ThinkPad 600E Hard Drive Mystery/Problem/Pain-In-The-Neck

gutchak · 05-28-2008, 02:26 PM

Hello. I'm new here and was wondering if there'd be anyone who could help me with a laptop hard drive problem.

Its like this: I got a ThinkPad 600E Type 2645-8AU which came with an IBM-Hitachi 10GB Hard Drive. Seeing that 10 gigs is a bit too small for me, I replaced it with a 60GB TravelStar Hard Drive.

About a month ago, the 60GB drive started "growing" bad blocks, which led to all sorts of data related problems. I ran all sorts of utilities, in the hope that it would mark the blocks, allowing the system to ignore them. Eventually, I gave in to the reality that it was just about time to get a new hard drive.

The thing is, its very difficult to find an IDE drive that's 60 gigs... all I could find was an 80 gig drive, Seagate. I've checked if this ThinkPad's BIOS version could take in 80 gigs, and found out that it could. So, I officially purchased the drive.

Now here's the thing... the unit just won't detect the 80 gig drive. I put in the old 10 gig drive... it wouldn't detect it as well. The original drive it came with.

Has anyone else out there gone through something like this? It perfectly works with the damaged 60 gig drive, but refuses to detect the original 10 gig and the new 80 gig drive.

Here are some more details on the drives:

10 GB - IBM TravelStar DCXA-210000 - 5v 500mA
60 GB - TravelStar IC25N060ATMR04-0 - 5v 1A
80 GB - Seagate ST980815A - 5v 500mA

I noticed that the 60GB has a 1A rating, while the 10GB and the 80GB have a 500mA rating. I've got a feeling this has something to do with the laptop's inability to detect the 10GB and the 80GB drives...

I've already Googled, checked out Hitachi, IBM and Seagate's respective websites. I didn't find anything that could help me sort this mess out...

If anyone out there knows whats up with this unit... HELP PLEASE!!! Right now, i'm using the ThinkPad, 60GB drive installed, while the 80GB drive's connected via external enclosure through a USB hub.

The 60GB regularly develops bad blocks, and i have to run windows xp's chkdisk utility everytime i boot up.

HELP!!!

**TriggerFinger** · 05-30-2008, 04:52 PM

check BIOS if it recognizes the drive. 10, 60 or 80GB should not give you the problems as long as they are IDE/ATA-6.

your issue may seem to be BIOS related. update your BIOS if it improves anything. about the 1A and 500mA, (IMHO) i do not think this is the real issue.

gutchak · 05-31-2008, 09:19 AM

Good day,

Yes. I've already checked, and according to what i've found out, the latest BIOS version (or Easy Setup, as what's its called) has no problems handling an 80GB drive. Of course, I'm now using the latest version...

The darn thing still doesn't recognize the 10GB and the 80Gb drives. The original drive it came with... the 10GB, and it doesn't recognize it. I bought up the 1A and 500mA thing as this is the only difference up and about with the 60GB and the 10 and 80...

This is really weird...

05-28-2008, 02:26 PM	#1 (permalink)
gutchak Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp	ThinkPad 600E Hard Drive Mystery/Problem/Pain-In-The-Neck Hello. I'm new here and was wondering if there'd be anyone who could help me with a laptop hard drive problem. Its like this: I got a ThinkPad 600E Type 2645-8AU which came with an IBM-Hitachi 10GB Hard Drive. Seeing that 10 gigs is a bit too small for me, I replaced it with a 60GB TravelStar Hard Drive. About a month ago, the 60GB drive started "growing" bad blocks, which led to all sorts of data related problems. I ran all sorts of utilities, in the hope that it would mark the blocks, allowing the system to ignore them. Eventually, I gave in to the reality that it was just about time to get a new hard drive. The thing is, its very difficult to find an IDE drive that's 60 gigs... all I could find was an 80 gig drive, Seagate. I've checked if this ThinkPad's BIOS version could take in 80 gigs, and found out that it could. So, I officially purchased the drive. Now here's the thing... the unit just won't detect the 80 gig drive. I put in the old 10 gig drive... it wouldn't detect it as well. The original drive it came with. Has anyone else out there gone through something like this? It perfectly works with the damaged 60 gig drive, but refuses to detect the original 10 gig and the new 80 gig drive. Here are some more details on the drives: 10 GB - IBM TravelStar DCXA-210000 - 5v 500mA 60 GB - TravelStar IC25N060ATMR04-0 - 5v 1A 80 GB - Seagate ST980815A - 5v 500mA I noticed that the 60GB has a 1A rating, while the 10GB and the 80GB have a 500mA rating. I've got a feeling this has something to do with the laptop's inability to detect the 10GB and the 80GB drives... I've already Googled, checked out Hitachi, IBM and Seagate's respective websites. I didn't find anything that could help me sort this mess out... If anyone out there knows whats up with this unit... HELP PLEASE!!! Right now, i'm using the ThinkPad, 60GB drive installed, while the 80GB drive's connected via external enclosure through a USB hub. The 60GB regularly develops bad blocks, and i have to run windows xp's chkdisk utility everytime i boot up. HELP!!!

05-30-2008, 04:52 PM	#2 (permalink)
TriggerFinger Moderator Hardware Team Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: USA Posts: 11,851 OS: Vista SP1, XP SP3, PCLinuxOS2007	Re: ThinkPad 600E Hard Drive Mystery/Problem/Pain-In-The-Neck check BIOS if it recognizes the drive. 10, 60 or 80GB should not give you the problems as long as they are IDE/ATA-6. your issue may seem to be BIOS related. update your BIOS if it improves anything. about the 1A and 500mA, (IMHO) i do not think this is the real issue. __________________ DBAN - Memtest86+ - BartPE - Linux LiveCD - ImgBurn - HDD Diags - Disk Copy HOW TO BURN AN ISO FILE

05-31-2008, 09:19 AM	#3 (permalink)
gutchak Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 3 OS: xp	Re: ThinkPad 600E Hard Drive Mystery/Problem/Pain-In-The-Neck Good day, Yes. I've already checked, and according to what i've found out, the latest BIOS version (or Easy Setup, as what's its called) has no problems handling an 80GB drive. Of course, I'm now using the latest version... The darn thing still doesn't recognize the 10GB and the 80Gb drives. The original drive it came with... the 10GB, and it doesn't recognize it. I bought up the 1A and 500mA thing as this is the only difference up and about with the 60GB and the 10 and 80... This is really weird...