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

[mbubba]

I received and installed my FHD32GC18M today... into my x41t. I installed Vista Enterprise. I may go to XP Tablet later but Vista was handy.

I tested with Roadkill's dskspeed and got 35MB/s sequential read, 23MB/s random read, and .35ms access time. With HDTune I got 51.5MB/s max, 35MB/s average, and .4ms access time. The HDTune graph was strange, it stayed around 50MB/s up to about 30%, then was mostly around 35MB/s. Same thing in safe mode. I wonder if there's some kind of caching.

Performance is much better than with the stock hard drive, but not close to 5 second windows-load after BIOS. Maybe 45 seconds after BIOS. It's faster than my desktops, but not the sick fast I'd imagined. Possibly because it's Vista with a stock install from DVD.

As far as the fit, I had trouble sliding the drive all the way in (to seat the pins) while the drive was in the caddy. At the moment I've pushed it in without the caddy, then screwed the cover in place afterward. It seems like if I tried a lot of different adjustements, it might eventually seat the pins while in the caddy.

[ellipse]

As others have done before me, I built an improvised SSD for my X30 from a dual Addonics adapter and a pair of 16GB 133x Transcend CF cards.

I'm about to do the same as you do. However, I wonder how you managed to secure the Addonics adapter inside the X30 hdd-slot? Have you used the original hdd-caddy?

thank you.

[bartelby]

I did't do much. The adapter plus two cf cards seem pretty secure in the slot. I **did** put a dab of duct tape across the connector just for luck, but doubt that the adapter would have been likely to come adrift without it. So far, this arrangement has worked beautifully. My only complaint is that large random writes that occur when installing software take a long time. I have been using the machine to do light software development tasks as well as internet/email stuff and it seems quite adequate.

Good luck!

[cchsiao]

According to mbubba, it looks like the SSD I got last Dec is a defective one. However, since I can still see it when I use 2nd HDD adaptor on T60, I was wondering if there is anything wrong in the setup. Could mbubba talk about if you did anything special after you plug the drive into the HDD bay?

Although I don't think my X41t has any problems, I still want to make sure I can have a workable SSD on my X41t before buying. So... well... it might not be a good idea of asking mbubba lend me the workable SSD he got, but could mbubba lend me that pricy SSD for a few days to see if there is really a problem on my X41t?

[NightWinggl]

I received and installed my FHD32GC18M today... into my x41t. I installed Vista Enterprise. I may go to XP Tablet later but Vista was handy.

I tested with Roadkill's dskspeed and got 35MB/s sequential read, 23MB/s random read, and .35ms access time. With HDTune I got 51.5MB/s max, 35MB/s average, and .4ms access time. The HDTune graph was strange, it stayed around 50MB/s up to about 30%, then was mostly around 35MB/s. Same thing in safe mode. I wonder if there's some kind of caching.

Performance is much better than with the stock hard drive, but not close to 5 second windows-load after BIOS. Maybe 45 seconds after BIOS. It's faster than my desktops, but not the sick fast I'd imagined. Possibly because it's Vista with a stock install from DVD.

As far as the fit, I had trouble sliding the drive all the way in (to seat the pins) while the drive was in the caddy. At the moment I've pushed it in without the caddy, then screwed the cover in place afterward. It seems like if I tried a lot of different adjustements, it might eventually seat the pins while in the caddy.

How's the Battery life?

[synchromesh]

Great thread! I finally converted my X40 after reading. Didn't have any problems with my 30GB Hitachi but just wanted to try this out. Used the Addonics 2-bay converter and Lexar 8GB 300x card.

All-in-all it went well except for actually putting the adapter in the bay. Aligning the pins in such a tiny space is a pain and I misseated it several times before finally sticking it in properly. After that it was pretty easy, it was recognized right away. Installed Xubuntu, no problems. The machine does seem a tad faster on startup but most of all it's quiet and hopefully more reliable.

