No more TRIM issues. Is this silly? *PICS*

[Xenomorph]

So, I have a ThinkPad T43...

1) I don't want to deal with a regular HDD in Bay 0. I don't like the slow access, the noise, or the chance of failure.

2) I can't go without a drive in Bay 0, as the system would hang for 30 seconds on each boot.

3) If I want a regular SATA drive in the Bay 0, I can cut some stuff on the motheboard, solder some stuff, and add a SATA connection. That's above my skill level, I'm not good at soldering, and I have no desire to do any of that.

4) As a work-around, I went with a 44pin IDE/PATA to mSATA adaptor. I tried two, actually.

One had a Marvell 88SA8052 chipset, the other had a JMicron JMH330 chipset. The issue then? While the drive reported TRIM support to the OS, the TRIM command could not make it through the on-board Marvell 88SA8040 SATA-to-PATA adaptor to Marvell/JMicron PATA-to-SATA adaptor connected to the SSD.

Both Windows and Linux would issue and re-issue TRIM commands, causing the system to hang for minutes at a time for any write operation that would have taken less than a second.

So, how do I get around issues 1, 2, 3, and 4? I need something plugged in, I need it to be "solid-state", I need it to either work with TRIM or not report TRIM support to the OS, and I need something "easy" to install.

My "solution"? An SD card.

Solid-state, no TRIM to worry about, identified as valid device, not hard to install.

I bought a Samsung Pro microSD card, and an SD to PATA adapter.

http://i.imgur.com/4AarMuG.jpg

I made sure the pins would be lined up on the drive caddy.

http://i.imgur.com/JTKayXl.jpg

I taped the adaptor in place so that its pins would line up.

http://i.imgur.com/IUeAE6v.jpg

I secured the adaptor with some bread ties.

http://i.imgur.com/maazIoM.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/TjxGIhj.jpg

I then used a metal drive adaptor from one of my PATA to mSATA adaptors to connect the rest of the drive caddy to the plastic end that secures it to the ThinkPad.

http://i.imgur.com/5UEiwWT.jpg


It's not the fastest thing, but I'm not after that. I just wanted something that WORKS, and without any annoying issues. I mostly use Windows 10 installed on a Samsung 850 EVO in the UltraBay. I have Linux installed on the SD card in the Bay 0.

This is a current benchmark of the 64GB SD card in Bay 0:


For comparison, this is an old benchmark of the 120GB HDD I had in Bay 0:


Sustained/max read/write speeds aren't as good with the SD card as the HDD, but random access seems fine. I'm posting this from Ubuntu 15.10, installed to the SD card. Everything with the system seems fine and responsive.

Admin edit: Appreciate the attempt to keep the six images small but they totaled ~300KB.

[Xenomorph]

I was going to reserve this spot to post links and stuff regarding this.

[Bibin]

An SD card won't have TRIM issues because it doesn't support TRIM. The issues that TRIM is supposed to solve will still be there, but much worse, since an SD card's controller is dead-simple and not optimized for the use an operating system demands. If it's for something you boot into on occasion, I guess that works well enough, but I wouldn't fall in love with it because it may not love long-term storage very much...

[Datashifter]

Silly question...aside from you didn't have the following parts on hand, why not use a PATA to mSATA adapter?

The reason I ask is I plan to use a PATA to mSATA myself to replace the rotational in my T41/R51 FrankenPad. mSATA is already on-hand, PATA to mSATA is in transit. Is there a problem with doing this which I am ignorant of? If so, let me take a wild guess - TRIM issues?

[RealBlackStuff]

You forget that the T43/R52 were designed for SATA drives.
Them being too rare and expensive at the time, they inserted a SATA-PATA bridge-chip and equipped them with PATA drives.
Thus, trying to use PATA-mSATA converter in the 'chain', things don't work any more the way they should.
T41/R51: PATA-mSATA = OK
T43/R52: SATA-PATA-mSATA = NOT OK
The T43 solution was to remove the SATA-PATA bridge, and replace the PATA connector with a SATA-connector.
See also: http://theboardroom.info/sata_mods.htm

[Datashifter]

You forget that the T43/R52 were designed for SATA drives.
Them being too rare and expensive at the time, they inserted a SATA-PATA bridge-chip and equipped them with PATA drives.
Thus, trying to use PATA-mSATA converter in the 'chain', things don't work any more the way they should.
T41/R51: PATA-mSATA = OK
T43/R52: SATA-PATA-mSATA = NOT OK
The T43 solution was to remove the SATA-PATA bridge, and replace the PATA connector with a SATA-connector.
See also: http://theboardroom.info/sata_mods.htm

Ahh. I was unaware of the differences between the T43/R52 vs. the T41/R51...learn something new every day.

Thank you for the clarification!

[Johan]

T43/R52: SATA-PATA-mSATA = NOT OK

This postulate is incorrect, as clearly evident from e.g. this post (from the thread New SSD opt. for T4x : mSATA-to-IDE adapter ST663FD9) providing proof that T43/p's can indeed (!) be brought to work with mSATA SSD's (also in the main HDD-bay!), through use certain mSATA-to-PATA adapters.

Actually, the OP himself: Xenomorph is one of the pioneers in this field!

Johan

[RealBlackStuff]

And if you read further in that thread, you'll see that T43/p with mSATA do NOT work the way they could/should!
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 96#p767296
Posted by the "pioneer" himself: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... 27#p769427

[automobus]

I used a chain of three translator bridges, and they worked the way they should. Literally, they not-worked, as they should not-work. I am convinced, a hypothetical-ideal-perfect ata-ata translator bridge is not possible. The chips work pretty well, but they impose constraints which computer/application architect/engineer must consider. Literally millions (likely more than ten million) of ATA-ATA translation bridges were produced. Only a small amount (hypothetical one percent) were sold to consumers (us). Overwhelming majority were integrated (successfully) in: portable PCs, stationary PCs, HDD controller boards, external drive enclosures, video recorder set-top-boxes, videogame consoles, and so on.

Trim is stupid. I could not care less about trim. NVMe is not perfect, but it is a far more intelligent solution to consumer data storage, than SATA ever was. To Xenomorph: I myself hate ScheißDigital, but your solution is not silly. What would be ideal is, if the SATA disc could have DSM disabled by DCO. Then the feature could be disabled/restored at will.