Thinkpads Forum

Hi, I'm looking to buy a Ultrabay Slim SATA HDD/SSD Adapter FRU 40Y8725 for my Frankenpad T601.
I was able to buy one for a cheap price, around $30*, previously a long time ago. But, I made the grave mistake of donating it to local electronics store and then changing my mind on it.
I've found a listing on eBay for $89 and I was shocked to find out how much the price has skyrocketed... and it is not available on AliExpress either, not that I could find.
I'm looking to see if anyone would want to negotiate with me for a lower price for the drive. Thanks.

Blimey, they cost like gold dust on UK ebay! ...But to think of it what kind of interface is it? Is it not only suitable only for PATA disks? What would you even put there?...

It seems like the best use of Ultrabay on Frankepads these days may be to plug it with a travel adapter (which I may want to have..) or to place a 2nd battery there (if you can find one in reasonable condition). There is just no way to have two SATA II SSD-s on a T601 is there?

On the Ultrabay SATA adapter I used to have, I was able to dual boot Windows XP and Windows 10 on the Frankenpad, which is what I am trying to achieve again.
I use the Windows 10 install to go online to download files and to setup programs specifically specified for the Frankenpad's specs, and then move them over to XP which I do not go online with.
By default, I have a CD/DVD drive but it's seldom used. It serves more as a placeholder and an appreciation of the 2000s.

I found my old eBay purchase, it turned out to be around $30 USD (which I fixed on the main post). So to see $89 is shocking, but I shouldn't be too surprised considering I've watched T60 T61 keyboard bezels go up in price..

jcdbm wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 20, 2021 1:29 pm

On the Ultrabay SATA

So it was an Ultrabay SATA adapter.. I thought T60/T61 had PATA connection for DVD only.. Interesting
Looking at thinkwiki it seems the official designation of T60 ultrabay is "Ultrabay slim"

Ahh.. found the info: https://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Ultrabay ... DD_Adapter

Features ... Marvell 88SA8040-TBC (SATA-to-PATA bridge controller)

That explains it. Well this setup should be somewhat limited in speed shouldn't it?..

===

Have you got an ExpressCard slot on your T601? Does it look like this will finally ship?
https://thinkmods.store/products/expres ... me-adapter

Might be a better choice for you. You'll still have a hard time finding the right NVMe to put into it but at least you should have a decent speed: it's 1 lane of PCI Express 1.0 so up to 250Mb/sec theoretically. That is around what SATA II offers I think - so should be about as fast as your main drive.

Of course this Thinkmod has been years in the making but maybe it will finally arrive?

Are there no generic ultrabay adapters available any more? I remember I paid around £10 for mine a few years back. It's not the original Lenovo one I assume, but works perfectly well.

zoltan87 wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:49 pm

Are there no generic ultrabay adapters available any more? I remember I paid around £10 for mine a few years back. It's not the original Lenovo one I assume, but works perfectly well.

Hey, there are plenty for models like T520, I actually got one in store pondering on whether I really need it. But these are simpler beasts - just mechanical adapter to plug SATA drive into SATA connector on the motherboard. What jcdbm would have liked to have is an adapter with SATA to PATA converter built in - because T61 motherboard in his Frankenpad delivers PATA interface for an ultrabay device.

As I noted earlier I suspect PATA may be somewhat limiting speed-wise and so this Thinkmod - if it does ship - would be a vastly better option. More expensive of course too - the mod will cost and the short NVMe to put inside will cost too.

zoltan87 wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:49 pm

Are there no generic ultrabay adapters available any more? I remember I paid around £10 for mine a few years back. It's not the original Lenovo one I assume, but works perfectly well.

Same here. Purchased one around 7 years ago. Seems like they were way more common then. Nowadays I cannot find them on eBay at all. I guess whichever third-party vendor was making them back then has since ceased production.