Meanwhile the Hitachi drive is taking a break with the rest of spare laptop parts.

Now I'll be looking for a 16GB slower cheaper card to compliment the Lexar one. Overall, not a very cheap project. So far came out to $30 for adapter plus about $155 for the card shipped. But definitely fun!

[bartelby]

Now I'll be looking for a 16GB slower cheaper card to compliment the Lexar one. Overall, not a very cheap project. So far came out to $30 for adapter plus about $155 for the card shipped.

Have you looked at these folks: mydigitaldiscount.com

They advertise a 16gb, 233x UDMA card for less than eighty bucks.

Admin edit: Shortened URL to prevent horizontal scrolling

[bartelby]

The X3 series has a built in compact flash slot. Is it possible to boot from a card in this slot? If yes, a possible setup might be to put the os on a small, fast card in this slot and use two larger, slower cards in one of those dual card adapter gizmos as the main storage for the machine. The storage cards could be set up as a RAID0 array, which should be improve performance somewhat.

[zzzname]

As far as I know it is not bootable.

[j-dawg]

No, the CF slot is not bootable. It runs through PCMCIA, which is unbootable. A shame.

I tried Windows agan today, and started experiencing what I would consider very Linux-y problems--problems that are very technical and fixed by editing lines of code in system files.

I installed an nLited version of Windows, but I foolishly chose to do so with a thumb drive. The program I used to boot from the thumb drive offers a setup process which allows the user to either install Windows all in one go--no restart required--or with the regular process, restarting halfway through and finishing the install from the hard drive. Not wanting to have to change the boot order again, which I had long since gotten sick of, I chose the former. Now I can only get into Windows if I boot off the thumb drive and choose the standard installation, at which point it assumes I have finished the first half of the install and starts Windows properly.

The problem is that Windows decided at some point during the installation that my storage CF card, in the Thinkpad's built-in CF slot, was going to be my C: drive. I have installed Windows on drives labeled D: in the past, so I wasn't too concerned until I restarted the computer and it insisted on trying to boot from C:, complaining that it could find no boot media.

I tried using bootcfg from the recovery console, but to no avail: the recovery console labels my Windows CF card as C:, but the bootloader calls it D:, so bootcfg fixes boot.ini to boot off of device(1), it looks for something that doesn't exist. I can't edit the file manually to boot from device(2) because for some reason no editing program is included in the recovery console. I may try copying the file to a flash drive, editing it on another computer, and copying it back.

More likely, I will either reinstall Windows with no other media in the drives or I will go back to Linux. I never thought I would have less trouble with Linux than with Windows...

[seneca]

Does anyone know of a reseller of the Addonics dual CF 44pin IDE adapter in the EU?

I don't know, if this will help much, but in Hungary, www.hardveraruhaz.hu looks good. In UK, http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/ says it has them in stock for similar price, so I guess shipping cost would decide...

Thx!

[t20user]

Can someone recommend the best places to purchase the Addonics adapter and either the Sandisk or Lexar CF cards?

[j-dawg]

For the adapter, I'd go online. I bought my CF media at Fry's (I see you're from Chicago; Fry's in Downer's Grove is one of my favorite stores) and Micro Center. Besides those two, I didn't even bother trying to find an adapter in a store. A general rule of thumb of mine is that if Fry's hasn't got it, it's probably best to just buy it online.

[taile]

Order a dual CF adapter card on eBay from Hong Kong. Only $1.99. How can I go wrong? Can you say 'completely'? It worked, but mechanically it was doomed. The 44 pin connector was on the WRONG SIDE of the board, and it would not plug into the X40 drive bay. Forget it.

Which one did you buy and not working? Is this the one you bought?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0211695958


Admin edit: Shortened URL to prevent horizontal scrolling

[pacalis]

Can someone recommend the best places to purchase the Addonics adapter and either the Sandisk or Lexar CF cards?

