Has anyone tried an SSD in the X41? *PICS*

Message

junglefruits · #721 Post by **junglefruits** » Tue May 19, 2009 4:23 pm

janko_wodnik,

root@slax:~# hdparm -i /dev/hda

/dev/hda:

Model=SanDisk SDCFX3-008G, FwRev=HDX 4.32, SerialNo=012103J2708R4815
Config={ HardSect NotMFM Fixed DTR>10Mbs }
RawCHS=15880/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=576, ECCbytes=4
BuffType=DualPort, BuffSize=1kB, MaxMultSect=4, MultSect=off
CurCHS=15880/16/63, CurSects=16007040, LBA=yes, LBAsects=16007040
IORDY=no, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 *udma2 udma3 udma4
AdvancedPM=no WriteCache=disabled
Drive conforms to: Unspecified: ATA/ATAPI-4

* signifies the current active mode

anything significant?

junglefruits · #722 Post by **junglefruits** » Tue May 19, 2009 8:32 pm

this is from my 4gb lexar 300x professional cf card,

root@slax:~# hdparm -i /dev/hda

/dev/hda:

Model=LEXAR ATA FLASH CARD, FwRev=20071016, SerialNo=41403828600000400999
Config={ HardSect NotMFM Removeable DTR>10Mbs nonMagnetic }
RawCHS=7769/16/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=576, ECCbytes=4
BuffType=DualPort, BuffSize=1kB, MaxMultSect=1, MultSect=off
CurCHS=7769/16/63, CurSects=7831152, LBA=yes, LBAsects=7831152
IORDY=no, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5
AdvancedPM=yes: disabled (255)
Drive conforms to: Unspecified: ATA/ATAPI-4,5,6

* signifies the current active mode

root@slax:~#

janko_wodnik · #723 Post by **janko_wodnik** » Thu May 21, 2009 3:41 am

Your CF adapter is UDMA capable - UDMA2 for SanDisk Ex III and UDMA5 for Lexar 300x UDMA.
And your SanDisk CF card is now for sure fixed drive:

Code: Select all

Config={ HardSect NotMFM Fixed DTR>10Mbs }

Try again Windows XP installation with removing all partitions form CF - use option to delete all partitions from CF and set new ones, don't convert file systems - do not use any other software, only Windows XP installer.
JW

junglefruits · #724 Post by **junglefruits** » Tue May 26, 2009 6:46 am

using winxp cd installer works fine now with the syba adapter on the desktop computer.

i have ordered another cf to ide adapter for my laptop bc i still cannot boot the cf card on the laptop.

is there a way i can make the 4gb lexar 300x cf card from removable to fix drive?

walkeer · #725 Post by **walkeer** » Sun May 31, 2009 10:34 am

Hello everybody, I have just finisher reading this wonderful thread. Thak you for very useful informations.
I have ordered X41 from ebay as well as very cheap (1.8Euro) CF-to-IDE adapter from hong-kong, which many of you said is useless. I found out that when you cut off metal pins from the other side of adapter, it fits just well to the X41 HDD bay with PCB up (so the CF is under PCB), which I assume is the correct position (please let me know if is not). I am still waiting for AC power source so I couldnt try it yet. I plan to use Pretec x266 cheetah 8GB and 32GB for another X41 (for my girlfriend). Crystal benchmark of theese cards looks the same:

--------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 2.2 (C) 2007-2008 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
--------------------------------------------------

Sequential Read : 44.703 MB/s
Sequential Write : 16.033 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 44.715 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 3.266 MB/s
Random Read 4KB : 14.825 MB/s
Random Write 4KB : 0.034 MB/s

Test Size : 50 MB
Date : 2009/05/30 20:35:16

Theese card are very cheap, as much as $30 for 8GB and around $100 for 32GB version.

