Thinkpads Forum

Hi all,

I'm trying to expand my T400 with additional hard disk. I was trying to order the following adapter for ultra bay slot: : ThinkPad Serial ATA Hard Drive Bay Adapter II, Part Number: 43R1980, but I was told by Lenovo distributor that this adapter currently can not be ordered, and that there is not a single one on stock in Europe.

Can you please tell me if this is the correct part number? Do you know any on-line store that has this adapter and can ship internationally?

Many thanks in advance,

Kind regards,

Hrvoje

That is the correct part number; I ordered one from Lenovo.com (I'm in the US) and had it a few days later. Works very well.

Can't help with who might have it in stock though, I haven't been looking.

I can also confirm that the number is correct as I have one.
That none are available in Europe I have three main suppliers, two are expecting deliveries around 2/3 Oct., the other has them in stock.
I would ask again in case there was some sort of misunderstanding.

Hiya,

Im new here, I work for IBM and do a lot of work on Thinkpads, and we are just switching over to T400s from old T40-T43s, and I wanted to know if there is an ultrabay drive bay adapter available for the older type of IDE drives so that I can read them in the ultrabay of the T400?

I have the old 41N5661 adapter that could be used from T40 up to the T61 which we have had, and I would really like one that works with the new interface in the T400 laptops?

Cheers,
Matt

mtutt20 wrote:Hiya,

Im new here, I work for IBM and do a lot of work on Thinkpads, and we are just switching over to T400s from old T40-T43s, and I wanted to know if there is an ultrabay drive bay adapter available for the older type of IDE drives so that I can read them in the ultrabay of the T400?

I have the old 41N5661 adapter that could be used from T40 up to the T61 which we have had, and I would really like one that works with the new interface in the T400 laptops?

Cheers,
Matt

I've a related question. Can the ultra-bay adaptor receive the same model drive used as the main drive?

This I would like to do to clone the main drive as a backup. I'd order the adaptor, and the exact version I'm using as a main drive, if the adaptor will take the same drive. This would be simpler than the USB Drivewire solution I am using for this purpose.

rdharper wrote:This I would like to do to clone the main drive as a backup. I'd order the adaptor, and the exact version I'm using as a main drive, if the adaptor will take the same drive.

Yes, that works.

However you don't have to have the exact same drive for a clone, any drive with enough capacity that will boot in the main drive bay (pretty much any SATA interface 2.5" drive) will work as the clone target drive for a T400.

I use Acronis True Image on a regular basis with all my ThinkPads to clone an image of my main drive onto a suitable target clone drive in an Ultrabay drive carrier.

Cheers,

Bill B.

mtutt20 wrote:Hiya,

Im new here, I work for IBM and do a lot of work on Thinkpads, and we are just switching over to T400s from old T40-T43s, and I wanted to know if there is an ultrabay drive bay adapter available for the older type of IDE drives so that I can read them in the ultrabay of the T400?

I have the old 41N5661 adapter that could be used from T40 up to the T61 which we have had, and I would really like one that works with the new interface in the T400 laptops?

Cheers,
Matt

Does anyone have any ideas about the availability of this??

I'm doubtful. I haven't seen anything announced from Lenovo nor seen anything like this on eBay. Your best bet is probably an external USB enclosure.

bill bolton wrote:

rdharper wrote:This I would like to do to clone the main drive as a backup. I'd order the adaptor, and the exact version I'm using as a main drive, if the adaptor will take the same drive.

Yes, that works.

However you don't have to have the exact same drive for a clone, any drive with enough capacity that will boot in the main drive bay (pretty much any SATA interface 2.5" drive) will work as the clone target drive for a T400.

I use Acronis True Image on a regular basis with all my ThinkPads to clone an image of my main drive onto a suitable target clone drive in an Ultrabay drive carrier.

Cheers,

Bill B.

Thanks Bill... and my Cockatoo (Sunny)... says hello.

Are they really called Australian crows in Australia? Of course that is not such a deprecating term.... as the crow is probably the smartest non-parrot on this continent.

rdharper wrote:Are they really called Australian crows in Australia?

Sulphur Crested Cockatoos are called a lot of things (mostly unprintable) due to both the noise and wanton destruction that may follow their arrival, but I've never heard then referred to as "Australian crows"!

While Australia has a native crow (Torresian Crow), the Pied Currawong generally fills the "crow" niche in Eastern Australia

Cheers,

Bill B.

Any idea if that part would fit the T500?

Just ordered one but forgot to ask.

Thanks

Mike

yes, it fits.

Many thanks.

I realise now that I need to look at more Lenovo websites than just the local one!

Any advice on a nice quiet 250 GB HD to be my back-up?

Cheers

Mike

mikefnz wrote:...
Any advice on a nice quiet 250 GB HD to be my back-up?
...

Quiet is all relative . My T61p came with a Fujitsu 250 GB drive and I can't complain about any noise (but then again I am not really picky about this). I also bought the same drive for my T60p and there the fan is usually on and louder than the drive anyways.

bill bolton wrote:

rdharper wrote:This I would like to do to clone the main drive as a backup. I'd order the adaptor, and the exact version I'm using as a main drive, if the adaptor will take the same drive.

Yes, that works.

However you don't have to have the exact same drive for a clone, any drive with enough capacity that will boot in the main drive bay (pretty much any SATA interface 2.5" drive) will work as the clone target drive for a T400.

I use Acronis True Image on a regular basis with all my ThinkPads to clone an image of my main drive onto a suitable target clone drive in an Ultrabay drive carrier.

Cheers,

Bill B.

Wanted to let you know that my USB drivewire was not 64 bit compaible (didn't read the fine print), so I got my Ultrabay HD adapter today, and downloaded Acronis as you have suggested.

The is a very slick solution. Fast, and it worked the first time. I've verifed the cloned drive.... in fact its talking at you now... lol.

So thanks for the tip... solves a major problem for me. I learned a long time ago that all of these backup/restore solutions are no where near as slick as just cloning the drive once a month or so.

Its the time thing... a clone (as you know), means zero time restoring all of your software and software settings. Can't understand why it hasn't caught on more than it has.

Anyway, thanks again Bill... I'll put a shrimp on the barbie.
----------------------
Edit/update... Drivewire Hardware works fine, but not the Ez-Gig software that ships with it. BUT, Drivewire hardware works with Acronis. Put it another way, Acronis works with everything!!

So now I have the best of both worlds. I can image/clone/backup to the Ultrabay HD, OR I can read/backup/clone, whatever, to a USB connection to 3 types of drive connectors using the drivewire.

Cloning to the ultrabay is fast (as you'd expect), but it is useful to have the USB connection option for reading my older drive/connector types.