For those with slow 1.8" PATA drives wanting SATA...

Has anybody tried one of these , an zif to compact flash adaptor , it`s exactly the same size as a 1.8" hdd as far as i can tell.

http://www.digital-fusion.co.uk/Inu_products/INU_ProdDetailsL9.asp?ref=75644522

 

Did anyone succeed to put a X18-M or any other 1.8" SATA drive into a Dell latitude D430?

thanks

 

Hello all, this is a great thread, although a bit difficult for me to understand. Could someone summarize what my options are for upgrading the hard drive on my Sony TZ?

It comes with a 120gb Toshiba MK1214GAH 1.8" 8mm high PATA hard drive in ZIF format. Where can I go from here to get something greater than 120GB?

A few months ago I tried upgrading to the Toshiba 240gb MK2431GAH, but could not get it to work, I think due to the 4kb/sector format: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=379947

Still would love to get this to work, but after seeing this thread am also willing to try an SATA drive with an adapter in my TZ. Would really appreciate any advice...

Thanks!

 

1/ There's 128GB 1.8" ZIF SSDs. See here. Runcores ProIV being the pick for value. Strange that they have only 5mm tall ones. Would think they could make a 256GB 8mm version.

2/ There is a US$700 256GB Kingspec 1.8" microsata SSD. Not cheap at all, but I guess if you love the machine then could consider *trying* the very slim Dell ZIF-to-SATA adapter as shown on the first post. There is no guarantee that the Dell adapter is bidirection though. Would advise trying that adapter on a SATA HDD powered by an external 5V power supply first before forking out the $$$ for that 256GB 1.8" SSD.

3/ There's a Sony P microsata-to-ZIF adapter. Check if your system has the same plug. If so, suggest that adapter plus a 1.8" microsata SSD of your choice. Eg: Intel X18-M.

 

To maybe use a Intel X18-M in a DELL Latitude D420 you have to take the SSD out of the casing because the SSD is longer than the 1.8" ZIF HDD.

There is no space because the Battery is around it. The same is probably with the D430.

 

Anyone prepared to basically make a tiny sata-to-ZIF adapter would see very decent results with say the Indilinx based Runcore ProIV or the Intel X18-M as can be seen by the figures at the bottom of this post. Though given the pricing of the Runcore ProIV ZIF is the same as the sata version it would only appear worthwhile if you had the skills to do and test it first and wished to reuse the SATA SSD later down the track.

 

I'm not really happy with the results of the non-Intel drives especially 4KB random writes, which is important if you want to run Windows Vista or Windows 7 of it.
Photofast GM V3 seems okay but that is not available yet.
What controller the SSD uses tells you only half of what the real performance of the drive is. How good the Firmware of the SSD is and if it has internal Cache is very Important. If it has internal cache then most like only the performance at the beginning or at small transfers is good but it is probably slow under load.
On Tomshardware you have some information on what seems okay and which doesn't. http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/2009-flash-ssd-charts/Write-Access-Time-h2benchw-3.12,904.html

 

Mtron mobi ZIF 64GB is to be released "sometime soon" too. $400-$450 for 64GB is what rocketdisk.com tell me. It's 4kb speeds are faster than Intel X18-M. See here. Expensive, but fast SLC SSD.

 

Yeah, if you like to compare apples with oranges
MLC vs SLC ... who would win?

 

Any news on this SATA mini-PCI-e SSD?

I had found a similar one from Supertalent which seemingly has a SATA chip integrated on a mini-PCI-e card. It was originally designed for the Asus eePc S101.
The Product code for the MLC-based 64 GB version is FPM64GRSE.

 

Apparently products like this can only be used with notebooks (mainly netbooks) which have special 'mini pcie ssd' capabilities, as in, the chip is wired differently then one might imagine, meaning they won't work if you tried to plug one into your computers space mini pcie port as the connections are different.

Plus you have the problem of the computer itself not recognising the device as a bootable medium...

 

Are their notebooks that have mini pcie ssd capabilities? I've never seen one, but admittedly, I've never paid that much attention.

 

Has anyone placed an order for this exact part number and gotten this adapter? I have a Vaio P and just got a 1.8" 5mm SSD--I want to swap out my pata HDD, and it hinges on my ability to get this connector.

 

I would like to know as well if the sony part number 185721811 is the sata to zif adapter required. whoever bought this item please confirm it works.

 

Hello all, first I wanted to say great job to the OP for the work they are doing. After reading his post I jumped on a good deal on an intel x18-m 80gb from newegg ($150 after discount) and have been exploring the ways to accomplish using it.

First off, does anyone have a pinout for the Sony adapter? It looks like the same 40 pin adapter as mt Dell latitude XT, so I want to start here as it may be plug-and-play, but I am weary that it either won't fit, or the pins are all wrong.

