Problems with non-thinkpad option drives on T43 thinkpads

Message

thefultonhow · #421 Post by **thefultonhow** » Sat Dec 22, 2007 11:11 pm

bzumwalt wrote:Special thanks to JHaislet for his efforts and especially the helping hand in making this happen for me.

Make sure you download the latest Firmware HDD Update from Lenovo - For this one is is FWHD49 Release Date of 10-02-2007. Go here to get it http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 62282.html

Make the bootable CD from the iso image then boot to it. Hit CRTL+C during the boot up to take you to DOS. Then type the following commands.

1) COPY MCZIA5CA.BDR MZOA5CA.BDR
2) HFUI15 OASCA MCZIA5CA.BDR /F MPCA5CAB.TBL
3) HFUI15 IA5CA MCZOA5CA.BDR /F MPCA5CAB.TBL

Power down your machine. Then power it back up and no more 2010 errors!!! Cheers!

Thanks again to JHaislet and this community. My T43P is the best computer I have ever owned and I love this little laptop to death. It sounds cheesy, but I have more admiration for this machine than any MAC user could have for theirs hands down.

-Brandon

I'm slightly confused. Does this firmware upgrade work on non-Hitachi drives? Specifically, WD ones? I'm going to get the WD 250 gig IDE drive to replace my current 160 gig Hitachi. I've been living with the 2010 error for about a year, but I'd love to get rid of it for good if I can.

JHaislet · #422 Post by **JHaislet** » Sun Dec 23, 2007 2:28 am

I have no experience with non-Hitachi drives.

I know IBM has firmware update CD's for other hard drives firmware, but I've got no idea if they work for regular retail/oem hdd's not purchased through IBM/Lenovo; nor do I have any idea if such firmware will remove the boot error code on T43's.

Paranoid_TP_User · #423 Post by **Paranoid_TP_User** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 8:39 am

Hi,

Can anyone tell me what I have one wrong please? I have the exact same Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 drive and I have tried the steps below...

Booted from the cd, exited to dos after it had booted. Typed
COPY MCZIA51A.BDR MCZOA51A.BDR
but I got an error "MCZIA51A.BDR file not found".

Cheers, and Happy New Year

vennstrom wrote: Revision 0.2 (wrong steps numbering...too excited !)

Hitachi HTS721010G9AT00 100GB 7200rpm with firmware MCZOA51A

1) COPY MCZIA51A.BDR MCZOA51A.BDR
2) COPY MC4IA51A.BDF MC4OA51A.BDF
3) HFUI15 OA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL
4) HFUI15 IA51A MCZIA51A.BDR /F MPCA51AB.TBL

SteveS · #424 Post by **SteveS** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 11:20 am

Look in the CD files using My Computer and see if you find the file. There should be a large number of files on the CD. If you only see one large one, then you did not unpack the file and just copied it from the Lenovo web site. The file is a packed image file intended for a CD burner program such as Record Now or Nero. The program will unpack it when it burns it. Follow the instructions from the web site carefully to correctly unpack the image file.

Paranoid_TP_User · #425 Post by **Paranoid_TP_User** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 4:11 pm

Well that's interesting, here are the files on the CD that start with 'M':

Perhaps I should be using the files:

MCZIA5CA.BDR and MPCA5CAB.TBL

Although I am pretty sure the firmware version of the drive says MCZOA51A

SteveS wrote:Look in the CD files using My Computer and see if you find the file. There should be a large number of files on the CD. If you only see one large one, then you did not unpack the file and just copied it from the Lenovo web site. The file is a packed image file intended for a CD burner program such as Record Now or Nero. The program will unpack it when it burns it. Follow the instructions from the web site carefully to correctly unpack the image file.

Paranoid_TP_User · #426 Post by **Paranoid_TP_User** » Tue Jan 01, 2008 5:13 pm

OK so here is what I went with:

COPY MCZIA5CA.BDR MCZOA5CA.BDR
HFUI15 OA5CA MCZIA5CA.BDR /F MPCA5CAB.TBL
HFUI15 IA5CA MCZOA5CA.BDR /F MPCA5CAB.TBL

My firmware version was MCZOA51A, and the drive was HTS721010G9AT00.

