Thinkpads Forum

Just kidding.. boy did I have problem.. I tried various ssd and non of them detected except for this Ocz vertex 2 60gb.. lol.. out of all the ssd, im gonna try the crucial m4 when i get it for the x220 and just see if it detects properly. This t61 was pretty old also, maybe the bios update will allow it to detect the ssd I have.

I tried the lenovo 128gb samsung 1.8 in 2.5 adapter, lg 256gb, 2 samsung 256gb, non were detected.

So I really wanted W7 factory by lenovo except they dont make it for the t61. I had tried w7 x201 restore cd on the x200 and it worked really well, had all the lenovo programs and drivers. I found in my collection of restore cd and found the T500 W7 ultimate, well, its been restoring and install all the factory software so far. Boots fine and so far all the drivers are being install..

T500 W7 restore cd part 71Y7108 on T61 6459-CTO

No BIOS update is required for T61 to recognize a SSD.

Poor physical fit of the drive/caddy in the HD bay comes to mind.

Also, if you're intent on running a SSD on T61, you should look into Middleton's modded BIOS to enable full SATA II (3.0) transfer speeds.

wasn't poor fit, i even tried with the 2nd hdd adapter, it just doesn't detect.. i even held it trying to make sure its all the way in.. just does not like it.. i know my hp does not like my lg but works with the samsung..

anyway it works with the ocz so at least i can load the w7 on it.. its just gonna be a dummy terminal so i dont necessary need larger ssd but would be nice to find a larger one in case i need it. Running system update now, its already on lastest bios, ill decide if i want to use that hack for sata2

I've ran Crucial, Intel and OCZ SSDs in T61 units of various flavours with no issues when it comes to detection...so I must admit that I find it hard to believe that an otherwise functional unit fails to recognize a drive...ThinkPads a lot older than T61 don't have that problem either...

unfortunately i no longer have any intel drives and never own crucail.. my choices were lg, samsung and ocz.

i know my samsung works because i pull it out of a x61 which is older than this guy and it works in the x61.. it could be just this t61, i have 7 others that i can try tomorrow

Let us know once you've tested it in other T61s. You got me curious with this story...

Fortunately it is just this particular t61, the other t61 are 14" models and it works with the LG ssd.

@ajkula66 - "Also, if you're intent on running a SSD on T61, you should look into Middleton's modded BIOS to enable full SATA II (3.0) transfer speeds."

Last year I used a link I found on the Forum to do a modded bios (I think it was called Zender) so my son's T60 could use an upgraded wireless card. Is the Bios Mod the same for SATA II speeds, or do I have to choose one (Zender/wireless) mod or the other (Middleton/ssd sata II)? Will the Middleton's Bios even work on my T60?

The T60 and T61 uses different BIOS images, so don't try flashing Zender's T60 BIOS on a T61.
Middleton's bios for the T61 generation incorporates both wireless card whitelist removal and SATA II hack, so there's no need to choose on this front. Just find the correct BIOS image according to your machine type. You do have one choice to make: whether to swap Fn and left Ctrl or not.