Secondly, has anyone accomplished the diy mod successfully? I read through all of the posts in this thread, and I don't remember seeing any success stories (save for the macbook air). I plan on buying the parts for a sata-ide-zif connector if the sony adapter is no good, and although I can solder and have a little electrical knowledge, it would be helpful if there was someone who I could bounce things off of when I run into a wall.

I guess that's it for now. Post more when I get the actual SSD in and can look at how much space I physically have to work with.

 

look up IFX-536 online using froogle.com, I think I fuond the right part for the micro sata to zif adapter. Being shipped priority mail, will confirm this in a couple of days. costs is $45-50 for it though. BUt you will have more options for SSD (intel 1.8" anyone?)

 

Be sure to post pics when you get it. Is this a different part than the one shown in the sony P? What laptop are you trying to install an SSD in?

 

for the vaio p

 

No DIY successes reported.

If you want to try, I'd suggest grabbing the Dell zif-to-sata adapter when it pops up on ebay as described on the first post of this thread. If it's bi-directional, then it's simply a matter of adapting the sata connector to a microsata connector. Might need to be rotated 90degrees as the sata connector end looks wider than a ZIF HDD.

FYI: Indilinx based SSDs like Runcore ProIV perform better in single-queue applications than Intel SSDs (X18M) so it might be easier to just grab one of those, which incorporate a sata-to-pata bridge. Supposedly they have a new bridge to be released in the coming weeks which I guess may mean more speed or compatability.

 

I would like a runcore, price is a little bit of an issue, $150 for the intel was a bit of a stretch, and I still have to shell out to get some components to adapt it.

I had just got the intel ssd, and dropping it in the bay where the hdd goes it is a tight squeeze on my Dell latitude XT. there was no room at all for additional mods as the SSD is slightly longer than the stock hdd, so the logical thing to do was remove the ssd casing. that shaves maybe 1-2mm from the height, the biggest thing getting in the way is the sata connector, and if I go through with the diy mod, that will be the first thing to go as I would solder wires to the contacts on the ide bridge board direct from the ssd.

I still haven't decided if I am going to bite the bullet and try, going to order in a few adapters from ebay to get a feel of the size and complexity of everything.

In the mean time, would it be possible for someone with the vaio P to snap me a picture of both sides of the zif hdd connector? The end that connects to the motherboard is similar looking to that on my dell latitude XT, and I wanted to see if the pins to the hdd are the same or not. If by some freak occurrence that the connector works on the XTs, then problem solved.

 

What's the deal with the Runcores? Out of stock everywhere. Are they coming out with new ones?

 

The exact part number is A1706718A COMPLETE PWB IFX-536(SSD), which is what you saw in the picture I referenced earlier... I got an x18m, placed an order for a cable, and they ran out of stock. Said the heck with it, returned the SSD, and now I'm just going to install win7 and be happy with my cheapo laptop.

Best of luck to any Vaio P owners who go this route. I put a LOT of time and effort into confirming that it's the exact part needed. My advice--order directly from the Sony Parts Warehouse.

 

Sony part number 1-878-429-11 or A1706718A - COMPLETE PWB IFX-536 SSD
Sony Vaio P microsata-to-ZIF adapter


There's one on eBay right now - Item Number 220593706507 - if anyone's interested !

 

ive seen these before but not with a long cable. probably cheaper than sony parts
also im not sure i see the point... its the drive itself that is slow, pata has some room for speed

 

That model is specifically to fit the Vaio P - you have no option but to pay the Sony price
Whichever generic ZIF to micro-SATA adaptors you've seen, almost certainly won't fit into an average 1.8" drive bay.

The point is that it allows you to replace the drive with something much quicker, like the Intel X18-M which uses the micro-SATA interface.

Absolutely - but nobody makes good, affordable SSDs using the PATA interface in a 1.8" ZIF form-factor. If you want a faster drive, micro-SATA makes it possible

 

In the 1.8" ZIF SSDs comparison, the Indilinx BF units outperform the Intel X18M on a pata interface. The Runcore ProIV Redux even saturating the pata bus on sequential reads.

 

Agreed - but note the word "affordable" in my statement

The Mtron drives carry stratospheric pricing ! The Runcores are somewhat more afforable - but I've never actually seen one for sale. Have the Redux models actually ever been released ? From the out-of-stock pricing I can see listed, it appears that the 64GB RunCore costs more than the 80GB Intel...

 

64GB Runcore ProIV Redux is US$230. 80GB X18M G2 will be about the same, but need a way to get a tiny and inexpensive DIY microsata-to-zif adapter on it. If you figure that out please post in this thread. Even after you figure that out, you'll end up with a slower combo than the Runcore. The X18M G2 does great on a AHCI interface with NCQ but is slower than Indilinx drives on an IDE (Q=1) interface.

