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third-party ultrabay hdd adapters
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:50 am
by printf
my father ordered 2 ultrabay adapters (one for my t60p and one for his t61) and when they arrived we realized that they are third-party products.
i think it does not really have a performance impact (apart from they ultrabay itself) but i just wanted to ask to be sure.
so... does it have any impact on the performance?
it will be used as a data drive because i will use an ssd as internal drive (optical goes into the advanced dock)
Re: third-party ultrabay hdd adapters
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 9:12 am
by Raceboy
I have used 3rd party Ultrabay adapter and I haven't noticed any difference. IIRC CrystalDiskMark results were exactly the same compared to original SATA adater and PATA adapter also (since the interface itself is native PATA in the Thinkpad).
Re: third-party ultrabay hdd adapters
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:41 am
by robert213
Would someone comment on the following...?
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Ultrabay_ ... DD_Adapter
Kernel Issues with 3rd-party adapters Many (most?) of the SATA adapters listed on eBay are 3rd-party clones, and the kernel will often limit them to UDMA/33 speeds, with a maximum of 33.3 MB/s. They are thereby rendered slower than the common IDE adapters.
A kernel log showing such an adapter being limited to UDMA/33:
[ 55.610787] ata2.00: ATA-7: FUJITSU MHV2020BH, 0093002C, max UDMA/100
[ 55.610793] ata2.00: 39070080 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)
[ 55.610801] ata2.00: limited to UDMA/33 due to 40-wire cable
[ 55.650666] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/33
[ 55.650676] ata2: EH complete
However, this problem can possibly be overcome by adding the boot parameter libata.force=X:80c (where X is the IDE line which is being affected by this UDMA problem).
A kernel log after using the libata.force=X:80c bootparm:
[ 1863.865187] ata2: ACPI event
[ 1865.191117] ata2: soft resetting link
[ 1865.345444] ata2: FORCE: cable set to 80c
[ 1865.345729] ata2.00: ATA-7: TOSHIBA MK6034GSX, AH101A, max UDMA/100
[ 1865.345741] ata2.00: 117210240 sectors, multi 16: LBA48 NCQ (depth 0/32)
[ 1865.349602] ata2.00: configured for UDMA/100
[ 1865.349629] ata2: EH complete
NOTE: Using libata.force=X:80c is oft referred to as a "work-around"--the better solution would be to patch the kernel,
Re: third-party ultrabay hdd adapters
Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:52 am
by ThinkRob
That only applies to SATA adapters for ThinkPads with PATA bays (i.e. the T40 through T61.) Later generations have SATA bays, and adapters are passive: they perform no conversion but just physically adapt the plugs on the drive to the one in the bay.
Re: third-party ultrabay hdd adapters
Posted: Thu Mar 22, 2012 7:05 am
by TuuS
I've used the generics without any issue, as the originals are difficult to find. They are very inexpensive and seem to work well, but not all are created equal.
However, I just posted some original genuine lenovo units in the marketplace if anyone is interested. I'm not sure what the demand is for these, but I've heard they have been selling over $100 in some cases, so these might sell fast @ $40. I guess we'll see.
Re: third-party ultrabay hdd adapters
Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 1:53 pm
by Tasurinchi
TuuS wrote:I've used the generics without any issue,
Same here, using them in my T60 & T61 14"w
Re: third-party ultrabay hdd adapters
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 8:56 am
by TuuS
I recently shipped a generic to a member in europe, he was very happy with it, but it's also worthy to note that it looked identical to one he bought from ebay that didn't work. I guess he just got a dud... hard to say without stripping it apart, but the problem with buying them from china is it cost more to return it then the entire purchase price including shipping. I usually get them by the case. Never had a bad one, but all generics aren't created equal.
My advice is get genuine if you can, but I can't complain about the generics I've used.
Re: third-party ultrabay hdd adapters
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:04 pm
by Radioguy
I feel it important to note that there have been generics that
look like an authentic IBM or Lenovo part right down to the logo. Most generics don't go that far, but there have been some that are difficult to differentiate from the real thing when photographed from certain angles.
As for generics not all being the same, it should go without saying. I previously gave some advice on finding a good one here:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 27#p663327
Re: third-party ultrabay hdd adapters
Posted: Sat Mar 24, 2012 6:38 pm
by wolfman
I bought the 12.7mm one from newmodeus - they advertise at the top of the page. I wasn't pleased with the 9.5mm adapter (original Lenovo part) from my T410 in my T420, so I just bought the replacement... Although, frankly, they are both overpriced. That aside, the newmodeus part works very well. Fit and finish is indistinguishable from the machine and I like that the drive screws in.