T60p and Intel X25-M 120GB SSD boot issue

[Smanux]

Hi,

I just got the latest 120GB Intel SSD and I have some troubles to get it to boot in my Thinkpad T60p. I cloned the original hard drive with the Intel data migration tool (based on Acronis softwares) and I get a blinking cursor on booting. The drive is seen by the BIOS, and if I boot from an USB key I can access it without problem. Also, the same drive connected to a desktop computer boots fine.

Has anyone succeeded in installing this SSD in a T60(p) ?

[Harryc]

Install the SSD in the Thinkpad and clone from the externally attached original drive to the SSD using an Acronis boot CD. I have the same SSD, and here's how I did it on my R400 - http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=92486

[Smanux]

Thank you for the link Harryc. I cloned the disk on the desktop computer through SATA cables, I don't know if this is relevant. I'll try to clone directly on the Thinkpad.

[Harryc]

Just to be clear, it isn't just 'cloning on the Thinkpad' that is important, it is having the new SSD installed 'in' the Thinkpad prior to cloning that is important. Thinkpads are funny that way.

[ARD]

I'm not sure if SSDs need special preparation for ThinkPads, as I never had one, but with regular drives, when I cloned my drive, I simply removed the original drive and installed the new drive in the ThinkPad.
I then connected the original drive to an external drive adapter, and connected it via USB. I booted off an Acronis CD and the Acronis application immediately saw both hard drives.
I then chose the cloning option in Acronis in which the original drive in the external drive adapter is cloned to the new internal drive in the ThinkPad.
Once the process was complete, I removed the CD, disconnected the external drive, and rebooted. The ThinkPad started up as always, except with a larger size hard drive.
I hope that helped you in your quest for clonng.

[Smanux]

I finally got the SSD to work using Acronis True Image 2011, but I have to redo the operation to get the sector alignment right. Here are the steps I followed:

0. After various failed attempts the SSD was formated with two partitions, the main partition starting at sector 63 and larger than the one on the original disk, and the recovery partition of approximately 5GB.
1. Install Acronis True Image on the Thinkpad
2. Create a bootable media with the Acronis tools
3. Boot the Thinkpad on this media and start Acronis
4. Backup the original disk on an USB drive
5. Install the SSD in the Thinkpad
6. Boot on the Acronis media and restore the disk, including both partitions and the MBR
7. Reboot and enjoy the SSD

[Bart77]

Coming back to Intel X-25 SSD issue - is there a visible difference in speed between 7200 rpm HDD and this Intel device ?

[Tasurinchi]

Coming back to Intel X-25 SSD issue - is there a visible difference in speed between 7200 rpm HDD and this Intel device ?

Difference is like night and day. Of course it depends what are you planning to do, but your boot time will be massively reduced and most of the applications will start instantaneously, zero lag.

This is at least my experience with my quad desktop and my T61. Both using 80GB X25 models.

My 0,02 cents...

[Smanux]

Coming back to Intel X-25 SSD issue - is there a visible difference in speed between 7200 rpm HDD and this Intel device ?

Yes definitely, here are the results of CrystalDiskMark for the original HDD (Hitachi Travelstar 100GB 7200rpm) and the Intel SSD. The tests were run on the same T60p:





In summary, the SSD is about 3 times faster for sequential operations, 50 times faster for random operations, and up to 200 times faster for queued random read/write.

I'll redo the test once I can get the partitions aligned properly on the SSD.

[misfit]

In summary, the SSD is about 3 times faster for sequential operations, 50 times faster for random operations, and up to 200 times faster for queued random read/write.

[snipped]

I checked the thread but didn't see mention of what OS you're using. Care to share?

I'm still using XP for most things, a lot of the older games that I use to fill in time (I'm an invalid and have times when I want just a basic, undemanding game to help me ride out pain) don't like W7. I have a T60 with W7, as per sig, that I use to test programme / game compatibility. However as far as I know us XP hold-outs can't run an SSD as it's supposed to be used, with TRIM commands.

Or am I wrong?

Cheers,

[Smanux]

The OS is Windows XP. It doesn't support the TRIM command natively, but Intel provides a tool to run it:

http://www.intel.com/go/ssdtoolbox/

The TRIM command can be executed manually, or scheduled to run on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.

[misfit]

The OS is Windows XP. It doesn't support the TRIM command natively, but Intel provides a tool to run it:

http://www.intel.com/go/ssdtoolbox/

The TRIM command can be executed manually, or scheduled to run on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.

Thanks very much, all I need to do now is wait for the price to drop further.

It was my (obviously wrong) understanding that two things were needed to run an SSD; Native OS TRIM capability and a system-board that supports AHCI. I know that T60s have AHCI as I run mine with it enabled.

Going off topic a bit but I remember early last year seeing some PATA SSDs for sale and hoping that one day I could fit one to my much-loved T43 (running XP). However they were MLC and quite slow from what I read. I was hoping that the future would bring good things in that arena too. Alas, from what I read now it's unlikely, and I haven't seen a PATA SSD for sale in a while. Which is a shame as if my T43 wasn't I/O-bound there's no reason why it couldn't be useful well into the future.

Cheers,

[Smanux]

For the record, after realigning the partition I ran the benchmark and got almost the same results.

The experience is really pleasant so far, the PC starts in silence and everything is smooth.