T4x UltraBay

[roguetrooper]

I am a bit disappointed.

I assumed that the R51 DVD would fit into a T43, as I often see advertised "R5 T4X compatible DVD drives" leading me to believe that they were interchangeable.

Just received a T43 and found that the R51 DVD drive just doesn't fit!

FRU 92P6569 - which I now see is advertised as only R5x series compatible!

Do any Ultrabay devices interchange between these series?

[craigmontHunter]

The T series has an ultrabay slim, while the R has a ultrabay - you can use a ultrabay slim device in an ultrabay, but not the other way around. (Tx works in Rx, Rx does not work in Tx)

[rkawakami]

Here's a fairly good guide to the different versions of Ultrabays over the years: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/UltraBay

The R52's Ultrabay is called Enhanced. It (natively) supports drives that are 12.7mm thick. However, it will still accept Ultrabay Slim devices (9.5mm thick).

[roguetrooper]

I am a bit confused


according to IBM

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... JW4XW.html
Hardware requirements
The ThinkPad Ultrabay 2000 HDD Adapter is supported on all models of the ThinkPad A Series, T Series, X Series, ThinkPad Dock and the Portable Drive Bay 2000.

Yet
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Ultrabay
states:

Ultrabay 2000 A20m, A20p, A21e, A21m, A21p, A22e, A22m, A22p, A30, T20, T21, T22, T23, Dock, Dock II, X2 UltraBase, Portable Drive Bay 2000

So is the Ultrabay 2000 supported on the T43?

The first reference says yes, the second states only the earlier T series.

I ask this because I have seen an Ultrabay 2000 adaptor for sale for HDD (FRU states 08K6067 and 08K6066).

Can I use this in the T43?

Thanks yet again!

[ajkula66]

No.

UltraBay 2000 died with A31p, R40 and T30.

As stated earlier, T4x/T6x use UltraBay Slim, while R5x/R6x use UltraBay Enhanced.

You can put the "slim" drive in the Enhanced bay, but not vice versa.

None of these machines will take UltraBay 2000, though.

[roguetrooper]

Not disagreeing with you and I do believe you

But IBM should change their site information, as it is inaccurate. I see however how it came about. This was probably written before the T4X series was introduced and was never amended through the years!

Thanks.

[bill bolton]

But IBM should change their site information, as it is inaccurate.

The product described in the MIGR you linked was released ~11 years ago and withdrawn ~5 years ago. Its up to you to apply commonsense in applying the information in any MIGR.

[rkawakami]

That may be true but the document was last updated/modified (12/2006) 8 months after the withdrawn date. From the OP's standpoint (and mine), that's an indication that it could have been corrected as the T4x systems were released by then. It's the same thing with some of the other MIGR documentation that states what the maximum memory sizes are for each system. When the documents were first written, none of the larger memory modules were available. I trust most of the IBM/Lenovo MIGR documents but with experience, I also know when some of them are wrong.

[Thinkpad Lover]

One question: Are we sure about putting let's say an UltraSlim T4x drive into an R51? I think I tried that once and it made a horrible whirring sound and wouldn't work. I could be mistaken. Is the R51 (and maybe also R50) not able to accept UltraBay Slim while the R52, R60 or R61 is?

Anyone: Is this a complete, simplified list of Ultrabay 2000 versus UltraBay Slim and UltraBay Enchanced?

UltraBay 2000: A Series (A20m/p, A21e/m/p, A22e/m/p, A30, A31) T Series (T20, T21, T22, T23, T24, T30) R Series (R30, R31, R32) or X Series (X20, X21, X22, X24, X30)
(And I guess also R40, x31, x32 ??)

UltraBay Slim: T40, T41, T42, T43, T60, T61, x40, x41, z60, z61

UltraBay Enchanced: R50, R51, R52, R60, R61

And then what would you call the G40, G41 optical drives? or the optical drives used in the 600 series, etc.? How similar/related are they to the 3 major categories above?

Edit: I just saw the link someone posted above: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/UltraBay
I guess that answers most of my questions but one: Are the Ultrabay 2000 and the Ultrabay Plus (as they call it) completely interchangeable? (For example, can you use an Ultrabay 2000 secondary battery or Ultrabay 2000 second Hard Drive adapter in Ultrabay Plus without any issues, loss of speed, etc?)

Daniel.

[ajkula66]

G40 and 41 have non-removable drives, which are essentially UltraBay Enhanced, but non-swappable.

Some of the Z series also used the Enhanced drives.

As for 600 series...I leave them to Ray, it's his forte...

[rkawakami]

As for 600 series...I leave them to Ray, it's his forte...

Ultrabslimbay in the 600 series. Not to be confused with Ultrabay Slim . Many (most?) Ultraslimbay drives can be used in Ultrabay 2000 slots (and vice versa) as long as all of the required plastic mounting pieces and connector (i.e., caddy) is transferred between drives. The face plate of Ultraslimbay drives need to be cut (notched) in order to fit in the Ultrabay 2000 slots.

[rkawakami]

I guess that answers most of my questions but one: Are the Ultrabay 2000 and the Ultrabay Plus (as they call it) completely interchangeable? (For example, can you use an Ultrabay 2000 secondary battery or Ultrabay 2000 second Hard Drive adapter in Ultrabay Plus without any issues, loss of speed, etc?)Daniel.

Uh, that's TWO questions . In the cases of optical drives and hard drive adapters, you can use any Ultrabay 2000 or Plus slots. The Ultrabay 2000 battery is somewhat different. You can put the battery into the left Ultrabay slot (the 2000) of an A31 but it won't work in the right (Plus) slot. Why? There's no power terminals for the battery in the Plus slot.

[bill bolton]

That may be true but the document was last updated/modified (12/2006) 8 months after the withdrawn date.

Almost all IBM products that are withdrawn have any associated MIGR updated when the withdrawn date is (eventualy) added to the MIGR, so that's why the MIGR date modified is showing 2006.... its not a sign of anything much beyond the product withdrawl date being added

Cheers,

Bill B.