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X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
Hello x301 enthusiasts,
I am looking for information on how to convert the DVD bay on x301 to a hard drive bay.
I thought there might be a HDD caddy to replace the DVD drive for x301, but I couldn't find one on lenovo or ebay sites. I know there is something like that for T61s.
I would appreciate any leads.
Thank you in advance!
I am looking for information on how to convert the DVD bay on x301 to a hard drive bay.
I thought there might be a HDD caddy to replace the DVD drive for x301, but I couldn't find one on lenovo or ebay sites. I know there is something like that for T61s.
I would appreciate any leads.
Thank you in advance!
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Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD
Welcome to thinkpads.com!
From what I gather (don't have anything near as new as an X301), the 7mm height Option Bay is currently limited to an optical drive or battery. Since there are standard hard drives and SSDs made in the 7mm form-factor, it could be possible that such an adapter will be sold but like you, I could not find anything at the moment. My guess is that the factory would recommend an external USB drive if you need more storage space.
The older T6x systems used the Ultrabay Slim (9.5mm) format and there are adapters available from the factory and aftermarket sources.
From what I gather (don't have anything near as new as an X301), the 7mm height Option Bay is currently limited to an optical drive or battery. Since there are standard hard drives and SSDs made in the 7mm form-factor, it could be possible that such an adapter will be sold but like you, I could not find anything at the moment. My guess is that the factory would recommend an external USB drive if you need more storage space.
The older T6x systems used the Ultrabay Slim (9.5mm) format and there are adapters available from the factory and aftermarket sources.
Ray Kawakami
X22 X24 X31 X41 X41T X60 X60s X61 X61s X200 X200s X300 X301 Z60m Z61t Z61p 560 560Z 600 600E 600X T21 T22 T23 T41 T60p T410 T420 T520 W500 W520 R50 A21p A22p A31 A31p
NOTE: All links to PC-Doctor software hosted by me are dead. Files removed 8/28/12 by manufacturer's demand.
X22 X24 X31 X41 X41T X60 X60s X61 X61s X200 X200s X300 X301 Z60m Z61t Z61p 560 560Z 600 600E 600X T21 T22 T23 T41 T60p T410 T420 T520 W500 W520 R50 A21p A22p A31 A31p
NOTE: All links to PC-Doctor software hosted by me are dead. Files removed 8/28/12 by manufacturer's demand.
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD
Thank you for responding.
I found an article on Tom's Hardware "Install A Solid State Drive In Your Notebook"
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd ... ,1913.html
that says :
"Be careful, because some subnotebooks, such as the Lenovo X300, have a bay but won’t take a hard disk because they’re too thin"
So I guess I'm not so lucky....
I found an article on Tom's Hardware "Install A Solid State Drive In Your Notebook"
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd ... ,1913.html
that says :
"Be careful, because some subnotebooks, such as the Lenovo X300, have a bay but won’t take a hard disk because they’re too thin"
So I guess I'm not so lucky....
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD
the bigger issue is that the DVD interface is EIDE, not SATA. while you could get a 1.8" micro-SATA drive to fit since they're only 5mm thick, you would have to find some way to bridge the SATA interface to EIDE.
ThinkStation P700 | ThinkPad X1C7
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD
Thanks. I didn't think about that. So I won't be able install a SATA drive in place of DVD drive. I will need an EIDE drive with 1.8" from factor, which will probably be impossible. Besides that I'll have to live with performance implications.
Oh well, it seems that my best option is to get go with an external drive.
Thanks for narrowing my options!
Oh well, it seems that my best option is to get go with an external drive.
Thanks for narrowing my options!
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD
I feel your pain.x301_user wrote:Thanks. I didn't think about that. So I won't be able install a SATA drive in place of DVD drive. I will need an EIDE drive with 1.8" from factor, which will probably be impossible. Besides that I'll have to live with performance implications.
Oh well, it seems that my best option is to get go with an external drive.
Thanks for narrowing my options!
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Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD
In theory, this could be done, but in practice, I doubt anybody would be willing to do that due to effort/cost involved & small potential market.
