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Mini PCI-e SSD

X60/X61 and X60t/X61t Series
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maraxus
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Location: New York City, NY

Mini PCI-e SSD

#1 Post by maraxus » Thu Jan 28, 2010 3:58 pm

Hello,

I have a x61s and a friend has a spare mini pci express 8 gig SSD http://www.stec-inc.com/product/umssd.php (it is the small 50mm size)

I'm wondering if I can install it to my spare mini pci-e slot, and if I will have to flash the bios to accept it to fix that 1802 error?

Also wondering if I would be able to boot from it or if it would only be able to be used as a secondary(D:) drive?

Anyone ever done this successfully ? I searched all over google and asked a few irc channels with no definitive solution.

FYI it is a x61s with no turbo boost and just the standard wifi.

closersource
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#2 Post by closersource » Sun Jan 31, 2010 12:58 pm

You should give it a try if anything. Although it is known that you can not boot off of this drive, you would most likely be able to use it as a secondary drive. If you are really adventurous maybe you can get around the missing boot code in the Thinkpad BIOS.
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maraxus
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#3 Post by maraxus » Sun Jan 31, 2010 4:25 pm

I have some developer friends who could help me figure out how to play with the C in the bios config.... I hope this works. Should get the card later on this week

Pasho
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#4 Post by Pasho » Sun Feb 07, 2010 1:50 pm

Any news?

maraxus
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#5 Post by maraxus » Mon Feb 08, 2010 11:33 am

Still waiting on the part.

rkan
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#6 Post by rkan » Sat Feb 20, 2010 3:07 pm

Still no news?
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dmdsoftware
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#7 Post by dmdsoftware » Sat Mar 06, 2010 11:14 pm

waiting for the outcome of this.
X62 & X62s & X62T SXGA+ i7 5600u 8-16GB
Helix i7
Carbon X1 i5 UHD
W520 4x-i7
Sony Vaio P799 (8" LED 1600x768)
"Think" Ultrabook i7
LegoThinkpad 11"

in storage:
X131e AMD
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bearmann
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#8 Post by bearmann » Sun Mar 07, 2010 3:30 pm

dmdsoftware wrote:waiting for the outcome of this.
same goes for me.

regards.
bearmann

maraxus
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#9 Post by maraxus » Mon Mar 08, 2010 10:37 pm

Alright got the ssd today(finally!), installed it - although forgot screws so I strapped it down with some electrical tape.

Booted back up and it is not recognized in windows or in the bios anywhere. Still running stock bios - I think I will update this weekend...

Anyone else have any thoughts?

I'm also going to buy some screws just in case it's not contacting properly for some reason (And for piece of mind)

- Maraxus

sugo
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#10 Post by sugo » Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:18 am

Did you enable WWAN in BIOS?
X61

andykrej
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#11 Post by andykrej » Tue Mar 09, 2010 2:50 am

Try with the Zender BIOS. It should allow all cards to be recognized.
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rwagner
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#12 Post by rwagner » Wed Aug 04, 2010 6:40 pm

andykrej wrote:Try with the Zender BIOS. It should allow all cards to be recognized.
Hi, I'm looking for the Zender BIOS for several weeks and I haven't found where I can download it.
Could you somebody me please ? I have x60 + MC8775 (with tapped PIN 20) for second month and I can't use it... :o/ Thank you.

sojourner
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#13 Post by sojourner » Wed Aug 04, 2010 7:51 pm

rwagner wrote:Hi, I'm looking for the Zender BIOS for several weeks and I haven't found where I can download it.
Could you somebody me please ?
Check your mail. Sent you a PM.
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IvanAndreevich
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#14 Post by IvanAndreevich » Thu Sep 09, 2010 3:04 am

So, does it work with the modded bios?
Owned Thinkpads: X300 X201T X200,T X61,s,T,T+ X60,s,T,T+ X41 X40 X31 T510 T500 T410 T400 T400s T61,p T60,p T43 T42 T41,p T40 W500 W700 - favorites in bold :)
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geckoSG
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#15 Post by geckoSG » Tue Oct 05, 2010 7:21 am