Interestingly the flashing program said:
"This program is prepared for Model HTS7210xxM9AT00" (M instead of G). Also both instructions said they failed.

No more 2010 error though, so I am going to run with it...

Cheers for pointing me in the right direction.

Murcielago · #427 Post by **Murcielago** » Fri Jan 04, 2008 1:28 am

guys..i saw some western digital, hitachi and samsung drives. all are IDE and 2.5" drives. how do i know which of the drives can fit without pressing the esc key and have the harddisk protection features?

alyster4k · #428 Post by **alyster4k** » Sat Jan 05, 2008 9:35 pm

Paranoid_TP_User wrote:OK so here is what I went with:

COPY MCZIA5CA.BDR MCZOA5CA.BDR
HFUI15 OA5CA MCZIA5CA.BDR /F MPCA5CAB.TBL
HFUI15 IA5CA MCZOA5CA.BDR /F MPCA5CAB.TBL

My firmware version was MCZOA51A, and the drive was HTS721010G9AT00.

Interestingly the flashing program said:
"This program is prepared for Model HTS7210xxM9AT00" (M instead of G). Also both instructions said they failed.

No more 2010 error though, so I am going to run with it...

Cheers for pointing me in the right direction.

Same drive, same errors, worked as well! Thanks guys.

July69 · #429 Post by **July69** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 11:12 am

5 months ago I upgrades my T43p 2687-M8U with a 100 GB Hitachi 7200 rpm following the instructions on this forum. Thanks a lot!

It works great, but my HDD is getting smaller.

So, I would like to upgrade to 160 GB Hitachi 5400 rpm. I just wonder if the HDD firmware uprade procedure (fashing) will work the same way it worked w/ the 100 GB Hitachi @ 7200 rpm, or I have to use another procedure if at all.

I would highly appreciagte any advice or experience on this issue. I don't want to spend the moeny only to discover that it does not work. I did this mistake already with 160 GB Seagate...

Please, respond!

SteveS · #430 Post by **SteveS** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:52 am

July69 wrote:

So, I would like to upgrade to 160 GB Hitachi 5400 rpm. I just wonder if the HDD firmware uprade procedure (fashing) will work the same way it worked w/ the 100 GB Hitachi @ 7200 rpm, or I have to use another procedure if at all.

Sorry – no it won’t. If you look in the list of drives supported (look in one of the text files in the CD-ROM you burned from the image file), you won’t see anything beyond the 100 GB HGST that you upgraded.

Lenovo only supports the upgrade on the models of IDE drives that they sold with either Lenovo or prior IBM part numbers. If you look at the HMM for the T43, you see that the largest drive IBM or Lenovo ever offered was the 100 GB.

The FW flash image for any drive is specific to that particular model. Among other things, it knows the capacity of the drive, how many active disk surfaces, etc. you can not use the FW image of a 100 GB drive in a 160 GB.

July69 · #431 Post by **July69** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 8:39 am

SteveS wrote:July69 wrote:
So, I would like to upgrade to 160 GB Hitachi 5400 rpm. I just wonder if the HDD firmware uprade procedure (fashing) will work the same way it worked w/ the 100 GB Hitachi @ 7200 rpm, or I have to use another procedure if at all.
Sorry – no it won’t. If you look in the list of drives supported (look in one of the text files in the CD-ROM you burned from the image file), you won’t see anything beyond the 100 GB HGST that you upgraded.

Lenovo only supports the upgrade on the models of IDE drives that they sold with either Lenovo or prior IBM part numbers. If you look at the HMM for the T43, you see that the largest drive IBM or Lenovo ever offered was the 100 GB.

The FW flash image for any drive is specific to that particular model. Among other things, it knows the capacity of the drive, how many active disk surfaces, etc. you can not use the FW image of a 100 GB drive in a 160 GB.

Thanks a lot SteveS!

Your advice and expertise saves me the extra$$$!

On the other hand I was so disappointed with IBM - they have made a big BS with the T43...