Hi I've just finished my install. It went perfectly. Special thanks to Tekkaman_Slade, Lewster215 and DVormann whose posts I've been following closely.

Here's what I used as I haven't seen it posted before.

1. $95 --> 266x Kingston 8GB for $169 with a $75 rebate at Adorama.
2. $31 --> Adonnics Dual CF off addonics web site
3. $11 incl. shipping --> USB 2.0 - 1.8 Hitachi hard drive enclosure (rather than just junk the old drive).

The Kingston card is great. It recognizes as a fixed disk at UMDA 5.
Using HD tun

Min TR: 12.7
Max TR: 41.9
Average: 39.9

Access Time: 0.5
Burst 34.6
CPU 3.1%

I did all the things Lewster 215 summarized. I have an old copy of XP, no OEM disk, so it took me a while to get SP2 and the drivers. As a result I have about 3.8Gigs of windows xp, anti-virus, firefox and much of the thinkpad bloat. I'm not sure how much I'm going to reduce it. Given the long install, I'm not too sure if it's writing well, but it seems to be faster on write then the Hitachi.

And Windows boot up about 15 seconds.

[hurdadurda]

May I ask, where did u get the enclosure for the Hitachi from ?

[datrop]

The Kingston card is great. It recognizes as a fixed disk at UMDA 5.
Using HD tun

Min TR: 12.7
Max TR: 41.9
Average: 39.9

Access Time: 0.5
Burst 34.6
CPU 3.1%

I did all the things Lewster 215 summarized. I have an old copy of XP, no OEM disk, so it took me a while to get SP2 and the drivers. As a result I have about 3.8Gigs of windows xp, anti-virus, firefox and much of the thinkpad bloat. I'm not sure how much I'm going to reduce it. Given the long install, I'm not too sure if it's writing well, but it seems to be faster on write then the Hitachi.

And Windows boot up about 15 seconds.

ATTO Disk Benchmark might be useful for evaluating the write performance of small files. I haven't run it myself (I don't have a Windows machine), but I've seen a number of screen caps floating about. It seems to evaluate the read and write transfer rate across a range of block sizes (e.g., from 512 bytes to 1024KB). It's not clear whether or not ATTO tests with sequential or random operations, but it might not matter when dealing with compactflash. The size of the write is what counts, since small write performance is bottlenecked by the flash's block size (on the order of 128KB or bigger).

A search brings up a number of places for downloading if you want to try it (at < 50KB, it's tiny!): http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/123/mirrors.php

Here's a chinese website that appears to bench a number of 266+x cards using HD Tune, ATTO, and something called FD Bench: http://tech.sina.com.cn/h/2007-09-22/0005433797.shtml. I'm actually a bit skeptical about their results, since they seem to have a decently fast Transcend.

Now that CF prices are falling again, I'm tempted to hop on board. I just don't know whether I should follow the crowd and get a Lexar or try something different. (15 sec boot time with your Kingston setup! If I'm to believe the results from the website linked above, the A-Data Turbo is supposed to be top-notch... sigh)

[t20user]

Here's a chinese website that appears to bench a number of 266+x cards using HD Tune, ATTO, and something called FD Bench: http://tech.sina.com.cn/h/2007-09-22/0005433797.shtml. I'm actually a bit skeptical about their results, since they seem to have a decently fast Transcend.

Now that CF prices are falling again, I'm tempted to hop on board. I just don't know whether I should follow the crowd and get a Lexar or try something different. (15 sec boot time with your Kingston setup! If I'm to believe the results from the website linked above, the A-Data Turbo is supposed to be top-notch... sigh)

Thats interesting, the A-data 266x is the only one that Newegg carries, and it is about 1/2 the price of the Lexar and Sandisk. It is hard to believe those numbers on that Chinese site, however for the money the A-data does seem tempting.