The problem as I see it is at least twofold:
- X300/X301 bay is only 7mm thick
- X300/X301 bay is IDE (PATA), not SATA
There are two solutions:
1: use a PATA drive - AFAIK the only drives that fit are the Toshiba 1.8" single platter IDE/PATA drives (GAL series; 5mm thick). The largest one is MK1231GAL, only 120GB, puny by today's standards.
http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=S ... 31GAxSpecs
Effort needed:
- create the plastic part (possibly by modifying the "travel cover")
- create the PCB with (proprietary?) X300/301 bay connector on one end & HDD connector on the other
2: use the new 7mm high standard single platter 2.5" SATA HDDs (by several manufacturers) - currently at 320GB with larger capacities coming in the future
Effort: same as 1., with addition of IDE to SATA chip on the PCB (the one that enables SATA HDDs to be used in PATA systems) - like used in this adapter (with different PCB design, of course):
http://www.satacables.com/html/sata_to_ide_adapter.html
It's a no-brainer that the only viable option is 2. Now we just need enough people wanting this & somebody to actually do it
The problem as I see it is at least twofold:
- X300/X301 bay is only 7mm thick
- X300/X301 bay is IDE (PATA), not SATA
There are two solutions:
1: use a PATA drive - AFAIK the only drives that fit are the Toshiba 1.8" single platter IDE/PATA drives (GAL series; 5mm thick). The largest one is MK1231GAL, only 120GB, puny by today's standards.
http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=S ... 31GAxSpecs
Effort needed:
- create the plastic part (possibly by modifying the "travel cover")
- create the PCB with (proprietary?) X300/301 bay connector on one end & HDD connector on the other
2: use the new 7mm high standard single platter 2.5" SATA HDDs (by several manufacturers) - currently at 320GB with larger capacities coming in the future
Effort: same as 1., with addition of IDE to SATA chip on the PCB (the one that enables SATA HDDs to be used in PATA systems) - like used in this adapter (with different PCB design, of course):
http://www.satacables.com/html/sata_to_ide_adapter.html
It's a no-brainer that the only viable option is 2. Now we just need enough people wanting this & somebody to actually do it
X301 SU9600, 8GB, 128GB Samsung SSD with TRIM FW
Wanted T40 in 2004 real bad... Still (sometimes) use the Dell D600 1400x1050 I got instead. Sony Vaio X505 ultraportable.
Wanted T40 in 2004 real bad... Still (sometimes) use the Dell D600 1400x1050 I got instead. Sony Vaio X505 ultraportable.
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD
Has anyone found a solution?
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD
Actually, MK1231GAL won't work because it has some "firmware encryption", so that it works only with iPod Classic (6th gen and newer) and Zune 120. However, there is MK1634GAL (single platter, PATA, 160GB) without such a limitation.fortexg wrote:In theory, this could be done, but in practice, I doubt anybody would be willing to do that due to effort/cost involved & small potential market.
The problem as I see it is at least twofold:
- X300/X301 bay is only 7mm thick
- X300/X301 bay is IDE (PATA), not SATA
There are two solutions:
1: use a PATA drive - AFAIK the only drives that fit are the Toshiba 1.8" single platter IDE/PATA drives (GAL series; 5mm thick). The largest one is MK1231GAL, only 120GB, puny by today's standards.
http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=S ... 31GAxSpecs
Also, there are 256GB PATA 1.8" SSDs.
Lifebook P1032 (1024*600 8.9") => Averatec AV1000 (WXGA 10.6") => Kohjinsha SH6 (1024*600 7.2") => Sharp M4000 (WXGA 13.3") => X200-AFFS, dead => X200s-AFFS, later -PVA => X220 4290RV5 + Intel 310 80GB, T420s 4173KSU + FHD IPS + Sandisk Z400s 128GB
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD
Gonna try something like this next week. I'll post back with the results.
X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
Interesting! The 90 degree turn looks like it would pose problems though..
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
Hello, any update over this?
Interesting discussion, but still no adapter or anything available for the x3** series!
Consider that creating this would surely be a good business as many people would be interested in buying it to expand x300/x301s drive capabilties.... !
