Problems with non-thinkpad option drives on T43 thinkpads

[jelee74]

I have an R50p which as Bill has stated is really a T series system board in a 15 inch R chasis. Anyway, I had to transfer some data from the OEM R50p's 60gig travelstar (original shipped firmware) into my 14 inch T43. The R50p Drive worked fine in the Ultrabay Caddy. No errors and was able to see both the regular partition and the hidden service partition on the R50p's drive in Windows XP.

When I placed my 14 inch t43p's OEM drive into the Ultrabay Caddy of my15 inch t43p to migrate the data I just transferred to the 14 inch, I noticed that Windows does not "see" the hidden service partition on the t43p drive in the ultrabay caddy!

Well, just for the heck of it, I decided to put the R50p's drive into the main HD bay of the T43p. Even though its an OEM FRU IBM part got the bios error because its firmware is "older".

So my thought for why older travelstar drives give that boot up error on the new TP's. IBM wants the drives to have the latest firmware update which hides the secret restore partition and theoretically protects it from being erased.

Jonathon

[own6volvos]

I am interested in the T43 line, but hearing this really makes me worried about long term use. Do you guys think IBM will have this patched to allow aftermarket drives down the road? What happens when the drive craps out, and IBM doesn't sell a replacement, or the replacement they have is at an insane price like buying a stick of 512 pc133 ram these days.

I can't seem to find a *almost* perfect laptop anywhere these days . This thing would be frickin sweet if it didn't have these harddrive complications.

[bhtooefr]

Just go to a T42, then

FWIW, your fears of way overpriced HDDs are very much true, from IBM.

I decided to see what the IC25N020ATCS04-0 that came with this thing would cost from IBM, and it was $169. For a 20GB 4200RPM drive.

It's got a Samsung MP0402H 40GB 5400RPM drive in it that cost $63.50, now.

[own6volvos]

Does anyone know if the Z series has the same sort of locked in harddrive platform as the T's?

[bhtooefr]

I can't say for sure, but I'd lean towards NO.

This is simply because it's using a SATA drive, so the incompatibilities that led IBM to put the 2010 error in the BIOS in the first place simply don't exist.

[paul_1011]

I have had several thinkpads overs the years and several laptops from other vendors, none of which have had problems like this.

I really think that this is unacceptable. If a laptop or any kind of computer has its hard disk upgrade options limited so seriously then it should be stated clearly on the units specifications.

Its a shame really that the reseller is ultimatley responsibile for any complaints a customer could make and not the manufacturer.

[hoya]

has anyone tried to flash the firmware on the 7K100? I just installed one I bought from CDW ($239 for 100gb in-stock) and got the infamous 2010 error message. I'm going to install Windows anyway and then compare performance installed in the machine v. installed in the 2nd hdd adapter (which uses a PATA interface).

[mio75]

Can anybody please confirm that the Seagate ST9120821A indeed works on the T43?

I have just bought a T43 (40G Fujitsu) and replaced the hdd with a Seagate ST9100823A with the result of a 2010 error message

Thanks,
Mikkel

[atanasoff]

Has ibm stated an official position on this issue - do they intend to patch it, or is it "sorry your problem"?
If I understand correctly, it affects _only_ the T43, not other T4x with updated BIOS? Please advise if not the case.

[bhtooefr]

Correct. The other T4x laptops don't have SATA, or the converter chip that's causing these problems.

I predict that the T60 (yes, guys, abaxter on NotebookReview confirmed it) will sidestep the whole issue by switching to native SATA drives, much like the Z60.

[ruymbeke]

FYI, I can confirm that the T43 bios do not post the 2010 error when used with the new Seagate 120GB 5400rpm.
I got no data corruption so far and the transfert rate is about 35-38MB/S under both XP and Linux.
Cheers, Gilles

[Edward]

ruymeke,

Can you confirm the Seagate ST9120821A that works with your T43 w/o a 2010 error message is one that you bought from newegg as per NJ_IT on your Oct 1 post?

This would confirm 2 purchases of this HD from newegg that has worked w/o a 2010 error.

[ruymbeke]

ruymbeke,
Can you confirm the Seagate ST9120821A that works with your T43 w/o a 2010 error message is one that you bought from newegg as per NJ_IT on your Oct 1 post?
This would confirm 2 purchases of this HD from newegg that has worked w/o a 2010 error.

Yes it is and so far so good !
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822146231
Cheers, Gilles

[leeadam]

New firmware update version 11:
http://www-3.ibm.com/pc/support/site.ws ... 08#changes

[hoya]

this page is decent but out of date now that the Hitachi 5K100 is supported by the latest firmware update release:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... of_the_box

[DIGITALgimpus]

I'd just be happy to see the HGST 7k100 series supported.

[mio75]

I can also confirm that a Seagate Momentus 5400.2 120GB works without 2010 error on T43 !

[NJ_IT]

Someone in Japan Thinkpad forum verified and reported,
[Seagate Moments 7200.1 ST910021A(100GB/7200rpm,UATA,2.5") works without 2010err msg in T43]

[bfineman]

If I'm reading correctly here, the Hitachi TravelStar 7K100 80GB does NOT work (except with the downgraded BIOS). In that case, does anyone know of any 7200RPM 80GB drives that DO work? On the IBM accessories site I'm seeing only 5400RPM drives.

The Seagate Momentus ST910021A 100GB looks nice, but we don't really need to extra 20GB or want to spend the extra ~$150 right now.

Thanks,
Ben

[hoya]

since the 100gb version of the Seagate 7200.1 works with no error, am I correct to assume the 80gb version will also work with no error message?

