DVD burner upgrade.

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bass1175 · #1 Post by **bass1175** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 3:58 am

I would like to upgade my cd writer dvd reader to a dvd burner as well. I searched ebay and there are so many part numbers listed for sale that will fit. Can someone provide me with a solid part number that I should get. I am considering this part number IBM FRU:39T2851, thanks for any advise on my upgrade.

#2 Post by **Johan** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 4:37 am

You forgot to tell us for which ThinkPad your new DVD-RW is intended (?), but since you've posted this question in the T4x-forum, I guess that we're talking about a T40/T41/T42 or T43.

There are a bunch of DVD-RW's available (older and slower drives, and newer and faster), and each model has an IBM/Lenovo "Marketing part number" as well as a "Replacement part number (FRU)", so you have all rights to be confused! What I always do to find specifications is about a certain drive is go to www.ibm.com and enter the particular part number or FRU in the upper right "Search-field", and then hit "Enter"... that's how to learn more. Also, I suggest you Search this forum - here's a lot of useful information easily available!

Two key facts: T4x's uses an "Ultrabay Slim Drive", meaning that it is 9.5 mm tall. Next, there are two variations of the Ultrabay Slim Drives; one intended for T4x's and one intended for T6x's, the difference being that the T4x's drives have a curved bezel (because the T4x's has a curved right side!), while the T6x's DVD-RW's has a flat bezel - to match the T6x look! You are able to use the "flat bezel T6x DVD-RW's" in a T4x, but the bezel won't be completely flush with the right side... so this is only a question about "looking nice" or not. I suggest you get the P/N 40Y8622 (which is equivalant to FRU 39T2729); see more info in the thread Swapping T60 Multiburner w/ T42 DVD/CDRW. Also see the thread Replacement for Matshita DVD drive? - the post by ulrich.von.lich of Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:30 am.

More information about the 39T2851 that you are considering is found at ThinkPad DVD Ultrabay Slim Burner - Service parts (informing that "Marketing part number = 41N5643" and "Replacement part number (FRU) = 39T2851") which points to the specifications for the 39T2851, and also state for which this DVD-RW is intended; see ThinkPad DVD Ultrabay Slim Burner - Overview - note especially the "Hardware compatibility" chart there.

I hope this answer may be of some use... and that you have not become more confused now...

Johan

RRHODY · #3 Post by **RRHODY** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 9:21 am

Impressive and thorough; once again showing how important this board is to those of us not deeply involved in Thinkpads.

Ralf Hutter · #4 Post by **Ralf Hutter** » Sun Oct 05, 2008 7:50 pm

If you're looking for the burner to fit in a T4x chassis, this one is the correct one. I use them in my T42's.

edit: link's dead but FRU is: 39T2729, ebay seller is "itthinker".

bass1175 · #5 Post by **bass1175** » Mon Oct 06, 2008 6:08 pm

RRHODY wrote:Impressive and thorough; once again showing how important this board is to those of us not deeply involved in Thinkpads.

Ditto, thanks Johan!

davidspalding · #6 Post by **davidspalding** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 12:53 pm

Johan wrote:.. Two key facts: T4x's uses an "Ultrabay Slim Drive", meaning that it is 9.5 mm tall. Next, there are two variations of the Ultrabay Slim Drives; one intended for T4x's and one intended for T6x's, the difference being that the T4x's drives have a curved bezel (because the T4x's has a curved right side!), while the T6x's DVD-RW's has a flat bezel - to match the T6x look! You are able to use the "flat bezel T6x DVD-RW's" in a T4x, but the bezel won't be completely flush with the right side... so this is only a question about "looking nice" or not. I suggest you get the P/N 40Y8622 (which is equivalant to FRU 39T2729); see more info in the thread Swapping T60 Multiburner w/ T42 DVD/CDRW. Also see the thread Replacement for Matshita DVD drive? - the post by ulrich.von.lich of Fri Feb 29, 2008 7:30 am.