I.e. all the money I spend on this IBM was to serve me for 1.5 yrs and now I have to buy another laptop, and it is simply b/c I cannot upgrade the stupid HDD?!?

I will think twice before I buy another IBM again.

JHaislet · #432 Post by **JHaislet** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 9:31 am

Or just get an Ultrabay hdd adapter and add another 100GB drive where your dvd drive is.

Does anyone know if you'll get the error with a non-supported drive in the Ultra bay as well?

July69 · #433 Post by **July69** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:33 pm

JHaislet wrote:Or just get an Ultrabay hdd adapter and add another 100GB drive where your dvd drive is.

Does anyone know if you'll get the error with a non-supported drive in the Ultra bay as well?

Yes, you are right I can use it in the Ultrabay I have already used 160 GB HDD in my Ultrabay without any problems. But it is kid of inconvenience to swap between the DVD and the HDD, especially when you have some of the stuff on the Ultrabay HDD and you would like to burn it on DVD…

But this is kid of solution for now, although not the perfect one. I would prefer the 160 GB HDD as my primarily HDD.

Oh, IBM engineers, I am so mad at your stupidity to put the SATA – PATA bridge on the T43p such a stupid solution!!!!!!

Otherwise I like my T43p.

SteveS · #434 Post by **SteveS** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 1:28 pm

You do not get the error message when a non-compatible drive is used in the ultra-slim bay adapter. The adapter goes not go through the SATA I/O port.

I have already commented on the reason IBM engineers used the SATA to PATA bridge. Don’t be mad at them – if you want to pass blame, it should go to the drive manufactures, who ALL slipped their design schedules for 2.5” SATA drives. If they had actually held their schedule to what they communicated to IBM, the T43 would have shipped with superior SATA drives, and they would have not needed to design in the bridge chip at the last minute.

July69 · #435 Post by **July69** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:41 pm

SteveS wrote:You do not get the error message when a non-compatible drive is used in the ultra-slim bay adapter. The adapter goes not go through the SATA I/O port.

I have already commented on the reason IBM engineers used the SATA to PATA bridge. Don’t be mad at them – if you want to pass blame, it should go to the drive manufactures, who ALL slipped their design schedules for 2.5” SATA drives. If they had actually held their schedule to what they communicated to IBM, the T43 would have shipped with superior SATA drives, and they would have not needed to design in the bridge chip at the last minute.

Thanks SteveS!
Do you have an answer for the following scenario:
I was wondering if there is any way I can take away this PATA bridge and with some extra hardware work, add an SATA connector and use a SATA drive instead of the PATA one. Is that doable and will I get the 2010 Error?
I love my IBM especially since although T43p come with 128 MB graphic card, for some reason my came with 256 MB ATI Graphic card, and I don't mind at all!!!:D

I will appreciate some input on that one!

JHaislet · #436 Post by **JHaislet** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:15 pm

July69 wrote: Thanks SteveS!
Do you have an answer for the following scenario:
I was wondering if there is any way I can take away this PATA bridge and with some extra hardware work, add an SATA connector and use a SATA drive instead of the PATA one. Is that doable and will I get the 2010 Error?
I love my IBM especially since although T43p come with 128 MB graphic card, for some reason my came with 256 MB ATI Graphic card, and I don't mind at all!!!:D

I will appreciate some input on that one!

Nope...unless you have about $2+ million in equipment, 5+ years experience in IC's, and access to trademarked material on the chips...

July69 · #437 Post by **July69** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:26 pm

JHaislet wrote: Nope...unless you have about $2+ million in equipment, 5+ years experience in IC's, and access to trademarked material on the chips...

Well this sucks, since I don’t have the $ 2 million… I guess, I have to grin and bear it… Or insted of the $ 2 million just spend $2200 to upgrade my HDD with a new T61p.

Life is not fair!

rpmorrison · #438 Post by **rpmorrison** » Tue Jan 29, 2008 6:05 pm

I have tried to read through this whole set of posts and get an idea about what drive that I can truly upgrade my T43 model # 266872U too.

