T41 BIOS not detecting SSD

[kasper.lindvig]

I have a problem with my bios not detecting the ssd in the hdd0 and hdd1 bays. It is detected in the usb port by the bios and I am able to use the drive fully functional from winxp and win7 when connected to the usb port. Running the cd1 of the 5 product recovering cd's, I am able to see the ssd as runcore in secondary slave mode from the pcdoctor system scanning. Even though the pin is set for master mode, all I get is slave. I am however not able to install the OS to the drive, as I get error#88 unable to find correct drive. I suspect the bios needs updating or the firmware of the ssd needs updating in order for the t41's bios to see the drive. I have downloaded the Solid State Drive Firmware Update Utility from the lenovo webpage, but I am hesitant to use it, as it only states compatibility with w500, t400 and t61 models. Mine is not among them. Also I see no firmware update utility on the runcore page, as downloading it apparently requires logging in, and that somehow is impossible (bad webpage). Any solution to my problem is well appreciated. Thanks!
Sincerly Kasper

[RealBlackStuff]

Welcome to the forum.
T41 only takes PATA drives, but with an adapter you can also use SATA drives.
See this thread at the top of this page: Make your T4x *FAST* by replacing the HDD with a SSD!!
Lenovo does not supply firmware for machines this old.
Also, you should ALWAYS only use firmware from the SSD manufacturer.

[kasper.lindvig]

Well the SSD also is a PATA drive. I would't buy a SATA drive when it only takes PATA. Besides I would not be able to insert the drive in the two bays if it were of the SATA type. The BIOS is upgaded to the newest version and the SSD is a: Runcore Pro IV PATA 2.5" 128GB MLC PLUS SSD RCP-IV-P25XX-MC.

I also suspect that updating the firmware of the SSD requires it to be situated in the IDE port. Not the USB port. And when the SSD is not being detected in the IDE port, then I will not be able to update the firmware, even if I somehow should get access to the firmware file (which I am not because there is a bug in runcore's webpage - one cannot log in to get the file). If the issue is solvable by firmware update, I would be required to use a newer laptop that detects the ssd (I don't have another one) and use that to update the firmware and then insert the SSD in my T41 to test whether it works.

Sincerely Kasper

[Johan]

Kasper:

Welcome to the forum - happy to see yet a countryman!

Suggestion: Try to entirely remove the master/slave-setting jumper from you Runcore SSD, and mount it (the SSD!) in the primary T41 HDD bay. Then, boot off e.g. the free "mini XP" - you may find it via this post. What happens then? FYI, in this post I'm reporting my experience with jumper-settings on two other types of 2.5" PATA SSD's.

As to updating whatever BIOS and/or FW, I certainly *wouldn't* attempt this in a non-perfectly running system (such as yours). Also, recall the good, old word: "If it ain't broken, don't fix it!" ... in other words carefully consider if whatever "upgrade" is likely to bring you any benefit(s)? I'd surely say, start out with the default BIOS, FW etc., and get things up and running (stable!), and then you may consider whether it's worth "updating" whatever?

...I would't buy a SATA drive when it only takes PATA...

Well, and as evident from the sticky pointed to by RealBlackStuff in the above post, SATA drives (SSD's and/or HDD's) can actually be used in old PATA-based e.g. T4x/p ThinkPad's, and SATA drives are the most popular SSD's in these laptops, owing to price/performance. To use a SATA drive in a the main HDD-bay of a PATA-based ThinkPad, you'll however need some sort of converter... see the sticky!

Johan