More information about the 39T2851 that you are considering is found at ThinkPad DVD Ultrabay Slim Burner - Service parts (informing that "Marketing part number = 41N5643" and "Replacement part number (FRU) = 39T2851") which points to the specifications for the 39T2851, and also state for which this DVD-RW is intended; see ThinkPad DVD Ultrabay Slim Burner - Overview - note especially the "Hardware compatibility" chart there....

If I understand the Lenovo support information, the MultiBurner III(?) for the T61 series are NOT compatible with T4x, while the earlier MultiBurner (II?) for the T60s with the flat bezel may work in a T43. Though the ThinkWiki pages disagree, I seem to recall reading that the "new" flat bezel Super MultiBurner would work in a T60 and T43 interchangeably. Someone with hands-on experience, please corroborate.... Else, in ThinkWiki I trust.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/UltraBay_ ... urner_Plus
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/UltraBay_ ... rner_Drive

#7 Post by **bill bolton** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:34 pm

davidspalding wrote:Though the ThinkWiki pages disagree, I seem to recall reading that the "new" flat bezel Super MultiBurner would work in a T60 and T43 interchangeably. Someone with hands-on experience, please corroborate.... Else, in ThinkWiki I trust.

I can confirm that at least some flat bezel MultiBurners work in a T43 as I have been using one! I'll check which MB model it is, when I get home tonight but its either a MB II or MB III.

Cheers,

Bill B.

#8 Post by **bill bolton** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 6:01 am

My T43 is successfully running a stock standard, flat bezel MultiBurner III.

Cheers,

Bill B.

bass1175 · #9 Post by **bass1175** » Thu Oct 09, 2008 3:38 pm

Well guys I ordered that fru number I mentioned above, the bezel is flat compared to my t43 but barely noticeable.

I do now get this error message when trying to access the drive.

"The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error"

I performed the following steps as recommended by MS and still nothing.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/891894

I uninstalled it from device manager and let it auto detect, it installs fine but still get the same error.

Any recommendation is appreciated. Thanks

davidspalding · #10 Post by **davidspalding** » Sun Oct 19, 2008 3:57 pm

bill bolton wrote:My T43 is successfully running a stock standard, flat bezel MultiBurner III.

Cheers,

Bill B.

Thanks. I believe I have a MultiBurner IV with my 2008-issued T61 at work, and according to ThinkWiki this is NOT compatible with T43s. Darn it. But then ... the speed gain for DVD+RW would be from 2/2.4 to 4.0 ... big deal. I'm probably better off getting a superfast external model.

bass1175 wrote:Well guys I ordered that fru number I mentioned above, the bezel is flat compared to my t43 but barely noticeable.

I do now get this error message when trying to access the drive.

"The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error"....

Um ... WHICH fru number mentioned above? Just to be clear....

bass1175 · #11 Post by **bass1175** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 2:40 pm

FRU:39T2851 the seller sent out a new one and it was plug and play with no errors, thanks for all the help!

davidspalding · #12 Post by **davidspalding** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 3:27 pm

Ah, I believe 39T2851 is UJ-852.

bass1175 · #13 Post by **bass1175** » Tue Oct 21, 2008 8:37 pm

I just pulled it out to check you are correct dave its uj-852 which is for the t60 but cant tell at all in the t43, not a bad upgrade for 50 bucks brand new.

davidspalding · #14 Post by **davidspalding** » Fri Oct 24, 2008 4:42 pm

Well, I plugged the one from my T61 at work into my Dock II for my T43, tried burning a movie at 2.4x, and ... after a moment it hung, had to power off the computer. Next morning, I had LSASS problems for an hour, and minor hard drive corruption to correct. Won't try that again.

bass1175 · #15 Post by **bass1175** » Sun Oct 26, 2008 6:19 pm

Well I just found some glitches as well, for some reason the new t60 burner cant read this one DVD movie. I was able to create an image using my original t43 cd/dvd burner, then burn this movie with the new t60 burner. After that the T60 burner was able to read the new burnt movie but still cant read the original. Im thinking its some kind of copyright protection on the original movie not allowing this new burner to read it. I can read other DVD ( none movie type) with no problems.

DVD burner upgrade.

DVD burner upgrade.

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