Has anyone tried an SSD in the X41? *PICS*

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Fox5 · #361 Post by **Fox5** » Sat May 31, 2008 10:13 am

It pauses a bit whenever something is loaded from disk, really. It's sluggish, but not unbearable. FAT32 performs better on these drives than NTFS, btw.

Under Linux, I've found ReiserFS to work quite well. There's also the option to do a loop mount and store everything in RAM, sort of like a liveCD, and then just synchronize changes later. This is actually have the eeePC's default OS handles its flash drive. (it also wastes a lot of space doing it like this since all updates are stored separately from the originals, but you can always go back to normal whenever you want to update the originals)

danfoxley · #362 Post by **danfoxley** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 8:59 am

Is there a 'known' fastest CF card that should be used?

nop · #363 Post by **nop** » Mon Jun 02, 2008 9:12 am

I can only speak of my 40GB Hitachi HTC426040G9AT00 and a 16GB Silicon Power "300X" Compact Flash card so far (the Sandisk Extreme III 16GB Compact Flash being a lot slower).

HDtune HTC426040G9AT00:

http://www.onderka.com/wp-content/hdtun ... G9AT00.png

HDtune Silicon Power 300x:

http://www.onderka.com/wp-content/hdtun ... _POWER.png

The big bad "downward spike" resulting from a "thinking break" I mentioned in my last postings. The a dapter used was an Ably "PA-CF18H":

http://www.ably.com.tw/pdt/pics//file20 ... 649142.jpg

danfoxley · #364 Post by **danfoxley** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:14 pm

I got a Lexar UDMA 300x. Vista doesn't see the CF but XP does. Does anyone know what to do, to get Vista to see the Lexar CF?

Fox5 · #365 Post by **Fox5** » Thu Jun 05, 2008 10:33 pm

nop wrote:I can only speak of my 40GB Hitachi HTC426040G9AT00 and a 16GB Silicon Power "300X" Compact Flash card so far (the Sandisk Extreme III 16GB Compact Flash being a lot slower).

HDtune HTC426040G9AT00:

http://www.onderka.com/wp-content/hdtun ... G9AT00.png

HDtune Silicon Power 300x:

http://www.onderka.com/wp-content/hdtun ... _POWER.png

The big bad "downward spike" resulting from a "thinking break" I mentioned in my last postings. The a dapter used was an Ably "PA-CF18H":

http://www.ably.com.tw/pdt/pics//file20 ... 649142.jpg

My card has a similar spike, but only once, and after that performance stays constant at 40MB/s reads. Probably fairs a bit better overall then.

generalachoo · #366 Post by **generalachoo** » Fri Jun 13, 2008 3:32 pm

Just got a Lexar 300x 4GB for my X40.

Just have 2 questions:

1) I want a dual capacity IDE-CF adaptor. CAn I get a cheap, generic one from ebay or do I have to go for the Addonic.

2) How do I minimize read from the hdd?

Thanks!

weepy · #367 Post by **weepy** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 4:51 am

generalachoo wrote:Just got a Lexar 300x 4GB for my X40.

Just have 2 questions:

1) I want a dual capacity IDE-CF adaptor. CAn I get a cheap, generic one from ebay or do I have to go for the Addonic.

2) How do I minimize read from the hdd?

Thanks!

ad 1) there is a risk, I would take the addonics as it is a proven path

ad 2) well.. don't use it? Reading is the most basic thing you want from a hdd, if you wanted to ask about reducing writes to preserve the cf, then try googling abou enhanced write filter (if you use windoze)

mtbiac · #368 Post by **mtbiac** » Sat Jun 14, 2008 1:52 pm

I can't seem to find which CF-IDE adapter model will work best in an X40, any recommendations? Just want to drop it in with a 16gb CF card and start installing windows....

thanks

jimmy.zou · #369 Post by **jimmy.zou** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 1:38 pm

I find there is 2.5' enclosure which allow CF cards to fit into, the output is IDE, can be adapted into IBM T41,T43...
And if we cut it into 1.8 long, it can be used for X40/X41.

generalachoo · #370 Post by **generalachoo** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 2:24 pm

I am very worried about exceeding the maximum writes on my LExar 300x CF.

I have the following quetsions:

1) With a write lock on the C: drive (the Lexar) which has all the OS files, about how long will the Lexar last/perform at full capacity. Assume daily usage.

2) When I "sleep" the laptop does it use the CF a lot? How about hibernate?

