Successful dual drive mod on X200/X201 (include tablet)

[DLinks1292]

2 months ago I read about the ThinkPad x220/230 mod which can use 3 storage at once (1 SATA + WWAN mSATA + mSATA/M.2 SATA mod), I inspired to make the same mod on the old laptop of its predecessor, the X20x. series.

The unit I use here is the X200 Tablet, with 120GB main storage + for the Hitachi 160GB experiment HDD. The method I use is exactly the mod method on X220/230, which utilizes an additional SATA pinout in the Dock connector which is usually used for Ultrabay drives. I got the jumper by tracing the "SATA1" pinout from the corresponding dock connector.

I jumper the 4 main SATA pins to the docking pinout , and as a result, you can see for yourself, the Hitachi HDD reads normally, as if we plugged the HDD into the ultrabay dock. For those who are interested in experimenting with strange things like this, I will give you the pinout jumper in picture attached below. Dont forget to cut out the protective plastic shield from the motherboard above the Docking pins, and cover it (preferably using Kapton tape) after you finished (DWYOR).

*edit: wrong links
https://imgur.com/snUnMlS

Recently I realize my cheap SATA SSD is only 1/3 size of its shells, so I decide to take it out, put a kapton tape, and put some thick double-sided tape, and put it in the left palmrest (I need to knock 2 plastic standoff), so Is sandwiched above WLAN card and the palmrest. for the supply voltage, I take the 5v from big "F5" fuse near the left USB connector, and for the GND, you can take it from any exposed screw mount , I directly connected the jumper cable to the SATA pinout instead of using SATA female connector (for space saving, those connector is quite bulky). If you using SATA drive, remember to short all 5V power pin on your drive (SATA power pin number 7 trough 9, see first picture link) or it will be unstable.

For the jumper cable, I use rainbow jumper cable usually used in Arduinos, but I recommend using solid ethernet cable (CAT 5E) instead, so it's more easy to route (not as bulky like my solution)

More Picture
https://imgur.com/a/rQxGiqz

In the future, I want to install an mSATA / m.2 SATA SSD because it is more space efficient + more energy efficient (3.3v vs 5v). maybe I need to get 3.3V from unused Turbo memory slot.

[amlbuton]

Nice mod you got there, it gives a breather to old ThinkPad
Keep up the good work

[DLinks1292]

Nice mod you got there, it gives a breather to old ThinkPad
Keep up the good work

don't forget to become "maung" mate
Thx for your reply, I really appreciate it.

[amlbuton]

As long it as it works then it's a good thing.
I'm not using any x200/x201 but it would be great mod for other users that want to maximize their ThinkPad

[axur-delmeria]

If the Turbo Memory slot is unused, maybe you can route the PCIe signals and get an NVMe SSD working? Can't boot from it though.

[DLinks1292]

If the Turbo Memory slot is unused, maybe you can route the PCIe signals and get an NVMe SSD working? Can't boot from it though.

I test it with random WWAN card, it's showing "unrecognized WWAN CARD DETECTED", I think we can't utilize it , especially in my X200T because there's no Whitelist removed BIOS available yet (like the OG X200/T400 have), the best bet will be use the ExpressCard slot. for PCIe Boot, some NVMe SSD have their adaptable firmware, like Samsung 950, to boot from unsupported system, for the rest, we can put a Flashdrive that contain Clover bootloader (with NVMe firmware added) to boot from NVMe, already tried with my T400 on turbo memory slot, works like a charm.

[axur-delmeria]

There's already an Expresscard to NVMe adapter that has a built-in Clover bootloader: https://thinkmods.store/collections/all ... 5779116104.

[RealBlackStuff]

There's also a slic/whitelist modded X200T bios if you can find it: ThinkPad_X200_Tablet_7wuj45us_NWL_LEN21_2.rar

[DLinks1292]

There's also a slic/whitelist modded X200T bios if you can find it: ThinkPad_X200_Tablet_7wuj45us_NWL_LEN21_2.rar

that's the problem, I can't find any

[DLinks1292]

There's already an Expresscard to NVMe adapter that has a built-in Clover bootloader: https://thinkmods.store/collections/all ... 5779116104.

I know, I use that with my T400 now, what i mean is, if you want to boot NVMe from other PCIe slot (not the ExpressCard one) you can make your own clover bootloader with a USB Drive.