Thinkpads Forum

dus ultrabay slim support sata? or is that hdd module using the ide bus (adapting the sata hdd)?

anyone know?

Thanks!

You can with an adapter

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-46455

That's not the correct part. That's for T4x and earlier. The part for T6x is:

HDD Adapter Part # 40Y8725

I'm not sure what the answer to your question is. The HDD module uses SATA drives. And the standard HD in the T60 is SATA. Is there an EIDE bus at all in the T60? Why would there be?

[Update: Okay, the specifications for the T60 in the tabook show that the 945PM chipset has both a SATA and a EIDE interface. So I suppose it's possible that the UltraBay module is adapting SATA into the EIDE. But why would they do that if there's a SATA interface avaiable?]

donking! wrote:But why would they do that if there's a SATA interface avaiable?

That's a good question. I'm know the optical drives use an IDE connector in the Ultrabay (slim). I'll be surprised if they also engineered a sata connector into every bay just for a 2nd hdd option. Also I think the term "adapter" used for the 2nd hdd module pretty much is them admitting "we didn't put a sata conn. in the ultrabay". I mean it's the same bay as the T43, right? And it doesn't have sata at all...

Ultimately I was hoping for dual sata and sw raid 0...perhaps I was hoping too much!

Good point about the "adapter" status of the module. I assumed adapter meant it "adapts" the UltraBay for a hard drive. But the way you read it might just as well be true. And I take your point about the DVD module already using the EIDE interface.

Here's another thread where this question is discussed a little. But your question isn't answered.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=20324

In the T42/43, the connector in the bay is EIDE and this is used for both the CD-ROM and hard drive. I don't think laptop optical drives (or desktop for that matter) support the SATA interface yet so I'm confident that the T60's drive is EIDE as well.

I recently saw a picture of the connectors inside the bay and, while a third connector has been added in between the EIDE and power connectors found on the T-4x, it matches the connector on the native parallel/serial adapter, so I expect that it is only meant to support that.

Of course, Lenovo might have squeezed SATA wires on there as well. Does anyone have a photo of the new 2nd HDD UltraBay Slim adapter? If the conenctor is in the middle then it is interfacing to the new connector and is very likely SATA. If it's offset then it's using the same connector as the optical drive -- almost certainly EIDE.

-darren

I emailed the Lenovo rep I made my T60 order with and he said "I was told" it uses the EIDE bus.

donking! wrote:I emailed the Lenovo rep I made my T60 order with and he said "I was told" it uses the EIDE bus.

That's what I was aftraid of...thanks for checking.

Well, that will save me some $$$!

If the SATA HD adapter converts to EIDE connection does that mean the SATA 2nd HD adapter will allow us to put a SATA drive into the ultrabay of a T4x series?

darrenf wrote:In the T42/43, the connector in the bay is EIDE and this is used for both the CD-ROM and hard drive. I don't think laptop optical drives (or desktop for that matter) support the SATA interface yet so I'm confident that the T60's drive is EIDE as well.

I recently saw a picture of the connectors inside the bay and, while a third connector has been added in between the EIDE and power connectors found on the T-4x, it matches the connector on the native parallel/serial adapter, so I expect that it is only meant to support that.

Of course, Lenovo might have squeezed SATA wires on there as well. Does anyone have a photo of the new 2nd HDD UltraBay Slim adapter? If the conenctor is in the middle then it is interfacing to the new connector and is very likely SATA. If it's offset then it's using the same connector as the optical drive -- almost certainly EIDE.

-darren

The T60 uses a SATA drive for the Primary HDD; the Ultrabay should be using the PATA/EIDE interface.

Just a quick note - I think they are SATA only. I don't think they are compatible with earlier generations of the T-series or the Ultra-bay slim adapter. They seem compatible with the new z-series since that model also uses a SATA drive chain.

The T60 and Z60 series seem all SATA - which inferes no EIDE/ATA drives compatibility.

I've used a USB 2.0 2.5 inch ATA external enclosure to hook up ATA-6 drives to the T60.

I had the same question - yet with a slightly different idea in mind. I got a bunch of IDE notebook hard drives flying around here and was wondering whether I could connect them with the T60, using the T4x second HDD adapter. Although I haven't tried yet, a quick look at the T60 manual revealed, that the T4x ultraslim adapter (as all other T4x ultraslim adapters - with the exception of the battery) are said to work. Therefore I would guess that the ultrabay ultimately uses the PATA interface.

2nd HDD Adapter for Ultrabay Slim (T4x) can be used in T60, actually there's one pluged in my T60 right now and it works w/o any problem.

Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter (T60, Z series) can not be used in T4x even the outside connector is as same as "2nd HDD Adapter for Ultrabay Slim" but there's additional plastic part near the outside connector therefore you can not plug it into T4x.

Since 2nd HDD Adapter for Ultrabay Slim and Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter are all P-ATA interface therefore I will suggest to buy 2nd HDD Adapter for Ultrabay Slim instead of the SATA one. Why? The P-ATA HDD will cheaper then SATA and you got same performance.

Only if you plan to replace your internal SATA HDD and place it on 2nd HDD Adapter. In this situation, Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter will be your only choice.

Well this is interesting - I'll have to try an ultrabay slim pata adapter.