Thinkpads Forum

My ThinkPad 760EL will not detect a new Hard Disk.
That is when you look at the BIOS program after pressing F1 on start-up.
You can not see the HD.
If you boot off a floppy and run FDISK you get "No Fixed Disks Present"
The Current Bios version is HZET71WW 3/30/99
There is no problem with the Old Hard Disk. (DHAA-240S 344 MB).

The Disk I am trying to use is a IBM Travelstar DARA-206000 6GB
This disk works fine in other PS's.
I partitioned it and formated it using FAT , but this had not effect.
I must be missing something.

Does anyone no what the problem is?

Thanks

This is a real common problem on the ThinkPad 755's and 760's. Newer IBM hard drives have different jumper settings than older ones, so the older caddys will have trouble with newer drives. The professional remedy would be to buy a newer caddy that's compatible with thre drive, but another remedy, one thats cheaper is to take the hard drive itself and bend down the 4 pins that control the jumper settings. You can get some more specifics if you look around on the internet or look around some more on this forum, I know this issue has to have been brought up before here.

Not familiar with 755s and 760s, but before I start bending pins, I'd try this: Reformat the drive using FAT16 with three 2GB partitions. After this, if you still have the problem, then I guess I'd go with Alpha's suggestion...

leoblob wrote:Not familiar with 755s and 760s, but before I start bending pins, I'd try this: Reformat the drive using FAT16 with three 2GB partitions. After this, if you still have the problem, then I guess I'd go with Alpha's suggestion...

This isn't a FAT16 vs. FAT32 problem, it's a drive recognition problem and is as described by AK.

The problem arises from the fact that the "standard" for Master/Slave settings on HDs wasn't established until after the 760s were built and unfortunately was standardized exactly the opposite of what IBM used for their laptops and HDs.

The solution to the OP's problem is to get a new caddy, cut the two wires on the HD connector that connects to the M/S pins or bend over or snip off the selector pins on the HD itself.

Regards,

James

I had previously tried the format in small chunks without out success.

Performed the pin bend as suggested and the Laptop was able to see the hard disk.

Thanks heaps

Woot! Fixed my 750P too!

whizkid wrote:Woot! Fixed my 750P too!

Glad to hear it Chris. You'll find this problem rearing its ugly head whenever one attempts to install a "new" (post ~1997) HD in an "old" (75X, 76X, etc.) HD caddy.

You can remove all of the shorting clips from the HD, but by installing it in an old caddy it's set to Slave by default and the laptop's BIOS won't see it.

Regards,

James

JHEM wrote: This isn't a FAT16 vs. FAT32 problem, it's a drive recognition problem and is as described by AK.

Thanks for setting me straight. Glad everyone's machines are running again!