No updates so far? I'm going to try my unit this weekend then with leftover 16GB SSD from
my upgraded S101

dmdsoftware
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#16 Post by dmdsoftware » Wed Sep 14, 2011 2:40 pm

No outcome on this?
X62 & X62s & X62T SXGA+ i7 5600u 8-16GB
Helix i7
Carbon X1 i5 UHD
W520 4x-i7
Sony Vaio P799 (8" LED 1600x768)
"Think" Ultrabook i7
LegoThinkpad 11"

in storage:
X131e AMD
X60/X60s, X61/X61s/X61T, T61, T420, X30

past:
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crashnburn
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#17 Post by crashnburn » Sat Sep 24, 2011 3:29 pm

I'd say you should try Middleton BIOS. I think it opens things up more than Zender.
Also, he is currently still taking open suggestions to add or fix things on the BIIOS.

He might just find a path to access/ boot from there? If so, then i'd get a small SSD too :)

PS: I am wondering if one could boot off that SSD if you had a Multi OS BootManager like Acronis or Chameleon (e.g. Mac OSX-86/Retail)

PPS: I'd love to do this on my X61T.. if I could.. can I?
T61 8892-02U: 14.1"SXGA+/2.2C2D/4G/XP|Adv Mini Dock|30" Gateway XHD3000 WQXGA via Dual-link DVI
X61T 7767-96U: 12.1"SXGA+/1.6C2D/3G/Vista|Ultrabase
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loyukfai
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#18 Post by loyukfai » Wed Oct 19, 2011 4:23 pm

Any news on this...?

I could use a little more performance on the X61T, in particular when running Lightroom. Need the storage space offered by spindling drives for photos. Wondering if I can install a mini PCIe SSD, maybe an 128GB one, in the 2nd slot, to improve the performance...?

Cheers.

dmdsoftware
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#19 Post by dmdsoftware » Wed Oct 19, 2011 6:15 pm

My research shows it is a hardware limitation, no magic bios can resolve.
X62 & X62s & X62T SXGA+ i7 5600u 8-16GB
Helix i7
Carbon X1 i5 UHD
W520 4x-i7
Sony Vaio P799 (8" LED 1600x768)
"Think" Ultrabook i7
LegoThinkpad 11"

in storage:
X131e AMD
X60/X60s, X61/X61s/X61T, T61, T420, X30

past:
X20-X24, 390X

crashnburn
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#20 Post by crashnburn » Thu Oct 20, 2011 1:35 am

Yes. But is it possible to use a Chain Boot loading?

BTW Can the SSD even be seen/ accessed/ used as storage on an X61/T ?
Maybe Boot something like PLOP and have it Chain Load from the Mini PCI-e.
http://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager.html

Just how Mac OSX 86 cant boot on a Intel PC because they have EFI based Bootloader on Intel Macs etc? So they came up with Empire EFT and Chameleon etc to do the Needful before to Add to the BIOS and then Boot OSX.
T61 8892-02U: 14.1"SXGA+/2.2C2D/4G/XP|Adv Mini Dock|30" Gateway XHD3000 WQXGA via Dual-link DVI
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loyukfai
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#21 Post by loyukfai » Thu Oct 20, 2011 1:59 am

You mean to use a 3rd party bootloader like GRUB to load Windows installed on the mini PCIe SSD...?

Cheers.

crashnburn
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#22 Post by crashnburn » Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:58 am

I am sure it could? Basically what makes "bits & bytes" bootable? Its telling the CPU to EXECUTE certain code.

If we could get some Code that is Executing in Memory to Read the SSD and put the relevant stuff into memory and pass on Execution Control... Why not?

The question is how easy or difficult would this be?

The 1st question to ask would be - Is the X61 even able to RECOGNIZE the Mini SSD as valid readable storage/ disk/ drive?

If that is a YES, then its as good as passing control. Anyone been able to recognize the SSD as storage on Mini PCI-e?