ZZF has them in-stock for $199 shipped:
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... icegrabber

[bfineman]

I like that theory. Since they would both be using the same hard disk firmware that would make sense. Ideally I'd still like to hear a firm confirmation from someone one way or the other, but if not, sometimes I guess we just have to take risks.

Thanks,
Ben

[bfineman]

So I called IBM today (or maybe it was Lenovo, not sure) because I decided that I just want a 7200RPM drive for my T43 that works right, even if it costs more because it's a real IBM part. As it turns out, there are NO 7200RPM drives that IBM will sell you for the T43. Not even small ones.

Paradoxically, you can order a new T43 with a 7200RPM drive, no problem. But you cannot order this (apparently secret) drive after the fact, and the rep would not give me a part number for it.

I know plenty of dissatisfaction has been expressed on this topic, but let me add one more: I find it unnacceptable that there is no recommended way to upgrade a T43 to use a 7200RPM hard drive even going through proper channels.

That said, if anyone wants to take the time to collect models of drives that are confirmed working with the T43 firmware, it would be much appreciated. I did read this entire thread but wasn't taking notes and now I'm confused as to what I read works/doesn't work. I'm particularly interested in 7200RPM drives, and I know there are others who are particularly interested in 100GB or greater drives. I may do this myself one day if I get some time.

I've just ordered the Seagate Momentus 7200.1 ST980825A 80GB, so I will report back once it arrives.

[kaiser]

not that i own a T43, but you could collect your experience on thinkwiki.org. Although this place is mainly about Linux it is a site for ThinkPad users.

http://thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_with_ ... hard_disks

[MobileGuru]

My understanding is that the new fix will still give the error but not cause the unit to hard stop until user interaction occurs .. more of a warning message than a bios error at that point.

N.

[DIGITALgimpus]

This really wouldn't be an issue if IBM/Lenovo sold drives at a reasonable price.

If I could get a 7k100 drive for no more than 5-10% markup. I don't think I'd be nearly as concerned.

I just don't like that the 7k100 on the IBM parts site costs so much more than a retail version of the drive.

Ideally, I'd be able to pop any old drive in a T43.

[bfineman]

This really wouldn't be an issue if IBM/Lenovo sold drives at a reasonable price.

If I could get a 7k100 drive for no more than 5-10% markup. I don't think I'd be nearly as concerned.

I just don't like that the 7k100 on the IBM parts site costs so much more than a retail version of the drive.

Ideally, I'd be able to pop any old drive in a T43.

I'm probably just an idiot, but where do you see the 7k100 on the IBM parts site? This is the site I'm looking at: http://www.pc.ibm.com/us/accessories/storage.html

and I'm not seeing the 7k100. Is there another place to look?

Even if it is available from IBM, the phone reps are not claiming it to be a compatible drive for the T43.

I would be happy (happier, anyway) if IBM would sell a compatible 7200RPM for the T43 AT ALL, even at a markup. Right now it just seems impossible to get one from anywhere, besides trolling the forums and figuring out which specific ones people have gotten to work.

[DIGITALgimpus]

Try Parts and use part#: 39T2585

We established this here

[bfineman]

Try Parts and use part#: 39T2585

We established this here

That's excellent! Is there a way that I should have been able to obtain this part number on my own, or does keku have special knowledge? If the latter, could I ask to tap that special knowledge to get a part number for the 7k80? (or even the 7k60 would be useful)

Finally, has anyone confirmed that these actual, official, magically imbued IBM drives will not trigger the 2010 warning? I ask because it concerns me that the phone rep would not recommend these drives to me. I re-searched the thread just now to minimize being an idiot but it's always possible I've missed something. Has somebody actually purchased one of these, aftermarket, and had it work?

[DIGITALgimpus]

Those are officially "replacement parts". Not "upgrades". Likely will work, though I don't officially know. Odds are they are supported

At least 1 computer is using them. So I'd bet they do... they just aren't cheap. It's WAY overpriced.

[freddiebrown999]

I have followed this thread with much interest, recently purchasing a T43 -26684DM notebook, supplied with a 40Gb IBM (Hitachi) Travelstar HDD.

However I wanted a larger HDD, so as to dual boot with Linux as the second OS. I purchased a Hitachi 80Gb HDD, Model HTS541080G9AT00. I installed it and immediately received the infamous Error 2010.

This HDD is specifically listed in the suitable models for the T43 by IBM ( see link http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-41008 ), and is associated with disk 14 (fwhd3414.exe), so I thought it would be a straightforward job to upgrade its firmware. - No go.

Next I attempted to modify the .tbl file in this download, as outlined above in this thread by this link http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... ware+error
but found that the .tbl file is not a text file - it includes non text characters - editing is out! ( for me any way)

So, look through the FW.PRO file (also on the download disks on this link http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-41008 ) - which includes a list of hard drives that this firmware upgrade will apply to - in the list was an 80Gb Fujitsu MHT2080AH. This drive needed disk 18 (fwhd3418.exe)

I created this floppy, then created a boot cd from it using nero, ran the upgrade, and every thing is fine - no Error 2010 message.

I have ended up with a spare 80 Gb HDD, but I can find a use for that. However, for me the the solution was as below:

First check out the models of HDDs listed in the FW.PRO file on one of the 18 firmware upgrade disks ( FW.PRO is the same on all of them.)

Second, source a HDD that is covered by the listing using the quoted model numbers in the FW.PRO file,

and

Third, use the appropriate .exe to run the upgrade.

Hope this helps