How to put SATA in old ThinkPads

instead of SFF-8111

X40, X41, X41 Tablet use SFF-8111 1.8" drive form factor (60x70mm) HDD. A very cheap circuit board (marked 'HX-811 2.5-MSATA') can fit within this f.f. A seller of this shoddy device might use photos of "QC PASSED" labels to deceive you. A manufacturer of this product has minimal quality assurance, and does not inspect the pieces before they exit factory. One specimen was non-functional: a pair of pads were not electrically connected, leaving all circuitry not- powered. This defect is easy to fix. Connect the twin pads by placing a blob of solder, zero ohm surface-mount resistor, or other conductive material.

performance limited to UDMA 2

So you installed some sort of SATA disc in to your favourite laptop. Next, you find its speed limited to Ultra DMA mode 2 33 Mo/s. What is wrong?

over-validated input

IBM, or Phoenix or some group tried to be clever. Too clever, ten years later reaping negative outcome and disappointment. "It's not a bug: it's a feature." ATA Serial Transport is not ATA Parallel Transport; SATA devices (Attachments) not use PATA modes (neither DMA nor PIO signalling). Firmware in some ThinkPad models checks whether drive reports 80-conductor cable, and configures ATA host controller likewise. Sane operating systems limit bus to Ultra DMA 2, as a safety measure when using 40-conductor cable. (Even at limited speed, you really should use UDMA-ready cable.)

known affected models contain southbridge ICH3: A31p R32 T23 T30 X22 X23 X24

old firmware bug

Tforty and its family, including Rfifty, contain southbridge ICH4. It would seem, old firmware versions exhibit behaviour just like in above ICH3 models.

affected models probably includes: T40 T41 T42 R50 R51

modify Sonoma 2005 models

TODO

todo