T420 ultrabay hdd without adapter

[alitahriki]

hi
im planning to buy an small ssd for system and use my old 500gb on ultrabay. but i need ultrabay hdd adapter for this but im planning to spend something like $70 for this ssd thing and adapter alone is about $30 here.
can i connect sata hdd to ultrabay without adapter ? just with cheap converter cables ?
does this ultrabay to sata adapter have any circuits in them, or they just convert two types of jacks to each other.
i dont mind putting extra cables around i can make them stick in the ultrabay bay

[dr_st]

The connector inside the Ultrabay is proprietary; it is not standard SATA. I am not sure they make direct converter cables between this connector and SATA, which are standard. Even if they do, I don't think it's a good idea to just have a wobbling exposed drive connected by cables.

A non-original Ultrabay adapter can be bought for about $10 on eBay, from a number of Far East sellers. I have one and it works well.

[alitahriki]

The connector inside the Ultrabay is proprietary; it is not standard SATA. I am not sure they make direct converter cables between this connector and SATA, which are standard. Even if they do, I don't think it's a good idea to just have a wobbling exposed drive connected by cables.

A non-original Ultrabay adapter can be bought for about $10 on eBay, from a number of Far East sellers. I have one and it works well.

im in turkey, with cargo it will be same price. :/
there are many adapters on sale on websites they all have same connectors like thinkpads (as far as i see from pictures).
it look like noone ever did this before :/

[dr_st]

im in turkey, with cargo it will be same price. :/

I would check on that before dismissing the possibility. Usually the sellers ship for free (or for a couple of $) to all locations in the world. Now, if you are charged import fees, it's a different story.

[rkawakami]

I would also not dismiss the possibility that the SATA connector inside the T420 Ultrabay is a standard connector: http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php/Ser ... Attachment

A SATA Slimline (7+6) extension cable would probably do. Note that I'm assuming that since Lenovo used a standard connector, they would not have messed around with the pin assignments. If they did, then optical drives made by different manufacturers would also have to know exactly what was non-standard. Since I've plugged in many different optical drives into Ultrabays and never have run into one that blew up the system (or drive), I'm betting that they stuck with the standard pinout/signaling. That said, there's nothing to keep a matching slimline connector firmly inserted since there's no mounting or retention holes for screws. About the only thing you could do is tape/glue down the cable inside the bay.
Sorry for the brain f@rt. I thought the OP was connecting an optical drive outside the Ultrabay. Now looking around for a Slimline to SATA cable...

[alitahriki]

im in turkey, with cargo it will be same price. :/

I would check on that before dismissing the possibility. Usually the sellers ship for free (or for a couple of $) to all locations in the world. Now, if you are charged import fees, it's a different story.

afais its mini sata on the serial ultrabay devices but i cant find any cable
https://www.google.com.tr/search?q=mini ... d=0CBoQsAQ

just another way, what if i plug internal hdd to esata port ? will it power on ? will it work ?

[alitahriki]

I would also not dismiss the possibility that the SATA connector inside the T420 Ultrabay is a standard connector: http://www.allpinouts.org/index.php/Ser ... Attachment

A SATA Slimline (7+6) extension cable would probably do. Note that I'm assuming that since Lenovo used a standard connector, they would not have messed around with the pin assignments. If they did, then optical drives made by different manufacturers would also have to know exactly what was non-standard. Since I've plugged in many different optical drives into Ultrabays and never have run into one that blew up the system (or drive), I'm betting that they stuck with the standard pinout/signaling. That said, there's nothing to keep a matching slimline connector firmly inserted since there's no mounting or retention holes for screws. About the only thing you could do is tape/glue down the cable inside the bay.

i didnt saw your post, but i think youre right. here is an image of serial ultrabay enhanced dvd multi iii
http://imgur.com/4Brj0F3
its just mini sata.

[alitahriki]

haha ! found it
http://www.microsatacables.com/slimline ... dapter-iii
cable i look for exits, all have to do is check local stores

[dr_st]

Ah, so it's a standard SATA (Slimline) after all. Good catch!

Another question is how easy it is to align it for connection inside the Ultrabay and keep it there.

Do let us know how this works for you.

[rkawakami]

I found another one by StarTech but it costs more. I will still have to say that you are in uncharted territory. I don't believe I've ever heard of anyone trying this out. dr_st's advice still applies: "I don't think it's a good idea to just have a wobbling exposed drive connected by cables".

[alitahriki]

Ah, so it's a standard SATA (Slimline) after all. Good catch!

Another question is how easy it is to align it for connection inside the Ultrabay and keep it there.

Do let us know how this works for you.

i have an empty travel bezel from my old t61, i will try to put hdd and cable on it.
only question left is : will aps work with this? afaik aps works via ata commands therefore it should be ok with sata cables.

[dr_st]

I believe so as well. In any case it should work, or not work, exactly the way it works, or doesn't work, with the normal adapter.

[EOMtp]

How much power do you suppose that internal slimline-SATA power connector can deliver?
Does anyone know:
1) If the slimline-SATA power spec is the same as the non-slimline-SATA power spec? And, if so,
2) Does that connector provide sufficient power for one standard 3.5" 7200RPM hard drive?

[rkawakami]

It would have to be able to supply enough current (power) for a standard laptop hard drive as that's exactly what a second HDD caddy uses. You would have to compare a laptop's drive current requirement with whatever desktop drive you're trying to put in there. One would assume not since I've seen adapter cables that have an extra 4-pin Molex power connector attached.

[EOMtp]

Thanks. I just realized that the slimline-SATA connector does not provide 12vdc, only provides 5vdc ... so, no point in trying to power a desktop drive off that connector.