This is a summary of my system:

OS information: Microsoft Windows XP
OS version: 5.10.2600 Service Pack 2
Processor: x86 Family 6 Model 13 Stepping 8
Memory: 1,046,960 kb
BIOS version: 1.29 (1YET65WW)
Machine type-Model: 266872U

BIOS INFORMATION ******************************
BIOS version: 1.29 (1YET65WW)
BIOS date : 2006-08-21
Embedded controller version: 1.06
Machine type-Model: 266872U
System board serial number: VF0AJ7C1F64

My desire is to put a new drive in this system and then use the system restore disks to build the new drive thus leaving all my existing data on my old drive and then putting my old drive in a USB housing to access the data. This would give me a fresh machine with a larger drive.

I have tried to do my homework by reading all these posts back to 2005 on this subject but there are several things that are not clear in my thinking. I understand from what has been written (although I wish it could be different) the reason why the T43 units have the PATA interface and also the issue with the 2010 error message on startup with drives that are “not approved” and the need for the firmware on the drive to be updated. Please read through all of my questions before answering.

1. The bios update version 1.24 for the T43 gave the ability to bypass the 2010 message as seen below. However Lenovo’s note states or maybe asks that one use the supported versions of the Hard Drives. Does anyone have thoughts on why they ask that? Is it important to only use Lenovo’s drive recommendations where you can update the firmware on that drive to the Lenovo firmware? What is the reason for this, does anyone know? Maybe I did not read this or did not recognize it in all of my reading of this thread. If this is no big deal than I can just go and purchase any PATA drive and put it in and bypass the 2010 warning. If it is important than I need to stick to the drives that Lenovo supports and I have a bunch more questions below that I believe are relevant as well.

<1.24 (1YET59WW)>
Note:
This BIOS version will only work with Embedded Controller Program
Version 1.03 (or higher).

- (New) A new BIOS setup option, that allows system startup without
pressing the ESC key on POST 2010 warning message.
Its location is 'BIOS Setup menu'->'Startup'->'Boot after
message for Hard drive...'.
Note: The cause of the 2010 message is using unsupported hard
drive firmware version. Please use supported version.

2. If I get a larger drive than my 80GB which is the standard on my system will it not rebuild my hidden info to restore the system properly because it is not the original size that it came with?

3. I have a complete set of restore disks that I had sent to me when I had a major problem about 1 year ago and had to rebuild the system. If I get a larger hard drive will this answer my first question and will it rebuild the drive properly?

4. I have gone to the links that were in the different posts and have looked specifically at the HGST drives. That is the make that I presently have. Mine is a 5400 RPM drive. I see that they make a 100 GB 7200 rpm drive and that they now make a 160 GB 5400 rpm drive with the perpendicular storage and it is a PATA drive. Does anyone know if these drives will work? I noticed that different ones said they had used both and I could not get a clear picture if the 160 GB worked without the 2010 error. It seemed that at least one person was able to get the 100 GB 7200 RPM drive to work properly and those drives are supported by a firmware update.

The Travelstar models from HGST for notebook computers which have PATA interfaces that I can find on their web site are listed below. The bottom 4 are supported with firmware from Lenovo’s site. Mine is from the 5K100 series. I would like to get 160 GB from the 5K160 series.

Drive Name Size Capacity Speed Interfaces (in.) (GB) (RPM) Storage Firmware Update
Travelstar 7K100 2.5 60-100 7200 SATA, PATA Yes
Travelstar 5K160 2.5 40-160 5400 SATA, PATA Perpendicular ?
Travelstar 5K100 2.5 40-100 5400 SATA, PATA Yes
Travelstar 5K80 2.5 40-80 5400 PATA Yes
Travelstar 7K60 2.5 60 7200 PATA Yes
Travelstar 4K40 2.5 20-40 4200 PATA Yes

5. The 160 GB drive also notes that its interface is ATA-7 where as the other drives without the perpendicular storage are ATA-6 drives. Is there a difference between these two interfaces or is this some new nomenclature to differentiate this drive from the non perpendicular storage drives?

6. I have gone to the URL for the firmware update software on the Lenovo site however it can be a pain on some of these drives to figure out what particular models they are. Any feed back on the firmware update software regarding these different drives would be helpful.

