Transformation Complete. Sony Vaio TXN17 with SSD Power!!!

Hi everyone.
I have been searching and trying out SSD for the past 6 month with no luck.
I have purchased the Sandisk SSD with Zif from Dell about 5 month ago.
Inserted into my Vaio TXN17, my Optical drive will disappear from my bios.
Wrote to a lot of person in the forum, but none of them were able to offer
any help. So I quickly return the SSD back to Dell.
Recently there was a samsung 64GB SSD on ebay. I thought I would give it
another try, because 1. Sandisk SSD firmware was altered for Dell, so may be
the drive had been set to the same state (master, slave) as my optical drive.
That's why my CD rom disappeared. 2. Sandisk SSD speed was capped at
UDMA 2 so there was really no advantage over my Toshiba hard drive.

Open up my laptop, insert the 64 GB SSD, turn on my laptop, get into the bios.
OH BOY!!! my Optical drive is still THERE!! Fixed disk is now 64GB SSD!!!
Made an exact ghost image from my old hard drive and place into the SSD.
Man!!! This machine now boots up like a dream. I measured my boot up
time. Original harddrive: 45 second to after login and usable state.
SSD : 23 second to after login and usable state.
This is windows XP Pro by the way.

Since my TXN17 comes with 2GB, I have completely turn off pagefile,
hibernation, put all the internet temp file in the Sony Memory stick, This is to
cut down any unnecessary file swap and will prolong the SSD life. With 2GB Ram,
everytime I hibernate, the SSD will have 2GB of data written. With this boot
up speed, I really don't have the need for hibernation, or even standby, since
I don't have to worry about burning out my hard drive.

No more worry about sudden shake or drop of the laptop causing
harddrive failure. This laptop is now totally silent and almost indestructible!!

 

nice but i wouldn't go as far as to say indestructible. it will still b low up with gun shots

 

That's why I said "almost".

 

Hi calculus, can you please provide me with the exact model of the new 64GB ssd that you installed???I would be so grateful, you see I experienced the same problem a couple of days ago and still haven't found a solution (I don't think there is one) you can see my post under the title : "Sony Vaio, Sandisk solid state drive and BIOS conflict" under "Notebook Manufacturers" ---"SONY" I would post the exact link but the system won't allow it as I have published less than 15 posts.

Thank you so much in advance!!!

 

johnram,
calculus hasnt been on nbr in over 3 months, so for you to reach him, you will have to send him a Personal message.
To do this you need 15 posts, so make a few more posts, and you should be able to contact him. Just click on his username, and you can send him a PM from there.

Also, the new Intel SSD is a great choice for a cheaper performance SSD.
M-TRON still has the best SLC SSD drive, but they are expensive.
So not buy the cheap ssd's because many of them are MLC drives, and they suffer from extreme performance hangs because of the Jmicron controller inside.

Samsung, and M-TRON do not use the JMicron controller in their SLC drives, which makes them still the best SLC SSD's you can get.

K-TRON

 

There's only oine option as far as I know:
Samsung 64GB PATA/ZIF 1.8" = MCCOE64GEMPP-01A
http://cgi.ebay.com/samsung-64GB-1-...14&_trkparms=72:1205|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1308

But these SSD's arent the fastest. If you could get a 5400rpm 120GB HDD it would reach similar transfer rates.

 

if you want fast for zif, the only way is to get an mtron 32gb 1.8" zif ssd. else, yes, i'd suggest a harddrive, too.

it's available on rocketdisk.com for 250$.

and, just for the original poster.. (i have to state it).. your notebook is not any more save because of the ssd. it's still a sony, and we know their batteries..

