X61s, Middleton, SATA2 in ultrabase?

[precip9]

With Middleton's BIOS, I've been running SATA2 drives in the laptop without any problems.

I seem to recall, perhaps erroneously, that when Lenovo disabled SATA2 support in the X61, the stated reason was that SATA2 drives might not work in the Ultrabase. With the longer connection path, this is at least plausible.

But is it true? Has anyone been running SATA2 in the Ultrabase for a long time without any glitches?

[ajkula66]

Well, here's how that goes:

a) Middleton's BIOS or not, UltraBay speeds are still going to be SATA I. There's no hack to go around this one AFAIK.

b) You can run a SATA II or SATA III drive in an UltraBay, it will still be locked down to 1.5 transfer speed that is applicable to SATA I.

[Temetka]

I have a few thoughts on this:

So does the ultrabase have it's own SATA controller?

I am curious because if the ultrabase is pulling a SATA channel from the laptop motherboard, is it possible that it will slow down the internal hard drive to SATA1 speeds while the laptop is docked? Further on that line of thinking, if it does slow the internal drive down to SATA1 speeds, would the user then have to reboot the laptop once it is un-docked in order to regain SATA2 transfer rates?

I've never really thought about this before as I was planning on using an external USB drive for secondary storage.

[ajkula66]

I have a few thoughts on this:

So does the ultrabase have it's own SATA controller?

Yes and no. It has its SATA to PATA converter. All Ultrabay devices on pre-*00 models are PATA devices.

I've never really thought about this before as I was planning on using an external USB drive for secondary storage.

Well, if storage is all you need, then the UltraBay transfer speeds are really not the biggest of deals IMO.

Nothing wrong with USB storage either.

[Temetka]

Well, being as I have a TabletPC and all, carrying around the ultrabase is kind of redundant for just an extra HD. I hardly, if ever, need the optical drive. Besides, I'm rocking a 500GB HD in here. I don't really need extra space. The USB HD would be for transferring files off my clients machines. Typically to transfer them to another laptop when they get issued to them by their employers.

Also, I was mainly asking so as to satisfy some technical curiosity.

[hopgarden53]

Sorry questioning for this ten year old answer ... but for technical curiosity only:

is it possible to do a SATA mod there?

[axur-delmeria]

Sorry questioning for this ten year old answer ... but for technical curiosity only:

is it possible to do a SATA mod there?

In a word, no. The IDE port that drives the Ultrabay (T60 series and X60 Ultraabase) is wired directly to the southbridge chip. There's no IDA/SATA bridge chip in between, which was the case in the T43, R52, and X41.

There are existing Ultrabay caddies that have a bridge chip, allowing you to use a SATA HDD in the T60/61 and Ultrabase X6.I have one but don't use it as it runs hot. and is kinda flaky as a result.