Optical drive caddy won't quite close

[Muse]

I bought an optical drive HD caddy for T60/T61 off ebay some time ago, got around to trying it out a week or two ago, worked OK. At first I couldn't figure out how it worked but 1-2 weeks ago I had a need for it and it became apparant how it works. The main HD (Seagate Momentus 250GB 5400) in one of my T60's stopped working a couple of weeks ago and in a different thread here a guy suggested that I try putting it in the freezer and see if it will then work long enough for me to retrieve important data. I put the HD in the optical drive caddy and put the caddy in a plastic bag with a twist tie and into my freezer for over 24 hours. I removed from freezer but found the caddy wouldn't insert completely in the slot. It wouldn't go the last 1/8 inch. I removed the HD and replaced it with a different (unfrozen) 2.5" HD and it still wouldn't insert. The DVD/RW drive inserted fine. After things thawed out pretty entirely I finally got the caddy to go in all the way with the HD that hadn't been frozen but then it wouldn't go in with either HD inside. I can't imagine why this would be happening. Now it won't go in with either HD inside. The caddy itself with no HD inside goes in every time. This is nutty. Anybody got an idea? I get the same behavior with a different Thinkpad. Yesterday I ordered an external USB 2.5" HD case off Amazon, $5 I figure I'd better spend.

[91011]

Just to be clear, I didn't suggest putting the Ultrabay adapter in the freezer, only the hard drive. That was your decision and apparently a bad one.

Put the drive in your freezer for 3-4 hours. When you take it out, immediately put it in the T61 Ultrabay and see what happens.

[RealBlackStuff]

When you put a HD in the adapter, you need to remove the caddy first, that's why it won't fit.
Re-freeze the HD, then try again (or wait till you get your USB case).

[Muse]

When you put a HD in the adapter, you need to remove the caddy first, that's why it won't fit.
Re-freeze the HD, then try again (or wait till you get your USB case).

I don't understand this. By adapter you mean what? The caddy? AFAIK, the caddy has no adapter as such, the HD just slips into it. I put the bare HD in the optical drive caddy, push it onto the plugs, push down the retainer on the other end and slide into the drawer. It used to fit (and was recognized), now it doesn't slide all the way into the drawer and of course, the HD isn't seen. I suppose freezing the optical drive caddy messed it up although it's impossible for me to see where it could be messing up. Without a HD in it it slips into the drawer fine. It's to me a mystery.

Edit: I suppose you thought I had the HD caddy attached to the HD when I attempted to put the HD in the optical drive caddy. I didn't do that. The HDs appear to fit fine in the optical drive caddy and the caddy looks in every way to me from the outsides to be undeformed or changed. Therefore I can't imagine why it won't fit all the way in the slot when HD is inserted.

[RealBlackStuff]

To get things clear: the caddy is the metal frame around the HD that is put on using 4 screws.
This is only required for putting it in the HD drive bay.
Caddy picture: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$%28KGrHqJ,!hYE ... ~~0_12.JPG
Putting it in the 2nd HD adapter, you have to take that caddy/frame off.

[Muse]

To get things clear: the caddy is the metal frame around the HD that is put on using 4 screws.
This is only required for putting it in the HD drive bay.
Caddy picture: http://i.ebayimg.com/00/$%28KGrHqJ,!hYE ... ~~0_12.JPG
Putting it in the 2nd HD adapter, you have to take that caddy/frame off.

Yes, thank you, that is off and set aside. I don't believe there'd be any way to get the HD in the optical drive caddy otherwise. One thing that did puzzle me, though... I believe the optical drive caddy (shipped from Hong Kong, IIRC) was supplied with 4 tiny screws. I couldn't figure out why. As I believe I said, at first I couldn't figure out how to use the caddy but when I finally did need it a couple weeks ago I determined ( ? ) that you just slide the HD into the caddy and push down on the retaining gizmo and slide the entire caddy into the slot. However, as I've said, it no longer goes the last 1/8 inch when a HD is inside. To me it's mysterious. I suppose it was a mistake to freeze the caddy along with the HD. I did this to speed the process of trying to use the frozen HD. I didn't imagine the caddy would be damaged. It's not terribly expensive, but I wish it still worked. Don't know what could be wrong.

[Muse]

I think the optical drive (Ultrabay) caddy is a bit off. There's a pivoting gate at the end that's there to assure that the HD is inserted all the way in. Without the HD in there it just lies flat. With the drive inserted it doesn't quite go all the way down unless you force it all the way down. When forced all the way down the back end of the HD pops up (it's not supposed to, obviously). So, I didn't shove the pivoting gate all the way down and as a result the top of the gate was just exposed enough to prevent the caddy from inserting that last 1/8th inch. I guess the remedy is to shave a very bitty bit of plastic from two protrusions, which should allow the gate to go down far enough. I believe it's a defect in the caddy. Why didn't it happen before I popped the thing in the freezer? I suppose the dimensions changed ever so slightly, not enough to really notice looking at it but functionally it changed enough to make it unusable... until I take a little file to those plastic nubs.

[91011]

I have had that happen in a caddy. You should see two bumps on the top edge of the black piece of plastic. Take a nail file and file each one down just a little bit at a time until the piece will lock in without popping the drive up.

Also, if you look at left & right sides of interior of the caddy, you'll see four bumps on the plastic. If you use the four screws that were supplied, the bumps are designed to catch the screws and lock the drive into the caddy. Not totally necessary but I usually use two on the back end to keep the drive from hanging out if it's upside down.

[Muse]

I have had that happen in a caddy. You should see two bumps on the top edge of the black piece of plastic. Take a nail file and file each one down just a little bit at a time until the piece will lock in without popping the drive up.

Also, if you look at left & right sides of interior of the caddy, you'll see four bumps on the plastic. If you use the four screws that were supplied, the bumps are designed to catch the screws and lock the drive into the caddy. Not totally necessary but I usually use two on the back end to keep the drive from hanging out if it's upside down.

Ah.

I had tried a nail file but wasn't getting far (too worn down, I guess) and went to a very fine toothed metal file, carefully filing down the nubs just a bit (around 1/64th inch). The gate secured the drive perfectly then and the drive didn't pop up and things are sweet now, evidently. Seems funny I'd need to do that, but fixing it was easy enough once I realized what was going on. I had not much choice: either file down those nubs and hope it worked or toss the caddy! Thanks for the explanations.