 

Thanks K-TRON for the info, I was thinking of either MTRON or SAMSUNG but I need a drive that is as low as possible in consumption AND It has to bee 1.8" PATA/ZIF. You see the one that has been causing the conflict (SANDISK 1.8" UATA 5000) besides that problem is a great drive. Its power consumption is as follows:

Typical read: 226mA
Typical write: 173mA
Typical idle: 36mA
Typical standby: 18mA
Typical sleep: 8mA

Maximum: 0.55W
Read (Typical): 0.53W
Write (Typical): 0.53W
Active Idle (Typical): 0.21W
Idle (Typical): 0.12W
Standby (Typical): 0.06W
Sleep (Typical): 0.03W

Sequential Read: 67MB/s
Sequential Write: 47MB/s
Random Read: 67MB/s
Random Write: 7MB/s

So as you can see from the numbers above it is a fantastic product, most of the drives I have found are 3 times up in consumption which defeats the purpose. I could also use a 32GB, as long as it wouldn't give me the same conflict (after days of research regarding the present conflict I 've come up to the conclusion that since the SANDISK drive was intended for DELL laptops is somehow locked to a DELL configuration, and that is why my BIOS won't recognize my CD/DVD drive.) I know, it sounds crazy...

Thanks PhilFlow for the info, yes it is expensive do you have any other suggestions for 32Gb drives that are close to the numbers above?

Thnak you both guys for your time!

 

Like davepermen said, get the Mtron. It's faster than the others. But only 32GB as far as I know.

Alternatives: Samsung makes a 1.8" 120GB 5400rpm HDD, Toshiba a 160GB.

And there's also the possibility of exchanging the optical drive for a 2.5" hard drive.

 

MTRON MSD-PATA3018 seems a nice drive however its power consumption is crazy high as you will see from the numbers bellow:

Idle 0.71 W
Sustained Read 1.00 W
Random Read 1.00 W
Sustained Write 2.58 W
Random Write 2.58 W

Any comments?

 

Hey guys here is the consumption of my current drive " TOSHIBA MK101GAH"

Start: 1.8watts
Seeking: 1.1watts
Reading: 1.0watts
Writing: 1.0watts
Idle: 0.3watts
Standby: 0.12watts
Sleep: 0.07watts

Uhhhh, I don't know what to do...MTRON looks really fast but its power requirements will totally kill my battery...please help!!!

 

Specifications aren't everything. You need some users who have the Mtron in real life. They can tell you what battery life they have. Try searching and asking in the SSD thread.

 

You don't really have to take all those measures to prolong the life of your SSD. They're supposed to last decades. I bet once your laptop dies, your SSD will still work.

 

Do you have like 30min lifetime on the battery? I don't see why it would kill your battery or make a big deal for the batterytime, how do you know it would "kill" your battery?

Get a SSD with good random write speed, as that is the most crucial thing about a SSD and will make your computer act laggy sometimes if it's like very low (like the one you mentioned earlier at 7MB/s, that's really slow).

 

My vaio model is the VGN-TN27N,which is an ultra portable computer and battery life is everything when it comes to those small machines. I have to say that I 'm not particularly interested in finding a drive that is extremely fast/faster than my conventional Toshiba drive, but I am very interested in using one that requires less power than mine. So, having said that I 'm looking for a drive that is of the same speed or better with my Toshiba but consumes less power than 1.0 w in read/write modes, especially in idle mode (less than 0.3 w). MTRON in idle has 0.71 w which is more than 2 times up compared to my TOSHIBA and 7 times more compared to SANDISK. Just to give you an idea, with my Toshiba drive on, the small battery powers the computer for a little less than 5 hours, when I put on the SANDISK drive the computer went off at 6 hours and 5 minutes!!! So, we are not talking about 5-10 minutes difference here but more than an hour.
I just wanted to clear this up for all of you who are trying to help me. Once again thank you all and looking forward to your comments.

P.S. Uhhh I only wish SANDISK hadn't created this conflict with my CD/DVD drive in BIOS :-(

 

Then why don't you go for the Samsung 64GB?

The Sandisk is nothing special, it actually uses more power than the average SSD as far as i know. You can find the details on Tomshardware.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-hdd-battery,1955.html. That is proof that specifications are not everything.

