The Non SSD topic - List of current drives for X4 series

[Tasurinchi]

So guys... I run out of patience with Win7 and its graphic drivers so I've run 3 different benchmarks, but none of them using the Intel drivers properly installed. As I'm writing this my X40 is happily working with Ubuntu, which took 20 minutes to install with everything working out of the box (do we have some MS developers here reading this? )

According to Crystal Disk Mark, seems that my Toshiba MK8025GAL is still a little behind the 80GB Samsung models. HS122JC still top of the notch. Here are my benchmarks:

With VESA drivers


In safe mode


With "kind of" installed Intel Drivers


Hopefully the HD experts in this forums can drive more conclusions... Next benchmarks will be the power benchmarks... I'll also check if I can find an equivalent benchmark tool in Linux for the Crystal Disk Mark.

Cheers...

Tasurinchi

[Tasurinchi]

powertop will happily supply you with power draw stats, provided you're not connected to mains

Hi ThinkRob, I think I'll need more details about powertop.

Was trying yesterday but I cannot read any power consumption from the log. Do I have to save a log somewhere? Or start the program with any special function? I would prefer sending the result to you otherwise I may draw wrong conclusions.

Another potential issue. My Karmic is installed in German, so the output of powertop is in German as well, I assume (and hope) that some of the data is still readable for you...

Cheers...

[ThinkRob]

Was trying yesterday but I cannot read any power consumption from the log. Do I have to save a log somewhere? Or start the program with any special function? I would prefer sending the result to you otherwise I may draw wrong conclusions.

It should be listed towards the top of the display, right under the bar with the "wakeups-from-idle per second" field. Just FYI, most (/all?) laptops won't display accurate/any power usage stats unless they're running on battery power.

[Tasurinchi]

most (/all?) laptops won't display accurate/any power usage stats unless they're running on battery power

Ok, I'll send you a printscreen tonight. I was running it on battery but for me it was just a bunch of numbers only.

[Tasurinchi]

Here we go. Powertop printscreen with no HD activity, minimum brigthness


(As I said before. Output is in German)

With HD activity (installing a software package, maximum brightness)



Hope this helps, otherwise feel free to let me know in case I have to change any setting in Powertop.

Cheers!

[ThinkRob]

Hm...

It's kind hard to tell from those snaps, since you've got varying levels of CPU usage, different brightness settings, etc.

That said, the peak usage does look promising -- 15.9W for an X40 under full load including disk usage isn't too bad, especially if you haven't applied any of the various power-saving tricks available.

Thanks!

[Tasurinchi]

15.9W for an X40 under full load including disk usage isn't too bad, especially if you haven't applied any of the various power-saving tricks available

Well, I just have a standard Ubuntu 9.10 installation with no special tweaks or tricks. But if you would like to have a snapshot of a specific combination just let me know. Running Powertop is not a time consuming activity

Thanks!

You're welcome!

[ThinkRob]

Just bought a Samsung HS12YHA (120GB) drive on eBay. It was $99 (including shipping), and I get $7.92 of that back via Bing Cashback, plus $1.98 in eBay bucks. All in all, not a bad deal.

It's coming from Hong Kong, so it'll take some time to get to the UK. I'll post back my results once I've gotten the drive and swapped it into my X40.

[Tasurinchi]

Good to know that the list is still growing. Didn't have this model in my list so I will adapt it immediately... Mail from HK was quite "fast" with my last purchases... took around two weeks only...

Thanks a lot!

[ThinkRob]

Good to know that the list is still growing. Didn't have this model in my list so I will adapt it immediately... Mail from HK was quite "fast" with my last purchases... took around two weeks only...

Post from China and HK has been hit and miss for me. I've gotten stuff in as little as 10 days, and other things in as much as two months. (!!)

Yeah, that drive had the lowest stated power consumption of all the models that I found; it actually compares favourably with the various SSD options. In fact, I think it's got the lowest power consumption of all the X40 drive options out there with the (possible) exception of the original Travelstar drives.

I'll definitely put it through its paces when I get it. Hopefully it ends up being a worthwhile upgrade. If not... well... at least you'll know.