[syzygy]

Order a dual CF adapter card on eBay from Hong Kong. Only $1.99. How can I go wrong? Can you say 'completely'? It worked, but mechanically it was doomed. The 44 pin connector was on the WRONG SIDE of the board, and it would not plug into the X40 drive bay. Forget it.

Which one did you buy and not working? Is this the one you bought?

Yes, this is the one I bought that does not fit in the X40 drive bay. It looks fine from the photo, but as it turns out the connector is on the wrong side and is reversed (or some combination thereof). I was thinking about unsoldering the connector and putting it on the other side, but the pinout still would have been wrong.

Admin edit: Removed quoted picture

[syzygy]

Now I'll be looking for a 16GB slower cheaper card to compliment the Lexar one. Overall, not a very cheap project. So far came out to $30 for adapter plus about $155 for the card shipped.

Have you looked at these folks:
(Admin edit: removed long URL for mydigitaldiscount.com)

They advertise a 16gb, 233x UDMA card for less than eighty bucks.

I don't know if this is the one you were talking about, but I tried the 16GB BiWin card, and the performance is nearly identical to the 16GB Transcend 133x. Read rates are in the 38 to 41 MB/s range.

Speaking of which, the Transcend 133x got slower and slower and finally died. I was thinking of sending it back to Newegg for a replacement, but sent it directly to Transcend in Calif. instead. Got a brand new one back in a week. The new one seems to have a read rate about 5 to 7MB/s higher than the old one. HDTune shows 42.2MB/s max, 40.3 avg on the new one. Makes me wonder if they are using a different chip now. Random writes are still pretty slow, though.

I am totally sold on the SSD concept. The ticky ticky grind grind noises from the old Hitachi hard drive are just distant memories now. Just blissful silence now. Ahhhhhh.....

If anyone would like to try the BiWin card, you can have mine for $50 shipped. Or make me an offer. It really does need a good home. PayPal accepted.

[pacalis]

May I ask, where did u get the enclosure for the Hitachi from ?

1.8" USB 2.0 Hitachi Hard Drive Enclosure Case

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQfgtpZ1QQfrp ... cubeternet

seller named: cubeternet

[pacalis]

Now that CF prices are falling again, I'm tempted to hop on board. I just don't know whether I should follow the crowd and get a Lexar or try something different. (15 sec boot time with your Kingston setup! If I'm to believe the results from the website linked above, the A-Data Turbo is supposed to be top-notch... sigh)

I think you can get the kingston for $85 now on B&HPhoto with the rebate.

Here's my thinking - the LExar and the Sandisk are/maybe slightly faster respectively but they are also $60+ more AND they don't identify as a fixed disk to Windows. So the Kingston is cheaper AND an easier install.

My x40 is blazing fast. It's weird and fantastic to not here the clicking and to have all my programs load without a hitch.

Right now I'm using slightly over 4GB on the 8GB card Win XP. When the next gen cards come out I'll clone the Kingston CF and fill up the second slot in the card. In the meanwhile I may buy a 8GB SD (SDHC is supposed to work in the cardslot).

[bartelby]

Speaking of which, the Transcend 133x got slower and slower and finally died. I was thinking of sending it back to Newegg for a replacement, but sent it directly to Transcend in Calif. instead. Got a brand new one back in a week. The new one seems to have a read rate about 5 to 7MB/s higher than the old one. HDTune shows 42.2MB/s max, 40.3 avg on the new one. Makes me wonder if they are using a different chip now. Random writes are still pretty slow, though.

Odd - my 133x Transcend card didn't gradually slow down but it DID just up and croak after about a month. I also sent it back and received a replacement from Transcend in speedy quick time. The replacement does indeed seem to be faster than the original. We'll see how it holds up.

To those of you who are using a CF adapter in an X4x: how do you access the drive bay to insert the card? Or do you just fish around and hope to get it in the right place by trial and error?


[/code]

[DVormann]

To those of you who are using a CF adapter in an X4x: how do you access the drive bay to insert the card? Or do you just fish around and hope to get it in the right place by trial and error?

