X40 boot question

[Indy452]

Can the X40 be booted from the sd card?

I haven't played around with it much or been in the bios to see the boot config but thought I'd ask here while I'm still at work..

Thanks.

[topmahof]

external yes, internal no.

[jdrou]

external yes, internal no.

You mean not from the built-in slot, only from a USB-attached reader?

[Indy452]

There is a sd card slot on the right side and lets say I have a 4gb sd card with puppy linux on there. Can I boot from the sd card with puppy linux on it? If so I would be content with that instaed of forking out loads of dough on troublesome slow internal pata drives or the expensive ssd's...

I just want to browse with it....I don't need infinite storage.

Thanks..

[jdrou]

You can certainly boot from USB flash drives if you don't mind it being external. Sounds like the SD Card slot may not work though.

[Neil]

say I have a 4gb sd card with puppy linux...If so I would be content with that instaed of forking out loads of dough on troublesome slow internal pata drives or the expensive ssd's...I just want to browse with it....I don't need infinite storage.

You could always put a small CF card in the hard drive bay. That's how I run both of my X40's. One has a 16GB card, the other an 8GB, but even 2GB would be enough for Puppy Linux or Browser Linux. Makes for a cheap and very quiet, light weight drive.

[Indy452]

You could always put a small CF card in the hard drive bay. That's how I run both of my X40's. One has a 16GB card, the other an 8GB, but even 2GB would be enough for Puppy Linux or Browser Linux. Makes for a cheap and very quiet, light weight drive.

Now thats a good idea....it would cost less than a ssd for sure. Now don't I need some kind of adapter to run from the cfc to the mobo?

[Neil]

Yes, you need an adapter. This one, or one like it, is what I'm using.

[fasteez]

+1 for the cf card + adapter combo very cheap and efficient

I saw somewhere a new custom bios for x41 to avoid 'error 2010' too

[Indy452]

Yes, you need an adapter. This one, or one like it, is what I'm using.

Thanks, I ordered one.

As for the little x40 It sure is a neat little laptop, it just has a nice feel to it for its portable size and it reaks of quality. My son is gonna love it.

Thanks for the help folks! I love this board. I thought I was a minority when I started collecting and selling IBM thinkpads......

[topmahof]

This is a good place to be if you have a Thinkpad.

[sarbin]

Thanks for the help folks! I love this board. I thought I was a minority when I started collecting and selling IBM thinkpads......

welcome to thinkpad home!

[Indy452]

+1 for the cf card + adapter combo very cheap and efficient

I saw somewhere a new custom bios for x41 to avoid 'error 2010' too

I've never owned a cf card so will any cf card do? I assume they are all the same size then? Does anyone have a link or recommendation on cf cards?

[Neil]

All CF cards are the same size, but not all are suitable for use as a boot drive. See this Thinkwiki page for more info.

[RealBlackStuff]

I saw somewhere a new custom bios for x41 to avoid 'error 2010' too

OP has an X40, which does not have the 2010 Error.
Only X41/X41t produce that error, and the mentioned modded BIOS will get rid of it.

[fasteez]

OP has an X40, which does not have the 2010 Error.
Only X41/X41t produce that error, and the mentioned modded BIOS will get rid of it.

my bad I didn't knew enough, and good for him then.

[Indy452]

Can a zif drive be used in an x40? I'm sorry about all the questions but I'm finding out these little x40's are a bit more costly to own....but they are soo cool I can't give them up.

Here is one like I'm talking about....will it work in a x40 with some kind of adapter? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... vi-content

[Tasurinchi]

Can a zif drive be used in an x40?

Yes, check my thread here for an example of the adapter (plus some HDD's that will work just in case you need more Drivespace). But 8GB??? Are you sure it will be enough? Or you plan to run any mini Linux distro?

[natgab]

But 8GB??? Are you sure it will be enough? Or you plan to run any mini Linux distro?

---Just saw this thread and thought I would add my comment. I'm fiddling with loading Windows 7 on a USB and install it on my Thinkpad. So I wiped my 40GB Hard Drive on my X40.

I am still using the Thinkpad with my 256MB USB stick loaded with Puppy Linux 5. It still has about 100MB free on it, so the whole OS will only take up about 150MB of the 8GB CF card OP is looking at. I think that should be enough, since he can connect any cheap USB stick to offload anything large he downloads. I intend to use the stock HD untill it wears out and then replace it with a CF card & adapter too. It would also shave even more weight off this tiny laptop.

[Indy452]

I just wanted to pop in and say the cf to pata 1.8" adapter and a cheap Voigon cf card are working very well for me on the x40. I may go ahead and do the same on my other x40 and ditch the hd in it.

8gb is plenty for my kids since they are mainly using the laptops for internet use only....no major downloads even. There are larger 32gb on up cf cards if I need something larger.

The only issue with the adapter and cfcard is its tucked into the hd bay and kinda hard to grab with your bare fingers if you want to pull it....that's all.

Thanks again for all the good help you folks gave me.

[lightpeak]

I wouldn't bother with slow CF cards. I'm using this 16GB SSD in my X40 which is a straight swap (no adapters needed, perfect fit) and [censored] fast. It's really not that much more expensive than what a 16GB CF card would cost you.

http://www.memoryc.co.uk/products/type/ ... IDE%2FPATA

[ThinkBrad]

Sorry to revive this thread but I wanted to add an observation that may help the future user who finds this using 'search'.

I tore apart a cheapie USB card reader today to find a small PCB on which several card interfaces were mounted. At the USB-end, the board terminated into four small wire leads that went out to the USB plug. Since these things show up as a USB device, it may be possible to boot from an SD card plugged in to a USB port via an external card reader. If that works, then you may be able to integrate that functionality into your internal SD card port by jumping the appropriate pins from the SD card slot to the corresponding leads on the nearby USB port, effectively making your SD card slot appear like an external SD card reader.

I haven't been able to test any part of that hypothesis because my ThinkPad is in pieces for at least another week or so. The first thing to confirm would be that it's possible to boot from an SD card connected via USB card reader. This is potentially interesting to me because I may be able to swap bootable SD cards between the ThinkPad and Raspberry Pi. If nobody else picks up on this in the meantime I'll try to post the outcome once my ThinkPad is repaired and reassembled.

A backup option in case booting is possible but jumping the SD card input to the USB input is not - you could always get a small 99c SD reader from eBay (they have gotten really tiny now), strip it down to the board, and jump the TP's SD card input pins to the card reader's pins, then snip the card reader's USB plug and bridge its four-wire output to the nearby USB input on the ThinkPad. With a professional soldering job and perfectly measured wire leads, it is likely possible to orient the card reader's PCB to fit snugly against the mobo (appropriately insulated), permitting full standard reassembly.

Just food for thought, something of interest to me and potentially others with a growing repository of bootable SD cards who may enjoy porting them across multiple devices.