[haraldnote]

"All of them using a ZIF/IDE adapter of course..."
What kind of adapter do I need for these drives in my X41 Tablet. There are numerous variants on Ebay.
Thanks, new to X41Tablet.

Edit: looks like the adapters are specific to Toshiba OR Hitachi etc and are guaranteed to specific size and make of drive and I have to match the adapter to the Brand of the drive?
Do these 1.8" drives have different interfaces or form-factors?
Any recommendations for a 120GB drive with a matching adaptor that someone has working?

[Tasurinchi]

Thanks, new to X41Tablet

Welcome to the X4* world!

Edit: looks like the adapters are specific to Toshiba OR Hitachi etc and are guaranteed to specific size and make of drive and I have to match the adapter to the Brand of the drive?

I don't think the adapters are size specific, I know some of them are brand specific. But apart from the Hitachi drives, I think Toshiba and Samsung are making most of the current 1.8 PATA drives in the market. This adapter is quite popular and works with most of the current Toshiba & Samsung drives

Do these 1.8" drives have different interfaces or form-factors?

You have to look for 1.8 PATA ZIF drives. The list at the beginning of this topic should be quite up to date. They will all work with the adapter mentioned above.

Any recommendations for a 120GB drive with a matching adaptor that someone has working?

This one is quite common in this forum I think. I have a Toshiba 80GB (MK8025GAL) working with that same adapter in my X40 with no issues so far.

Hope this helps...

Cheers!

[ThinkRob]

I'm like a fat kid in a candy store: The HS12YHA arrived in the post today!

I've put it into the adapter (a slight problem there, since the ZIF cable was initially unevenly cut and required some trimming and a heck of a lot of force to get it seated correctly), and am in the process of installing Debian Lenny onto the drive. So far, so good. It's slow (although not any slower than I remember the original being), but is dead quiet. Seriously -- when the fan's not on the machine's completely inaudible.

I'll post power usage stats, along with a full write-up, once I've had a chance to play with it some more.

[Tasurinchi]

I'm like a fat kid in a candy store: The HS12YHA arrived in the post today!

I know that feeling

It would be good if you could post performance figures similar to the output of CrystalDiskMark, just to have comparable figures that can be attached to sjthinkpadder's table.

Enjoy your new HD!

[Tasurinchi]

It has been very quiet lately here! No surprise with the SSD hype! I've found another HDD model, which I've attached to the original post. It's a single platter 80GB Toshiba... It can be found in Ebay for around 60 USD.

I'm thinking about testing one of these 4k sector drives one of these days, probably a MK8031GAL or MK1231GAL...

Cheers

[ThinkRob]

Although I've since sold my X40 (and its fancy new drive), I am pleased to say that I can heartily recommend the HS12YHA. Power-wise it seems a fair bit better than the original drive. Its performance seems about comparable to the original, perhaps somewhat faster on large sequential transfers.

The biggest improvement is the noise, or lack thereof. It's dead quiet. Seriously. Even when seeking, you have to hold your ear against the palmrest just to hear anything. With the fan spun down, it makes for a silent ThinkPad -- something that I know a lot folks here really appreciate.

My conclusion: worth the cash if 1) you need a lot of space 2) you value low power consumption and silent operation over raw speed 3) you can afford it (though it's considerably cheaper than a comparable SSD).

Related to #1 and #3: there are 60 and 80GB versions in the same family as the HS12YHA, both with similar power usage and noise specs. Something to consider if you're looking to maximize your upgrade dollar.

[Tasurinchi]

The biggest improvement is the noise, or lack thereof. It's dead quiet. Seriously. Even when seeking, you have to hold your ear against the palmrest just to hear anything. With the fan spun down, it makes for a silent ThinkPad -- something that I know a lot folks here really appreciate.

Thanks for your update ThinkRob! Noise-wise I can also recommend my MK8025GAL, since I've rebuilt my X40 I'm enjoying a very quiet Thinkpad. Even in some (rare) cases when the fan turns off it turns completely silent (I got scared once, thought the OS had crashed! )

[Tasurinchi]

I've added two new Toshiba drives to the list:

- 80GB MK8034GAL
- 120GB MK1234GAL

both single platter 4Kb sector drives.