H2benchw looks this way:
Read-only test:

Disk: CF
Capacity: CHS=(3899/255/63), 62637435 sectors = 30585 MByte

Random access read: average 0.29, min 0.15, max 0.67 [ms]
Random access read (<504 MByte): average 0.16, min 0.14, max 0.23 [ms]

Application profile `swapping': 27138.6 KByte/s
Application profile `installing': 58139.0 KByte/s
Application profile `Word': 42362.9 KByte/s
Application profile `Photoshop': 40566.6 KByte/s
Application profile `copying': 55388.6 KByte/s
Application profile `F-Prot': 31728.4 KByte/s
Result: application index = 40.1
!!! WARNING: application profiles inaccurate since measured read-only
!!! WARNING: application profiles inaccurate due to small total capacity
ATA disk: CF
Serial #: PRETEC 01237F3B
Firmware: 20080805
Version of specification: ATA-ATAPI-4
Buffer size: 1 KByte
Supported UDMA modes: 0 1 2 3 4
UDMA mode 4 active.
capacity (28-bit addressing): 62652416 sectors (30592.0 MByte)
48-bit addressing not supported.
acoustic management not supported.

Read-write test:
Random access read: average 0.28, min 0.16, max 0.66 [ms]
Random access write: average 117.81, min 1.73, max 259.21 [ms]
Random access read (<504 MByte): average 0.17, min 0.14, max 0.47 [ms]
Random access write (<504 MByte): average 128.08, min 1.83, max 329.98 [ms]

Application profile `swapping': 7973.3 KByte/s
Application profile `installing': 3293.5 KByte/s
Application profile `Word': 5755.7 KByte/s
Application profile `Photoshop': 6050.4 KByte/s
Application profile `copying': 14624.0 KByte/s
Application profile `F-Prot': 5344.0 KByte/s
Result: application index = 6.3

Testing was done on C2D 2.7GHz, intel P41 mobo, windows XP 64-bit.

I plan to use latest stable ubuntu 9.04 x86 on cluster alligned partition, with ext4 without journal, noop disk scheduler, notime option and tmpfs for all unimportant directories (var/log etc.). Do you know of some other relevant tuning? I would like to do something like FlashPoint does, but it looks the only way in linux is to mess with pdflush through /proc/sys settings. thaks for any info.

madera · #726 Post by **madera** » Mon Jun 01, 2009 5:30 am

Hi Guys,

I've found KingSpec 64GB str8 form UK's ebay for 149£, it should turn up tomorrow. Nice, no need to wait week or two like form china and its cheaper. Once I've got it I'll post my benchmark results. I'm not sure if I can paste any links here. If not please remove it and I'm sorry in advance. Just want to help the others looking for a similar drive in UK.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KingSpec-64GB-SS ... |294%3A50

Madera

janko_wodnik · #727 Post by **janko_wodnik** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 1:58 pm

Hi walkeer,

Could you post some photos of your modified adapter?

My badly designed adapter is showed below:

The real problem was, that second slot outfits 1,8” HDD case (2,5" HDD case too). It may be repaired by adding real short 44-line IDE tape between laptop IDE connector and adapter, but this solution is useless for X40. So I found working solution myself.

After applying some mechanical tweaks it now looks as below:

And works fine.

So if someone is interested in more details about how-to "convert" this crappy adapter to be usable, I can post it.
JW

ygrig · #728 Post by **ygrig** » Thu Jun 04, 2009 10:37 am

Today I saw a CF-IDE adapter which is said to be specifically for X40/X41. And it costs just $4.12. Here it is: CF to 44 Pin 1.8" IDE IBM X40 X41 SSD Adapter (Green).

janko_wodnik · #729 Post by **janko_wodnik** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:24 am

Is jumper 2 for adjusting voltage? Is 2,5" for 5V -> 3,3V and 1,8" for no change?

walkeer · #730 Post by **walkeer** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 12:26 pm

janko_wodnik wrote:Hi walkeer,
Could you post some photos of your modified adapter?
JW

