Problems with non-thinkpad option drives on T43 thinkpads

[CheongKing]

So my question remains, when they list "Hitachi", "HGST", "Seagate" as supported, do they mean all versions including those directly bought from Hitachi, etc., or just those versions "conditioned" and sold by IBM?

I thought the link above was clear. It supports the following drives only (by model number):

Supported list of Hard drives
Notes:
"x" means one or more characters
* means new to this release

IBM DARA-2x
DJSA-2x
IC25NxATDA04
IC25TxATDA05
IC25NxATCS04
IC25TxATCS05
IC25NxATCS05
Hitachi DK2x7A-x
DK2x8A-x
DK2x9A-x
DK23AA-x
DK23BA-x
DK23CA-x
DK23DA-x
DK23EA-x
DK23FB-x
HGST IC25NxATMR04
HTS5480xxM9AT00
HTS7260xxM9AT00
HTS4240xxM9AT00
HTS5410xxG9AT00
HTS7210xxG9AT00
DK1xFA-x
HTC4260xxG7AT00
HTC4260xxG9AT00
HGST HTS4212xxH9AT00 *
Toshiba MKx09MAT
MKx19GAX
MKx26GAX
Toshiba MKxx32GAX *
Fujitsu MHN2xAT
MHR2xAT
MHT2xAT
MHT2xAH
Seagate ST980825A
ST910021A

Oh No!! Not true.. I bought the Toshiba Mk1032GAX 100GB and still i got the 2010 Error. Help! Can anyone advice me.

Thanks

[Piran]

I am looking at the possibility of putting a bigger HD in my Thinkpad T43p (2669WF5). Unfortunately I do not understand everything that is said here, I am hoping you can help me.

* I know that there is a SATA controller, but with a SATA to PATA bridge the HD is PATA. Correct? Does this mean I can use both a SATA or a PATA HD?

* I have 4 options:
1) Western Digital - WD1600BEVS?1PK
HDScorpio/160GB2.5"SATA5400 8MB 1pk bulk
2) Samsung - HM160JC?1PK
HD/160GB 2.5" 8MB cache 5400rpm 1PK
3) Samsung - HM160JI?1PK
HD/160GB SATA 5400rpm 2.5" 1PK
4) 2.5 Notebook HDD 160GB ATA 8MB 5400rpm SEAGATE (ST9160821A)
Which would be best/would you advise?

* How should I go about installing the new HD?
I plan to make use of the opportunity to try out Vista. If I put in the new HD, will it automatically be recognized and will I be able to install Vista? If I download and install the Thinkvantage Software Installer, will that than automatically download and install the correct drivers/software etc. Or must I start from the recovery CD's (will that work with a different HD)?

I hope you can help me with these basic questions!

regards,

Piran

[CheongKing]

I am looking at the possibility of putting a bigger HD in my Thinkpad T43p (2669WF5). Unfortunately I do not understand everything that is said here, I am hoping you can help me.

* I know that there is a SATA controller, but with a SATA to PATA bridge the HD is PATA. Correct? Does this mean I can use both a SATA or a PATA HD?

* I have 4 options:
1) Western Digital - WD1600BEVS?1PK
HDScorpio/160GB2.5"SATA5400 8MB 1pk bulk
2) Samsung - HM160JC?1PK
HD/160GB 2.5" 8MB cache 5400rpm 1PK
3) Samsung - HM160JI?1PK
HD/160GB SATA 5400rpm 2.5" 1PK
4) 2.5 Notebook HDD 160GB ATA 8MB 5400rpm SEAGATE (ST9160821A)
Which would be best/would you advise?

* How should I go about installing the new HD?
I plan to make use of the opportunity to try out Vista. If I put in the new HD, will it automatically be recognized and will I be able to install Vista? If I download and install the Thinkvantage Software Installer, will that than automatically download and install the correct drivers/software etc. Or must I start from the recovery CD's (will that work with a different HD)?

I hope you can help me with these basic questions!

regards,

Piran

All yr harddisk will work BUT u get the Famous 2010 error...

[GomJabbar]

...

Oh No!! Not true.. I bought the Toshiba Mk1032GAX 100GB and still i got the 2010 Error.

Alright, I was wrong. Sorry.
DIGITALgimpus subsequently wrote what appears to be accurate.

Should note that just because your drive is listed as supported, doesn't mean it is... there are different revisions of the drive as well...

