Thinkpad a31 - new HD not recognised

[jds12]

I have recently been getting errors on my existing hard drive so decided before it completely expired/failed I decided to replace the hard drive. I checked the specs to determine the HDs that will work and purchased a drive. The problem - the BIOS and system will not recognize the new drive when installed - it is firmly seated in place and positioned the correctly way in the caddy but won't get detected.

I checked the drive in an external USB enclosure and the drive is working? The old drive can be placed back in and it works without fail.

Am I missing a step to have the BIOS detect the drive?

Thanks

[ajkula66]

Welcome to the forum!

A3x series have a large HD slot since they originally shipped with 12.5mm drives on quite a few submodels.

It's not unusual for drive not to sit properly even if it appears to be connected. All 4 screws are a must when it comes to caddy.

Check the new drive for any jumpers (it's not supposed to have any) as well.

Lastly, what drive have you bought, and is it new or used?

[jds12]

Thanks you were right - after being very careful in the re-insertion I managed to get it to fit properly and is now being detected. It was made harder as the replacement caddy I have had no screws and the existing caddies screws are so tight they cannot be removed.

I like the a31 as a small server and not being able to replace the drive would have been real problematic.

Again thanks for the rapid response and help!