C'mon PCB experts... !
Interesting discussion, but still no adapter or anything available for the x3** series!
Consider that creating this would surely be a good business as many people would be interested in buying it to expand x300/x301s drive capabilties.... !
C'mon PCB experts... !
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
the socket at the top of that cable is incorrect. i highly doubt anything came of it.
there's a slim chance that the cable below would work. assuming the goal is to use a SATA drive, you'd need an IDE to SATA converter small enough to fit a drive and have to live with the limited transfer speeds of the ATA-133 bus.
disclaimer: i've not seen, used, or tested the above cable and make no guarantees as to its compatibility. while the connector appears to be correct, i'm judging by the photo alone and no other data. proceed with your own risk.
there's a slim chance that the cable below would work. assuming the goal is to use a SATA drive, you'd need an IDE to SATA converter small enough to fit a drive and have to live with the limited transfer speeds of the ATA-133 bus.
disclaimer: i've not seen, used, or tested the above cable and make no guarantees as to its compatibility. while the connector appears to be correct, i'm judging by the photo alone and no other data. proceed with your own risk.
ThinkStation P700 | ThinkPad X1C7
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
A large issue once you get past the hardware limitation would be whether the bios can support a hard drive at that port. It'd be worth it to get a eide to sata cable and find out before going through all of it for naught.
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
err... that's the whole point of this discussion. no one makes such a cable. this isn't a plug-and-play event, even just for test purposes.vinuneuro wrote:It'd be worth it to get a eide to sata cable and find out before going through all of it for naught.
so you're aware, this is the IDE socket on the X300/X301 optical drive:
ThinkStation P700 | ThinkPad X1C7
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
I'm aware of what the socket looks like, I had an X301. Didn't know EIDE was that obscure.
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
Are you sure the X301 uses a PATA optical drive? I can understand the ICH8M-equipped X300 would use one but pretty much all ICH9M systems went to to SATA optical drives. I believe ICH9M doesn't even have a PATA interface on it so Lenovo would have had to add a sata-to-pata bridge to attach such an optical drive.vinuneuro wrote:I'm aware of what the socket looks like, I had an X301. Didn't know EIDE was that obscure.
EDIT: X301 schematic confirms Lenovo added a sata-to-pata bridge for the X301's optical drive. Serious modders may look at bypassing that bridge to get a second native sata connection for improved performance and lower power consumption.
IThe pictured optical drive appears to use a standard JAE50 PATA connector. Only dilemma then is the 7mm height and the sata-to-pata conversion.
The latter is solved easily - there are plenty of sata-to-pata optical bay caddies on the market. eg: US$42 Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy (OBHD9-SATA-B), Black, 9.5mm. I have one of these. The top would need to be cut down so could fit in a 7mm cavity. The faceplate removed since it's too big.
It would be easier to disassemble the X300/X301 and just manually affix the a sata-to-pata board + 7mm SATA drive within the chassis then reassemble and close the optical bay gap to protect against dust. In which case you may even want to get the ebay caddy for the board. It uses a Marvell bridge chip which performs slightly better than the newmodeus one, plus supports TRIM if you were thinking of mounting a SSD instead. It's an entirely feasible project to extend the storage capacity of a X301. Oh.. and if getting the newmodeus caddy I'd suggest getting their 2510P version - it has a master/slave jumper. Might come in handy of the X301 bios is expecting a slave device.