[DIGITALgimpus]

It's a con I tell ya.

I really hate silent revisions, but it's a common practice in IT. You buy 1 product, and someone next week buys the same thing, but it's got a different chipset. One is amazing in quality, the other is a lemon. You never know what you get.

I wish this practice weren't legal, and they would have to note variations in hardware. But that will never happen, because people won't buy the duds.

[dhave]

It works! Got rid of the 2010 error!
I just installed a new Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 100GB 7200rpm HDD (non-IBM) and it had the 2010 error.
However, I was quickly able to get rid of it by following the instructions above.

Make the HDD Firmware update CD (provided by Lenovo on the website)
Boot it up, Ctrl-C to get command prompt, then type in the following (the first time I did it in all lower case & it didn't work)

1) COPY MCZIA51A.BDR MCZOA51A.BDR
2) HFUI15 OAS1A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL
3) HFUI15 IA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL

(I had to enter in #2 & #3 a couple times)
I "THINK" I remember trying:
3) as HFUI15 IA51A MCZOA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL
(I replaced the "i" in MCZIA51A.BDR with an "O as in October".)

Restarted and it still had the 2010 error, then I restarted again and it was gone, in addition, Windows did the "New Hardware Found" routine and sure enough, in "Device Manager", the drive now shows up as having Firmware MCZIA51A (which is the IBM firmware), instead of the OEM Hitachi firmware it shipped with (MCZOA51A).

Note that command "2)" above should read as follows:

2) HFUI15 OA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL

That's "OA51A", not "OAS1A".

[zaku]

ok.. i know i might ask repeated question but... there are over 300 replies in this thread so... if anyone can answer my question will be appreciated!

so my question is.. we can replace the hard drive with the ones only appearing on the list? i'd like to know this exace model of seagate ST9100823A 100Gb, will it work without any problems?

and.. can hard drives originally came on the thinkpad be used on another laptop??

thanks in advance

[mark22]

I have just updated my 60 gig hard drive to a 120gig 5400rpm Fujitsu MHV2120AH in my T43. There is no 2010 error and so far it looks like the drive is operating fine. The way I did it was I installed the blank new drive into the T43, and put my old 60 gig into a Freestore Mini USB HDD enclosure and booted Ghost 2003 from a floppy. Then I copied the contents of the 60 gig in the USB enclosure to the new 120 gig in the T43. After the copy the computer would not boot, it just displayed a cursor at the top left. So I booted into recovery mode using my XP CD and did a "fixmbr", and then it booted. So far so good! I was expecting way more problems than this.

Hi martin_nv,
can you post your Bios, EC and ThinkPad Model Verion because I am not sure if it works with my Version (Bios (1.29), EC (1.06), Model 2668)

Thanks,
Mark

[GomJabbar]

In a reply to another post here this morning I ran across the following site with some information on specific hard drives.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... hard_disks

[martin_nv]

Hi martin_nv,
can you post your Bios, EC and ThinkPad Model Verion because I am not sure if it works with my Version (Bios (1.29), EC (1.06), Model 2668)

Thanks,
Mark

Hi Mark,
My Thinkpad T43 is a 2687-D8U, and my bios is 1.29. I think I have EC 1.06 since i'm on bios 1.29 but I'm not sure how to check without rebooting.

BTW the Fujitsu drive is still running fine.

Martin

[Piran]

I am looking at the possibility of putting a bigger HD in my Thinkpad T43p (2669WF5). Unfortunately I do not understand everything that is said here, I am hoping you can help me.

* I know that there is a SATA controller, but with a SATA to PATA bridge the HD is PATA. Correct? Does this mean I can use both a SATA or a PATA HD?

* I have 4 options:
1) Western Digital - WD1600BEVS?1PK
HDScorpio/160GB2.5"SATA5400 8MB 1pk bulk
2) Samsung - HM160JC?1PK
HD/160GB 2.5" 8MB cache 5400rpm 1PK
3) Samsung - HM160JI?1PK
HD/160GB SATA 5400rpm 2.5" 1PK
4) 2.5 Notebook HDD 160GB ATA 8MB 5400rpm SEAGATE (ST9160821A)
Which would be best/would you advise?

* How should I go about installing the new HD?
I plan to make use of the opportunity to try out Vista. If I put in the new HD, will it automatically be recognized and will I be able to install Vista? If I download and install the Thinkvantage Software Installer, will that than automatically download and install the correct drivers/software etc. Or must I start from the recovery CD's (will that work with a different HD)?

