Using the internal DVD/CD drive externally.

[dogbarber]

Now that I have another HD installed in the T61 Ultrabay, I'm out a DVD/CD bay.

I was going to buy an external player/burner, but somewhere on here I think I saw a photo of someone using their drive removed from the computer and laying on the table next to it with a cable coonected to it and running to the computer....USB port I assume.

Can someone point me to the cable I would need to make that happen?

Gracias!

[ZaZ]

I used to have a cable with connector for my R60 Blu ray drive that plugged into the drive and the R60 via the USB port. It worked quite well. I picked it up on eBay, though I don't know if they're still available. I think they used to make cases for the drive too, but again, I don't know if they're still being sold.

[rkawakami]

@dogbarber:

Based upon your description, you might have seen this site which I put up several years ago: http://www.kawakami-ca.com//ultrabay_slim_usb_adapter/

I never did get around to updating the page with the Windows test results, but it did work. I no longer have this adapter as it was swapped with another forum member for an enclosure which does the same Ultrabay Slim-to-USB conversion : http://www.kawakami-ca.com//ultrabay_slim_usb_housing/

There appear to be at least three eBay sellers that currently offer the same type of enclosure. Plug the following search string into the eBay search box:

(thinkpad,ibm) (t41,t61,slim,9.5mm) (ultrabay,optical,cdrom,dvd) usb (external,enclosure,adapter,case) -sata

[Norway Pad]

I bought one of these some years ago. http://www.ebay.com/itm/External-USB-en ... 33723fac45 Powered from the USB cable, works great, never any issues. Mine has the rubberized surface with the IBM logo printed on it, but otherwise it seems to be the same as this one.

[dogbarber]

Thank you everyone. I'll check these out!

[kony]

I use a drive from T430 externally:


I use usb - ide/sata combined with slimline sata and PC power cord.

usb to ide/sata:

Slimline sata:



Instead of PC power cord you can also use another usb cable to power the drive, but I didn't really want to, as I never take the drive with me when going outside, so it's more convenient for me to use a power cord and not to bother with plugging/unplugging another usb. If you want to power it via usb, you have to buy a different adapter.