7. It seems to me that the Hitachi drives are a safe bet but if you know of others that are in the 160 GB range and that work then I am open to them as well. I would like to get a larger drive that will work with my T43P and that will give me a new lease on the life of this unit. It continues to run well.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Rob Morrison

July69 · #439 Post by **July69** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 7:41 am

rpmorrison wrote: 1. The bios update version 1.24 for the T43 gave the ability to bypass the 2010 message as seen below. However Lenovo’s note states or maybe asks that one use the supported versions of the Hard Drives. Does anyone have thoughts on why they ask that? Is it important to only use Lenovo’s drive recommendations where you can update the firmware on that drive to the Lenovo firmware? What is the reason for this, does anyone know? Maybe I did not read this or did not recognize it in all of my reading of this thread. If this is no big deal than I can just go and purchase any PATA drive and put it in and bypass the 2010 warning. If it is important than I need to stick to the drives that Lenovo supports and I have a bunch more questions below that I believe are relevant as well.

- (New) A new BIOS setup option, that allows system startup without
pressing the ESC key on POST 2010 warning message.
Its location is 'BIOS Setup menu'->'Startup'->'Boot after
message for Hard drive...'.
Note: The cause of the 2010 message is using unsupported hard
drive firmware version. Please use supported version.

2. If I get a larger drive than my 80GB which is the standard on my system will it not rebuild my hidden info to restore the system properly because it is not the original size that it came with?

3. I have a complete set of restore disks that I had sent to me when I had a major problem about 1 year ago and had to rebuild the system. If I get a larger hard drive will this answer my first question and will it rebuild the drive properly?

4. I have gone to the links that were in the different posts and have looked specifically at the HGST drives. That is the make that I presently have. Mine is a 5400 RPM drive. I see that they make a 100 GB 7200 rpm drive and that they now make a 160 GB 5400 rpm drive with the perpendicular storage and it is a PATA drive. Does anyone know if these drives will work? I noticed that different ones said they had used both and I could not get a clear picture if the 160 GB worked without the 2010 error. It seemed that at least one person was able to get the 100 GB 7200 RPM drive to work properly and those drives are supported by a firmware update.

The Travelstar models from HGST for notebook computers which have PATA interfaces that I can find on their web site are listed below. The bottom 4 are supported with firmware from Lenovo’s site. Mine is from the 5K100 series. I would like to get 160 GB from the 5K160 series.

Drive Name Size Capacity Speed Interfaces (in.) (GB) (RPM) Storage Firmware Update
Travelstar 7K100 2.5 60-100 7200 SATA, PATA Yes
Travelstar 5K160 2.5 40-160 5400 SATA, PATA Perpendicular ?
Travelstar 5K100 2.5 40-100 5400 SATA, PATA Yes
Travelstar 5K80 2.5 40-80 5400 PATA Yes
Travelstar 7K60 2.5 60 7200 PATA Yes
Travelstar 4K40 2.5 20-40 4200 PATA Yes

5. The 160 GB drive also notes that its interface is ATA-7 where as the other drives without the perpendicular storage are ATA-6 drives. Is there a difference between these two interfaces or is this some new nomenclature to differentiate this drive from the non perpendicular storage drives?

Thanks for your help in advance.

Rob Morrison

Hi, Rob!

Good questions. Although I don't have answers to all of them, here is what I can say from my own experience:

Hitachi 100GB @ 7200 rmp will work after flashing the firmware. I use my 100GB for 5 months already without any problems. I upgraded from 80GB Fujitsu (the original HDD that came w/ my T43p).

RE the post warning message 2010 and not having to press the ESC key, yes there is such a function in the BIOS, but you will still get the 2010 message (for a sec or two) and the annoying sound every time you start, go out of slipping mode or hibernation. Believe me you won’t be able to stand this annoying feature for long.

