Has anyone tried an SSD in the X41? *PICS*

istel · **Posted:** Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:45 am

Care to give us a benchmark of your write operations?

I suppose that bug will be in most of the newer distros then?

Cheers

seneca · **Posted:** Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:01 am

istel wrote:

Care to give us a benchmark of your write operations?

I suppose that bug will be in most of the newer distros then?

Cheers

Right now I can't give you that since the stripe is broken. And I don't feel like installing it [ubuntu/linux] again unless I know the bug has been fixed.

The bug would probably be present in all newer distro's if not all older aswell.

I'm gonna try freebsd or openbsd and check if their ide implementation has the same flaw.

DVormann · **Posted:** Wed Nov 21, 2007 12:10 pm

Got a 4 GB SD card. (not SDHC)

It works in X41. Read and write OK. It gets recognized after a reboot. Everything fine.

4 GB SD is an option to increase storage capacity.

istel · **Posted:** Thu Nov 22, 2007 1:54 pm

4GB SD non-SDHC cards? hmm... Care to share the brand name & cost?

Btw, managed to find a website that benchmarks High Speed Compactflash Cards, hope you guys find it useful

Fox5 · **Posted:** Thu Nov 22, 2007 2:53 pm

istel wrote:

4GB SD non-SDHC cards? hmm... Care to share the brand name & cost?

Btw, managed to find a website that benchmarks High Speed Compactflash Cards, hope you guys find it useful

They're rare. I bought a Transcend one a while back, but transcend now makes SDHC ones as well. The non-SDHC one typically fetches a higher price. A lot of devices have trouble getting good performance out of non-SDHC cards that are that large though unless you format it as FAT instead of FAT32. (FAT wastes space though, I think 4GB is also the max size of FAT)
BTW, the thinkpads can't boot from the SD card, unfortunately, so it's not an alternative to an SSD or compactflash drive. 4GB is also kind of small, and I'd say a USB drive is more practical.

DVormann · **Posted:** Thu Nov 22, 2007 4:23 pm

istel wrote:

4GB SD non-SDHC cards? hmm... Care to share the brand name & cost?

Used Transcend (again). TS4GSDC. It is a 45x card which does not matter: The SD reader in X41 is not fast anyway. The card is for nothing but additional internal(!) storage.

It is formatted FAT32. FAT16 is limited to 2 GB (remember MS-DOS?) unless using 64k clusters.

As far as I know the X41 SD reader does not support SDHC. Did anyone try?

chi3x10 · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 3:30 pm

Spent 1 hour to go through the thread. Thanks a lot for the testing and experiment! really appreciate it! That is a lot of information for me in 1 hour. :lol:

Just one short question. Does the Dual CF-IDE Adapter fit X41? I am currently having a X41 with 30GB (40?) HD and that's enough for my usage. I am planning to install 2 16GB CF if the dual adapter fits. Again thanks so much for all the information!

DVormann · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 4:17 pm

chi3x10 wrote:

Does the Dual CF-IDE Adapter fit X41?

Mechanically: yes. Will BIOS recognize slave? Nobody actually tried. No reason to. I need to quote myself:

DVormann wrote:

X41 features SATA chipset, SATA to IDE bridge and IDE drive. In theory the chipset cannot see an IDE slave.

chi3x10 · **Posted:** Sun Nov 25, 2007 4:34 pm

DVormann wrote:

chi3x10 wrote:

Does the Dual CF-IDE Adapter fit X41?

Mechanically: yes. Will BIOS recognize slave? Nobody actually tried. No reason to. I need to quote myself:

DVormann wrote:

X41 features SATA chipset, SATA to IDE bridge and IDE drive. In theory the chipset cannot see an IDE slave.

DVnrmann,

Thanks a lot for your reply. I will just go ahead and order the dual adapter. I have a 4GB and 1GB with me now. I will try them in winter break. If you are right, which I think you should be, I will probably wait for another 6 months or so until there is 32GB CF card within $200 dollars.
BTW, from your signature, may I please ask what is the 28GB SSD you have?

istel · **Posted:** Mon Nov 26, 2007 9:41 am

Tekkaman_Slade wrote:

istel wrote:

Sounds like too big a job just to use the new 1.8 drives even with the zif - ide adapter :roll:

Hi Slade, care to let us know the duration of your boot up from BIOS to login screen on either XP or Linux?

I wonder if seneca would care to share, after raiding the two CF cards, is the performance increment significant?

Lastly, will you guys recommend that I do programming work (C, C++ , Java) on the x40 after changing to CF boot?

Cheers for all the great advice provided by you guys here

From BIOS to login screen on XP takes literally less than a second. The status animation on the XP load screen doesn't even get a chance to move. From BIOS to login on Ubuntu Feisty takes a bit longer. With GRUB set to a 1 second delay, it usually takes another 5 seconds for Ubuntu Feisty to get to the login screen.

Using an X40 with an SSD to do programming shouldn't be a problem.

-Slade

Slade,

Is it possible for you to say, record a video of your machine booting up from bios? It'll be great if you can post it up on youtube?