Using a torch I always hit the right place.

[datrop]

Just a heads up:

4gb and 8gb 266x Kingston cards can be picked up from http://www.adraycamera.com for $86-$50 (rebate)=$36 and $152-$75 (rebate)=$77, before shipping at the moment. They've got good reviews from http://www.resellerratings.com, too.

I took my chances with a 4gb Lexar from http://www.samys.com for $89.95-$55 (rebate)=$34.95 plus shipping; it's listed at 119.95, but it drops to $89.95 once in the shopping cart. Their resellerrating reviews haven't been so positive, and they only ship by UPS (~$7-8 for ground to me), but their service reps seemed friendly when I called to check on my order. Of course, none of this matters until I actually receive something.

I also purchased an adapter from that "Linuxbeginner" ebayer linked to a few posts above. The adapter that I received looks exactly like the one in the photo. I noticed wire traces for the two DMA pins, so it ought to work, but I won't be able to test things until the CF card arrives....

[weepy]

I just had to disassemble my X41 tablet because of ice tea spill, it went all slimy and sticky (the kbd, electronics looks clean thx gawd). I wonder, why the hdd has the extra four pins besides the 44, the tablet has no holes for them. What I noticed is the amount of unused space, I think that a flash could be put inside and connected with the right cable to external usb to gain some extra GB, usb flash is cheapest (yeah I know, write cycles veery low, but still cool to try).

[cchsiao]

Don't forget that you need some space for the pen, that's why there are some space over the hard drive bay.

[weepy]

pity that my camera batteries are dead, i would make a photo of my X41 bare. Have you seen the kingmax usb super stick ?

[MiRacL]

This is my first post

I thought i'd share my findings with you all. Most of you probably know most of this,
but i'll share anyway.

I bought a used X41 a couple of months ago, and i came with the clicking drive issue. So i
contacted IBM for a replacement disk and got this 3 days later. The disk i god i completely
diffrent to the original. The original disk that comes with the X41 hade the connector on the
side of the disk itself. But the new one is in a differen enclosure and has a ribbon cable from
the hdd to the ata connector on the side.

You can see this new hd here: http://www.ele.uri.edu/~sclan/xjv/index ... 1t_scrnsht

The new hd ibm supplies is acctually a 1.8 hd with a ZIF connection.
So ibm is not using the other hd with the side connector nymore.
This is great for all X41 user who has the new hd ibm supplies,
because now one can use all hd's or ssd's that are 1.8 with a ZIF connection or Compact flash to 1.8 zif adapter.

Im going to use an CF to 1.8 ZIF adapter, costs about 24$ on ebay.
This one:

http://www.ably.com.tw/pdt/pics//file20076411228532.jpg
http://www.ably.com.tw/pdt/pics//file20076411246354.jpg

The reason i went for this solution instead of the addonics adapter everyone else uses is because with this adapter it's possible to fit
the adapter + cf inside the hd enclosure that the orignial
replacement disk sits in. Doing it this way will make it a perfect fit in the x41 and one can just insert it whitout any alignment issues.

I'm waiting for the parts to arrive. Im going to use the zif adapter with a kingston 266x 8gb cf card or another card that supports fixed disk mode.

I haven't tried to dismantle the new 1.8 hd yet as im using the machine.
When i get the rest of the parts, i can take some pictures of the new hd enclosure taken apart.

Here you can see a blog about a guy who did this kind of modification to his OQO:

http://theopoon.rinnovative.com/

You can also see the thread about the new hdd here: http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=57685

[taile]

Too late, I just bought this from ebay as well!
Time to find another one, can you post the working one you bought on ebay? Thanks!

Yes, this is the one I bought that does not fit in the X40 drive bay. It looks fine from the photo, but as it turns out the connector is on the wrong side and is reversed (or some combination thereof). I was thinking about unsoldering the connector and putting it on the other side, but the pinout still would have been wrong.