Upgrading HDD and Cloning Issues with X60

[yodabeesh]

I've been trying to upgrade my x60 100GB HDD to 320GB.

I've been unsuccessful using the Acronis Migrate Easy and True Image products. Even though the actual clone activity is successful with both of the products, when I put in the new 320GB HDD into the X60, I either get a read error OR I get a black screen with a blinking white cursor.

1. Am I missing a step here?
2. Is there a HDD size limit for the x60?
(3. Completely random side question - What is the RAM limit for the x60? I put in 2x2GB memory modules, but the system is only detecting up to 3GB.)

My next step is to try Norton Ghost for the cloning activity and if that doesn't work, I'll have to do the ol' "reinstall everything..." sigh... I'd like to avoid that latter step if humanly possible.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

[Harryc]

There is no HD size limit, and there is a 3GB limit to the amount of RAM the OS will recognize in the X60's with Core Duo CPU's. It sounds to me like a procedural problem with using Acronis. How did you clone the drive?

[dc_slim]

I just used TrueImage to clone a 160gb drive from my X31 to a 200gb drive I bought for the X60 I am migrating to. No problems, no funky behavior. I ran into some trouble using Acronis a while back with a couple of T4x machines, but figured out a workaround in the end. Are you letting Acronis use its default settings for the cloning process, or are you using your own?

[yodabeesh]

I used the default settings for both Acronis products. I wondered if I needed to tweak the settings.

When I check the new drive (externally via USB) after going through the cloning process, it appears that everything has been cloned. When I install the new drive into the laptop, I experience the aforementioned symptoms.

And this may have nothing to do with it, but maybe I should put the old memory back in at least for troubleshooting purposes to rule that out.

[tomz17]

I've been trying to upgrade my x60 100GB HDD to 320GB.

I've been unsuccessful using the Acronis Migrate Easy and True Image products. Even though the actual clone activity is successful with both of the products, when I put in the new 320GB HDD into the X60, I either get a read error OR I get a black screen with a blinking white cursor.

1. Am I missing a step here?
2. Is there a HDD size limit for the x60?
(3. Completely random side question - What is the RAM limit for the x60? I put in 2x2GB memory modules, but the system is only detecting up to 3GB.)

My next step is to try Norton Ghost for the cloning activity and if that doesn't work, I'll have to do the ol' "reinstall everything..." sigh... I'd like to avoid that latter step if humanly possible.

Your feedback is greatly appreciated.

You aren't crazy. I had the same problem when upgrading my x60 hdd to a 320gb and spent hours on it. From what I can tell the thinkpads use a nonstandard MBR, and I ended up using a third party utility to fix it after cloning. (I just got a blinking cursor before the fix). I do not recall the name of the product I used, but will try to look it up on my desktop PC when I get home.

[yodabeesh]

Ironically, with the amount of time I've spent cloning, re-cloning, troubleshooting, etc, I could have just run the thinkpad recovery CD and just done manual program installs, configs, clicks-and-drags.

So much for technology making things easier.

[ylim]

Hi,

Any updates to what can be the 3rd party utitilty can be for resolving the non-standard MBR?

I am thinking of changing to a bigger hdd from the current 120gb, I read somewhere that the 2.5' hdd can be of different height and hence can make the battery not able to be install properly into the x60.

I am wondering if you guys can advise me as what specification or brand/make that I have to look for. I am thinking of getting a 320gb, 16mb and 7200rpm.

Regards,
y

[bill bolton]

Any updates to what can be the 3rd party utitilty can be for resolving the non-standard MBR?

See http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-62978

This is usually only necessary if you clone to a USB attached drive.

If you clone to a drive in an UltaBay HDD carrier with Acronis True Image, then the drive will be directly bootable with no futher operations necessray.

I read somewhere that the 2.5' hdd can be of different height and hence can make the battery not able to be install properly into the x60.

Any 9.5mm high 2.5" drive SATA interface drive should fit. The drive bay is nowhere near the battery in any case.

I am thinking of getting a 320gb, 16mb and 7200rpm.

I'd buy a Seagate ST9320421AS.

YMMV

Cheers,

Bill B.

[tomz17]

The product I used was http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootit ... ration.htm

I used the free version, but I don't remember enough to tell you what buttons I pushed in order to make it work. I believe it might have been labeled something like "fix mbr"

-Tom

[dstrauss]

This may help a bit - I had problems upgrading to a larger HD using Acronis, whether USB or in the docking station. I finally put the HD on USB and booted the computer from the docking station using the Acronis CD, and the clone came out perfect.

I would highly recommend going into the bios settings and remove security protection from the recovery partition so you get a full clone of the drive, then re-enable protection afterward.

[adileonardo]

Hi - a product from Farstone called Drive Clone works flawlessly. I used it yesterday to accomplish the same task.

[tomz17]

I believe my principle problem was that I cloned the HDD's outside of the laptop. I just plugged both into SATA channels on a desktop motherboard, and ran the clone. This would normally work perfectly with any other computer, but for some reason the IBM required the fix (I referenced above) to the MBR before it would boot off the cloned HDD.

[m509272]

Get one of these $20 AR plus shipping maybe cheaper elsewhere

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6812161002

I've cloned my X60 drive twice now, going from 100GB to 250GB and that drive to a 320GB. Simple, flawless and fast.

Worth every penny of the $15-$20 I paid after rebate and then some.