SAS hard drive on T4x : possible ?

[thinktwice]

Hi,

Knowing that some of you could use SATA drives, especially on the T43 / T43p models -- it seems also possible on the T42 although tricky -- I wonder if anyone has experience with SAS disks on laptops of the T4x serie ?

Is the socket of 2.5'' SAS drives similar to thus of SATA drives ?
Are there adapters and drivers to install ?

Thanks.

[automobus]

For T43: you can get a ExpressCard with Marvell 88SE6440, or any number of PCIe-based SAS HBA in external PCIe expansion solutions.
For all Tforties: a lot of pieces to put together. Dock II has 5-volt PCI, not 3.3-volt. Existing PCI SAS cards are 3.3-volt only. Whether using Dock II or CardBus, it might be possible to use a PCI bridge to a external 3.3v PCI expansion solution. One other solution I can think of, is something like Amfeltec's PCI to PCIe bridge card in combination with a PCIe SAS HBA card. http://www.amfeltec.com/products/pci-to ... dapter.php



Did you want to put a SAS disk in T43? Even R series, not T series, is not thick enough to do that. Tforty holds 9.5mm drives. No SAS drives are so thin (to my knowledge).

Did you want a SAS disk in a ThinkPad and electrically connected in a ThinkPad? You should look at some pictures. SAS connector is solid between power and data sections. Not two discrete figure-L shapes, but one figure-T shape. If you cut away the plastic, then it might fit.

Did you want a SAS disk connected and operating with Intel ATA host controller in a ThinkPad? Look into Marvell 88SF9210.