I dont want to pull out my adapter, because installation is not easy, but I just took off the protruding pins on the side where they are soldered. It is the other side than where the CF holder is. 1mm was enough, then I isolated it with tape, because inside of HD bay is some metal on the top side and that is where these cut-off pins are located...

you sould cut off pins from the OTHER side than which is on this image:

CKae · #731 Post by **CKae** » Tue Jun 23, 2009 11:44 pm

I've been using this dual-CF adapter on my X40. It has a similar design to the Addonics one. It's
specifically for X40 (it's written on the adapter), but it works fine in the ultrabay slim hdd adapter
also (so I assume it will work in other laptops using 2.5" hdd). Both CFs can be detected.

Details here.

xtravaganza · #732 Post by **xtravaganza** » Thu Jul 02, 2009 4:53 am

hi anyone knows either this KingFast ssd is compatible with IBM x40/41 series laptop or not. Because i found this model quite cheap compared to other model. Can someone proof either the transfer speed of the ssd is as stated which is read: 300mb/s and write: 200mb/s. If it's true the speed is really amazing. Here's the link KingFast Ssd

CKae · #733 Post by **CKae** » Sat Jul 04, 2009 6:32 am

xtravaganza wrote:hi anyone knows either this KingFast ssd is compatible with IBM x40/41 series laptop or not. Because i found this model quite cheap compared to other model. Can someone proof either the transfer speed of the ssd is as stated which is read: 300mb/s and write: 200mb/s. If it's true the speed is really amazing. Here's the link KingFast Ssd

Never heard of this brand, infos are rare on the net about this company and their products (I can't its own website). However, I managed to find the spec for this drive:

Read: 70MB/s
Write: 60MB/s
Power: 5VCC±5%

So the info on the ebay page are incorrect I think. (Copy and paste from other page I guess.)

As X40 (and X41 I assumed) only provide 3.3V to the hard drive, so this ssd may not be compatible. But you can always ask the seller for more info.

ttan98 · #734 Post by **ttan98** » Sun Jul 12, 2009 6:36 pm

Hello,

Recently I purchased a CF and IDE adapter for X40, and a Kingston 133X, 16 G CF and both are on the way to me.

I read a few posts(not all) that FlashPoint SSD Acc. with XP Pro will improve the write speed. A few here have tried it and is it still worthwhile installing it. I suspect there are a few problems working with XP. Any suggestions and can any here tell me where I can download a latest copy, I could not find it on the net.

Cheers.

loyukfai · #735 Post by **loyukfai** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 9:40 am

You can download B6 here:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum ... 67&page=15

The author has stopped distributing the program because of a trademark issue, according to this post:

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/flas ... message/46

OTOH, some people are speculating that the program has gone commercial.

Cheers.

sjthinkpader · #736 Post by **sjthinkpader** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 11:35 am

ttan98 wrote:Hello,

Recently I purchased a CF and IDE adapter for X40, and a Kingston 133X, 16 G CF and both are on the way to me.
...

I tried a Kingston 133x 8GB and this card is too slow. I am using RiDATA 233x 8GB and 32GB card now.

admlam · #737 Post by **admlam** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 4:42 pm

I am looking into buying a Kingston elite pro 133x 32GB CF card along with one of those CF-IDE adapters to use as a poor mans SSD. I'd really appreciate it if you could provide any insight on how you feel the card runs after spending a few months with it. Is it faster than the 1.8" hard drive? How are Windows boot times and hibernate times? Did you change it to fixed mode or is it still running in removable mode? And if you changed it to fixed mode, what application did you use for that?

There's a noticeable increase in performance with the 133x 32gb Kingston CF card as opposed to the standard 1.8" 4,200 RPM HD. Boot ups take about 40 seconds, including the time for the unrecognized HD system message to go away (not pressing ESC earlier). Shut down is also quick, in the order of 20 seconds and sleep is nearly instantaneous.