 

Thanks PhilFlow, I was thinking to go for the SAMSUNG one, the 32Gb one is also fine. However after browsing for 2-3 hours I am a bit confused with the part numbers for both drives (the 32GB and the 64Gb) Can you help? I found a part number for the 32Gb "MCAQE32G8MPP-2XA" can you confirm that this is the right 32Gb? Also can you help with a part number for the 64Gb version? I need to confirm with the data sheets that's why I 'm interested in those numbers.

Grateful to all of you!

 

Samsung 64GB PATA/ZIF 1.8" = MCCOE64GEMPP-01A
32GB = MCBQE32GEMPP-01A

I'm just grabbing these numbers of Google so don't hold me accountable for it

By the way, I think the Mtron isn't a power hungry as you thought though.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=324445

 

Thanks PhilFlow, I was going to go for the 32GB SAMSUNG "MCBQE32GEMPP-01A" when I saw its dimensions : 78.5(L) x 54(W) x 5(L)mm
Uhhhh mine is a 71mm x 54mm x 8mm . I don't mind about its height but the length is a problem...it won't fit :-(

 

This pdf says it's 71x54
http://www.datasheetpro.com/233345_download_MCBQE32GEMPP-01A_datasheet.html

Here great deal for you:
http://rocketdisk.com/product_info....id=83&osCsid=80ab749ecc9a691eec9c8febc1bdea72

Much faster than the Samsung

 

Yes I saw the data sheet but the drive on dvnation is listed as 78.5mm in length... Ι sent them an e-mail asking to confirm...I was unable to find it at a different store to confirm with the data sheet

 

I found a solution to my SANDISK problem, finally...I 'm going to post it here in case any one else has experienced the same.
Guys if you have a SANDISK that causes your BIOS not to recognize your CD/DVD drive in a VAIO (or I would assume any other laptop) it's because the SANDISK drive is preconfigured at the factory as "SLAVE"!!! It was intended for DELL laptops that have already a first master hard drive or just one drive...You just need to find a program that allows you to access the hard drive's flash chip and change the setting from SLAVE to MASTER!!!There are some programs out there I 'm just browsing now to see which one does the job...5% chance if it doesn't work (which I doubt it) I 'll go for a SAMSUNG if I can fit it...

So Thank you all for your help!!!

 

Johnram,

That totally makes sense. Have you found this program to change the drive configuration?

I have two of these SSD drives out from a Dell Latitude D430.

Looking at the SanDisk UATA 5000 data sheet says "Master/Slave configuration - the drive does not support this option and is preconfigured at the factory to
“Master” option only."

Regards,
Pete

 

Hi psykosonik, yes that's what on Sandisk's web site (that the drive can not support master/slave configurations and that is only set as master), however like you said some DELL laptops support 2 drives on the same system, so no matter what they say at Sandisk, 2 drives at the same IDE Bus cannot support the same mode, so one has to be master and the other slave. I believe my drive was intended as a second drive in a DELL configuration that is why is set as slave. I have found software online that change CD/DVD drives' master/slave configuration but so far the software that I 've come up with is for certain CD/DVD models and yet I have not found any software that support this option for hard drives. I have e-mailed various people and still looking for a solution. I 'm sure that with enough research I 'll come up with something.

Here is a link: http://discussions.hardwarecentral.com/archive/index.php/t-175122.html

P.S. Also if what Sandisk says is true (which it doesn't make any sense as I explained above) That would mean that my CD/DVD drive is set as master also. How can it be? My CD/DVD is master and my old hard drive is slave??? sure...

If anyone else has found something please share.

 

Jonram, your making me think. I'm going to be quick here as I must get to work but is it possible to change the CD-ROM in the Sony to Master or Slave?

I have the Sony notebook open and I can't see anything obvious like jumpers?

Maybe the software you have come across may be able to do this?

p.s thanks for sharing your info.

