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W541 Ultrabay usage

W530/W540/W541/W550 Series
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josh5k
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Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 8:46 am
Location: Bangalore, India

W541 Ultrabay usage

#1 Post by josh5k » Mon Mar 01, 2021 5:41 am

I just picked an used W541 and was looking to replace the Ultrabay (it's empty right) with a Second Hard Drive caddy. The space looks to be sealed with just a placeholder plastic and it's not coming off prying with a screwdriver. Is it safe to pull it off or would there perhaps be any screws that I'll have to remove first? (Haven't found this in the Maintenance manual).

Also can I use any regular 9.5mm caddy or should I look for an Old Lenovo part specifically? I've had good luck with regular caddies on the T420 or prior but the 541 looks to be not as well constructed as the prior generations and am looking to err on the side of caution.
On the Move - X230 - (2324-E41) i3 2370M, 12GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, 1366x768

Workstation - W541 - (20EG) i7 4810QM, 16GB RAM, 240GB SSD, 1980x1080

Daily Driver - Linux - T430 - (2349-7N7) i5 3320M, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1600x900

Backup - T420s - (4170-RM4) i5 2520M, 12GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 1600x900

RealBlackStuff
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Re: W541 Ultrabay usage

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Mon Mar 01, 2021 6:00 am

I have one of these in my T440p (same as for W541).
They come with the proper cover.

Remove the big bottom cover, remove 1 screw on the mid-left of the HDD/SSD to pull out the Optical drive/dummy.
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)

josh5k
Freshman Member
Posts: 60
Joined: Fri Mar 01, 2013 8:46 am
Location: Bangalore, India

Re: W541 Ultrabay usage

#3 Post by josh5k » Mon Mar 01, 2021 6:10 am

Thank you RBS. Will first try to find that part around here and then go about removing the dummy plate. Will update once done.

Now to find a decent m2 2242 for a third SSD :-)
On the Move - X230 - (2324-E41) i3 2370M, 12GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, 1366x768

Workstation - W541 - (20EG) i7 4810QM, 16GB RAM, 240GB SSD, 1980x1080

Daily Driver - Linux - T430 - (2349-7N7) i5 3320M, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, 1600x900

Backup - T420s - (4170-RM4) i5 2520M, 12GB RAM, 128GB SSD, 1600x900

schen
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Re: W541 Ultrabay usage

#4 Post by schen » Tue May 11, 2021 12:09 pm

I'm using 2 of the Transcend 2242 SSD drives in my machines and they work well. I'm about to install heatsinks on them as a precautionary measure.
Family Daily Drivers- T450s, T540p
Work- Sadly, the ThinkPads have gone away...... and replaced by HP Chromebox drone machines :(
ThinkPad Projects- T530, T400, R60, Z60t
Historic Retired ThinkPads- Z61m (Titanium), X20, A31p, 701c, 760XD, WorkPad C505, C500 :bow:

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