Other benefits include a decrease in noise, heat, and power usage.

The Kingston CF card automatically comes in fixed mode. For the record, I use NTFS and have no issues with fixed or removable disk modes.

However, without FlashPoint, as described in this post, this thing is nearly unusable due to poor random read/write performance, which manifests itself as "stuttering." With FlashPoint, the system does achieve a level of usability, though stuttering does happens occasionally.

ttan98 · #738 Post by **ttan98** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 5:30 pm

sjthinkpader,

I read your comments on your earlier posts about the speed of the Kingston 133X CF with your CF adapter, ie slow. I refer this to my supplier he told me his CF adapter is able to achieve better performance than you suggested. I will confirm it. Appparently he does not recommend Ridata with his adapter owing to compatibility problems/issues.

admlam,

Thanks for giving a summary of your experience, BTW what version of Flashpoint do you use, I think Zflashpoint has withdrawn Flashpoint from circulation, I manage to download versions 5 and 6 and v6 does not support Hibernation on XP.

admlam · #739 Post by **admlam** » Mon Jul 13, 2009 8:54 pm

ttan98 wrote: Thanks for giving a summary of your experience, BTW what version of Flashpoint do you use, I think Zflashpoint has withdrawn Flashpoint from circulation, I manage to download versions 5 and 6 and v6 does not support Hibernation on XP.

I believe it's version 3.

deezhead · #740 Post by **deezhead** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:44 pm

Long time Lurker- I updated my x41 with the Mtron Mobi 3000 SLC drive and got significant improvement.

crystaldiskmark results:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2585/376 ... b716_m.jpg

Seq reads and writes around 80MB/s, 512K reads at 80MB/s and writes at 30MB/s

My x41 has truly garnered new life, but the timing was terrible-
Now, my work is giving me an x60, so I am returning the X41. Is anyone interested in acquiring my adapter and MOBI SSD? PM me - I have more pics too.

lophiomys · #741 Post by **lophiomys** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:51 pm

deezhead,
what's the storage capacity of your Mtron Mobi 3000?

deezhead · #742 Post by **deezhead** » Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:59 pm

lophiomys wrote:deezhead,
what's the storage capacity of your Mtron Mobi 3000?

32GB

phr · #743 Post by **phr** » Sat Aug 01, 2009 8:39 pm

There is a new 600x cf card from Transcend, supposedly 4-channel MLC, supports UDMA 6. Available in 8gb and 16gb from mydigitaldiscount.com but quite expensive, even more than their older 300x SLC card. Anyone want to try it?

Saysana13B · #744 Post by **Saysana13B** » Sat Aug 08, 2009 11:24 pm

I'm highly interested in this, but is there a website or something that has all of this information laid out? Instead of a huge thread.

Rioflyer · #745 Post by **Rioflyer** » Mon Aug 17, 2009 12:38 pm

I have been lurking for a couple of weeks trying to solve a problem. I have an X41 (not the tablet) and bought the Kingspec 64 GB SSD. I have followed the directions from the forum and used Ghost to clone from the old hard drive with the SSD in the computer and the old drive in a USB enclosure. I have also tried to clone from an image. Finally, I have used the Thinkpad restore utility to put make the SSD a bootable drive.

When I try to boot with the SSD in the computer, I get the 2010 error. When I press ESC I get a blank screen with a cursor in the upper left hand. This happens regardless of how I clone the SSD. Oddly, the SSD will boot if it is in the external USB enclosure. I have also tried different jumper settings on the SSD. The BIOS is the newest version and it does recognize the SSD when it is in the computer or in the USB enclosure.