Last edited by nando4 on Wed Sep 07, 2011 6:46 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Now: 12.1" HP 2510P U7600@1.5 2GB 128GB K3VLAR SSD + 500GB/caddy + GTX470/3dmark.vant=P5561 | Win7/64 XP.sp3 Ubuntu9.10
Next (2010): 12" 32nm + expresscard 2.0+GTX580/3dmark06=23k | X200 SSD+HDD | DIY ViDock
Next (2010): 12" 32nm + expresscard 2.0+GTX580/3dmark06=23k | X200 SSD+HDD | DIY ViDock
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
one japanese successfully mod the one to SSD:o
http://anoato.blogspot.com/2009/07/thin ... ndssd.html
http://anoato.blogspot.com/2009/07/thin ... ndssd.html
ThinkPad X301, Intel X-18M SSD 160G + Hitachi 500GB Z5K500 (bay mod), SU 9600, 8GB Elpida, Win-7 Ultimate x64
ThinkPad X61T, Intel X-25V SSD 40G, L7500, 3GB Win-7 Ultimate x86
ThinkPad X60, Kingston SSD 64G,T2100, 3GB Win-7 Ultimate x86
ThinkPad X61T, Intel X-25V SSD 40G, L7500, 3GB Win-7 Ultimate x86
ThinkPad X60, Kingston SSD 64G,T2100, 3GB Win-7 Ultimate x86
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
ha... i have one of those adapters sitting on my desk! hilarious!
sonysg - thanks for the info!
sonysg - thanks for the info!
ThinkStation P700 | ThinkPad X1C7
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
I have been looking at this as a possible way of increasing the storage on my X301 (currently have a 256GB SSD), and have come across the following product: http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=134 ... 4422&prc=1 (its in Chinese). Has anyone seen or used this before?
I'm going to China next month, so will probably get one of these to try out.
I'm going to China next month, so will probably get one of these to try out.
ThinkPad W520: i7-2720QM, 12GB RAM, 80GB SSD+500GB HDD, NVIDIA Quadro 1000M, FHD screen
ThinkPad X220i: i3-2310M, 240GB Intel 520 SSD, 4GB RAM, WWAN
Previous ThinkPads: X60, X61, R500 (x2), Edge 13, X100e, Edge 11, X300, X301, T420s
ThinkPad X220i: i3-2310M, 240GB Intel 520 SSD, 4GB RAM, WWAN
Previous ThinkPads: X60, X61, R500 (x2), Edge 13, X100e, Edge 11, X300, X301, T420s
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
If you do go to China, would you consider buying a few of those?
I'd probably be interested in 2 if so.
I'd probably be interested in 2 if so.
X301 [C2D SU9600, WXGA+ LED, 4GB DDR3, 5300agn 3x3, Intel X18-M G2 80GB, 6-cell] ~ Debian Wheezy
X200 [C2D P8600, WXGA LED, 8GB DDR3, 5300agn 3x3, Crucial M4 256GB, 9-cell] ~ W7 Pro & Debian Wheezy
X200 [C2D P8600, WXGA LED, 8GB DDR3, 5300agn 3x3, Crucial M4 256GB, 9-cell] ~ W7 Pro & Debian Wheezy
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
Can you put me down for one please!loopf wrote:If you do go to China, would you consider buying a few of those?
I'd probably be interested in 2 if so.
X301 SU9600 1.6Ghz 256SSD 8Gb RAM WWAN&GPS BT Windows 7 Pro 64bit Batteries 6 Cell & Bay
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
For anyone interested in getting one of these, send me a PM in the new year. I'm flying out on 20th Jan. I might be limited on how many I can bring back, as I am planning on bringing back a fair amount of stuff.
I'm taking my X301 with me so I will try to test one I'll get before buying others.
EDIT: I also found a similar item on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2nd-SSD-hard- ... 956wt_1344 However it will probably take almost as long as it will take for me to get one from China, so I'm going to wait until I go there, but thought this might be of interest to the others who are looking for a device like this.
I'm taking my X301 with me so I will try to test one I'll get before buying others.
EDIT: I also found a similar item on ebay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2nd-SSD-hard- ... 956wt_1344 However it will probably take almost as long as it will take for me to get one from China, so I'm going to wait until I go there, but thought this might be of interest to the others who are looking for a device like this.
