X30 + mSATA SSD + 1.8" 3,3V IDE/mSATA adapter

[kobalt]

Hi there,

I'm trying to boost my old X30 and to replace the current 2,5" 40gb hitachi HDD with a SSD.

I already own a 16gb Sandisk mSATA SSD, which is functional (tested and working in my X220).

I bought this 44pins 1,8" IDE/mSATA adapter at a local electronic store, which most certainly comes from Ebay or a random chinese gross electronic reseller. It was the only adapter available in this store, no 2.5".
It's labeled HX-801, chipset is JM20330. I know it's very cheap and sometimes comes as defected (this page : http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/How_to_pu ... _ThinkPads). But mine looks ok. Picture of the one I bought :



I've been able to plug it in the X30's IDE port, once the keyboard is removed it provides easy access to it.
But even though the Thinkpad boots, the SSD won't appear in hard drives listing in BIOS.

I plugged it in my HDD docking station (multi IDE/SATA format compatible) and it won't appear either on Windows Disk Manager.


So my first thought was "ok, i just bought a defected adapter".

But I was wondering if voltage could be an issue here ?
I do suspect a faulty 5V to 3,3V conversion.

Does someone have any trick to make it working in my X30 or should I just forget about it ?

Thank you.

Cheers

[Dekks]

You had better quickly read forum rules about large pics before you get roasted.

FWIW i used a addonics adapter and it worked fine with my Kingston 16GB drive in addition to a 32GB CF card as home partition on my X30. So it will work, quite speedy too although it's overkill as the IDE interface is a major bottleneck. But as you say make sure you match the voltages.

[kobalt]

I guess this is your adapter ? : http://www.addonics.com/products/adms25ide.php

It looks like way better built than my cheap adapter, but price tag isn't the same at all (bought mine 2,50€...)
I don't mind buying the same item, but i was looking for the most unexpensive way to re-use my 16gb mSATA SSD...

thx for the tip anyway.

[automobus]

> But mine looks ok.

It did look okay, but what does it look like now? You might find burnt parts.

But even though the ThinkPad boots, the SSD won't appear in hard drives listing in BIOS.

"the ThinkPad boots" is misleading. Did you mean to say 'the ThinkPad POSTs'?

But I was wondering if voltage could be an issue here?
I do suspect a faulty 5V to 3,3V conversion.

Voltage is the issue here, of course. 5-to-3,3 conversion is not faulty: it is absent! That little blob of solder achieves short-circuit instead of a voltage regulator, for use in 3,3 volt host (X40 family). You might have damaged SSD or bridge board, both, or if you were lucky, neither. Please test it once again in X220.

[kobalt]

Thx automobus for these informations.

It doesn't look burnt or damaged, no smell. I don't have my voltometer right now with me to conduct further testing.
Well I should have look for more documentation before plugging this in the Thinkpad, will remember about this next time I quickly buy a cheap electronic item.

I tested the SSD in my X220, it still works without a flaw. hdparm bench commands return a surprisingly nice 230MB/s by the way, I wasn't expecting such raw transfert rates with a cheap 16Gb SSD.

Indeed the X30 "POST" and does not boot. It stays frozen for about 30 sec on the IBM POST splash screen, then it tries to switched to next bootable source, LAN in my case.

X30 motherboard is ok since it boots with the regular 40Gb HDD without problem.

So in the end i have to find the same kind of adapter, but rated 5V ? There are tons of them in Ebay.

[Dekks]

It looks like way better built than my cheap adapter, but price tag isn't the same at all (bought mine 2,50€...)
I don't mind buying the same item, but i was looking for the most unexpensive way to re-use my 16gb mSATA SSD...

When it comes to these adapters i've found it's best to stick to known brands rather some knock off from ebay. Bet with the addonics you probably wouldn't have needed this thread.

[automobus]

kobalt, if you visit your local store again, then please tell the shopkeepers to put an informational notice on the shelf, or on the part package. Other buyers might make the mistake of connecting it to 5V. You are lucky to have a local store which sells such parts! If you are willing to shop eBay marketplace, then you might consider two bridge board models which I refer to as N-1801 and N-2507I. I do not know who is responsible for those parts, they are of anonymous origin. LyCOM ST-173 is a good choice, while usually expensive.

best to stick to known brands rather some knock off

If you are suggesting ADMS25IDE, then be aware: Addonics is a re-brander, not a designer, not an engineer, nor a manufacturer.

edit 2016-03-07 correct N-2507I (was N-25071)

[Dekks]

If you are suggesting ADMS25IDE, then be aware: Addonics is a re-brander, not a designer, not an engineer, nor a manufacturer.

But a known factor, the only ones i'll use are addonics & lycom.

[kobalt]

kobalt, if you visit your local store again, then please tell the shopkeepers to put an informational notice on the shelf, or on the part package. Other buyers might make the mistake of connecting it to 5V. You are lucky to have a local store which sells such parts! If you are willing to shop eBay marketplace, then you might consider two bridge board models which I refer to as N-1801 and N-25071. I do not know who is responsible for those parts, they are of anonymous origin. LyCOM ST-173 is a good choice, while usually expensive.

Thx you for this informative post automobus.

This shop is more a "contractor" (don't know the right english word here) with the company I work for. They do electronic and computing support/assistance, and they got "exotic" computer parts (well, exotic at least for common users) in their stock listing.
I was reading this listing, and I saw "PATA-IDE to mSATA SSD adapter", for 2,5€, without any more information. After a quick googling, it seemed to fit with my needs...

Anyway, I contacted the sale representative today at work, he acknowledged the lack of information and he agreed to order me the same part, but rated 5V this time, for free...I had the same thought as you had and told him to order the technical documentation at the same time

I'll keep the 3,3V adapter with me (hoping it's still alive), as I'm currently lurking for a X40 to buy and restore/upgrade....It might be useful in the future...

The sale representative told me it might take some time to receive the part (15 days or so), and I'll keep you informed when i'll get it. I'm pretty sure it comes from a chinese gross reseller, who sells the same items you can get on Ebay for instance...
I bookmarked the link you provided about those bridge boards, just in case...

[kobalt]

Just received today the new 5V adapter...without any documentation
Put my mSATA SSD on it (see 1st post), then the adapter in the X30...

Here is the adapter :



Bench with original 40Gb Hitachi Travelstar HDD :

http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/874919hdd.jpg

And now same bench but with the SSD (I used Acronis TIH to clone the system) :

http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/861137ssd.jpg

Few observations :
* Benches were made using Crystal Disk Mark on Windows XP Pro
* Practical rates are almost stricking to UDMA 33 theorical rates
* Windows XP boot time drops from ~1m30s to 23s !!
* Adapter + SSD = about 20€, definitly worths it