Sorry for the sudden/selfish request :p

Btw, anyone tried the Kingston Ultimate 266x CF to see if it matches up to it's advertised 266x speed?

Tekkaman_Slade · **Posted:** Tue Nov 27, 2007 6:35 pm

istel wrote:

Slade,

Is it possible for you to say, record a video of your machine booting up from bios? It'll be great if you can post it up on youtube?

Sorry istel, but things are a bit busy for me right now. Posting a youtube video of the bootup isn't going to happen anytime soon.

-Slade

godling · **Posted:** Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:01 pm

dvoorman wrote:

Your X31 accepts a normal 2.5" PATA SSD. Or even a 7200 rpm HDD. Consider those options before using CF.

But Slade counters:

Tekkaman_Slade wrote:

From BIOS to login screen on XP takes literally less than a second.

And *that* is why I'm interested in doing this. Plus there's the silence factor, and the (slightly) extended battery life (though the 4+ hours I get now is nice), and perhaps a heat improvement.

Plus ... what the heck ... sounds fun.

-godling

istel · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:02 am

Tekkaman_Slade wrote:

istel wrote:

Slade,

Is it possible for you to say, record a video of your machine booting up from bios? It'll be great if you can post it up on youtube?

Sorry istel, but things are a bit busy for me right now. Posting a youtube video of the bootup isn't going to happen anytime soon.

-Slade

No worries, take your time.

However, I'll like to know. Did you install an embedded XP or it's just a normal OEM XP installation? Was it boot up off HORM or just plain vanilla XP booting?

Cheers

DVormann · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 3:09 am

godling wrote:

dvoorman wrote:

Your X31 accepts a normal 2.5" PATA SSD. Or even a 7200 rpm HDD. Consider those options before using CF.

But Slade counters:

Tekkaman_Slade wrote:

From BIOS to login screen on XP takes literally less than a second.

And *that* is why I'm interested in doing this. Plus there's the silence factor, and the (slightly) extended battery life (though the 4+ hours I get now is nice), and perhaps a heat improvement.

For that you can still use a true SSD rather than CF.

Tekkaman_Slade · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:53 am

istel wrote:

However, I'll like to know. Did you install an embedded XP or it's just a normal OEM XP installation? Was it boot up off HORM or just plain vanilla XP booting?

Cheers

I installed the normal OEM XP Pro that came with the X40 along with standard XP booting. I only used the bootprep.exe program from the embedded XP toolkit to setup the compact flash so that XP Pro installs the MBR correctly during the installation process.

-Slade

godling · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 12:57 pm

DVormann wrote:

For that you can still use a true SSD rather than CF.

True. But that's less interesting.

Also, there's a price point to consider. A 16GB Transcend SSD goes for $350 @ NewEgg. Same drives are not even available at TigerDirect. The 16GB Sandisk Extreme III at Tiger is $289, and the prices for CF have been dropping, historically.

True, SSDs will drop as well, I know. But the real interest here, for me, is the "can I do it" question.

-J

pianoforte · **Posted:** Sat Dec 01, 2007 10:42 am

Hello,

I am trying to install an 8 GB SanDisk Extreme IV in my X41 for hours now. Here is my problem:

Quote:

Assuming your card has a single FAT32 partition, here's what you need to do:

1) Install the CF card. Use only one card if you're using the dual slot adapter or the XP install program will fail.
-> passed.

2) Boot from a Win98 or DOS and run bootprep.exe. (Google is your friend)
-> passed. I got bootprep from here:
http://www.acrosser.com/winEOS/winxp.htm

3) Format the CF as FAT32.
-> passed. I did this during the installation of WinXP (at the beginning of the installation windows offers to format the HD).

4) Run the XP install CD.
-> not passed. In a first step win transfers all data. In a second step i get a disk error. The CF-Card does not boot.

5) Once the install is complete and XP is up and running, install the Hitachi microdrive disk drivers for your CF so that it treated as a fixed disk. (Google is your friend)

6) Use the "convert c: /fs:ntfs" command to convert the drive from FAT32 to NTSF.

Can anyone help me?

Best wishes,
Jan.

Tekkaman_Slade · **Posted:** Tue Dec 04, 2007 4:57 pm

pianoforte wrote:

Hello,

I am trying to install an 8 GB SanDisk Extreme IV in my X41 for hours now. Here is my problem:

Quote:

Assuming your card has a single FAT32 partition, here's what you need to do:

1) Install the CF card. Use only one card if you're using the dual slot adapter or the XP install program will fail.
-> passed.

2) Boot from a Win98 or DOS and run bootprep.exe. (Google is your friend)
-> passed. I got bootprep from here:
http://www.acrosser.com/winEOS/winxp.htm

3) Format the CF as FAT32.
-> passed. I did this during the installation of WinXP (at the beginning of the installation windows offers to format the HD).

4) Run the XP install CD.
-> not passed. In a first step win transfers all data. In a second step i get a disk error. The CF-Card does not boot.

5) Once the install is complete and XP is up and running, install the Hitachi microdrive disk drivers for your CF so that it treated as a fixed disk. (Google is your friend)

6) Use the "convert c: /fs:ntfs" command to convert the drive from FAT32 to NTSF.