ThinkPad W520: i7-2720QM, 12GB RAM, 80GB SSD+500GB HDD, NVIDIA Quadro 1000M, FHD screen
ThinkPad X220i: i3-2310M, 240GB Intel 520 SSD, 4GB RAM, WWAN
Previous ThinkPads: X60, X61, R500 (x2), Edge 13, X100e, Edge 11, X300, X301, T420s
ThinkPad X220i: i3-2310M, 240GB Intel 520 SSD, 4GB RAM, WWAN
Previous ThinkPads: X60, X61, R500 (x2), Edge 13, X100e, Edge 11, X300, X301, T420s
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
Obviously a type 2.) solution from my previous post now exists
Back in October 2010 I bought one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-5mm-2nd-SATA- ... 483f91461b
This unit is 9.5mm thick, so it wont fit in the bay, but it was the thinnest available in 2010. I removed the circuit board (it has the required 50pin IDE connector, SATA connector & PATA to SATA bridge chip) and was able to fit it into the X301 bay. The board itself is ~7mm thick at the IDE connector.
I did not have a 7mm HDD on hand to test it though. I planned to buy a SATA extension cable to test it with a standard 2.5" HDD, but never did...
The plan was to buy an X300/X301 bay travel adapter like this "blank CD bezel":
http://www.ebay.com/itm/260900639263?ss ... 1423.l2649
And then modify it to be somehow able to fit the circuit board (with hot glue) & 7mm HDD.
Since this seemed to be quite messy (the two support beams in the middle would have to be cut off) & the end product would be flimsy at best, I did not pursue it further.
I did test the caddy in the optical bay of my trusted old Dell D600 with an old (2006) 5400 RPM HDD. The highest transfer speed I got was 30MB/s, but this was limited by the old HDD & old computer, not PATA to SATA bridge.
And now we finally have the X301 bay HDD caddy available as a finished product
The one from Deyi & the one on eBay (Nimitz?) look similar, if not identical...
I did measure the power consumption though. The caddy alone consumes ~0.7W (the SATA to PATA chip is active even with no HDD in the bay). Since the D600 has hot swap (X301 does not), you can disable (remove device) the bay adapter & the HDD stops and power consumption of the bay hdd goes to zero (same as if physically removing it).
Since X301 does not have bay hot swap, it would be interesting to know if disabling the hdd (or bridge chip) in device manager reduces power consumption (without actually pulling the caddy out) - important when your battery is running out...
sonysg & others: can you measure the power consumption of the hdd+caddy & caddy alone?
I assume it is still in the range of HDD consumption + 0.7W for the bridge chip.
Can you also try to disable it in device manager & check if the power consumption drops?
Back in October 2010 I bought one of these:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/9-5mm-2nd-SATA- ... 483f91461b
This unit is 9.5mm thick, so it wont fit in the bay, but it was the thinnest available in 2010. I removed the circuit board (it has the required 50pin IDE connector, SATA connector & PATA to SATA bridge chip) and was able to fit it into the X301 bay. The board itself is ~7mm thick at the IDE connector.
I did not have a 7mm HDD on hand to test it though. I planned to buy a SATA extension cable to test it with a standard 2.5" HDD, but never did...
The plan was to buy an X300/X301 bay travel adapter like this "blank CD bezel":
http://www.ebay.com/itm/260900639263?ss ... 1423.l2649
And then modify it to be somehow able to fit the circuit board (with hot glue) & 7mm HDD.
Since this seemed to be quite messy (the two support beams in the middle would have to be cut off) & the end product would be flimsy at best, I did not pursue it further.
I did test the caddy in the optical bay of my trusted old Dell D600 with an old (2006) 5400 RPM HDD. The highest transfer speed I got was 30MB/s, but this was limited by the old HDD & old computer, not PATA to SATA bridge.
And now we finally have the X301 bay HDD caddy available as a finished product
The one from Deyi & the one on eBay (Nimitz?) look similar, if not identical...
I did measure the power consumption though. The caddy alone consumes ~0.7W (the SATA to PATA chip is active even with no HDD in the bay). Since the D600 has hot swap (X301 does not), you can disable (remove device) the bay adapter & the HDD stops and power consumption of the bay hdd goes to zero (same as if physically removing it).
Since X301 does not have bay hot swap, it would be interesting to know if disabling the hdd (or bridge chip) in device manager reduces power consumption (without actually pulling the caddy out) - important when your battery is running out...
sonysg & others: can you measure the power consumption of the hdd+caddy & caddy alone?
