Thinkpads Forum

A while ago, i tried to install a DOM module (512MB) on this machine to replace the mechanical HDD. As the DOM did not really show a proper way to orient itself, i made the mistake to swap it 180 degrees in the wrong way. After that, i could no longer get any ide drive to be recognized.

What i did manage to do was to use a cf/pcmcia adapter and eventually got it to boot that way instead.

I did only (at the time) visually inspect the system-board for anything obvious (looking for "brown"/burned tantalum capacitors) but i could not really see anything at that time.

In general, what would be the first place to start looking (i realise that i need to bring out the multi-meter and start to probe) - would it be close to the IDE connector itself?

You may check the fuse or 0/000 resistor near the IDE first, if everything looks good, check the 5v IDE power rail by 41(5v logic)/42(5v motor)/44(type ATA) pin.
Blown fuse or 0hm resistor could be simple.
If you cannot get the 5v, trace back and check if there is any mosfet malfunctioned, or if it is some signal issue. It takes time...so you can even bridge some other 5v to your ide power supply and see if it comes back.
If you *can* get 5v, then it's complex...I do not have any suggestions but maybe you can start with some 74-series chips if any.

Got you Sir,

I will start in that end and try to work my way forward. Thank you.

I will try to update what I'll do here as well (I can't imagine being the only one who made such a mistake ever... But if I am, then perhaps it would be usefule for the future )

I have done the exact same thing (a very long time ago) to an unrelated piece of hardware (a Wyse thin client).
In that case, I found that the power supply through the IDE connector was the only thing that stopped working.

If the drive was supplied with external power, the IDE interface still detected the drive and worked normally.

I do not recall if the DOM was damaged and I never attempted to repair the board (I ran a hideous arrangement of a ribbon cable out of the device to an externally connected HDD with a separate power supply, IIRC), but the point of me replying is:
1) Nah, you're not the only one.
and
2) There is hope that you may be able to recover from this.