A similar thing is apparently done by PLOP Boot Manager that allows (I think) you to BOOT from a USB drive even if your MOTHERBOARD CHIPSET does not support USB Booting.
T61 8892-02U: 14.1"SXGA+/2.2C2D/4G/XP|Adv Mini Dock|30" Gateway XHD3000 WQXGA via Dual-link DVI
X61T 7767-96U: 12.1"SXGA+/1.6C2D/3G/Vista|Ultrabase
W510 4319-2PU: 15.6"FHD/i7-720QM/4G/Win7Pro64 (for dad)
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loyukfai
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#23 Post by loyukfai » Thu Oct 20, 2011 7:20 am

Ah! I thought that the only problem was the BIOS can't recognize the drive and use it for boot, so the bootloader had to reside on the spindling drive.

This seems more complicated...

Cheers.

P.S. Was thinking about the Intel 310...

dmdsoftware
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#24 Post by dmdsoftware » Thu Oct 20, 2011 9:26 am

Turns out the hardware actually has to support mSATA which it doesn't
X62 & X62s & X62T SXGA+ i7 5600u 8-16GB
Helix i7
Carbon X1 i5 UHD
W520 4x-i7
Sony Vaio P799 (8" LED 1600x768)
"Think" Ultrabook i7
LegoThinkpad 11"

in storage:
X131e AMD
X60/X60s, X61/X61s/X61T, T61, T420, X30

past:
X20-X24, 390X

loyukfai
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#25 Post by loyukfai » Thu Oct 20, 2011 6:17 pm

Wow... Someone did the opposite by modding a mini PCIe SSD to be a mSATA SSD...

http://www.thejoojooforum.com/viewtopic ... 776&p=4961

Are there "real" mini PCIe SSD that doesn't cost a fortune but still provide reasonable performance improvement...?

Cheers.

P.S. Am concerned mainly about running Lightroom, don't have other "heavy" app in mind... Know the latest Core i5/i7 are much faster, but getting a new box is expensive and the X220, for some reasons, doesn't have eSATA and USB 3.0. Besides, what takes most of my time these days is cataloguing/tagging the photos, and I think moving the OS, the ACR cache and maybe the LR database to a SSD would help...

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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#26 Post by crashnburn » Fri Oct 21, 2011 5:11 am

Wow! Nice find.
T61 8892-02U: 14.1"SXGA+/2.2C2D/4G/XP|Adv Mini Dock|30" Gateway XHD3000 WQXGA via Dual-link DVI
X61T 7767-96U: 12.1"SXGA+/1.6C2D/3G/Vista|Ultrabase
W510 4319-2PU: 15.6"FHD/i7-720QM/4G/Win7Pro64 (for dad)
T43 1875-DLU: 14.1"XGA/1.7PM-740/1G/XP (Old)

dmdsoftware
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#27 Post by dmdsoftware » Fri Oct 21, 2011 6:47 am

Wow, that is hardcore.
X62 & X62s & X62T SXGA+ i7 5600u 8-16GB
Helix i7
Carbon X1 i5 UHD
W520 4x-i7
Sony Vaio P799 (8" LED 1600x768)
"Think" Ultrabook i7
LegoThinkpad 11"

in storage:
X131e AMD
X60/X60s, X61/X61s/X61T, T61, T420, X30

past:
X20-X24, 390X

loyukfai
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#28 Post by loyukfai » Fri Oct 21, 2011 11:39 am

Ahha... According to this (http://www.computer-darkroom.com/blog/w ... rformance/), a SSD won't help Lightroom much...

Cheers.

eyeland
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#29 Post by eyeland » Wed Jan 25, 2012 11:25 am

So, did anyone wver reach any conlussions?
Personally, was thinking about something along the lines of MiniPci-e to CF as I have a few highspeed CFs that I don't use..
W530 FHD - 32GB Ram - K2000m - >1TBSSD |
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loyukfai
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Re: Mini PCI-e SSD

#30 Post by loyukfai » Thu Jan 26, 2012 4:22 am

If you do care, my conclusion is to forget about it and save the $$$ for upgrading to a newer box later.

But the decision was made based on the reason that upgrading to SSD will not help Lightroom's performance significantly.

However, the difficulty in obtaining a mini PCIe SSD (instead of mSATA) is a problem for all.

Cheers, and happy CNY if anyone is a Chinese... : )

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