[Tasurinchi]

I was made aware in the German forum that many of the Toshiba MKxx31GAx/MKxx34GAx cannot be used in notebooks. "Googling" around I found several other forums were members reported similar problems. One of the reasons mentioned was that those models only supports ATA-3/ATA-4.

Until I can confirm this I prefer to take the models away from the list. I will add them again if I can find a solution or if I can confirm the comments above proved to be wrong.

Cheers...

[-=xXx=-]

Maybe someone had problems with ipod 1.8 hdd...
I took this 80Gb Toshiba hdd from my ipod video 80Gb (Logic board was dead)... this drive detects perfect by bios I can partition it under dos but when I try to install linux or XP , Linux is installing ok on this hdd but can't boot, windows see it it indicates it's size but it says that this hdd is incompatible...And I also get error when I'm trying to delete mbr from this drive.
Thanks for help...

[Tasurinchi]

I took this 80Gb Toshiba hdd from my ipod video 80Gb (Logic board was dead)

I've read in other forums that iPod drives come with a specific firmware that prevents any OS from installing properly. That's why I deleted some models from my list. I don't have a link now but I could check later from home if I can find the forum again.

Which drive model did you put in your TP?

Cheers

[ThinkRob]

I've read in other forums that iPod drives come with a specific firmware that prevents any OS from installing properly.

I don't think that's right. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's wrong, as I installed an iPod drive in my X40 without incident.

The confusion stems from the fact that some of the 1.8" ZIF drives use 4KB sectors, rendering them incompatible with some very old OSs that can only grok 512B sectors. While most modern OSs have no problem with 4KB sector sizes, Windows XP will refuse to function on such a drive.

Bottom line: check the sector size, and/or use a modern OS.

[Tasurinchi]

don't think that's right. Actually, I'm pretty sure that's wrong, as I installed an iPod drive in my X40 without incident

I'm too lazy to check now the forum where I've read that, but there were several people having problems with the Toshiba MK1231GAL (I remembered this particular model as I was intending to by one) even using Win7 and the newest Linux Distros. We discuss it also in the German forum, where people were also having problems.

Some Ebay Sellers I've contacted also said the model mentioned above will only work with iPods, not that I blindly believe in everything stated in Ebay, but I passed trying to buy that drive.

Of course other models will work. That's why I listed them in the OP. But could it be that xXx has pulled a locked drive from his iPod?

I'll try to beat my laziness and seach for the forum I mentioned before...

[Tasurinchi]

It seems I can find only one link, which btw is pretty old. Maybe the older Linux versions could also not handle the 4k Sector drives? I think I should really buy one and try it in my X41

[ThinkRob]

It seems I can find only one link, which btw is pretty old. Maybe the older Linux versions could also not handle the 4k Sector drives? I think I should really buy one and try it in my X41

Hm.

Well I can't say I've tried the Toshiba iPod drives -- my comment was based on my use of a Samsung iPod drive with 4K sectors. Linux worked fine, but XP refused to work correctly. I assumed that was due to the sector size, as I know that XP doesn't seem to grok anything other than 512B sectors.

[-=xXx=-]

It is MK8010GAH ... As I understood it is locked by Apple ... Sad

[Tasurinchi]

Well I can't say I've tried the Toshiba iPod drives

There was also the question regarding the ATA Interface, I've posted a question in this thread here but got no answers yet. Maybe that was the culprit?

[nebpehtira]

Does anyone know which of these drives use 4kb sectors and which use 512 bytes? I'd like to put a larger drive in (120gb ideally, though 80gb is worth considering) but I really need to stick with XP as the o/s.

[Tasurinchi]

Does anyone know which of these drives use 4kb sectors and which use 512 bytes? I'd like to put a larger drive in (120gb ideally, though 80gb is worth considering) but I really need to stick with XP as the o/s.

Yes, these are the 4k sector drives that I know:

-Toshiba 80GB MK8031GAL
-Toshiba 80GB MK8034GAL
-Toshiba 120GB MK1231GAL
-Toshiba 120GB MK1234GAL
-Toshiba 160GB MK1634GAL
-Toshiba 240GB MK2431GAH

The rest of my list in post #1 are 512b models.

Cheers

[nebpehtira]

Thanks! Will keep my eyes open for an affordable Samsung HS122JC.