Is this Hitachi Hard Drive ok for my T43?

[macbryan]

Hey guys,I want to update my hard disk for my T43. The old hard drive is just 40G.

I just wander, is this hard disk shown bellow ok to be used for my T43(1871)?
======================================
HITACHI Travelstar 5K250 0A53329 250GB SATA 5400 RPM 8MB Mobile Hard Drive Bulk ,
Specification
Capacity 250GB
Interface SATA
Rotation speed 5400 RPM
Buffer size 8MB
Form factor 2.5"
Avg Seek Time 11 ms
Avg Latency 5.5 ms
========================================

I know some hard disks may bring 2010 error. Is there anyone here use this hard drive before? Is that disk working on T43?
Or do you have any other better suggestion to update T43's hard disk without 2010 error?

I appreciate for all your kind response.

Bryan

[sarbin]

welcome to the forum.

that drive will not work in the primary hdd bay. it's sata and you need pata/ide. also, check the sticky at the top of this area to learn about the '2010' issue with non-'option' hdd's in the t43.

the drive you list will work in the ultrabay, with one caveat. it must be mounted in an sata ultrabay slim 2nd hdd adapter. the genuine lenovo adapter has a plastic(?) pin on the back that needs to be filed/cut off for it to fit into the ultrabay, but is reported to work fine. the non-lenovo adapters that are sold on ebay are reported to work fine, also, but don't have the extra pin needing to be removed.

hth.

[macbryan]

Thank you sarbin~~~

I will first learn more about what type of hard disk is suitable for my T43.

And thanks for your reminding, I will look at the top issue about the '2010 error'.

[sarbin]

you're welcome.

the t43 is a fine machine. i've got one.
thy're just a bit quirky in the hdd arena. it's the pata-to-sata bridge circuitry that trip us up.

[macbryan]

Hey, sarbin. can I ask you something else?

After searching from the internet, the highest capacity of the hdd suitable for a T43 without any 2010 error seems to be the "Fujitsu MHV2120AH, 120GB". Other hdd with larger capacity may use some other methods to avoid the 2010 error:
1. To downgrade the bios version
2. or Update Hard drive firmware (with specific model) from here: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... harddrives

So , do you know any other hdd with a capacity even larger than 120G
that can be working well on T43?

Thanks~~

[sarbin]

i don't know of anything larger than the fujistu 120 that doesn't require a fw hack. some folks have tried the hitachi 160 and updating the fw, but they've run into trouble of not realizing the full capacity of the drive, as described in the 'sticky' here.

i've decided that i'm only going to use ibm/lenovo option drives in my '43. mine came to me with a 60gb/7200rpm and i've upgraded it to 100gb/7200rpm. i've got another 100gb coming this week. i want to have one in reserve as they are becoming rare, especially new/never used drives.

did you see my pm?

[SkiBunny]

You can use any of the newer 250GB PATA drives well in your t43, without needing to hack or grind your hardware and firmware... by using the ThinkPad 2nd HDD Adapter for Ultrabay Slim (part number 41U3148). This adapter is also forwardly compatible with any of the T6x systems too. I find it actually runs faster than the SATA HDD Bay adapter, I guess because the latter does SATA-PATA conversion (the ultrabay is IDE-only in all T4x and T6x systems).