unmount the speaker used for these warning beeps?

Regards, Martin

Generally, use of a #1 instead of #0 screw driver reduces the chance of stripping the head since most screws used in Thinkpads are #1s. Some units were shipped with #0 head screws. So don't use one driver for everything.

The speaker is plugged in. So you can just unplug it.

[systema]

It worked for me with Windows 7, comes up as "SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller" in the device manager and the driver was supplied by windows.

My 8GB SDHC card works fine, and I use it for Readyboost

Didn't work the first time, now it is working (also shows up as "SDA Standard Compliant SD Host Controller"). Nice!

[korzhy]

Explain please the procedure of alignment of 32Gb CF Transcend 133x. I will use SATA-CF adaptor. The filesystem I want is FAT32. What am I going to do with results of Disk File Benchmark? What am I going to do next? Thanks!

[sjthinkpader]

Welcome to the forum.

Machines in this forum use PATA, not SATA. 133X CF cards are usually not fast enough to run OS. Try at least 233X cards.

[korzhy]

I think my card is sufficient enough to run OS, I have read about it in use as boot disk. With FlashPoint installed it should run smoothly. I am interested in procedure of alignment.

[sjthinkpader]

I think my card is sufficient enough to run OS, I have read about it in use as boot disk. With FlashPoint installed it should run smoothly. I am interested in procedure of alignment.

133x not fast enough is just my experience and perspective. May be you will feel differently. Here are testing I've done with CF cards with some comments on each.
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 1&start=30

Flashpoint may or may not work. I encountered file corruption and removed it.

There are alignment posts in this or the T4x forum just search for it.

[systema]

Are most people here using Eraser to emulate TRIM function here? I am planning to set up the Write11111 function as described by sjthinkpader to erase the free space. I've read through a few pages of people using FlashFire - it is safe to use with the Lenovo SSD? Are the benefits noticeable? Lastly, will it work with win7? Thanks.

[loyukfai]

Flashfire should theoretically work with the Lenovo SSD.

But since there's no stuttering issue with that SSD (right?), and that I've encountered a data corruption situation last time I used FF, I would recommend against using it.

What's more, the last release of FF is back in August and, judging by the forum activity, the developer doesn't seem to be actively working on it.

Just my 2 cents.

[Investinwaffles]

Quick random question. Firefox takes like 45+ seconds to open after boot with my stock 4200rpm hdd. How fast is it with an SSD (kingspec or other)??

[Tasurinchi]

Quick random question. Firefox takes like 45+ seconds to open after boot with my stock 4200rpm hdd

My X41, also with stock HD (see the config below) starts FF in 17"

[sjthinkpader]

Quick random question. Firefox takes like 45+ seconds to open after boot with my stock 4200rpm hdd. How fast is it with an SSD (kingspec or other)??

How much RAM do you have? Have you done a defrag recently?

[T41Tablet]

Right so.

I got the delivery of my "Kingspec KSD-PA18.1 -032MJ ATA Device" (as it appears in Windows 7) and installed it it a late night session.

I restored using Acronis TrueImage 2009 my original hard drive image, which seems to work OK. Was a bit slow at first boot (there was muchos disk activity), but is now rocket fast in comparison to the 4,200RPM drive experience.

Some questions for the more experienced SSD users out there:

1. I have heard that disabling indexing is a good idea when using a SSD, is this true? I like the indexing features of Windows 7...

2. Does my drive support TRIM?

3. Are there any other performance/general tips out there for optimizing my drive?

4. I have heard that disabling super fetch is a good idea when using a SSD, is this also true?

5. I was using a SDHC on readyboost before the SSD upgrade, this to my knowledge is pretty much useless now in this machine?
Thanks and Happy Christmas to all forum users

[sjthinkpader]

1. Yes, you want to reduce unnecessary writes to the SSD. Turn off the Indexing.
2. I doubt it support TRIM. But you can try the manual write "1111" routine I posted in this thread once you notice slowing performance.
3. Turn off Defrag.
4. Yes Super Fetch is designed for HDD's slower read and high latency. You don't need it for SSD.
5. Readyboost is also designed to help HDD so you don't need it.

[Investinwaffles]

How much RAM do you have? Have you done a defrag recently?

1.5gb of ram, and my computer is constantly defragged (like once a week using DiskTrix ultimate defrag).

Firefox has some addons addons (EXIF viewer, fastdial, Firegestures for when in tablet mode, grab and drag, sxipper password manager, stumble upon, and web of trust), and consistently takes forever (45+secs) to start up after being completely closed.


**********
I am ready to buy an SSD though, i have about $200 saved up for computer upgrades.
Which SSD should I go with?

The official Lenovo 60gb SSD, or the Kingspec 64gb SSD? The 4gb difference is negligible to me.

I am looking for (in order of most important). Speed, usability (minimal stutter), and reliability. I dont think the boot error will bother me too much as long as I can mute the computer before it beeps loud (when in class for instance). Replies can be simple (or more explanatory if you prefer)

[sjthinkpader]

Personally I would go with the Lenovo/Samsung version. It is an older design and seems to be slightly slower than the Sandisk SSDs I am using. The Kingspec may be a tad faster but not quite sure what flash chips they are using inside.