Can anyone help me?

Best wishes,
Jan.

The problem is with your implementation of step 3. You have to format the CF as FAT32 BEFORE running the XP install CD as stated in the instructions. This is due to limitations that the XP install imposes on removal media as discussed previously throughout this thread.

-Slade

creed · **Posted:** Wed Dec 05, 2007 1:37 pm

My addonics adapter and 2 8GB lexar CF cards arrived recently. The install went flawlessly. I've got Bios version 2.06 and didn't need to upgrade. There are no boot up warnings with the CF installed. Maybe this is an X41 issue? The X40 seems a little bit faster but not lightning fast like I was hoping. It was still a cool project to undertake. X40 is extremely quiet now and apps start up faster than before

Enjoy the pics:

aboveliquidice · **Posted:** Wed Dec 05, 2007 1:59 pm

LOVE the pics - I want to do this on my Tablet so bad - looks like you are running linux - which one??? Have you considered running XP?

Can you also post a total cost of upgrade?

~above~

DVormann · **Posted:** Wed Dec 05, 2007 3:16 pm

creed wrote:

There are no boot up warnings with the CF installed. Maybe this is an X41 issue?

Could be X41 BIOS. Could be removeable drive vs fixed disk.

underclocker · **Posted:** Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:20 pm

Those are awesome pictures! Thanks for posting, very helpful.

I will try this or a SSD on my X40. Prices and options for moving from spinning to solid state drives are getting very attractive.

*** This thread should be a STICKY! ***

aboveliquidice · **Posted:** Wed Dec 05, 2007 10:12 pm

Current prices:
- 8gb Lexar 300x CF = 159.66 X2 = 319.32
- Addonics dual CF to IDE adapter = 22.99

Total for upgrade (near 7200 HD) = 342.31 (not including shipping)

That is a lot of bank - but it sure is cool.

jargoone · **Posted:** Wed Dec 05, 2007 11:05 pm

aboveliquidice wrote:

looks like you are running linux - which one???

He's booted to the System Rescue CD: http://www.sysresccd.org/. This is a great little bootable distro for testing and diagnosis, but not general use.

spasticteapot · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:49 am

aboveliquidice wrote:

Current prices:
- 8gb Lexar 300x CF = 159.66 X2 = 319.32
- Addonics dual CF to IDE adapter = 22.99

Total for upgrade (near 7200 HD) = 342.31 (not including shipping)

That is a lot of bank - but it sure is cool.

I don't need much in the way of performance, so I was thinking of using some somewhat cheaper CompactFlash cards. I'm going to be running a low-frills Linux install more or less entirely from RAM, and I'm not doing much other than surfing the web and writing papers. I don't need much space, either, really.

Assuming I use the Addonics CF adapter( http://www.addonics.com/products/flash_ ... midecf.asp ), I'll have two seperate hard drives: One for CF card A, and one for CF card B.

I don't need much in the way of performance, so I'll likely have two CF cards: A high-speed 133x 2GB card for the OS and programs, and a low speed 4GB card for storing pictures and word documents and music.

Can anyone here reccomend some cheap-but-fast CF cards for this project? I'lll likely use an A-data Speedy 4GB card for the "slow" CF card, and maybe a Lexar Pro 133x for the "fast" card.

EDIT:
I found this guy on eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0181220336

$22.50!

Admin edit: Shortened URL to prevent horizontal scrolling

creed · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:58 am

I used System Rescue CD, installed on a usb key, to boot into linux so I could partition and format the drives. It's a great utility to have, even for Windows users.

But I do use linux as my primary (and only) OS. I use Fedora Core 5 currently. I'd like to upgrade or try out Ubuntu but I'm deployed in Iraq currently and the internet here sucks.

One cool feature of the dual addonics adapter and CF cards is that it would be really easy to plug in a CF card with Windows XP installed on it should I need to get into Windows (gaming perhaps). Or perhaps a different linux distro for testing. When the prices on UDMA CF cards go down, maybe I'll buy more. The upgrade was about $350 (including shipping).

creed · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:03 am

I forgot to mention that the top CF card in the adapter seems to always be identified as the first hard disk (or HDA). And the second is HDB. I was worried that the cards would compete at boot up like my external USB drives do.

istel · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:52 am

Excellent work creed, love the pictures!

Mind sharing your boot up time?

Cheers

DVormann · **Posted:** Thu Dec 06, 2007 12:23 pm

seneca wrote:

This thread contains alot of good info about Compact flash/SSD's and adapters.
If anyone haven't already started, I think I'll begin compiling it all into an article under "X40" in the thinkwiki.

EDIT: And on a side note...How do I make new pages in that wiki? :roll:

Enter the URL of the non-existing page. Then you can edit it.

Like: http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/CF_replacement_for_HDD (The name is only a suggestion.)

Someone else start it. I'll contribute.

creed · **Posted:** Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:51 am

I'll post later tonight on the boot up specs. It's definitely faster than before.

And feel free to use the pics here for the wiki if you like

Has anyone tried an SSD in the X41? PICS

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