Thinkpads Forum

I have a 765D which has a rather erratic 3Gb hard drive. If I don't run it for a while (it's not my main machine), I have to take the hard drive out and swing it around my head (centrifugal force, not sharp knocks), which gets it going again.

I have run the IBM disk utility and it come up with SMART errors, so I figure it's time to replace the drive.

I have done some research on new drives, and I can see from the IBM website that the Travelstar HTS5480xxM9AT00 are supported through firmware updates.

My question is this: how do I physically replace the drive. Is the existing hard drive in a caddy? It seems to be as most replacement drives have their IDE connector parallel to the body of the drive, whereas the existing IBM drive IDE connector is at 90 degrees to the body.
I can remove the two screws holding the case on, and pop off the IDE 'adaptor', but don't want to force the rest of the case open in case I damage something.

Can anyone give me some tips on technique?

Thanks

The 765 drive is actually mounted in a caddy.

To open the caddy you must remove the two screws at the connector end, and then lift the tape cover (or cut the tape). The caddy comes apart into two large pieces. The connector is actually part of a flexible circuit that plugs into the drive and sticks out of the caddy to make the connection.

Bill sells replacement caddies, or you might be able to find them on Ebay, or you can try to reuse the old one. If you put a 9.5mm drive in the caddy, remember to bulk it out or the new drive will bounce around inside (not a good thing).

I have never been successful with any drive larger than a 6.4GB. The basic BIOS is limited to 8.0 GB, and the 8.1GB registers at 0.1GB. I know there are overlay programs to allow use of a larger drive, but I never used one.

Hope this helps, and have a Happy New Year.

Thanks Bruce,
I guess I am impatient, but took my life (and hard drive) in hand a couple of days ago, and found things pretty much as you describe.

I now have another problem - caused by IBM I fear. I will post a separate message on that topic.

Thanks anyway - and happy new year to you too.