Re: Hard drive cases/connectors

[Don Whiteside <dwhite@shadow.net>]

>If the technical nature of this topic is beginning to bore a majority of
>you, speak up so we'll know to take it to email.
  Indeed. I just thought some people here might be interested in the concept 
of replacing the innards as an alternative to buying a new one.....

>> So inspired, I poped open the case on my HD and took a look, and noticed
>Much easier said than done.  :-)  I gave up until I committed to buying a
>new drive.
  It's not too bad. The trick is to get he two screws first, then lever a 
flathead jewler's screwdriver into the seam above the first set of snaps. 
Then the second, then the third.

>> Two, very strange - the cable on my 170M drive was labeled 340M. _That_
>
>Perhaps this is the reason some people (including me) found that the
>connector doesn't exactly fit the new drive.  I suspect IBM wstandardized
>dimensions between the 170 and 340 drives soon after production.  It seems
>I got one of the older ones, and the 340 label on your cable suggests you
>got one of the later ones.
  Maybe not so soon... I got my machine a day or two after it was 
discontinued, so mine may have been very late into the production.

>> Three, are these standard 2.5" IDE drives? Could, for example, any
>> size Seagate be used here?
>Yes, they're standard.  That's why they're available as OEM drives.  To fit,
>the drive has to be 17mm high or less.  Most of the 2.5" drives out are
>19mm, and some (none over 250 MB last I checked) are 14mm.  You *might* be
>able to fit a 19mm drive without a housing.
  Hmmm. My Seagate desk reference is only up to May 94, and the largest 2.5 
drive it lists is 330, and that's a 19mm drive. I'll call their BBS and 
download the newest listing. I may step out to the bookstore and pick up a 
Computer Shopper too.

>> Or does the TP BIOS only  support certain drive parameters?
>
>I was told by two different IBM people (both in notebook development) that
>the TP will accept any IDE drive that correctly responds to IDE queries for
>number of heads, cylinders, sectors, etc.  i.e. it doesn't rely on a lookup
>table in the BIOS for the hard drive information - it asks the drive.
  Does this include the 720? My boss could desperately use an up, even if 
it's just to 200M.

>A BIOS update was necessary for the 540MB and 810MB drives because they
>exceed the standard IDE size limit of 512MB.  The new BIOS allows EIDE
>drives which can be larger than 512MB.
  I'm glad the BIOS is software upgradable then!
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Donald Alan Whiteside			School of Computer Science
Eternal Student				Florida International University
    GCS d-- -p+(---) l u+(-) e+ m+ s !n h f g+ w+ t+(++) r- y++
      I am NSA of Borg: your private key will be assimilated.
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