Fujitsu P770 optical drive

Anyone know the model number or other details about the optical drive in the Fujitsu P770?

I am looking at the possibility of replacing it with a Sony Blu-Ray drive, but would like to know more about the existing drive first.

Plus, I need to determine if the current drive is the standard 12.5mm size, or the new and smaller one. Far as I know, the Sony drive is a 6x BD burner that requires a 12.5mm mount.

Thanks in advance!

 

If you have the laptop in your hands now, remove the current drive and check the model number on the device itself.

Or you could just pm me the serial number and I'll see what I can dig up

 

Given the modular battery is a six-cell, it seems unlikely it's a 9.5mm drive. They may use multiple drive suppliers as it's best not to put all your eggs in one basket, though I'm not super familiar with Fujitsus.

 

I am not prepared to rip this system apart without first learning all I can. Doing so may impact the warantee, and that is something I don't want to do unless I am sure there is a benefit.

Do you mean the serial number of the laptop?

 

Where does one measure to tell if a drive is 9mm or 12.7mm?

The cover on the end of the DVD tray is 10mm, and the opening is 12mm. I don't know if 9mm optical drives have the same sized cover and the measurement refers to internal space, or not.....

 

Yes, the laptops serial.

And you could also check Device Manager, see the optical drives model there. Then google the model number for manufacturer's website / more info. I actually thought that last night but I was too lazy to get out of bed and type it here, so I forgot it

I haven't had that particular model in my hands, but usually the optical drive is secured with one screw that has picture of CD next to it. If it is removed the drive can be safely pulled out. That works in 98.7% of worlds laptops.

 

OK, please explain how you would find out anything using the serial number. I am interested - is this information online?

That is a big DUH!!! I should have thought about that before tearing it apart tonight!!! I got the model number from the drive, but when I checked Device Manager, I got it there as well!!!

The drive is a Sony Optiarc AD-7930H. This is a 9.5mm drive, with specs at:
AD-7930H | Sony Optiarc

This is the only 9.5mm drive that Sony makes. They do not make a Blu-Ray drive this small.

In other words, I am screwed. No upgrading to Blu-Ray for this laptop!

Not so in this case.

By trying to take it apart, I have determined a few things.

First, removing all the screws from the bottom allows the keyboard to be lifted.

You can not remove the keyboard, since there are several wires connected below it. I have no idea how to get them reattached if I take them off - the space is very very VERY tight.

The DVD drive is held in with at least three screws. One is one of the front screws that holds the system together. The other two are under a small panel that, when removed, allows access to nothing but those two screws. The panel covers the inside connectors to the SD card reader. With these three screws remove, the drive is free.

There may be a fourth screw holding it in, but that is one of the other ones that holds the laptop together, so you have to remove that screw to get at it anyways.

The DVD drive seems to be in a bracket. There is one small ribbon cable running from the bracket to the system board. It is not a standard SATA connection, so maybe the SATA connection is within the bracket.

You can remove the DVD drive cable, but you will need a very long set of needlenose to get it back on.

 

Found a 9.5mm Blu-Ray drive - the Panasonic UJ232A.

It seems to be in short supply, and expensive. Can't find specs at a Panasonic site, but Dell has some:

Documentation

Strange - it will burn Blu-Ray, but not DVD-DL. Blu-Ray max read and write is 2x.

What prices I can find for it, make it $10 to $30 more expensive than the 6x Sony drive - but the Sony is 12.7mm, so I can't use it anyways. Guess you are paying for the slimline engineering.....

 

P.S. - while I had the P770 semi-apart, one thing I did NOT see was the second RAM module. Was not looking, but it seems to be buried kind of deep. Bringing this thing up to 8Gb RAM is going to be more challenging than one might have expected....

 

Like cars with their VIN numbers, manufacturers know what the computer is made of by looking at the serial numbers. Information itself is probably not public It's a benefit that comes with the territory.

 

The territory? This is what you do for a living?

Your offer is much appreciated. However, I was able to find the information required.

I may ask for your advice on another couple of issues.

First - After putting the laptop back together, I found a plastic frame, about 2" x 3.5" (from memory, it is at home). I don't know if it came out of the P770. If you don't mind, I will photograph the frame and post here.

Second - the keyboard on the P770 flexes, enough to effect those of us who touch type. I read about this from several sources before buying, so I assume it is a design issue. I am hesitant to just stick something under it, since it could effect the laptop electrically, and in terms of heat dissapation. Any idea if anything can be done?

Now debating the wisdon of upgrading to a 2x BD drive. I don't burn DL very often, and likely never on the laptop, so not being able to do this is OK.