I can still see Alibaba listings that look exactly like the one I have, but I don't know if the listings are real or not:
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... 60801.html
https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/ ... 79531.html

dr_st wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 22, 2021 7:36 am

I can still see Alibaba listings that look exactly like the one I have, but I don't know if the listings are real or not

Interesting. It's not trivial to purchase from Alibaba though is it? Another place to check might be TaoBao..

atagunov wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 22, 2021 5:25 am

zoltan87 wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:49 pm

Are there no generic ultrabay adapters available any more? I remember I paid around £10 for mine a few years back. It's not the original Lenovo one I assume, but works perfectly well.

Hey, there are plenty for models like T520, I actually got one in store pondering on whether I really need it. But these are simpler beasts - just mechanical adapter to plug SATA drive into SATA connector on the motherboard. What jcdbm would have liked to have is an adapter with SATA to PATA converter built in - because T61 motherboard in his Frankenpad delivers PATA interface for an ultrabay device.

As I noted earlier I suspect PATA may be somewhat limiting speed-wise and so this Thinkmod - if it does ship - would be a vastly better option. More expensive of course too - the mod will cost and the short NVMe to put inside will cost too.

Yes I know the adapter for the T6x series has to do conversion between SATA and PATA, still my adapter does just that, and was incredibly cheap. But probably you guys are right, and the supplies for those hdd caddies have dried up. I still find it funny to see that something costs ~$100 now, while I bought the same thing for $10 only 4 years ago.

On a side note, that Expresscard adapter looks incredible, I haven't even heard about it before (but I am not happy about the "no shipping to the UK due to Brexit" policy. I have had to face this issue multiple times now since January, and it's seriously getting on my nerves. Multiple projects are on hold, as I can't order stuff to the UK any more from so many great webhops).

I messaged the eBay seller who sold me the aftermarket adapter I previously purchased, and he replied that he would notify me when more are made because currently they are unavailable due to chip shortages.
Strange because I remember seeing other exact aftermarket adapters, and I didn't think demand for these adapters would be this high.. Else I would've thought thrice about donatig mine away.

Those links to AliBaba: I've used AliExpress many times for my X60/X61 screen mods and T601 parts, but never AliBaba itself. I only see 'Contact Supplier' and not a purchase button.

That express card mod looks awesome although I'm not too interested in it, since it seems overkill for what I am trying to do. I just really want to use the unusued ultrabay slot that is normally occupied by my CD/DVD reader.

For people who are desperate to have ANY drive in that Ultrabay, I have an original IBM Ultrabay slim IDE adapter, FRU 62P4553, ASM 62P4552.
This adapter fits both T4x and T6x Series.

[No longer available]

RealBlackStuff wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 27, 2021 2:08 am

For people who are desperate to have ANY drive in that Ultrabay, I have an original IBM Ultrabay slim IDE adapter, FRU 62P4553, ASM 62P4552.
This adapter fits both T4x and T6x Series.

If op won't take this offer, I might be interested. So if I understand it correctly, this adapter fits into the T60 ultrabay, has a differently styled side plate (made for T4x series), but that doesn't effect functionality? I could use that for the hdd of my Thinkpad X32 (PATA drive), when I want to move large files between my T60 and X32.

I am in the process of sourcing a T60 display cable and an inverter, as I am thinking about building up an other T601 Frankenpad, but with the factory LED fitted Hydis panel I still have. Do you still accept orders for the cable and inverter mod?

(Sorry for being off topic, maybe we should carry on this in private messages.)

RealBlackStuff wrote: ↑

Tue Jul 27, 2021 2:08 am

For people who are desperate to have ANY drive in that Ultrabay, I have an original IBM Ultrabay slim IDE adapter, FRU 62P4553, ASM 62P4552.
This adapter fits both T4x and T6x Series.

No "bite" from OP.
Sold to Zoltan87.

I have "aftermarket" HDD adapters that fit T61, T60, T40 series, x40, x50, x60 etc and take a SATA drive. They are like the original Lenovo ones but do not have the plastic tab that prevents one from putting them in a T40 series. I also have some Original IBM HDD adapter trays that take PATA drives and will fit all the above machines. PM if interested.

Found an original on eBay that works perfectly. Topic can be closed.