RE the 160 GB HDD, I am interested in that too, but I haven’t heard of anyone who was able to install and flash a HDD of that capacity successfully; the reason being that IBM/Lenovo does not support that large drives w/ firmware update; the largest drives they support is 100 GB.
I have personally played with Seagate Momentum 160GB HDD without any success, i.e. it works fine even better than my Hitachi 100GB @ 7200rmp (as fast as the Hitachi but absolutely quiet), but the annoying 2010 is there. BTW, Seagate even 100 GB although seemingly supported w/ firmware update by Lenovo cannot be flashed, I have tried that too.

I was just wondering if Hitachi 160 GB @ 5400 could be flashed anyhow, although everyone here on this forum says it is theoretically impossible. I wonder what the practical experience would say?

Good luck!

SteveS · #440 Post by **SteveS** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 6:32 pm

july69 wrote:

I was just wondering if Hitachi 160 GB @ 5400 could be flashed anyhow, although everyone here on this forum says it is theoretically impossible. I wonder what the practical experience would say?

I don’t think you will get anyone giving practical experience here. If the model is not on the list in the file FW.PRO, the image does not exist on the disk. Every drive model has a different firmware image, even similar models in the same series from a given vendor. Burning an image of a 100 GB drive into a 160 GB would in the best case, only give you a 100 GB drive, more likely confuse the electronics ruining the drive. The only way around this would be if you were a SW engineer who worked for HGST, or had access to the source code and could modify and compile it independently. Not likely.

July69 · #441 Post by **July69** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 8:41 pm

SteveS wrote:july69 wrote:
I don’t think you will get anyone giving practical experience here. If the model is not on the list in the file FW.PRO, the image does not exist on the disk. Every drive model has a different firmware image, even similar models in the same series from a given vendor. Burning an image of a 100 GB drive into a 160 GB would in the best case, only give you a 100 GB drive, more likely confuse the electronics ruining the drive. The only way around this would be if you were a SW engineer who worked for HGST, or had access to the source code and could modify and compile it independently. Not likely.

Hey, SteveS and everyone here,

Is there any practical way to REALY disable the HDD recognition by the BIOS which classifies the drive as not supported, so that I can use my 160GB HDD, since I have used it for about a month or so without loosing any data or having any corrupted files.

I understand the 2010 error is there to protect me and so on and bla-bla, but if I really can get rid of the message I will used my 160GB HDD. I am willing to take the risk.

Anyone who is that good here on this forum and can make T43p to stop annoying me with the 2010 error?

sashikawa · #442 Post by **sashikawa** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:23 am

I've heared about one method to disable 2010 error. It is nessesary to downgrade BIOS to 1.04 (or earlier). But I don't know how does it will be working with 250G HDD

July69 · #443 Post by **July69** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:10 pm

sashikawa wrote:I've heared about one method to disable 2010 error. It is nessesary to downgrade BIOS to 1.04 (or earlier). But I don't know how does it will be working with 250G HDD

It is obvious that Lenovo has put something in the BIOS to detect the so called IBM drivers and if a non IBM HDD is discovered it is classified as not good. Although IBM does not manufacture HDDs (there are all the same HDD that one uses in the other laptops around the world) T43p will tell you that the Hitachi that is not bought through IBM is no good, but once you have put the letter "I" instead of "O" in the firmware code, suddenly the HDD is good. So it is all about the BIOS, people.

It seems that something in the BIOS has to be changed and the annoying Error Message will be taken care of. Just someone has to know what exactly to change. I am not sure what the effect of downgrading the BIOS will be, most of the time the BIOS was upgraded because some errors were found in the previous editions, so I am not sure what the effect would be and if it will work at all.

rpmorrison · #444 Post by **rpmorrison** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 4:24 pm

It looks like some of these bios updates are pretty important to me and that I would rather not downgrade my Bios for this purpose. Here is a quick detail of the Bios releases and if you go here you can get the specifics on the changes and upgrades.