I hope you can help me with these basic questions!

regards,

Piran

All yr harddisk will work BUT u get the Famous 2010 error...

Just to be on the safe side: both SATA and PATA discs can be used? For me it sounds strange because of the SATA to PATA bridge...

What is the "best" one do you think?

Besides the 2010 error being displayed, can anything else go wrong? Unstable system, crashes etc.?

Thanks,

Piran

[GomJabbar]

Just to be on the safe side: both SATA and PATA discs can be used?

Nope. Only PATA can be used.

While the physical disk is PATA (IDE), it is accessed through a SATA controller and a SATA-to-PATA bridge. It thus appears as a SATA device to the operating system, which causes some problems under Linux. The SATA-to-PATA bridge also necessitates drive firmware changes, causing a problem with non-ThinkPad hard disks.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Category:T43p

Detailed specifications - ThinkPad T43/p
Hard drive features
<snip>
ATA Bus Interface

Detailed specifications - ThinkPad T43/p


More info on ATA meaning PATA:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_T ... Attachment

More info on 2010 error:
POST warning message 2010 after BIOS upgrade or hard drive installation - ThinkPad General

[Piran]

Thank you!

[vennstrom]

It works! Got rid of the 2010 error!
I just installed a new Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 100GB 7200rpm HDD (non-IBM) and it had the 2010 error.
However, I was quickly able to get rid of it by following the instructions above.

Make the HDD Firmware update CD (provided by Lenovo on the website)
Boot it up, Ctrl-C to get command prompt, then type in the following (the first time I did it in all lower case & it didn't work)

1) COPY MCZIA51A.BDR MCZOA51A.BDR
2) HFUI15 OAS1A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL
3) HFUI15 IA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL

(I had to enter in #2 & #3 a couple times)
I "THINK" I remember trying:
3) as HFUI15 IA51A MCZOA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL
(I replaced the "i" in MCZIA51A.BDR with an "O as in October".)

Restarted and it still had the 2010 error, then I restarted again and it was gone, in addition, Windows did the "New Hardware Found" routine and sure enough, in "Device Manager", the drive now shows up as having Firmware MCZIA51A (which is the IBM firmware), instead of the OEM Hitachi firmware it shipped with (MCZOA51A).

Note that command "2)" above should read as follows:

2) HFUI15 OA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL

That's "OA51A", not "OAS1A".

Man....you really made me crack my head figuring out how you flash the firmware.... yesterday I bought Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 100GB 7200rpm with firmware MCZOA51A and follow the above instruction...but it didn't work at all, restarted again and again with no result......until.....I found out that you actually have to rename two files not one.

I successfully flashed mine and works like charm, here's the working steps for Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 100GB 7200rpm with firmware MCZOA51A

1) COPY MCZIA51A.BDR MCZOA51A.BDR
2) COPY MC4IA51A.BDF MC4OA51A.BDF
2) HFUI15 OAS1A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL
3) HFUI15 IA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL


This is my 3rd working Hard Disk in my T43, the previous two was Fujitsu MHV2080AH 80gb & MHV2120AH 120gb (worked out of the box, no flashing necessary)

[dhave]

vennstrom, in your second step 2 above, I believe the file name needs to be changed from "OAS1A" to "OA51A". If you concur, it would be good to edit the post accordingly.

[vennstrom]

Revised step, Thanks Dhave !

I successfully flashed mine and works like charm, here's the working steps for Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 100GB 7200rpm with firmware MCZOA51A

1) COPY MCZIA51A.BDR MCZOA51A.BDR
2) COPY MC4IA51A.BDF MC4OA51A.BDF
2) HFUI15 OA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL
3) HFUI15 IA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL


Happy New Year to All !!

[vennstrom]

Revised step, Thanks Dhave !

I successfully flashed mine and works like charm, here's the working steps for Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 100GB 7200rpm with firmware MCZOA51A

1) COPY MCZIA51A.BDR MCZOA51A.BDR
2) COPY MC4IA51A.BDF MC4OA51A.BDF
2) HFUI15 OA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL
3) HFUI15 IA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL


Happy New Year to All !!

Revision 0.2 (wrong steps numbering...too excited !)

Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 100GB 7200rpm with firmware MCZOA51A

1) COPY MCZIA51A.BDR MCZOA51A.BDR
2) COPY MC4IA51A.BDF MC4OA51A.BDF
3) HFUI15 OA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL
4) HFUI15 IA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL

[GomJabbar]

Revision 0.2 (wrong steps numbering...too excited !)

Definitely "2 excited !"

[dino]

Just letting people know this still gets an error.

Drive: Seagate 5400.2 100G ST9100824A FW:1.06

Comp: T43 2668-AJU

[krcmd]

FYI: I was informed by Newegg yesterday (after drive was delivered) that "OEM" in their web catalog signifies used or rebuilt.

[Ken Fox]

FYI: I was informed by Newegg yesterday (after drive was delivered) that "OEM" in their web catalog signifies used or rebuilt.

Whomever spoke to you was misinformed. OEM does not mean used or rebuilt, it means (in this context) that the part is shipped without accessories or manuals that might accompany a "retail" version. This is from the FAQs on the Newegg website:

"Retail versions may come with additional accessories, retail packaging, bundled software and warranty coverage. OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer), White Box and Brown Box versions include the product and sometimes the drivers, but not much else. They are packaged generically and do not include software. OEM products are best-suited for system builders who don't require documentation or bundled accessories."

I have never received a refurbished product from Newegg when I bought a product labelled "OEM," and most of the time I have ordered OEM rather than retail versions. OEM products often have different warranties than the retail versions, not always worse. For example, during the bad old days when Maxtor and some others only gave 1 years worth of warranty to their hard drives, OEM versions had 3 years. It depends entirely on the product and the manufacturer of that product.

The terminology (in a wider sense) has become a little bit confused because some people use "OEM" as a verb, in which case they would say, "it was OEM'd" meaning that a part was built to mfr specs but not by the mfr. itself.

[lenyx]

I purchased a Seagate Momentus 100GB 7200RPM Hard Drive ST910021A and got the 2010 error message. I then ran the update utility provided by Lenovo. The utility said my drive was running firmware 3.04 and didn't need an update.
No support from either Seagate or Lenovo.
I'm stuck, any suggestions besides living with the 2010 error message or returning my HD.

T43p 2668-G2G Bios 1.29

[Ken Fox]

I purchased a Seagate Momentus 100GB 7200RPM Hard Drive ST910021A and got the 2010 error message. I then ran the update utility provided by Lenovo. The utility said my drive was running firmware 3.04 and didn't need an update.
No support from either Seagate or Lenovo.
I'm stuck, any suggestions besides living with the 2010 error message or returning my HD.

T43p 2668-G2G Bios 1.29

You can't just "run" the firmware upgrade disk and expect it to do what you want, which is for the firmware disk to write an options by IBM firmware onto a non-options drive.

Put the model number of your drive into the search facility on this board and see what you come up with. Alternatively, read through all gazillion pages in this thread and other related ones to find whether other forum members have gotten this to work with this drive. If so, you should find some specific lines to type in to get it to work. It is not going to do what you want it to do otherwise.

IBM/Lenovo did not write this program to enable people to buy off the shelf hard drives for 30-40% of the cost of the rebadged ones they sell, and to use them at will. You have to figure out how to get the program to do what you want it to do, and hopefully others have blazed the trail for you. The Hitachi 7K100 drives tend to have the most posts in this topic because they are the fastest. I bought one of those and had no trouble following directions provided by others in this and other threads.

[lenyx]

My dear Ken Fox I really appreciate your thoughts but I would not have posted my questions here if I hadn't already tried and read all the threads in this or other forums.
I found no work around for Seagate HDs and I'm so happy for you that you purchased an Hitachi (this really helps me a lot). Congratulations you are a big smarty!
Instead of telling me what I should have done, tell me a working solution.

[Ken Fox]

My dear Ken Fox I really appreciate your thoughts but I would not have posted my questions here if I hadn't already tried and read all the threads in this or other forums.
I found no work around for Seagate HDs and I'm so happy for you that you purchased an Hitachi (this really helps me a lot). Congratulations you are a big smarty!
Instead of telling me what I should have done, tell me a working solution.

I don't have a working solution for you.

One thing I have learned in this life is that if I don't know what I am doing I must first find those who DO, then follow their directions about what I must do to get the results I want.

I suggest you take this as a learning experience and in the future spend a little more time researching things you know little about, before spending money on something you don't know how to use.