The Runcore Redux is scheduled for release soon. It uses a Marvell sata-to-pata bridge for higher performance and compatability.

 

Some decent deals on ebay on runcore (not pro iv) zif ssd.

64gb were selling for $140
32gb still availble for $99 (1 left)
128gb is $299.99

waiting for the redux patiently. proiv has been oos for a long time

edit: seller is mydigitaldiscount

 

Here is some information. Like it or not.
The info given is all from the perspective of a Sony UX microPC (ab)user.

The Dell adapter is NOT bidirectional. That's a shame because it would have been the smallest one.
Second problem with the Dell adapter is that the zif connector is TOP connecting, which is the wrong way round for the UX.

In general it is always going to be a problem to find an adapter that is both easily connected or soldered AND having the zif connector mounted the right way.

The zif connectors that have a latch are BOTTOM connecting, the ones that have a slider are TOP connecting.

Replacing a zif connector is not going to be easy, but then again that might be considered a challenge.

The only relatively easy way to make a working combination would be to use a CF to ZIF adapter, because the zif connector is wired correctly and if you have an adapter that has the CF pins connected to both sides of the board, it will give you twice the room to solder the wires to it.

One other thing is that you don't always receive the adapter that is shown in the adverts, so you end up with ones that are just to thick or they have a non branded PATA bridge chip that only gives you 40MB/s.

Sofar the only fast adapters i got use an Sunplus or Silicon Image chip. Maybe someone can give info on the speeds that a JMicron or Marvel chip will deliver.

Pff, that's it for now. Will have to wait for some other adapters to arrive before i will put a working combination to the test.

 

See Jmicron and Marvell performance as used in the newmodeus and ebay optical bay caddy + X25M G2 here. Marvell is faster AND more compatible with Win7's trim feature.

Your post suggests a DIY solution is being developed. Please post pics if that is the case. It would be the first practical implementation.

 

Thank you for the additional information.
The Sunplus chip does seem to give better read/write speeds on my testrig, will have to wait and see how it performes in the UX, because the UX pata interface might prove to be the bottleneck anyway. Not a problem by itself because the goal is not really a speed boost, but microsata drives selling for half the price that zif drives sell for...

I will receive a sata-ide adapter, that will fit inside the UXand has the Sunplus chip, this week and do a quick and dirty assembly with the CF-zif adapter so that i have a proof of concept.
I am hoping to get an ide-zif adapter that has the correct signals on the zif side, because that would make it easier for someone else to replicate.
The setup would then be:
Sata to 40pin ide 3.5 , 40pin ide 3.5 to 44pin ide 2.5 , 44pin ide 2.5 to zif.
This setup makes it very easy for someone to assemble the whole thing without having to worry about the pinouts to much.

This is very much like your DIY solution #1, but there the zif connector has to be swapped for a top connecting one.

 

I deceided not to wait any longer for a perfect zif adapter, so i swapped the top connecting zifconnector for a bottom connecting one. This makes it harder for someone else to replicate.
The whole package is less than 8 mm thick so it fits inside the UX.
Only problem now is that is doesn't work.... so i will have to check all the signals and connections. Maybe separate the ssd again to check that its still working.

 

Impressive work +rep. All the best in getting it up and running.

 

Pfffwww, the ssd is okay. I separated the ssd from the adapter and re-attached the original sata connector to it. I was very relieved to see it working.
The problem was in the sata-ide adapter, the zifconnector had some cold solder joints.
Reheating solved that problem and the adapter worked right away!
So now i have to put the package together again and see if it works inside the UX. I won't be using the short satacable again to connect the adapter and ssd, although it added some finesse , because the wires snap very easily. Will have to find some thin and flexible wire now.
Will report back when its up and running again.

 

Good and bad news.
The good news is that it's working inside the UX now , the bad news is that it's slow. The devicemanager reports UDMA1 , that's way to slow.
Still a problem with the signals/zifconnector as reinserting the zif cable made it even worse.
Some more work to be done...

 

Switching to UDMA1 means it's having signalling errors so drops the interface to lowest speed. Impressive work so far.

 

Hello nando and others,

Just looking for an update on all the ZIF to SATA efforts. I'm still looking to upgrade the hard drive in my Sony TZ.

Did anyone ever get the Sony microSATA to ZIF adapter to work? I was thinking of getting that and the Samsung 256GB 1.8" microSATA SSD drive.

Would this be a plug and play combo for my TZ? I'd really appreciate any help with this...

Thanks.

 

anybody? would really appreciate if anyone has some input on this combo...