[Ravenheart]

I just bought a second X40 from eBay, sans HD, and am thinking of getting a Kingspec 32GB SSD and installing Ubuntu Linux on it directly from CD. Does that sound like a plan? Any known complications or gotchas?

[dwilsonfl]

Love to hear the results. I've got an X40 with a HD that is just too slow running XP

[ThinkRob]

I am looking for (in order of most important). Speed, usability (minimal stutter), and reliability. I dont think the boot error will bother me too much as long as I can mute the computer before it beeps loud (when in class for instance). Replies can be simple (or more explanatory if you prefer)

I'd get the Samsung, no question. From all the benchmarks I've seen, its random 4K performance is far better. Since that's the stat that matters most for desktop usage, it makes the most sense to base your decision on that.

[ThinkRob]

After dreaming about giving myself a late Christmas present and upgrading my beloved X40 with an SSD, I considered the following upgrade: Runcore Pro IV ZIF SSD + ZIF/PATA adapter.

Pros:
- the Runcore uses an Indillinx controller (same as the OCZ Vertex), which makes it considerably better at random I/O than the horrid JMicron controllers in the KingSpec drives (layman's terms: no stuttering/pausing)
- specs. show lower power consumption than KingSpec drives (0.5/0.83W compared to 0.5/2.0W)
- TRIM support
- price (32GB drive for 160 USD on eBay, plus 20 USD for the ZIF/PATA adapter/caddy combo)

Cons:
- actual reports indicate that power consumption is closer to 0.5/2.0W. No great loss, but not a clear win over the KingSpec. On the plus side, it outperforms the KingSpec, so it won't be drawing peak power for as long.
- extremely minor assembly required (i.e. putting drive into adapter)
- price (180 USD is about what I paid for my X40, dock, etc.)

Tempting, given the benchmarks that drive's produced...

[ThinkRob]

Just discovered another (cheaper!) option for some SSD magic:

ZIF adapter + SaberTooth-Z SSD

These SSDs use a controller I'd never heard of: Phison 3016. After the JMicron debacle I'm (obviously) a bit wary of budget MLC drives, but from the benchmarks I've found, it looks like it actually does a decent job at the 4K random write test:

http://www.activemp.com/SSD/HP-Mini-100 ... hmarks.htm

Now the max. response time does have me worried -- but the IOPS and throughput rates look great (considering how cheaply you can get the suckers).

Still considering that Runcore though...

[sjthinkpader]

Just discovered another (cheaper!) option for some SSD magic:

ZIF adapter + SaberTooth-Z SSD

These SSDs use a controller I'd never heard of: Phison 3016.......

The very low performance intel 8GB SSD sold to netbook OEMs I tested used a Phsion PS3006 controller. This PS3016 seems to be the next generation version. May be it has a larger write cache.

[ThinkRob]

The very low performance intel 8GB SSD sold to netbook OEMs I tested used a Phsion PS3006 controller. This PS3016 seems to be the next generation version. May be it has a larger write cache.

Hm. That does not bode well.

I've placed a bid on eBay for a drive using the PS3016, and I've got a ZIF->IDE adapter in the mail, so if I win the former I guess we'll know for sure exactly how well it ends up doing on the random 4K tests...

On an unrelated note, I discovered that Samsung's HS06THB (spinning platter, 60GB ZIF disk) has a lower peak and a lower idle power consumption than the KingSpec drives, so that's definitely another alternative. In fact, the more I think about it, the more attractive it is, given the poor random IOPS of the KingSpec and their very high peak draw; with the exception of shock resistance and sequential write performance, I can't really think of a reason to choose the KingSpec drives over the HS06THB...

[sjthinkpader]

The Samsung HS082HB is a bit faster than the HS06THB and probably cost not much more. The Toshiba MK8025GAL should be in the same range of performance. All these are single platter designs with high areal density.

The Phison PS3016 was introduced in 2007 and still in production. So likely it is a decent design. Phison is a huge USB flash stick, CF card controllers manufacturer.

Consider that SSD don't draw much power while on standby or during reads. If you eliminate unnecessary writes such as file indexing, the power should be pretty low most of the time. I am using quite a few Sandisk 32GB SSD in X40/X41s and all my users are pretty happy with them. I bought the last round of X200s with 64GB SSDs (Samsung SATA). So far they worked pretty well.

[Tasurinchi]

I discovered that Samsung's HS06THB (spinning platter, 60GB ZIF disk)

I put a list in my thread here with a list of current ZIF hard drives that I could find in the market and will fit in X4* machines. I'm happy that I'm not the only one trying alternatives to the SSDs.

I've ordered the Toshiba MK8025GAL some days before X-mas. It will probably arrive here end of January (must swim from HK over here in the alps ). I'll post a benchmark when it arrives.

Cheers