3) Also, if you would be so kind, can someone tell me how to mount a disk (lexar 300x persay) as fixed?

4) Lastly, anybody know of a really realy cheap CF card with some capcity (16GB) to use to store my files?

Thanks!

I love this thread

Fox5 · #371 Post by **Fox5** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 5:19 pm

generalachoo wrote:I am very worried about exceeding the maximum writes on my LExar 300x CF.

I have the following quetsions:

1) With a write lock on the C: drive (the Lexar) which has all the OS files, about how long will the Lexar last/perform at full capacity. Assume daily usage.

-Probably a while, reads are virtually infinite.

2) When I "sleep" the laptop does it use the CF a lot? How about hibernate?

-Sleep no. Hibernate uses a lot of space, but should only per 1 write per hibernation to each block used. Of course, with the slow write speeds, hibernation might take longer than booting fresh.

3) Also, if you would be so kind, can someone tell me how to mount a disk (lexar 300x persay) as fixed?

-Instructions are in this thread somewhere.

4) Lastly, anybody know of a really realy cheap CF card with some capcity (16GB) to use to store my files?

Transcend has some 16GB AND 32GB cards that are affordable with decent speeds.

Thanks!

I love this thread

generalachoo · #372 Post by **generalachoo** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 7:59 pm

^^ Big thanks buddy.

I am still looking for input on a smokin deal for a capacity CF though.

Fox5 · #373 Post by **Fox5** » Mon Jun 16, 2008 8:10 pm

If you check newegg, transcend has a 16GB card for ~$70 and a 32GB for a bit over $150, I'd consider those pretty good deals. They have fantastic read speeds as well, though pretty bad write speeds (which is mostly par for the course for most CF cards).

ladyfinger69 · #374 Post by **ladyfinger69** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 4:41 am

i have a THINKPAD 64GB SAMSUNG SDD SOLID STATE DRIVE 1.8 SATA II how can i use it to my T61 laptop, my T61 uses 2.5 Sata

kindly advise if i cannot use it then im going to sell it off for cheap

graywolf · #375 Post by **graywolf** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 2:35 pm

Fox5 wrote:and same results no matter what the cluster size actually (that, or quick format ignores adjusting cluster size)...

Quick Format merely clears the File Allocation Tables, it does not change anything. In other words it says there is nothing on the disk, so that anything that is there can be overwritten. So your guess is correct.

mtbiac · #376 Post by **mtbiac** » Wed Jun 25, 2008 2:57 pm

mtbiac wrote:I can't seem to find which CF-IDE adapter model will work best in an X40, any recommendations? Just want to drop it in with a 16gb CF card and start installing windows....

thanks

anyone?

weepy · #377 Post by **weepy** » Thu Jun 26, 2008 2:20 pm

Sooooo, the moment has come and I decided to go with the transcend 300x. The price was ok, opposed to Pretec 333x, whose performance is very inconsistent across various controllers (from what I read in a czech forum). The most powerful option was the STEC Mach4 macho card, for $550 as a sample...

So far tested only through usb adapter, so probably pio constrained result in crystalmark:
seq r/w 29.15 15.82
512 r/w 29.10 6.18
4kb r/w 4.88 0.073

I say nothing until i plug it into hdd bay, but EWF will likely be necessary to get the system to work fluently...

weepy · #378 Post by **weepy** » Sat Jun 28, 2008 4:54 pm

Windows up and running, installed from usb stick with bartPE and installation disks ripped from recovery partition. Only problem is that it turned out to be xppro, complaining about key and wanting sp2. Could someone pm me on a tutorial, how to install XP Tablet PC Ed? Thx much in advance.

Crystalmark inside x41t:
seq r/w 51.98 32.73
512 r/w 51.91 7.064
4kb r/w 15.22 0.068

Thats about 3800 IOPS(r) on 4k blocks and about 17 IOPS(w), that means 58ms write latency, could be worse, its much better than 133x transcends

. Still the card may be held back in writing - by the sata-ide bridge. According to hjreggel.net, it can do 50MB/s sequential write with the right controller. Windoze boot is very quick, pity that there is 20s bios POST...

P.S.
In ATTO, card's write speed doesn't climb over 9MB/s (EDIT: second run and it reaches 29MB/s, dunno what was wrong), but read ramps nicely to 52MB/s. Read IOPS is excellent for small blocks starting on 7000 for 0.5 KB blocks and decreasing slowly. Write IOPS looks brighter, too, 9ms per 0.5 KB request. Read access time by hd tune is 0.2ms, good enough for me (could be around 1ms with some ** expletives not pronounced ** cards)

• True IDE Mode supports:
* Ultra DMA Mode 0 to Ultra DMA Mode 5 (Ultra DMA mode 5 must use Power supply: 3.3V)
* MultiWord DMA Mode 0 to MultiWord DMA Mode 4
* PIO Mode 0 to PIO Mode 6
so no UDMA5 @ 5v?