 

No both the CD/DVD drive and the hard drive have no jumpers! The only way to change the setting is through software...It seems that there only a few people who have faced this problem so no previous research for this...Still looking...I 'm obsessed

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f44/eeprom-utility-liteon-sony-cd-dvd-writers-v4-1-0-new-112103/

I haven't tried that software yet, as I want to come up with 2-3 programs first and then try them

Also check this:

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f44/sony-dw-q520a-master-slave-utility-191824/index2.html

 

Johnram whats the model of your notebook? The notebook may not be using a Sony optical drive.

I have a TX37GP and just noticed that it uses a "Matsushita UJ-832D" optical. Might try looking at finding a EEPROM utility to modify that particular model.

 

Yes, that's why I haven't used that link yet to download the software...my CD/DVD is a Matshita UJ-852S. I want to make sure first that there isn't a program out there for my CD/DVD drive. Some have suggested that although the program did not offer direct compatibility with their CD/DVD drives that they used it and that it worked...it's just that it's too risky if you ask me, that's why I 'm doing more research...I also sent the people at "codeguys" an e-mail asking them if they know anything about my CD/DVD drive but haven't received a reply yet. Could be because of the holidays, try to e-mail them also psykosonik in case you 're luckier and let me know please...If I make any progress I will post right away...

 

Just found an article but I am unable to post links yet, about soldering two pins together...

forum.rpc1.org/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=44766
&
forums.computers.toshiba-europe.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=26631

 

im addicted... here is the last link for the day...

sparesweb.com/hdd/installguide/50-pin%20ATAPI%20interface%20connector%20for%20laptop%20and%20slimeline%20cd.htm

 

Yes, I 'm aware of this method...two things though, first I want to make sure that there is no way to alter via software (as hardware modification should always be the last solution) and second to make sure that these are indeed the right pins to solder for my CD/DVD drive . I read somewhere that some drives may follow a different pin numbering...We will make it work!!!

P.S. Thanks for the link!

 

something interesting I found.

When the SSD is plugged in on its own it is using Device 0

When the standard HDD is plugged in it is using Device 0 and the optical is on Device 1.



would it be the ZIF to 50pin converter I am using causing the conflict?

 

it may.. i have a 2.5" pata to 3.5" pata converter that makes it impossible to use master/slave => no cdrom to install from as i only have one pata connection at this pc.

 

Yes psykosonik, that's exactly how the drive 's behaving on my system too...At some point last night I came to think that could it be possible for the configuration in my laptop to be set as "cable select"? Should that be the case everything would make sense because presumably both my original hard drive and the CD/DVD drive were preset as cable select! So, while having installed on the system the original hard drive and the CD/DVD drive due to cable select settings the HD takes number "0" and the CD/DVD takes number "1". So, the conflict starts when you try to install the Sandisk drive which according to Sandisk's data sheet is preset as master. Should you try to connect a master drive with a second "Cable select" device (CD/DVD in this case), always of course under the same IDE Bus, then the connection fails and the drives won't operate properly, detection problems, etc.

Having that in mind I almost came to the conclusion that my original HD is preset from the factory as "Cable select" and the CD/DVD too...do you want to know why I said almost??? hehe, I sent an e-mail last night to Toshiba Germany to ask them if my drive "MK101GAH" is preset as cable select...Isaid to my self...if they say YES the drive is preset as cable select, then finally I got it!!!Well, guess what...They said the drive comes preset from the factory as...MASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here is their reply:

"thank you for contacting the Toshiba Europe Storage Device Division.

The MK1011GAH comes preset to Master. This can be changed, of course, with firmware.

I hope this information is helpful."

Now I'm so lost after this...these guys are telling me that the Toshiba drive comes preset as "Master" , Sandisk on the other hand says that their drive also comes preset as "Master"!!! Well in that case what the h#$% is happening?????????

Does anyone out there know if a program exists to check the two drives' configuration??? So we can tell for sure if the drives are master/slave or cable select? Something tells me that although both companies say their drives come as master, one of the two has altered via firmware the behavior of the drive and has turned it to cable select...To prove that with solid evidence though I have yet to accomplish...

