Hitachi 7K100 100GB not recognised by T41 BIOS [Fixed!]

[chicomark]

I'm having problems with a retail Hitachi 7K100 HTS721010G9AT00 100GB drive in my T41 2373-1FM:
- When installed in the drive bay, the BIOS doesn't see it (BIOS 3.20, Embedded controller 3.04)
- It works fine in an external USB2 case

Any idea what's causing this, and how can I fix it please.
Thanks!

[chicomark]

All fixed! The T41 BIOS refused to see the 7K100 untill I flashed the firmware (of the Hitachi 7K100 harddrive). This method uses a friend's laptop to flash the harddrive as I had no other way to make the disk visible to the boot CD which has the firmware update program.

Instructions:
1. Make an ISO for 7K100/5K100 as per porkfat's instructions in messar's post here (I had trouble getting the flash drive method to work, but the ISO worked a treat, thanks porkfat!) :
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.ph ... =t41+100gb

2. As the T41 BIOS will not see the harddrive, you can't use the T41 to flash the harddrive. Instead I borrowed my girlfriend's el-cheapo-but-works Acer. I expect any other laptop that doesn't have the same restrictions as IBM will also work.
2.1 Install the 7K100 in the surrogate laptop. Boot into the surrogate laptop's BIOS (hit one of F1,F2,F12, or Del will usually do this depending on the manufacturer) and ensure the "Boot..." menu can see the harddrive. (The serial/model of the harddrive should be clearly visible next to device IDE0)

3. Boot to porkfat's CD and follow messar's instructions to flash the non-IBM harddrive with IBM firmware. (Ensure boot priority to boot from CD etc...)

4. Remove the flashed harddrive from the surrogate laptop, install in T41... hey presto! BIOS can see it clearly now.

5. Do victory dance, install windows etc.

Thanks to messar and porkfat! Great work guys, you rock!

[chicomark]

Unfortunately this is now re-occurring!

I installed WinXP off a retail disk (used my own key) and a different laptop can still boot using the same HD. However I can no longer use the 7K100 in the T41 on which I actually installed XP!

What happened:
- I applied the firmware patch as above and the T41 could now see the drive.
- I installed WinXP (retail XP disk, not recovery CD) and got to the point of having a fresh XP install ready to install drivers and IBM programs
- I swapped out the HD as I had to use the T41 for work with the old drive
- A firmware patch came out for the CD-RW-DVD Rom so I installed it (this should be unrelated ....)
- I swapped back in the 7K100 and now the T41 cant see it
- Another laptop (Acer) can see it and the firmware program fw.exe from IBM-Hitachi (as per above post) says the firmware on the drive is up to date (so the firmware definitely HAS been flashed, or appears to be OK)

Any ideas? Im just on the verge of buying a new drive from IBM...

Unfortunately it just looks like IBM has won this battle...

[w0qj]

Updating your T41 BIOS should do the trick in theory...

Only the T43/p locks you to notebook HDD's sold by IBM, because T43/p has the Motherboard>>SATA>>PATA_Bridge>>HDD


My T42 successfully upgraded to an off-the-shelf Hitachi 7K100 without any problems, so I don't see why your T41 has any problems...

[GomJabbar]

If you are using the drive without the metal caddy surrounding it, it is possible that you are not lining up the connector properly. The drive has to connect near the top of the slot. The metal caddy lines the drive up so that it will plug in correctly. Without the caddy, it is possible to plug it in with the top row of pins entering the bottom row of the slot.

I recently bought a spare drive for my T42 and I noticed that it goes in - in what appears to be an upside down position (with the circuit board on top, and the metal lid and label facing down). This is not readily apparent with the existing drive having the metal caddy covering it. As you remove the working drive, look at the connector carefully to be sure the replacement drive is not installed upside down.

I also had problems with a ThinkPad 600E that didn't always see the drive if I unplugged it, then plugged it back in. Maybe you just need to reseat the drive.

[chicomark]

GomJabbar, thanks a million . I was inserting in the correct direction and could hear the drive spinning up but the pins weren't aligned , now they are and all seems OK. You've saved me countless hours of frustration

So I wonder if I ever had an issue with the BIOS in the first place... ah well, all's working now, IBM firmware and all...

VERY fast drive, but noisy - will try the Hitachi utility to quiten it down.... Makes a massive difference compared to the old 4200rpm!!

[christopher_wolf]

GomJabbar, thanks a million . I was inserting in the correct direction and could hear the drive spinning up but the pins weren't aligned , now they are and all seems OK. You've saved me countless hours of frustration

So I wonder if I ever had an issue with the BIOS in the first place... ah well, all's working now, IBM firmware and all...

VERY fast drive, but noisy - will try the Hitachi utility to quiten it down.... Makes a massive difference compared to the old 4200rpm!!

No, that is what I was surmising in the first place; there is no reason to believe that the BIOS would somehow lock out a fairly modern HDD for no reason at all.

Also, try the PowerBooster 2K utility from Hitachi GST first before going for the more serious utilities; it could quickly balance out the HDD parameters (performance, power consumption, acoustics, etc) dynamically and within the OS.

[bill bolton]

Without the caddy, it is possible to plug it in with the top row of pins entering the bottom row of the slot.

The road-warrior "trick" here, if you don't have a spare caddy handy, is to turn the T4x upside down and then insert the drive. Gravity then results in the drive have the same relationship to the connector as if it were in a caddy, so ensuring correct line up with the connector!

Cheers,

Bill

[GomJabbar]

Bill, I used your "road-warrior trick" to get my spare drive to line up properly. I just kind of figured that out on my own.

I'm glad to hear I was able to help you chicomark.