Talk:Problems with SATA and Linux

regarding the "BIOS error 2010 on user-installed hard disk": the text says that corruption occurs if you use a harddisk without the specific ibm bios. would be interesting if it is possible to fix this problem in the kernel so that you can use any disk and the kernel doesn't use specific ATA commands which are known to cause problems.

in the tabook i didn't find any specification of the SATA bridge. it would be interesting: 1) what type it is 2) if it is fixed on the mainboard or if it is possible to solder in a new one

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Another interesting question is whether these ThinkPads can be hacked to accept a real SATA system disk, by bypassing the SATA-to-PATA bridge (this would probably involve some soldering and cutting). If the BIOS can also handle that then it may come in handy, since some new high-capacity 2.5" disks have only SATA versions. --Thinker 02:56, 8 Oct 2005 (CEST)

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Z series

Since the Z series uses a SATA controller and disk, without the bridge, would it be possible to make SATA ATAPI support as a module that you could load only when using the optical drive? Then, for everyday use, the experimental options of PATA and ATAPI with ata_piix would not be needed, moving you one step further in the direction of stability.

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I have an R52 with Ubuntu Breezy and no problems with SATA (I personally asked the developers to include the needed patches).

However, I'd like to know wheter there are any advantages with this configuration. Future proof? Power saving? Speed?

Anybody cares to comment?

-- Michele

Straight SATA, like in the Z60m/t, will provide better upgrade options in the long run (the hard disk industry is slowly but surely moving to SATA), and maybe a small performance increase if your drive, controller and OS support command queueing (they probably don't). However, with the hybrid ThinkPad models that use a SATA-to-PATA bridge, like your R52, you get all the drawbacks and none of the benefits; plus there's the horrible issue with drive compatibility. My impression is that Lenovo did this just as a convenient (for them!) transition path, in order to use new chipsets without comitting to (temporarily) scarcer and more expensive drives. In any case, they didn't even have the decency to make the UltraBay Slim accept SATA drives.

--Thinker 18:10, 3 Nov 2005 (CET)

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There is a UltraBay Slim SATA HDD Adapter, but only compatible with the Z series (at least for the moment).

--Tonko 03:12, 4 Nov 2005 (CET)