A31 Ultrabay 2000 Release Lever

[HoJo]

I have been given an A31 that works just fine - except the release lever for the Ultrabay 2000 slot "pops out" by itself and when I pull on it the optical drive does not come out. I have downloaded a manual to see the details of the assembly but unless I can remove the optical drive I can't remove the "slot" to replace it. Before I destroy the laptop, is there a way to release the optical drive from within - in other words I have the keyboard out but do not know what to move to release the optical drive from the "slot" piece. Please help!!!

[rkawakami]

Welcome to thinkpads.com!

I don't think there's anything that's keeping the optical drive "latched" into the Ultrabay. In the past for some T23 drives (same Ultrabay 2000 slot) I have been able to remove a "stuck" drive by ejecting the drive's tray and then gently but firmly pulling on the tray to remove the drive. Note that you can damage the drive by doing this so I'd say that's a last resort if you can't pry or push the drive out from the exposed Ultrabay.

Just thought of this... be sure that the retention/security screw on the bottom of the laptop has been removed before you try extracting the drive .

[AMATX]

Let or pop the 'lever' out.

Press on the sliding tab that you would normally use to pop out the lever.

-AT- the same time you're pressing the sliding tab to the open position,
use a small flat screwdriver to slowly/gently pry out the ultrabay device. In the case of a HD ultrabay caddy, it's easy to wedge the screwdriver into it and (gently) pry back against the laptop case to get it all moving. Once the ultrabay device is out a quarter inch or more, it'll slide right out.

Should come right out, no problems. No need to take anything apart to get this to work.

I have had this same condition on a couple of laptops that were wearing out, and this procedure worked fine all of the time.