Asus N73JN-X1 - adding a second hard drive, need help

Hello all,

Short Version: Does anyone know where I can purchase a hard drive caddy for this model notebook? Or, a universal caddy of some kind?

Long Version: I recently added a SSD boot drive to my N73JN-X1 (the Newegg model). There wasn't a hard drive caddy in the empty bay, so I padded it in with foam (which I cut from the packaging the drive came in) and secured the drive that way.

Today, my computer wouldn't boot up because it wasn't recognizing the drive as a boot device. After a couple of restarts, it started booting up again, but I'm worried the drive has somehow come loose or gotten damaged from not being secured properly. I'll open it up later to check and re-pad as necessary, but for the long term I figured the best bet would be to get a real HD caddy. I've e-mailed Asus parts store, no response. Checked the EU Parts store and they don't have it there either. Nothing on Ebay.

I'm wondering if a caddy from another Asus model might work? Does anyone know?

 

I switched the SSD to the other bay (using the bracket) and put the original hard drive in the bay with the makeshift foam mount. Things seem to be working now, but I'd still like to get a more solid bracket for the long term. Anyone got ideas?

 

I used foam also to wedge it in place, and a piece of tin foil to dissipate whatever charge from where the screws were supposed to be. Hasn't given me any problems yet, but I wedged the hard drive in place. It's very snug and cannot move.

 

Mine was (and is) snug too, but I didn't have any grounding in place - good idea with the foil. I'll have to add that to my jerry rig.

I think, in my case, the BIOS was somehow getting confused by having the boot drive in the "secondary" slot. Switching them seemed to resolve the issues immediately. I could be wrong though... I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to the details of how a BIOS works.

 

I think I found a caddy that will work:

M70SV/N70S/G71 HDD Bracket Assembly

Not the exact same caddy, but it looks like the screws should line up. Someone was selling a replacement designed for the same models and I think that is the exact same caddy:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/com...-drive-caddy-g72-g71-n70-m70-n90-x71-etc.html

The one from estore is for the same models, so it should work too. I'll order one and report back when I try it.

 

Hm ok, good luck.

I have my computer set up to boot from slot 1 (the second slot since the first once is slot 0). I had to move my hard drives around since one of mine is a 12.5mm drive and the other is a 9mm one. In the BIOS you can select the hard drive boot order and make it search slot 1 first rather than slot 0, so it never gets confused. You have to dig for the option, I think it's "Hard Drive Boot Priority" or something (also sometimes my computer detects bootable flash drives as hard drives and they show up there, too).

Good luck with the bracket ordering, keep us posted.

 

Upon closer inspection, it looks like the bracket won't fit after all. For now, I'm just going to stick with using the slot 0 caddy for the SSD and the foam rig (with added foil grounding) for the HDD in slot 1.

I did manage to get the part number for the correct caddy from Asus - 13GNZX1AM030-1

Unfortunately, they don't have it and have no idea if they'll be getting any in (and when).

 

Yeah they're always running out and at $20 I just gave up. Unfortunately they don't even give you the screws so it's not like you can just drill holes in a small metal bar and secure it that way.

I hope your foamed rig holds up as well as mine has

 

I just bought another model of the N73JN (a TY072V) and want to switch one of the HDDs with an SSD. It feels like a really stupid question but how do I open the laptop to change the harddisk? I can't open the lid to the compartment underneath, I can't find any screws to unscrew, I've tried forcing it with my fingernail, a knife and a screwdriver. All I've managed so far is to a make a couple of scratches and my finger aches... Is there a secret password or handshake to open it up?

By the way, one more question (if I ever get it open): how do I know which HDD is the primary HDD with the OS?

Freya