Hard drive limitations for T30?

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scottatah · #1 Post by **scottatah** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:04 pm

Hi Folks,

I've been given a ThinkPad T30 to fix. After some simple diagnosis, it was pretty clear the original 20gb hard drive had some rattling around inside it.

The client went out and purchased a new 160gb hard drive. When the drive was first installed, the system wouldn't boot. When i took it out, same issue - no video, no post (not even on external display).

I ended up takin out the modem, and memory as well and could produce what i think were memory errors, put it back together and all was fine (without hte harddrive). Getting video can get into the BIOS etc etc.

I install the hard drive, and I get a no video type situation. Now it's consistant that hard drive in, there's a no video no post situation, with the hard drive out, it boots fine.

Due to the chassis you needed to put on the harddrive, the pins have to be matching....so my last thought is maybe the 160gb harddrive is the cause of these issues, as the computer can't support it.

Can anyone lend some knowledge?

#2 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:15 pm

Can you put the Type/Model no. (from the sticker on the bottom of the T30) in your next message?
You may need to update the BIOS to allow for bigger HDs.
Change the Model on this page to reflect the one you have, and get the latest drivers / BIOS.
I assume you put in an ATA-6 or PATA drive (NOT a SATA).

scottatah · #3 Post by **scottatah** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:23 pm

DOH - forgot about the BIOS....I couldn't get the notebook to post for most of yesterday and thinkpad's troubleshooting site was down so i was upset.....and forgot once the site started workin.

2366-61U is the model number, currenlty on BIOS Version 2.01 and Embedded cController Version 1.02

Hmmm so there's no floppy drive on this notebook, only a CD ROM.

What are my options for updating the BIOS? I'd love to do a bootable CD, or if i could somehow do it off USB that'd be great too, though unlikley.

Note, the system doesn't boot while the Ultra ATA Seagate Momentus 5400.3 160gb hdd is in (ST9160821A).

What choices do i have?

scottatah · #4 Post by **scottatah** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 8:32 pm

hmmmm so maybe i'm drunk, or maybe this is the first PC i've ever fixed...cause i tried putting the drive in once more, turned it on and it booted up fine. I'm installing windows as we speak....or running through the initial setup.

Hopefully there are no more surprises...or complications, although now i'm wondering if it was just loose hardware or if there's something furthher thats seemingly intermittent.

Oh well, formatting the drive now, we'll see what happens in the near future.

Website · #5 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:29 am

Did this T30 have only one stick of ram, or two?

scottatah · #6 Post by **scottatah** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 12:52 am

two sticks, both which are fairly new kingston 512mb's and have worked fine so far.

#7 Post by **RealBlackStuff** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 7:48 am

You can pick up a floppy drive for a T20/21/22/23/30 etc. for a song on eBay.
It's much easier if you want to update the BIOS + embedded controller, as you don't run the risk of Windows conking out during an update.
Make sure AC is connected and you have a full battery before you update!

m509272 · #8 Post by **m509272** » Sat Jan 26, 2008 11:51 pm

I think I also once, it's been a couple years, used a USB key to do this by creating a bootable key and adding in the update files from the diskette version. It would have been on an X31.

Hard drive limitations for T30?

Hard drive limitations for T30?

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