In my X41t, it works at UDMA-5 (UATA100), reported by everest, i don't know the voltage.. but it works.

dbregman · #379 Post by **dbregman** » Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:07 pm

First off, thanks to all of those who have gone before and shared their experiences. This thread contains a wealth of information and I suggested that anyone who is interested in converting an X40 or X41 to flash/SSD read this thread many, many time as I have.

I migrated from an EEEPC 900 to an X40 I purchased on Ebay. The EEEPC 900 is a great machine, but just a little too small for me to use as a daily driver. the X40 still has a small form factor, is faster, has better performance, better battery life and a real keyboard.

Now to my experience. The EEEPC spoiled me as far as the access time of an SSD machine. And while the HDD in the X40 is not blazing, it is servicable, but I wanted more. After reading this thread - the wiki and scouring Google for other references to convering the X40 to flash I decided I needed to try. I (like Weepy) choose the Transcend 300X. I choose this for 2 reasons. 1) I did not want to deal with having to conver a Lexar or SanDisk to a fixed disk and I wanted a fast 16gb primary partition (not availabe on Sandisk.)

I choose the Addonics dual adapter - sure there are some cheaper ones on eBay, but it was like $21, and I didn't want to deal with any issues.

Here are my benchmarks using ATTO's benchmark tool (not the scale is different):

The internal 40gb HDD:

http://www.bregmanphotos.com/Postings/X ... _Drive.jpg

The Transcend 300x 16gb:

http://www.bregmanphotos.com/Postings/T ... x_16gb.jpg

As you can see the Transcend performs well. At the smaller block sizes the writes are not as fast, but it catches up quickly! The read and the random access ROCK.

The heat on the left side of the palmrest is gone completly and it is silent and responsive. so far i am happy.

MOD EDIT: Over-limit pictures converted to links.

weepy · #380 Post by **weepy** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 3:10 pm

After two days of trying to get xp tablet pc edition installed on the cf, i noticed some instability in writing. As more poeple reported here with transcend cards, the write performance tends to drop after a while of writing. This is happenig right now, as i'm copying movies to it. From 11MB/s copy speed dropped to 1.8MB/s, don't know when exactly. Seems like the card had some kind of faster write buffer or it is the wear levelling algorithm kicking in??

dbregman, do you see similar behavior?

dbregman · #381 Post by **dbregman** » Mon Jun 30, 2008 9:13 pm

Not that I have noticed. Here is a test of a five minute continous write of a 1gb file:

Also as an FYI here is the Sandisk Extreme III 16gb I use as a second drive:

As you can see it writes almost as fast, but does not read nearly as fast. I wonder what an Extreme IV would do. Does anyone have one they can benchmark?

Weepy - how are you mesuring your transfer rate?

gongo2k1 · #382 Post by **gongo2k1** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:24 pm

it looks like only nop is using this adapter: http://www.ameri-rack.com/APA-CF18Hm.htm

$28 shipped, email sales@ameri-rack.com to get one. they take paypal too.

is there any reason why everyone else is springing for the addonics adapter?

also, circuitcity's got pny 8gb 266x going for only $99 with free shipping if anyone's interested. anyone have bad experiences with this card?

dbregman · #383 Post by **dbregman** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 12:48 pm

gongo2k1 wrote:is there any reason why everyone else is springing for the addonics adapter?

The addonics adapter is only $27.21 at Amazon including shipping.

kunfuchopsticks · #384 Post by **kunfuchopsticks** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 8:46 pm

dbregman wrote:
Here are my benchmarks using ATTO's benchmark tool (not the scale is different):

The internal 40gb HDD:

http://www.bregmanphotos.com/Postings/X ... _Drive.jpg

The Transcend 300x 16gb:

http://www.bregmanphotos.com/Postings/T ... x_16gb.jpg

Wait a second though. What is on the Y axis? Notice the old HDD is still faster than CF up to 64 unit mark on y axis.

dbregman · #385 Post by **dbregman** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:02 pm

kunfuchopsticks wrote: Wait a second though. What is on the Y axis? Notice the old HDD is still faster than CF up to 64 unit mark on y axis.