 

ahh.. just when we thought we were onto something...

sandisk.com/Assets/File/pdf/oem/SanDisk_SSD_UATA_5000_1.8_DS_Rev0.4.pdf does mention the following

does this mean that it only runs as a master drive or does this mean that it doesn't support two devices on the single controller?

 

No, that means that it behaves as "Master" in a configuration that under the same IDE Bus the second device is set as slave. I called up a friend who happens to know a little more about Linux than me and he said that it is more possible to find a program that detects the drives' master/slave/cable select configuration under Linux than under Windows. He said that he is not particularly familiar with that kind of conflict but he will ask around and will let me know as soon and if he comes up with something. He told me that in order to solve this problem you have to be absolutely certain first whether the drives are set as master/slave or as cable select. After you know that, then you know with which drive(s) you have to work. That's what I had been thinking too, so if anyone out there can help us through Linux, the help will be much appreciated!!!My friend agreed with me on that although manufacturers usually state that their drives are preset as "Master" sometimes either the manufacturer changes through software the setting of the drive due to the OEM's order/request, or supplies the OEM with the appropriate software to alter the setting according to the hardware's/computer's needs. So bottom line...he said don't take for granted the fact that because Sandisk/Toshiba say their drives are preset as master, that this is accurate for the specific drives. Most likely one of the two has performed alteration of the setting, as if both were indeed set as "Master" 95% chance Bios would have had no problem detecting the CD/DVD drive!

P.S. The rest 5% for what is causing the problem he gave it either to mainboard's chipset inability to handle a new/different in size or ssd hard drive due to old drivers/firmware version or to BIOS firmware limitation. But he said this is only a 5% chance if you ask me...He suggested...try to find a laptop that is using the same chipset or has the same mainboard that has originally installed this ssd or some other one and download the appropriate software to see if it works (that other laptop can be from a different manufacturer as long as the inside characteristics are 100% the same)...I 'm looking...

Anyone reading from inside Toshiba/Sandisk who can help?

 

Found it...In order to change a hard drive from master to slave is to connect pin 40 via a 10K resistor to a 3.3 v source (either pin 38 or 39)...Have to get the resistor

 

Hey awesome, let me know how you go.

The 10k resistor bands are brown, black, black, red, green. Do you think it makes a differeance in tolerance?

I might and see if there is room for me to solder a resistor onto the ZIF to 50pin adaptor.

I'll post results.

 

Random Write: 7MB/s

LOLz. This is an awful speed and one reason I would NEVER buy any current SSD drive. Simply awful write speeds.

 

calculus:

would the vaio tx accomdate a 8mm height drive? i think the samsung is 5mm, right?

 

Hi Everyone, I am really interested in this project. I have a SONY VGN-TX 650P and the drive is prob on its last breath, plus its SOOOOO SLOW! I am willing to sacrifice the drive capacity for speed. ANy idea if this would work on my TX 650p? I noticed the SAMSUNG drives have higher capacity but they all seem to be SATA, I thought the 650 has a PATA? ANy guidance is greatly appreciated. I am technically inclined but certainly no expert
Cheers...
Alex

 

Hey all, I'm also really interested in this project ... I'd like to put an SSD in my VGN-TX850. Has anyone taken a look at this product:

http://www.mydigitaldiscount.com/SPD/runcore-64gb-pro-1-8--5mm-pata-zif-solid-state-drive-ssd-runcore-64gb-pro-1-8--5mm-pata-zif-solid-state-drive-ssd--80000908-1227178988.jsp

This looks like a good option from a price/performance/capacity perspective, but I have no idea if it would have the same master/slave problems, or even if the cables and dimensions are compatible.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Jamey.

 

It sounded like Calculus gave birth to a new generation notebook.. lol, but I am just a noobie when it comes to customizing laptops so I have no right to judge. Nice work on the successful mods guys.