Thinkpads Forum

Hi All,
Has anyone used a non-lenovo drive in these adapters ?
I tried googling about it, but couldn't hit upon anything useful.
If we can use non-lenovo's, can someone direct me to some site ?

Would be interesting to know, how many people actually use it, and for what.
I bought it, 'coz I think I might use it for quick backups, and booting from it once in a while when connected to an unsecure wireless network.

I've use one with a Hitachi HTS541616J9SA00 disk drive, I've had no problems with it.

Any sata 2.5" 9.5mm drive should work.

It's kind of loose without the hard drive caddy. How do you solve this problem? Can we buy the caddy from Lenovo?

As far as I can remember, a HD caddy is only like 10-15 bucks from the parts replacement site.

EDIT: Was this just without the rubber rails?

Can you give me a link to the parts replacement site? I bought one from eBay and it didn't fit very well.

extrain wrote:It's kind of loose without the hard drive caddy. How do you solve this problem? Can we buy the caddy from Lenovo?

It doesn't use the hard drive caddy, the instruction that come with it explicitly show removing the rubber rails.

The harddrive caddy I'm talking about looks like this:http://cgi.ebay.com/IBM-Thinkpad-570-60 ... dZViewItem
It's not the rubber rail.

Non-Lenovo harddrive doesn't come with the caddy.

OK So the link you've provided is to a T42 PATA drive caddy. It will work in a 570, 600, T20, T21, T23, T30, T40, T41, T42. It's got nothing to do with a T60 SATA device bay adapter.

My SATA device bay adapter takes a 2.5" Sata hard drive directly.

DAH wrote:OK So the link you've provided is to a T42 PATA drive caddy. It will work in a 570, 600, T20, T21, T23, T30, T40, T41, T42. It's got nothing to do with a T60 SATA device bay adapter.

My SATA device bay adapter takes a 2.5" Sata hard drive directly.

DAH, I have both the pata & sata trays and I never liked the loose way harddrives fit. When I flip down the locking bar on the back of the tray all it does is prevent the drive from sliding backward, it does not actually secure the drive in the tray. When I don't have the drive & tray in the ultrabay I secure the drive in the tray with a rubber band in case the tray gets flipped upside down in my carrying case. I wish there was a better way. Maybe the internal harddrive caddy without the rubber bumpers is the way. What do you think??

I also have the SATA hard drive adapter for T60. I made a caddy from hard paper and it fits snugly. I did a search and found this website:http://newmode.us/caddies/IBM.htm. The price is a bit high though and I don't know how it compares to the Lenovo caddy.

I used the caddy without the rubber side pieces and it fits snug.

extrain wrote:I also have the SATA hard drive adapter for T60. I made a caddy from hard paper and it fits snugly. I did a search and found this website:http://newmode.us/caddies/IBM.htm. The price is a bit high though and I don't know how it compares to the Lenovo caddy.

Yeah, I found that site also. But for 1/2 ounce of perforated aluminum foil I'll be [censored] if I'm gonna pay $29 dollars. I'll stick to rubber bands from Staples in that case.

steveg47 - True.

However, why do you need the caddy ? I thought, you'd put the CD/DVD bay back when you are done with the HDD adapter..
Or am I on a complete tangent

gettingDeep wrote:steveg47 - True.

However, why do you need the caddy ?

Try to put the harddrive in the HD adapter with and without caddy and you will see the difference.

Just when I think that the thinkpad is perfect..
Does it wobble a lot, making it a hassle, or is it just plain unusable without a caddy ?

steveg47 wrote:

DAH wrote:OK So the link you've provided is to a T42 PATA drive caddy. It will work in a 570, 600, T20, T21, T23, T30, T40, T41, T42. It's got nothing to do with a T60 SATA device bay adapter.

My SATA device bay adapter takes a 2.5" Sata hard drive directly.

DAH, I have both the pata & sata trays and I never liked the loose way harddrives fit. When I flip down the locking bar on the back of the tray all it does is prevent the drive from sliding backward, it does not actually secure the drive in the tray. When I don't have the drive & tray in the ultrabay I secure the drive in the tray with a rubber band in case the tray gets flipped upside down in my carrying case. I wish there was a better way. Maybe the internal harddrive caddy without the rubber bumpers is the way. What do you think??

I guess the best way is just tape the end of the HD to the plastic lock.

I don't have the manual for the hd adapter but I don't recall the caddy is required according to the manual.

I guess it assumes that you are using a Lenovo harddrive which comes with a caddy. If you buy the harddrive from somewhere else, no caddy is included.

Check out my home made caddy.

http://blueturtle.zoto.com/img/original ... f5fb8-.jpg

http://blueturtle.zoto.com/img/original ... 436b1-.jpg

http://blueturtle.zoto.com/img/original ... bf312-.jpg

Note: Please link to pictures over 50KB in size.

Very nice, but I'm not into Oragami

extrain

Thats Cool !

I guess I should clarify my comments a bit. The ultrabay drive tray design is generally acceptible. The side to side and front to back clearance with the locking bar down(no caddy) is so minimal that it's fine. My only complaint is that when the tray with the drive in it is inverted (flipped upsidedown) the drive literally hangs from the connector with no other support. This is not an issue when it is in the ultrabay; but can become a problem when the drive and tray are jostling around in my carrying case. To avoid damage when not in the ultrabay I put a rubber band around the whole unit to prevent the drive from moving. I also keep the drive and tray in a small nylon case to further protect it.
Constantly removing the drive from the tray is not recommended as the pata and sata connectors are not designed for that kind of use and will wear out.
As for paper caddys, I would feel uneasy about putting a flammable material so close to components that can get very hot.

steveg47 wrote: As for paper caddys, I would feel uneasy about putting a flammable material so close to components that can get very hot.

Well, the working temperature of harddrive is about 100F-140F and the kindling point of paper is around 450F. I wouldn't worry about the that.

extrain wrote:

steveg47 wrote: As for paper caddys, I would feel uneasy about putting a flammable material so close to components that can get very hot.

Well, the working temperature of harddrive is about 100F-140F and the kindling point of paper is around 450F. I wouldn't worry about the that.

That's the general temp output and does not consider localized hotspots. IMO the only place paper belongs in or near a circuit is wrapped in a capacitor. Then again I tend to be overly cautious with items I've paid lots of $$$ for.
And no, I was not trying to put down your idea. Actually I thought it was quite clever.
And yes I have read Ray Bradbury's book