T43p bios doesn't detect drive

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gadgetgirl · #1 Post by **gadgetgirl** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:00 pm

I've been scouring the internet (including targeted searches in this forum) for a solution to a new hard drive in my T43p.

I would like to replace the primary drive with a new drive in my T43p 2668-74U. My first attempt was with a Hitachi HTE726060M9AT00 60GB 7200rpm drive.

The problem is that the laptop does not see the drive when inserted in the hard drive slot. It does not list it as an available boot device, and it does not show up in the Ubuntu linux live cd (so no chance of installing to the drive). The interesting thing is that I can plug the drive into a USB enclosure, install the OS to it, and boot from it just fine. It just will not show up as a drive when plugged into the normal drive slot.

I upgraded the BIOS and EC to the latest versions without luck. I had to send in the laptop due to a green vertical line on the lcd, so I am actually using another T43p of the same model now (swapped the harddrive into it). It cannot see the HTE726060M9AT00 either (BIOS 1.29)

I stopped by the store this afternoon and bought a brand new drive, a Hitachi HTS541210H9AT00 100GB 5400rpm drive. Same thing, no device detected by the BIOS.

I burned the Lenovo drive firmware-updater CD and tried running that. It just freezes during the startup when either of the drives are inserted in the system. The utility starts up fine when the original drive is in there.

I would be more than happy to endure the 2010 error about a non-IBM drive. What magic am I missing? Why won't the T43p see my drives? Did I just get very unlucky and pick two completely incompatible Hitachi drives? This is so maddening...

#2 Post by **richk** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:22 pm

I believe I have used that drive without problem in a T43. Is it possible you are not getting the drive all the way in? I don't want to be insulting, but is it possible that it is upside down? The bottom of the drive (the part with the electronics, slides in "up", as in next to the touchpad.

gadgetgirl · #3 Post by **gadgetgirl** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:42 pm

That's an important detail to be sure I got right

. The drive did go all the way in and the pins seemed to seat correctly. I went so far as removing the tray from the original drive and put it on each of the new drives to make sure it was seating correctly. I'll triple check tonight, but I'm pretty sure the drives were in correctly.

Did you have to do anything to the virgin drives beforehand?

#4 Post by **bill bolton** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:54 pm

gadgetgirl wrote:Why won't the T43p see my drives?

The most likely (by a long way) cause is that the electrical connection between the drive and the Thinkpad is not complete. You just need to figure out why.

Cheers,

Bill

gadgetgirl · #5 Post by **gadgetgirl** » Wed May 02, 2007 5:55 pm

I think the problem occurs with something I'm doing/not doing, or the new drives. Two separate T43p's have shown identical behavior. Neither could see the new drives, and both worked perfectly with the original drive that came with the laptop. I'm just trying to figure out what I need to do differently to make a new drive work.

#6 Post by **richk** » Wed May 02, 2007 6:18 pm

I didn't do anything to get them recognized. I really think the drive isn't seated or is upside down. There is no key to make sure the drive is in right. If there were, you would bend a pin. It is much better to feel dumb because it is upside down, than to bend a pin.

gadgetgirl · #7 Post by **gadgetgirl** » Wed May 02, 2007 6:32 pm

I just had a chance to try getting the drive in there properly, and I realized I could not hear the drive make any noise when the machine powered up. So I tried a few more times, and I found that I need to pivot the drive up when it's nearly all in to get it to seat right. It now works (with the 2010 error, but I don't care about that too much).

Thanks for the push in the right direction!

#8 Post by **richk** » Wed May 02, 2007 7:27 pm

I have learned to insert drives in T4X machines by turning them over (bottom up) with the lid open and then inserting the drives. They then slide in correctly.

Temetka · #9 Post by **Temetka** » Wed May 02, 2007 8:54 pm

That is the same technique I use.

bontistic · #10 Post by **bontistic** » Thu May 03, 2007 7:42 am

Aren't those T4x machines are supposed to have guide-rails built-in on their hard drive bays?

If your new drive has been properly fitted with the correct hard drive caddy, the screws should slide within the guides, and then there should be no problem inserting it upside-down or upside-up (if there is such a word)

#11 Post by **bill bolton** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:50 am

bontistic wrote:Aren't those T4x machines are supposed to have guide-rails built-in on their hard drive bays?

No, there aren't any "guide-rails".

However, mounting the drive in the proper caddy certainly does help with connector alignment.

Cheers,

Bill

bontistic · #12 Post by **bontistic** » Thu May 03, 2007 8:58 am

The reason why I asked is that when a drive is fitted with the correct caddy, it is almost impossible to get the drive all the way in (maybe only about 20-30% in). The same is true with my R52.

Nevertheless, I agree with you, installing proper caddies do help with proper alignment.

gadgetgirl · #13 Post by **gadgetgirl** » Thu May 03, 2007 10:55 am

I tried with and without the caddy attached and still managed to misalign the drive. As far as I can tell, the caddy is a simple static charge guard... no guide rails. In the future, I'll be sure to use the "bottom up" technique.

JHEM · #14 Post by **JHEM** » Thu May 03, 2007 12:38 pm

[quote="gadgetgirl"As far as I can tell, the caddy is a simple static charge guard... no guide rails.[/quote]
The side mounted screw heads of the caddy ride on guides in the drive slot.

James

T43p bios doesn't detect drive

T43p bios doesn't detect drive

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