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-59096

ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mo ... uj18us.txt

Released Versions
-----------------
Where:
BIOS version (BIOS internal ID) Description

1.00a (1YET37WW/24 Dec 2004) Initial Release for ThinkPad T43
1.01 (1YET38WW/18 Jan 2005) A problem fix
1.02 (1YET39WW/19 Jan 2005) A problem fix
1.03a (1YET41WW/31 Mar 2005) Support for new parts
1.04 (1YET42WW/08 Apr 2005) A function enhancement and problem fix
1.05 (1YET43WW/28 Apr 2005) A problem fix
1.06a (1YET45WW/02 Jun 2005) A function enhancement and problem fix
1.07 (1YET46WW/06 Jun 2005) A problem fix
1.08 (1YET47WW/09 Jun 2005) A problem fix
1.21 (1YET56WW/06 Jul 2005) A function enhancement and problem fix
1.22 (1YET57WW/20 Jul 2005) A function enhancement
1.23 (1YET58WW/15 Sep 2005) A problem fix
1.24 (1YET59WW/07 Nov 2005) A function enhancement and problem fix
1.25 (1YET60WW/23 Jan 2006) A function enhancement and problem fix
1.26 (1YET61WW/20 Feb 2006) A problem fix
1.27 (1YET62WW/18 May 2006) A problem fix
1.28 (1YET64WW/07 Jul 2006) A problem fix
1.29 (1YET65WW/21 Aug 2006) A function enhancement

Regarding the Bios updates you also have to make sure that you have the proper embedded controler program as well. That can be found here:

http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... MIGR-59120

Rob

JHaislet · #445 Post by **JHaislet** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 4:33 pm

Just forget it...I wouldn't suggest downgrading the bios.
Update the bios & controller to the latest versions, pop in a 100GB 7200 RPM HDD and be done with it.
If that's not enough, get an external HDD, Ultrabay HDD or upgrade to a new laptop...

July69 · #446 Post by **July69** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:25 pm

JHaislet wrote:Just forget it...I wouldn't suggest downgrading the bios.
Update the bios & controller to the latest versions, pop in a 100GB 7200 RPM HDD and be done with it.
If that's not enough, get an external HDD, Ultrabay HDD or upgrade to a new laptop...

Yes, you are right JHaislet an ultrabay and an external HDD is kind of solution for someone who have bought a no-name laptop, but not when you have spend thousands of $$$$ for a laptop having the IBM logo on it.

But for one thing I agree w/ you, upgrading to a new laptop...
We spend too much time, money and effort on these T43 laptops. If I just count the time I spent on researching on my T43p and looking for solution for the PATA-SATA bridge stupidity I would have earned the money for a new laptop.
But it is our human nature; we don't like the idea of being [censored] off, ripped off or whatever you call it. Therefore we waist our time and money on researching how to make our T43 to serve us a little bit longer.
But I will stop doing it. I am starting saving money for my next laptop. 100 GB is the max for our machines...

T43p has served me just 1.5 yrs and has reached its max capacity. My previous laptop was a Sony Vaio and served my for 5.5 yrs, before reaching its max capacity - Processor was too slow, but I could have upgraded the HDD even today.

I'm very, very disappointed with IBM; they don't even care about us since they have gotten our money already. They could have easily upgraded the firmware and included some 160GB HDD on their firmware upgrade list, but they simply don't care. I wonder why should I care buying an IBM laptop again?!

SteveS · #447 Post by **SteveS** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:27 am

There is obvious a difference in opinion here. But when you study it, you see the last post has some contradictory statements.

Yes, you are right JHaislet an ultrabay and an external HDD is kind of solution for someone who have bought a no-name laptop, but not when you have spend thousands of $$$$ for a laptop having the IBM logo on it

Very true.

They could have easily upgraded the firmware and included some 160GB HDD on their firmware upgrade list, but they simply don't care.

Yes, for a cheap, no name laptop, the vendor could recommend any old drive. But IBM / Lenovo has a reputation of quality and reliability. Qualifying a new disk drive is not a 30 minute exercise of some engineer looking at a drive vendor’s data sheet. It takes several engineer-weeks of testing to make sure that a new drive has no compatibility or reliability problems interacting with the PC hardware and firmware. This is a big investment, and probably does not pay off after the laptop is phased out. That is not to say that after life support from Lenovo is cheap. Another thread in the forum discussed the design reliability of the T43 versus the T60 series. Some members feel that Lenovo pushed the engineers for a “cheaper” design. I doubt that. There are plenty of ways that Lenovo could save a lot of money before pushing engineering to design PCs with lower production costs –
Support is a big one. I am amazed at how much support Lenovo invests years after the model is discontinued. Look at the driver page. You still see driver updates for PCs that were discontinued 4-5 years ago, possibly even longer. This support costs *a lot* of money. Again, for every driver update, there is a tremendous amount of engineering time invested in testing.