The Y axis is the block size - you are correct that the HDD is faster writing at to about a 64k block size.

kunfuchopsticks · #386 Post by **kunfuchopsticks** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:38 pm

dbregman wrote:
kunfuchopsticks wrote: Wait a second though. What is on the Y axis? Notice the old HDD is still faster than CF up to 64 unit mark on y axis.
The Y axis is the block size - you are correct that the HDD is faster writing at to about a 64k block size.

Read and write. How often does HDD/CF need to write 64k or lower block size?

Fox5 · #387 Post by **Fox5** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:47 pm

kunfuchopsticks wrote:
dbregman wrote: The Y axis is the block size - you are correct that the HDD is faster writing at to about a 64k block size.
Read and write. How often does HDD/CF need to write 64k or lower block size?

Quite often I'd imagine. Using the system entails so many small changes, just saving settings, temp files, etc.

dbregman · #388 Post by **dbregman** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 9:51 pm

I can not speak to the technical specifics, although I think that Fox5 is correct. All I can speak from is my experience and the system overall seems speedier from fast boot, to super fast application load to quick web pages. Perhaps the slowness of the small block write is overcome by the fact that the blocks are so small to write that it is not noticable to the user.

kunfuchopsticks · #389 Post by **kunfuchopsticks** » Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:10 pm

ok so in the end you do get a positive trade off. Even though old HDD is faster for anything under 64k, block size so small, it's not noticable. Where it is noticable, graph shows CF is much faster than old HDD, so faster load times.

ntrl · #390 Post by **ntrl** » Wed Jul 02, 2008 1:25 am

Hello all!

I use CF-IDE adaptor with CF card SiliconPower 8GB 300x. His support UDMA 6 and fixed ide mode.
I use 2 partitions. On sda1 - winXP, on sda2 Ubuntu 8.04.
On windows XP transfer from flash ~45mb/sec. Windows booting 5 secs.

But in Linux 40-wire problem, udma2 use instead udma6.

I appling this patch on distro-kernel 2.6.24-19-generic. But nothing to do
libata parameter - force_cbl=80

Here dmesg's log:

Code: Select all

serge@tpx40:~$ dmesg | grep ata
[    0.000000]  BIOS-e820: 000000002f6e0000 - 000000002f6f7000 (ACPI data)
[    3.187618] Memory: 758020k/777088k available (2177k kernel code, 18456k reserved, 1006k data, 368k init, 0k highmem)
[    3.187699]       .data : 0xc0320434 - 0xc041bdc4   (1006 kB)
[    4.027300] ACPI: EC: GPE = 0x1c, I/O: command/status = 0x66, data = 0x62
[    5.647700] libata: no version for "struct_module" found: kernel tainted.
[    5.656391] libata version 3.00 loaded.
[    6.880275] ata_piix 0000:00:1f.1: version 2.12
[    6.881265] scsi0 : ata_piix
[    6.881822] scsi1 : ata_piix
[    6.882937] ata1: PATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0x1f0 ctl 0x3f6 bmdma 0x1810 irq 14
[    6.882983] ata2: PATA max UDMA/100 cmd 0x170 ctl 0x376 bmdma 0x1818 irq 15
[    7.052143] ata1: forcing 80c
[    7.052207] ata1.00: ATA-0: SILICON POWER, 20070831, max UDMA/133
[    7.052251] ata1.00: 15662304 sectors, multi 0: LBA 
[    7.052307] ata1.00: limited to UDMA/33 due to 40-wire cable
[    7.068085] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/33
[    7.092090] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/33
[    7.092137] ata1: EH complete
[    7.247720] ata2: forcing 80c
[    8.006132] ReiserFS: sda2: using ordered data mode

build new kernel 2.6.25.9, libata parameter force=80c, kernel probing use udma6 mode, but just as nothing to do.
"limited to UDMA/33 due to 40-wire cable, configured for UDMA/33"

Code: Select all

serge@tpx40:~$ sudo hdparm -tT /dev/sda
[sudo] password for serge: 

/dev/sda:
 Timing cached reads:   940 MB in  2.00 seconds = 469.91 MB/sec
 Timing buffered disk reads:   70 MB in  3.05 seconds =  22.98 MB/sec

My hardware: IBM thinkpad X40, CF siliconimage 8GB 300x.

Please help me!

PS. sorry for bad English.

Has anyone tried an SSD in the X41? PICS

Did it!

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Problem in Linux Ubuntu with libata 40-wire

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