[lenyx]

I don't have a working solution for you.

One thing I have learned in this life is that if I don't know what I am doing I must first find those who DO, then follow their directions about what I must do to get the results I want.

I suggest you take this as a learning experience and in the future spend a little more time researching things you know little about, before spending money on something you don't know how to use.

If you don't have a working solution or anything substantial, please don't bother me and others with your idle talk ( I've learned ..., learning experience.., spending money ...) in this forum.

You have learned something ... great.
You know how to save money ..... wonderful.

but this is NO help and does not contribute anything essential to the problem!

Please use PM for your chitchat!

[Ken Fox]

Please use PM for your chitchat!

You come here looking for others to solve your problems for you. I am sure that you can find an expensive consultant in Zurich to pay to fix your 2010 error.

The attitude that you show in your posting (I refer you to your response to my attempt to help you, initially) is not going to encourage anyone to spend their free (and uncompensated) time to help YOU solve YOUR problem.

I wish you luck. Goodbye.

[koden]

As lenyx wrote:
"I have amde search an have not found anything that can resolve 2010 error on my drive"

So why can't he ask here???

He has bought a drive to his laptop to change the old one.
A very simple thing to do.
That IBM have let this crazy error happens have nothing to do with lenyx capility to buy and change drive...

I have exatly same problem A drive that gives error 2010 and I have yet not found a solution for that drive. But there is solutions for almost every other drive:-)

My drive is a original from a T40 and error comes when it's used in a T43.

So I have made the same question for weeks ago.
And I can't see why I should not ????

Soory for my english

[Ken Fox]

As lenyx wrote:
"I have amde search an have not found anything that can resolve 2010 error on my drive"

So why can't he ask here???

He has bought a drive to his laptop to change the old one.
A very simple thing to do.
That IBM have let this crazy error happens have nothing to do with lenyx capility to buy and change drive...

There's no problem with asking anything here, although it certainly helps to keep the posting positive and to refrain from insults and name-calling.

The 2010 error is a complex issue. There are retail drives that can be flashed to look (to the T43) as if they are "Options" (i.e. sold by IBM/Lenovo) drives. There are also retail drives that cannot be flashed to avoid this error, and there are drives that no one has tried or succeeded in flashing that perhaps COULD be flashed to work "properly."

Unless you know how to do the sort of "coding" on the command line that could "fool" the IBM firmware program into flashing the retail drive to look like an Options drive, you will be limited to imitating, to copying, that which others have done successfully and posted about in this and other threads. That was certainly my situation and as a result I purchased a specific drive that much had already been written about.

I am sorry that your drive is apparently not among those that people here have written about flashing. Perhaps if you spent some time studying what others have done with drives that "worked," you might figure out how to do it with your own drive. OR, you might trash your own drive, always a risk.

I can't speak about the situation in your country but certainly over here (USA) hard drives have become very cheap. If you can't find another solution I'd suggest using your old T40 drive some other way, such as in a USB2 box or in an ultrabay adapter as a 2nd drive, then buying one of the drives that have been successfully flashed and have been written about here, with clear instructions on how to do it. Either that, or just use the original drive that came with your T43, which should work fine.

It is unrealistic to hope that other people in this forum who are capable of writing the coding for getting a "non-supported" flash are going to take their time and work out this problem, for you. I"m not among those with this capability in any event.

[ikari_01]

Hi,

thought I'd share my experience so far.
I received a new Hitachi HTS541212H9AT00 (5400rpm 120GB) drive yesterday to replace the original 60GB 7200rpm IBM/Hitachi drive in my T43p (2668-H8something)

I wanted 5400rpm because the 7200rpm drive used to emit a high pitched noise and also vibrated strongly, making an annoying humming noise in addition. The new drive even consumes less power.

I mirrored the old drive using dd_rescue from a Knoppix CD in case anybody wants to know (The advantage over normal dd is that it has a neat progress display). I put in the new drive (which runs way quieter) and of course my dear ThinkPad gave me the 2010.

I set the BIOS to not having to press the ESC key and booted the system into Linux 2.6.19.1. So far, it has only run for a couple of hours, but in that time it didn't give me any kind of problems. I am going to do some testing (data integrity, throughput) under Linux and Windows XP. So far, I haven't tested under Windows at all.

I guess there is no support for that drive by the firmware upgrader yet as the largest Hitachi drive I can see in the list is 100GB.