And to be honest, exceeding 100 GB of HD space is not a limitation that would obsolete a laptop for probably 90% of the customer base. Look at the use model. Most users are business people who use the PC for e-mail, running Office programs, researching material from the web, etc. At my company, our entire sales staff is using X40s with 40 GB max drive capacity. This is not a limitation for their work productivity. As the laptop has replaced the desktop for some of us, sure, 100 GB can be limiting when we want to store family movies on it. But again, we represent the tiny minority of users.

Which is why I contend that qualifying larger drives beyond 100 GB for a computer that was discontinued over a year ago is not a good investment for Lenovo.
So it gets back to the advice given by rpmorrison. If your use model pushes you beyond 100 GB, save your money for a new model.

sashikawa · #448 Post by **sashikawa** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:54 am

I know a man who had downgrated BIOS ans disables 2010 error. This is the link to forum (sorry, but in russian) http://forum.ixbt.com/topic.cgi?id=17:18341-3 (his nickname is anton516)

JHaislet · #449 Post by **JHaislet** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 8:00 am

I get along just fine with a 100GB HDD.

I built an inexpensive file server and it's connected to a gigabit network.
With hundreds of gigs of files at my fingertip, storage isn't even an issue.
Most larger files fly across the network at 25+ MB/s (I've seen bursts up to 45 MB/s).
This is practically the same speed ATA100 drives will give you locally, and it's noticeably faster than USB 2.0 external hdd's.

vt_dave · #450 Post by **vt_dave** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 11:49 am

moon wrote:
badsmith wrote:I purchased Hitachi 5k100/80G (HTS541080G9AT00; MB4OA60A). I got 2010 at first.
<snipped>
reboot , no 2010
It's been a while since someone updated this procedure. Thanks to messar and badsmith for the clues:

0. Hitachi 5k100/80G (HTS541080G9AT00, firmware version MB4OA60A), got 2010 message on boot

1. download fwhd48.iso from IBM: http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site. ... 62282.html

you'll also need an ISO editor, a binary file editor, and disc image burning software
[if you don't have them, download free/trial MagicISO and UltraEdit32]

2. extract mpbA60Ab.tbl from fwhd48.iso (MagicISO)
delete mpbA60Ab.tbl from fwhd48.iso (MagicISO)

3. modify extracted mpbA60Ab.tbl file: (UltraEdit32)

replace "A56J" with "A60A"
replace "A5BJ" with "A60A"

4. extract MB4IA60A.bdf from fwhd48.iso, but leave it in the iso (MagicISO)

5. copy MB4IA60A.bdf to MB4OA60A.bdf

6. add mpbA60Ab.tbl and MB4OA60A.bdr back into the iso (MagicISO)
save the iso (MagicISO)

7. burn the modified iso to disc (e.g. Nero Express)

8. boot with the disc; immediately quit once the firmware application loads,
at the a:\ or c:\ prompt, type:

hfui14.exe OA60A -pm MB4IA60A.bdr /f mpbA60Ab.tbl

press 'U' to upgrade; you will get an upgrade error/failure, then press any key to exit

9. at the a:\ or c:\ prompt, type:

hfui14.exe IA60A -pm MB4IA60A.bdr /f mpbA60Ab.tbl

press 'U' to upgrade; on success, press any key to exit

10. no 2010 message on reboot, firmware version MB4IA60A

Does anyone know if there are steps like this for the 5K160 series 120 GB Hitachi? (http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/site/e ... 7eac4f0a0/)

I just got this drive after my 80 Gig fujitsu died and this problem is a serious concern :-/

Thanks,
-Dave

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