T43 with Samsung SSD

[dcleal]

Hi,

I have an old and trusty T43 that I'd like to treat to a new SSD. I read on a few forums that "any" 9.5mm PATA drive would work, so I obtained a Samsung HM160HC (160GB SSD with PATA interface). Put it in the T43, booted, got the 2010 error I was expecting, continued on and booted from my XP installation CD. This offered me the chance to create a partition on the hard drive and format it, which I did. After a long period of formatting and then copying files, the installation CD announced it was done. It rebooted and after a long delay I got

PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable PXE-M0F: Exiting Intel Boot Agent

and then

Operating System not found.

Rebooting from the XP CD and restarting the installation process, the installation CD found the previous partition and "knew" it was formatted. So, it feels to me like the BIOS isn't coping with the SSD even though the XP installation disk is. Is this right? I've subsequently read a few more forums and I'm beginning to sense that not all SSDs are going to work...

Is there anything I can do? the BIOS is version 1.29 which I think is more or less the latest? I'd like to use this disk if I can as I bought it over the counter in Hong Kong and can't easily get the money back

- Dave

[RealBlackStuff]

I hate to put a damper on, but what you bought (Samsung HM160HC) is an ordinary hard disk, 160GB/5400rpm, NOT an SSD.
It's a good one, though.
BIOS 1.29 and ECP 1.06 are the latest versions.
What is the TYPE of your T43 (sticker on bottom)?
Did the previous HD work OK?
What is the boot sequence in BIOS/Startup

[dcleal]

Oops, yes, you're quite right - must be losing it here - as you say, not an SSD...

Anyhow, the machine type is 1872-A22. The previous HD worked (and still works, just reinserted it) just fine. The startup sequence is

1. usb fdd
2. legacy floppy drive
3. atapi cd0:ujda765 dvd/cdrw-(sm)
4. usb cd
5. ide hdd0: samsung hm160hc-(pm)

I just tried rearranging this so that the third and fifth items in that list are first and second, which makes more sense to me, but it didn't affect the behaviour on booting without a cd present.

I then upgraded the ECP to 1.05, the latest I could find on the Lenovo web site (not 1.06, was that a typo?). I then attempted to redo the XP installation, but now it won't boot from my XP CD . Still boots from the old hard drive though. Maybe I'll just buy a new computer...

- Dave

[RealBlackStuff]

The HD is seen in BIOS, which is a good thing.
Something went wrong with the installation.

Another thing to test (before you wipe), run PC Doctor to find out if you have any hardware problems.
Link here: http://www.thinkpads.com/forum/viewtopi ... 85#p645185

Best is to start installation afresh and wipe your Hard Disk first.
You can run the free Active@KillDisk from http://www.killdisk.com/ or the free DBAN from http://www.dban.org/ to wipe the hard disk.
You can stop the ‘wiping’ after completion of about 5%, that’s enough to clear all partitions etc.
Then proceed to install from your XP CD.
BTW, what version XP (OEM, Home, Pro, Recovery, Dell/HP/etc.)?

BTW, you can eliminate HD Error: 2010 by installing the proper (unofficial modified) BIOS from here: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Problem_w ... hard_disks

[dcleal]

Thanks for the suggestion. And the XP is XP Pro.

I've tried ISOs of both these apps, neither is able to erase the disk.

One thing I forgot to say earlier: it takes way longer to boot from any given CD when this disk is in than when the old diski is. This seems odd to me... Anyway, both the erase tools fail after taking ages to run. The Kill Disk thing eventually says "ERROR: Error [128] reading sector 0 on 80h.". If I have the energy later I'm going to partially dismantle the machine so that I can confirm that the disk is seating properly in its socket.

- Dave

[dcleal]

So, I partially dismantled the machine and the disk appears to be seated firmly.

On a whim, I reinserted my old hard drive and booted the ISO CD I made from the killdisk.com. It came up in something like 20 seconds from completely powered off. By comparison, with the new hard drive inserted, it takes several minutes to fail to come up with the error message I mentioned before.

- Dave

[RealBlackStuff]

Return your hard disk for a refund or replacement.

You know that the hard disk has to go in upside down (label to the table), do you?

[dcleal]

yes, it's the correct way up. OK, disk going back (eventually). Thanks for your time

- Dave

[kge420]

Any bent pins or a jumper on that hdd?

[kge420]

Any bent pins or a jumper on that hdd?

[dcleal]

No bent pins, no jumper (which according to the hdd means its in "master" mode) - presumably it doesn't need to be cable sel or something does it?

- Dave

[RealBlackStuff]

No, it doesn't need any jumpers.
Return it before it's too late!