Thinkpads Forum

what thinkpad can i use this with, and where can i find a cable?

Hi,
It can be used on a 365XD (I own and have the same drive), though a quick search on eBay listed the following other series:
240, 310, 560, 570, 600, and 701, though I don't any models in that line to know for sure.
On my 365XD, the connector cable part number is 74H0219; I suspect that the other series may use a different cable.
Thane

From looking at a couple of systems I have on hand, there is at least two different external floppy connectors that were used on the older Thinkpads. I put together some pictures that show the difference:

http://www.rkawakami.net/ibm_600x/365xd ... onnectors/

Both floppy connectors used on the 365XD and 600-series systems are slightly trapezoidal, but are of different widths. The one used on the 365XD is 0.8" (20mm) at the widest, while the 600 has a 0.67" (17mm) wide connector. These measurements were made on the cables which plug into the laptops. Since there also appears to be several different external floppy drives based upon the FRUs (your 05K8973 and the 10H4056 I'm using for my 365XD), there may be different connectors on the floppy drives which would warrant the selection of the proper cable. The 10H4056 floppy drive that I have has a thicker trapezoidal connector (about twice as thick as the connector that plugs into the laptop) and is about 21mm wide. This is what the 74H0219 cable uses on the floppy end.

Excellent information Ray!!! Undoubtedly this will clear up the confusing over this matter. I should have looked closer at my cable rather then just focusing on the FRU.

Full Specs for 365XD Floppy Drive Cable (as Listed on Cable)
P/N 46H8096
EC/N E59507
FRU/N 74H0219 (dimensions of cable match Ray's 365 measurements)

Interestingly my Floppy drive does not have a ID plate on the bottom, though if disassembled, the drive is internally marked as FRU/N 04H7406; that number is listed as being the Internal Floppy drive for a 365X ThinkPad.

My cable for the 365XD matches your info, except for the middle line:

EC/N E59511

which I take to be a manufacturing date (1995, November). I got this cable and external floppy drive off of eBay a couple of weeks ago:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0103622285

This was after I discovered that my 600-series external floppies didn't fit . I had assumed that IBM had used the same connector as the 600-series drives also fit into the A/T/R/X port replicators (FRU 02K8668).