Thinkpads Forum

I want to put operating systems on a SSD, while keeping the HDD for files. Now that the Intel 3rd generation SSD have come out, there are also the mSATA versions.

Can I use an Intel 310 80GB SSD in the my X200, or do they only work on new laptops which are designed to take them? Is mSATA compatible with the PCIe slots in the X200s? Does the mSATA drive go into any of the mini-PCIe slots? I am not even sure how many I have free in my X200. It obviously has wifi and I have also fitted a Gobi 2000 WWAN card.

If I can, would it show up in the BIOS options as a boot device?

Is anybody using one of these new SSDs in their X200/200s/201/201s?

Nope, won't work.

1) X200s won't boot from mSATA SSD because BIOS was designed with no such SSDs in mind.
2) There are 3 miniPCI-E sockets in X200s, two of these being locked on using only devices from whitelist (and Intel 310 is obviously not in whitelist of X200s), and the third (TurboMemory) being too short for 5cm Intel 310 to fit.

penartur wrote:1) X200s won't boot from mSATA SSD because BIOS was designed with no such SSDs in mind.

actually, it's because the physical connections needed on an mPCIe socket for mSATA to work don't exist on the X200/X201 models.   it has nothing to do with the BIOS.   it's electrically incompatible.

erik wrote:actually, it's because the physical connections needed on an mPCIe socket for mSATA to work don't exist on the X200/X201 models.   it has nothing to do with the BIOS.   it's electrically incompatible.

But still my statement is applicable to any kind of SSD for miniPCI-E slot, be it mSATA, USB or native PCI-E.

technically, yes, but since mSATA is not electrically supported in older systems, the BIOS becomes a moot point.

You can put one in- it just can't be an SSD that uses the mSATA interface.

As far as I know, there's only one SSD that's been announced (it's not available for purchase yet) that will work in the mPCI-E slot- it's the Super Talent CoreStore MV.

I wouldn't want a 310 anyways if I could get that particular SSD (working) since the CoreStore eats the 310 for breakfast in terms of raw speed. (Intel's got 200 read/70 write for 80GB, how about 350/80 for the CoreStore?)

The only issue (that others have raised as well) is that it might be blocked by the BIOS whitelist- so you may need a modded BIOS for that. If one doesn't exist or you don't want to flash it you're out of luck.

I think it may still be possible also to boot from an mPCI-E device, but I'm not sure (if ExpressCard devices are bootable so should an mPCI-E device with modded BIOS).

Q-Ball wrote:The only issue (that others have raised as well) is that it might be blocked by the BIOS whitelist- so you may need a modded BIOS for that. If one doesn't exist or you don't want to flash it you're out of luck.

You're right except that "might be blocked" should be replaced with "will be blocked".
It is a medium-length miniPCI-E (5cm), so it will only fit in the WLAN slot or adjacent to WLAN one. Both are restricted to whitelist (AFAIK the only unrestricted slot is short 3cm one somewhere under F8-F9 keys on keyboard).

I think it may still be possible also to boot from an mPCI-E device, but I'm not sure (if ExpressCard devices are bootable so should an mPCI-E device with modded BIOS).

I'm not a BIOS expert, but, from my knowledge, booting from an add-in card is different from booting from a HDD/SSD. In the latter case, BIOS looks on said HDD/SSD, finds there an MBR, finds a boot block and executes it; in the former case, BIOS just passes an execution to an add-in card, so the card should implement all boot procedures by itself, and i doubt SuperTalent did that in their CoreStore.