I would appreciate any guidance that anyone may have. I have not taken the next step of downgrading the BIOS to an earlier version for fear of turning a perfectly good laptop into a brick. Thanks

netcomrade · #746 Post by **netcomrade** » Wed Sep 09, 2009 4:17 pm

Just wanted to share with folks that I have successfully used a focalprice.com adapter for the CF card and have used riidate CF card from newegg (16G), and for $50 overall was able to replace my busted hard drive.
I have installed Linux Xubuntu 9.04 from a USB stick.
Everything worked out of the box, I didn't have to tweak anything to get the CF to work.
Boot time is about 40secs
Write speed is about 10megs per second (sustained, sequential, using dd command)
Read speed is about 46megs per second (sustained, sequential, using dd command)

The only complaint is that the CF card is not really as well secured in the drive bay, as the hard drive was.

hdparm -i /dev/sda:

/dev/sda:

Model=Ridata CF , FwRev=20080820, SerialNo=20090413 01235CDB
Config={ HardSect NotMFM Fixed DTR>10Mbs }
RawCHS=16383/15/63, TrkSize=0, SectSize=576, ECCbytes=4
BuffType=DualPort, BuffSize=1kB, MaxMultSect=1, MultSect=?0?
CurCHS=16383/15/63, CurSects=15481935, LBA=yes, LBAsects=31326208
IORDY=no, tPIO={min:120,w/IORDY:120}, tDMA={min:120,rec:120}
PIO modes: pio0 pio1 pio2 pio3 pio4
DMA modes: mdma0 mdma1 mdma2
UDMA modes: udma0 udma1 udma2 udma3 udma4 *udma5 udma6
AdvancedPM=yes: disabled (255)
Drive conforms to: Unspecified: ATA/ATAPI-4

* signifies the current active mode

farique · #747 Post by **farique** » Fri Sep 11, 2009 8:26 pm

Hi Guys, After reading all the posts I have finally successfully installed Win XP Tablet PC with SP2 on a 16GB Kingston Elite Pro 133x CF Card.

Using this exact same adapter...

[/quote]
installed without removing the bezel case and using tweezers hehe

Bought an external USB case to put the old hitachi 4200RPM disk and use as backup drive.

Installed XP with an OEM Disc, trimmed with XPlite(delete accessories...etc) and only installed drivers for LAN,WiFi,Sound,Video,Hotkey and tablet function keys. Total OS installation size = 1.2GB

tweaks = disabled indexing, disableNTFSlastaccess, No page file (RAM is 2GB), disabled system restore and hibernate.

was usable and bearable but really speedy and came to life after using flashfire an updated version of flashpoint now with its own installer

flashfire can be found here : http://flashfire.org/xe/

I would not recommend any normal speed CF cards, A-Data CF cards, Sandisk CF card coz it doesn't ship in fixed mode.

Many thanx to all users here

hawkvc · #748 Post by **hawkvc** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 2:50 pm

Has anyone tried this product: http://www.bixnet.com/401hadrforib.html

It is twice the cost of the Kingspec 64 GB SSD per GB. There are posts above that indicate you can receive an error message with the Kingspec product.

Also, it is unclear to me whether a CF card with a CF to IDE adapter is as good as the 4200 RPM drive that came with the laptop.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Hawk.

sjthinkpader · #749 Post by **sjthinkpader** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:42 pm

Welcome to the forum.

Yes, you want a large and fast CF card to be useful. Large and fast CF cards can be quite expensive. I have tried a few RiData 233x card with reasonable performance.

Although I haven't tried a Kingspec myself, I think most issues are related to the PATA/SATA bridge in the X41 and writing a proper MBR on an already formatted SSD. Recent retail price had fallen to around $110 for 32GB which is similar to other SSDs of this size.

More info in this post:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 1&start=30

hawkvc · #750 Post by **hawkvc** » Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:27 pm

Will the 32 GB CF card be as fast as the 4200 RPM drive? It probably not worth it (to me) if it is a lateral move.

Thanks.

Hawk.

Has anyone tried an SSD in the X41? PICS

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Bixnet 32GB 1.8" Solid State Hard Drive for IBM ThinkPad X41

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