An alternative is to get the 6x Sony drive and put it into a slimline external USB case. Given the P770 only has USB 2 ( no USB 3, no eSATA), the external USB BD drive may be less than overwhelming....

 

I own a Sony TT, some of these laptops came with a Panasonic or Opti dvd drive and you could not use the Opti bezel to upgrade to a Panasonic BD drive. Those with an Optiarc had to buy a bezel from Sony spare parts that was designed for the Panasonic drive.
I owned a Panasonic dvd drive so upgrading to a UJ232A was easy for me and i could just swap my bezel over. With some laptops because of design they use their own bezel and a generic one might for an example leave a gap.

I know that with some laptops Fujitsu has used their own connectors on standard drives. I don't think it should be an issue now but i have a bit of a question mark over it. If you could pull your drive out and take a picture it would helpful. Also, as pointed out above i hope you have no issues with the bezel.

Th UJ242A is newer and unlike the UJ232A it can burn double layer dvd drives.

 

Rachel:

Thanks for the response!

Pulling the drive is not something I am in a rush to do, since getting the connector back in looks like more fun than a guy can handle in one day....if y'all get my drift! I may be stopping by a place on Saturday that sells very long needle nose pliers, which looks to be a requirement.

I might be able to get a photo with the keyboard lifted, but now that I see photos of other 9.5mm drives, I can see that this one is in a bracket. A reasonable assumption is that the bracket has the SATA connectors, routing them to a single, smaller connect that is exposed to the world. Thus, the nonstandard single ribbon cable. Then again, assumptions like that have gotten more than a few of us into a bad situation....

One thing I found while searching the internet was a reasonably priced empty bracket for mounting a hard drive into an optical drive bay. That looks neat, gives one up to 1.5Tb storage in an ultraportable 12.1" laptop, if one needs that.....or desperately needs the bragging rights.....

Wow! I did searches for 9.5mm blu-ray drives, and never found this one. Neat! More expensive than the 12.7mm drives, but not by a lot - maybe $30Can difference.

That gives you a 4x drive, while the 12.7mm drives are 6x, but I don't know if that really matters - the BD drive at home burns at 2x even though it is a 10x drive, thanks to the available media.

Your comments about the bezel are very informative. I am not sure how it would work for me - to be honest, the fit and finish on the P770 leaves a bit to be desired, and the existing drive does not fit as flush as I would like. 'Specially given the premium price of the product!

Thanks again!

 

I'm not brand-specific altough I don't like to touch Acers, eeeww But yea, laptops, desktop, servers and their software.

First idea that comes in mind with that frame is... pcmcia/expresscard slot filler? Something that big couldn't be left out accidentally

Some people have tried to repair flexing keyboard with sheets of plastic or cardboard, something that isn't conductive. Personally I've fixed that by using HP business laptops and my colleaques pretty much have thinkpads (I'm different, they say ).

 

One of the laptops I just sold was an Acer Aspire One netbook. Ran very well, DJ'd a lot with it just fine, only let it go to help finance the purchase of the P770. Also because the keyboard layout in Canada is "bi-lingual", which is the same as saying brain dead and impossible for touch typists without a huge retraining effort....

The other laptop I just sold was a Gateway MX6627, Centrino 1.7Ghz/2Gb/320Gb, a company which I believe is now owned by Acer. It was also a gem, used for many years as the primary for DJing Those who have it now are continuing to do the same.

Maybe I just got lucky?

Duh! Yeah, thanks, I feel so dumb now.....

I almost got the HP 2540p Elitebook, but after reading many reviews afterwards both on the laptop and on HP's service, I am kind of glad I didn't. Plus, they use 1.8" hard drives in the models with an optical drive, and you can't get anything beyond a very slow 320Gb drive in that size. My P770 has a 750Gb drive and room for the optical drive, which really trumps HP's engineering.....

I will have a look at the plastic sheet idea, and another look at how the keyboard is supported. I have some major concerns about anything in there that may effect cooling - some of the stuff I do runs the CPU at 75 degrees steady for a while. Mostly DVDFab, which runs well and very fast on the P770 but crashes and causes a reboot on my main i5-750/ASUS/Velosiraptor/ATI system.

For a 1.2Ghz CPU, the P770 blows away my P4 2.8Ghz system for stuff life DVDFab recoding (Blu-Ray to mkv, or shrinking Blu-Ray discs) by a factor between 3 and 5.

I am going to go home and replace the expresscard holder now....

 

Yep I've only once recommended Acer product for anyone, it was a Timeline model for my mother's friend who went thru an organ transplant surgery and was not allowed to lift more than 2kg for months. In the last 1.5 years or so, that one laptop has seen three motherboard replacements so far, the owner is now seeking a replacement computer from the retailer.