 

It won't be plug and play, the connectors are nothing alike.

Sony VGN-TZ Series 1-874-034-11 Hard Drive Cable on eBay (end time 21-Aug-10 17:28:13 BST)

Sony vaio vgn-p vgn p series hard drive connector cable on eBay (end time 24-Aug-10 13:21:00 BST)

http://www.insidemylaptop.com/images/Sony-Vaio-TZ/disassemble-laptop-20.jpg

May be if you have an optical drive replace that with a 256GB+ drive and boot of it.

 

Anybody tried the Super Talent 256 MLC Masterdrive GF Series PATA/ZIF SSD yet?

Super Talent 256GB 1.8" PATA MLC MasterDrive GF Series ZIF SSD for MacBook Air Rev A Super Talent 1.8 Inch 256GB PATA ZIF for Apple Macbook Air REV A Detail Page

 

Great conversation but it doesn't seem like anything came out of it as far as a real workable solution (at least from what I see).

I have the Dell XT with 1.8" PATA IDE connector. I just purchased the Intel SSD 1.8'-M 80-GB without thinking about connections.

I assume its a micro SATA because its a 1.8" even though everything says SATA. Any luck with connecting to IDE ZIF connections, have they come out with a real adaptor since this thread started??

any help/update would be great.

 

I found this adaptor, it says PATA2SATA Bi Directional SATA IDE ADAPTOR, not being a guru in this area. Would this help out with a 1.8' Intel 18-M SSD with a (I think) micro SATA to the DELL XT 1.8 Zif connection? Can this be used with something else to make a workable MOD???


STARTECH.COM PATA2SATA3 Bi-Directional SATA IDE Adapter Converter : Desktop Accessories | Dell

 

Finally an actual product that adapts directly from Micro SATA to ZIF:

BeejBlog: Micro SATA to ZIF Adapter

 

Great find!
JM20330 chip is fast, only downside might be the thickness. (having the components on both sides)
Do you have one already?

 

Got this adapter in the mail today.
Oh boy, its fat! Components on both sides and not the smallest ones either. Won't be easy to make it fit, but will give it a try.
First test on the testrig shows acceptable speed, but i'm not impressed.
The sata ssd can do 220/175 read/write, but the adapter will only allow for 86/80. Testing it in the Sony UX is even more disappointing, the bios rates the connection udma2, which leaves 32/31 speeds.
The UX is known to do this to various ssd's, but it would have been nice if it had cooperated a little...
Forced to udma5 by hdparm gives 84/31. 4K blocks are 14/6 so that's super.
Might still use it for one UX that still has an hdd in its belly. After all, 200 dollars for a 128GB 1.8 ssd and adapter is easily the cheapest way to upgrade from hdd to sdd.

 

Great - I'l quite curious on your adaptation of the microsata to ZIF adapter. Can apply the bardedit+hdparm fix here to get UDMA5 + 66Mhz IDE speed. That should get you up to 86/80 as seen on the test rig.

Another option? Consider the EWS720 1.8" ZIF SSDs http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-1-8-zif-pata-ssds-available.html#post6861746 . They'll use less power than a sata-to-pata bridged solution and can be had at quite a reasonable price.

The current 1.8" microsata SSDs available are listed at: http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...1361-1-8-sata-ssds-available.html#post6978065

 

Thanks for the BAR edit info, will give that a try when the adapter is back in action.

Yes, the EWS720's look promising and can be found for a reasonable price, but what's the fun in just buying stuff?

Some pictures of the modified adapter. The crystal is sideways into the board and the SS14/diode is also lowered into the board. Sata connector has gone and at an earlier stage i removed the 5V connections because they are not used anyway.

The adapter is now 5.4 mm thick, so with some insulationtape and the 3 mm thin ssd you get a total of 8.5 mm.
This should fit inside the UX because there is an extra 1 mm to be found in the drive bay.

 

Hehe.. I like the pioneering spirit Thin enough now to fit in your drive cavity.

Have you considered what 1.8" sata SSD are you going to use? C300, X18M G2, Renice X3 (SF1222), Runcore ProIV (Indilinx), Samsung (RB22), or older Samsung models? C300 is pretty good value.

 

I will use the ssd that i already bought for the first adapter test. (which is still alive, just waiting for some zif connectors to arrive)
It's a 128gb Samsung 220/180 that was bought on Ebay for 180 dollars incl. shipping, hence the earlier remark that you can have an upgrade to 128gb ssd for just 200 dollars.
Power consumption will be up, do you have any suggestions on how to measure?

The Samsung 'thin' version is probably the thinnest one around for one that has chips on both sides. Does anyone know of a micro-sata ssd that has at least 64GB and is less than 3 mm ?