I assume it is still in the range of HDD consumption + 0.7W for the bridge chip.
Can you also try to disable it in device manager & check if the power consumption drops?
Last edited by fortexg on Thu Dec 22, 2011 11:12 am, edited 1 time in total.
X301 SU9600, 8GB, 128GB Samsung SSD with TRIM FW
Wanted T40 in 2004 real bad... Still (sometimes) use the Dell D600 1400x1050 I got instead. Sony Vaio X505 ultraportable.
Wanted T40 in 2004 real bad... Still (sometimes) use the Dell D600 1400x1050 I got instead. Sony Vaio X505 ultraportable.
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
This is great news for X300/X301 owners.
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
Thanks for everyone posting to this thread, I've been wanting a second hard drive for my X301 for quite some time now.
Based on what you guys said, I ordered this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0914686538 and this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145530.
I got those yesterday and installed them but in my case Windows 7 32-bit didn't boot with the caddy + hard drive in the UltraBay until I changed to IDE mode. Windows startup repair (press F8 at boot) wasn't able to fix the change from AHCI to IDE for some reason so I had to do it manually. Some/all of these steps may/may not apply to you, depending on your setup.
1) Turned on the laptop without the caddy in the UltraBay
2) enabled IDE in Windows Registry by setting the value for "Start" to "0" in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Pciide
3) rebooted and changed the BIOS setting for SATA from AHCI to Compatibility
4) rebooted and let Windows install the "new" IDE hard drive (=my Toshiba 128 GB SSD)
5) Shut down the laptop, inserted the caddy + drive in UltraBay and rebooted to Windows
6) Windows detected and installed the drive. Rebooted once more just for fun.
Depending on your current setup the caddy might work just fine without any of those steps. I guess my problem was the lack of IDE devices/drivers (I always used the travel cover in the UltraBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0521459188) and hence the IDE drivers were not enabled. I tried re-enabling AHCI after step #6 but Windows didn't boot again, even with AHCI enabled in Registry, so I guess I have to run my 128 GB Toshiba SSD in Compatibility/IDE mode from now on.
The seller Nimitz shipped the caddy promptly and it arrived from China to Seattle, WA in only nine days, despite the New Year holidays in between. He also answered my question in under 24 hours. The product itself appears to be of high quality and fits well in the slot. As of writing this I've had it running only a couple of hours but it seems to work fine and writing dummy random data to it with TrueCrypt shows a consistent 70 MB/s write speed to my non-SSD hard drive.
I highly recommend using the bottom screw to hold the caddy in place. Happy 2012 to everyone.
Based on what you guys said, I ordered this: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0914686538 and this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145530.
I got those yesterday and installed them but in my case Windows 7 32-bit didn't boot with the caddy + hard drive in the UltraBay until I changed to IDE mode. Windows startup repair (press F8 at boot) wasn't able to fix the change from AHCI to IDE for some reason so I had to do it manually. Some/all of these steps may/may not apply to you, depending on your setup.
1) Turned on the laptop without the caddy in the UltraBay
2) enabled IDE in Windows Registry by setting the value for "Start" to "0" in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Pciide
3) rebooted and changed the BIOS setting for SATA from AHCI to Compatibility
4) rebooted and let Windows install the "new" IDE hard drive (=my Toshiba 128 GB SSD)
5) Shut down the laptop, inserted the caddy + drive in UltraBay and rebooted to Windows
6) Windows detected and installed the drive. Rebooted once more just for fun.
Depending on your current setup the caddy might work just fine without any of those steps. I guess my problem was the lack of IDE devices/drivers (I always used the travel cover in the UltraBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0521459188) and hence the IDE drivers were not enabled. I tried re-enabling AHCI after step #6 but Windows didn't boot again, even with AHCI enabled in Registry, so I guess I have to run my 128 GB Toshiba SSD in Compatibility/IDE mode from now on.
The seller Nimitz shipped the caddy promptly and it arrived from China to Seattle, WA in only nine days, despite the New Year holidays in between. He also answered my question in under 24 hours. The product itself appears to be of high quality and fits well in the slot. As of writing this I've had it running only a couple of hours but it seems to work fine and writing dummy random data to it with TrueCrypt shows a consistent 70 MB/s write speed to my non-SSD hard drive.