So far, failure rate is way over 100% here

I do think those Aspire Ones are quite capable machines, perhaps not all of them don't break but I'm known of my bad luck.

Intel makes 1.8" SSD that's pretty fast too Yet people have different needs. I have an external dvdrw that I've used three-four times to install OS in the last two years. Neither my tc4400 or mini5101 have optical drive.

One thing that tipped the scales for HP couple years back, they have a repair center in my hometown: I can dump computers & printers there and pick them couple days later fixed. I don't really care to fix my own stuff, it's more fun to let someone else do it, then it's not my problem if something goes wrong

Prepare mentally that you might need to buy a new keyboard*. Then glue thin sheets under the kb to stiffen it, maybe little thicker in the spot where it gives in most. I'm thinking few thin sheets shaped like X under the kb. I can't figure out what material would be thin but rigid enough actually make noticeable difference. Carbon fiber laced with epoxy?

*New keyboard is in case you need to send computer in for warranty

 

An update - my parts arrived from the Far East. Conversion done. P770 now running with 1.25Tb hard disk and no optical.

The only real problem was that the cable linking the optical drive holder to the motherboard did not want to release. I had to remove all screws from the optical drive while it was still cabled to the motherboard, then install the hard drive holder the same.

There are cables linking the keyboard to the to the motherboard - three of them. Two of them are a bit longer - one for the track pad, and one for the track pad buttons. The third one, for the keyboard, is very short. While doing all this work, all three pulled out of their connectors. I was able to put the keyboard cable back in, and did not bother with the ones for the track pad/buttons. Will go back to them later, maybe this weekend.

Moved the 750Gb WD drive to the new drive bay, and installed a brand new Seagate Momentus XT 500Gb hybrid drive as the boot drive. Used Acronis Migrate Easy to move data and OS to the new drive, and that worked well. The 500Gb drive now has boot partitions for XP and Win7 Ultimate, and a data partition for my music (this laptop is my main sound source for DJing). The second drive is one large F: partition, and is used for videos and other data.

The cover plate for the optical bay hard drive holder needs to be removed and modified, since it partially blocks the SD card reader. No problem there, just have not got around to it. The cover is a little short, so I may try to find something I can modify to fully cover the opening (except for the SD reader, of course).

The optical drive will not fit into a thin external USB drive case, since the cover is wider than usual - thanks again to having the SD reader in the same space in the laptop. I am looking to get one of the very thin USB powered DVD reader, since I do need to read CDs and DVDs on occasion.

Overall, the work was a real pain because I could not get the optical drive holder cable off the motherboard, but otherwise went well. The system is run very fast, and stable. The extra space allows me to use this laptop for video editing, as well as having some hidef (Blu-Ray and HD-DVD) movies on hand when visiting friends. Final conclusion - a successful project.

I don't have the details for the optical drive bay hard drive holder with me. Should anyone be interested, please let me know, and I will dig them up and post here.

Many thanks to those who provided assistance and feedback!

 

The second RAM Module is located exectly under the first RAM Module. After you removed the DIMM at module you may found a hole and you may see another DIMM's label through the hole.

But I donno how to access it

Rice

 

Chat about this laptop has really died out - and I can no longer find it listed at retailers I use. Fujitsu Canada still lists it, but I have to wonder if anyone is selling it anymore....

Had mine apart yesterday to resolve some issues. When I removed the optical drive and replaced it with a 750Gb drive, I also pulled out some ribbon cables. At the time, I was able to get the keyboard cable back in, but two others were left unattached.

Yesterday, I set aside the time to do this. Removed all the screws and seperated the keyboard from the base. Started to insert the two ribbon cables for the track pad and trackpad buttons, and the keyboard cable came out again.

That was actually a good thing - the keyboard cable is the shortest and severely restricts your working space, even though it is at the rear left. The extra room available allowed me to get the two trackpad cables inserted, then I reinserted the keyboard cable.

While this was all apart, I also had a look at the internal memory module. It is in a holder exactly like the one that you see when you remove the panel from the bottom of the laptop. I was able to pop out the 2Gb module and replace it with my 4Gb module. Tricky working in such a small space, so having long and very very thing screwdrivers and very long needle nose pliers is required - I even purchase a new set of long, thin needlenose pliers for this project, and they really helped!

Final result - a better understanding of how to work inside the P770, all cables attached and the trackpad back in service, and the max internal memory installed. When I can find a 4Gb module at a price I like, I can bump it up to 8Gb very easily. I still have not put anything under the keyboard to stop it flexing - that may be something I just have to live with.

One thing I did not do was take some photos. That should have been done and maybe posted here. Sorry.

I really don't want to think about what all this has done to any chance of warantee work...