I highly recommend using the bottom screw to hold the caddy in place. Happy 2012 to everyone.
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Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
Some time ago I did this on a friend's Vaio (sata SSD in place of the original HDD, and the original HDD placed on a SATA to PATA caddy).
It worked w/o a problem with the original AHCI configuration, the only "problem" was the reduced bandwith because the SATA2PATA bridge.
It worked w/o a problem with the original AHCI configuration, the only "problem" was the reduced bandwith because the SATA2PATA bridge.
Last edited by The Solutor on Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:14 pm, edited 2 times in total.
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
Does it sit flush against the rest of the laptop? Does it look similar to the travel bezel in colour, blending into the laptop as if it were OEM?TXFI wrote:The product itself appears to be of high quality and fits well in the slot.
Cheers
X301 SU9600 1.6Ghz 256SSD 8Gb RAM WWAN&GPS BT Windows 7 Pro 64bit Batteries 6 Cell & Bay
Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
Glad to hear that these caddies work, at least on one occasion. I'll definitely be picking one up in two week's time.
TXFI, is there much impact on the battery life of the laptop with a second hard drive installed? Also, I second the question as to whether the caddy colour matches the laptop itself.
I just picked myself up an X300 off ebay last week, which only has a 64GB SSD, so this caddy might be more beneficial for that rather than my X301.
TXFI, is there much impact on the battery life of the laptop with a second hard drive installed? Also, I second the question as to whether the caddy colour matches the laptop itself.
I just picked myself up an X300 off ebay last week, which only has a 64GB SSD, so this caddy might be more beneficial for that rather than my X301.
ThinkPad W520: i7-2720QM, 12GB RAM, 80GB SSD+500GB HDD, NVIDIA Quadro 1000M, FHD screen
ThinkPad X220i: i3-2310M, 240GB Intel 520 SSD, 4GB RAM, WWAN
Previous ThinkPads: X60, X61, R500 (x2), Edge 13, X100e, Edge 11, X300, X301, T420s
ThinkPad X220i: i3-2310M, 240GB Intel 520 SSD, 4GB RAM, WWAN
Previous ThinkPads: X60, X61, R500 (x2), Edge 13, X100e, Edge 11, X300, X301, T420s
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Re: X301: replacing DVD drive with HDD *PIC*
u751920 wrote:
Does it sit flush against the rest of the laptop? Does it look similar to the travel bezel in colour, blending into the laptop as if it were OEM?
Cheers
It is not quit flush on mine but sits in about half a mil. I have never seen a travel bezel, so I can not say other than it is made of hard shiny plastic. The finish is nothing like the rubberized coating on X301. I do not find it noticeable. Overall, I think it is a well built unit.
I tried it with three different OS: Win7 Ult 64, Win XPP 32, Ubuntu 11.10 64.
Following the guide by TXFI, I got the caddy, w/Intel 320 Series 160GB ssd from a T420s installed, working w/Win7. The guide did not work for Win XPP. I tried different combination's of of BIOS and registry settings but nothing worked so I do not use the caddy w/Win XPP. The Ubuntu was easiest. I changed the BIOS and rebooted. Finished. Streams races and movies beautifully.
A bit more info:
Win7 is on a Crucial C300 256GB ssd.
Win XPP is on the 128GB Samsung ssd that can with the X301 when I bought it.
Ubuntu is on an identical 128GB Samsung ssd that I bought used.
I am thinking about getting one of the new Hitachi 320GB 7mm hdds for more storage in the caddy. If I do get one, I will update my post w/the results.
A31p, 2 X301, 2 Z61m Ti
Past: 390E, X41, X60, T61p, T400
Panasonic CF-W4, CF-W5, 2 CF-18, 2 CF-29, CF-30, 3 CF-52, CF-74
Past: 390E, X41, X60, T61p, T400
Panasonic CF-W4, CF-W5, 2 CF-18, 2 CF-29, CF-30, 3 CF-52, CF-74
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