mSATA FAQ: A Basic Primer

There have been a lot of questions regarding this new, really cool development in laptops, and so I figured I'd put what I do know into a FAQ that might benefit others. If you see any errors or think there may be useful additions, feel free to PM me, and I'll correct them. I myself do have an Intel 80GB mSATA drive in my ThinkPad 420, and so far, I'm really liking it.

Note that because this is the Lenovo forum, it addresses Lenovo notebooks specifically. For non-Lenovo owners, your mileage may vary, but note that some of Dell's newest Latitude models also support mSATA; check with your vendor for compatibility.

mSATA Frequently Asked Questions

What is mSATA?

Mini-SATA (mSATA) is a relatively new format for ultra-small Solid-State Disks (SSDs), developed by Intel. mSATA SSDs take a form factor similar to mini-PCI Express cards, and are ideal for notebooks and netbooks due to their diminutive size.



Can any notebook take an mSATA SSD?

No. Despite the mini-PCI Express form factor, a mini-PCI Express slot must have support for the electrical connections an mSATA drive requires. For this reason, only certain notebooks are compatible with mSATA drives. Most compatible systems are based on Intel's newest Sandy Bridge processor architecture, using the new Huron River platform.

Which Lenovo notebooks support the mSATA platform?

Lenovo's newest T-Series, W-Series, and X-Series ThinkPads released in March-April of 2011 have support for an mSATA SSD card in their WWAN card slot. The ThinkPad Edge E220s/E420s, and the Lenovo IdeaPad Y460/Y560 also support mSATA. More models may have support available; this thread will be updated as-needed for corrections.

Can I have an internal mobile broadband card in my ThinkPad and still have an mSATA SSD?

No. If you wish to have an mSATA SSD, it will take up the WWAN card slot used for mobile broadband. Your best bet is to either tether wirelessly to your cellular phone or a mobile cellular wifi hotspot (i.e., the MiFi 2200) if you wish to have an mSATA SSD.

Who makes mSATA SSD cards?

Currently, Intel is the largest supplier, with their Intel 310 "Soda Creek" mSATA SSD available in 40GB and 80GB configurations. The 80GB version is faster than the 40GB, and worth your consideration if you can afford the price difference. Another relatively young company, Renice, has production of mSATA SSD drives based on Sandforce controller chips and has pledged Lenovo compatibility; the drives are available in 30, 60, and 120 gigabyte capacities. MyDigitalSSD, also a recent vendor, offers their "Bullet Proof" SSD , based on a Phison controller chip, in 30, 60, and 128GB capacities. Other manufacturers may follow. Toshiba is producing some mSATA drives, but at this time, they appear to be for OEM procurement only; Samsung may be doing so as well.

Does an mSATA SSD have the same performance as a standard SATA drive?

The current mSATA standard supports 1.5Gbps and 3.0Gbps transfer rates, but not the newer, faster 6.0Gbps transfer rate of standard SATA SSDs. They are much faster than mechanical hard drives, but a touch slower than the newest, fastest SATA solid state disks.

Then why would I want one?

The advantage of having an mSATA SSD is that you can have it for your boot drive, and then have a much larger yet less expensive mechanical hard drive at the same time to handle your storage needs.

What is the best way to install (both hardware and software) an mSATA SSD in my Lenovo system?

Using Lenovo's Hardware Maintenance Manual for your system, look at the instructions for removal and replacement of the WWAN card, and follow these, using your mSATA SSD instead of the WWAN card for the install. Once done, it is recommended you temporarily remove any secondary mechanical hard drive you may have prior to installing your operating system (you can place it back in when you're done) to avoid confusion.

A clean install is the best way to install the operating system on an mSATA SSD. Attempts to clone data to an SSD or restore from a backed-up image will result in an SSD's sectors being out of alignment, causing reduced performance and increased wear on the memory cells of the SSD. While it is out of the scope of this post, there are several guides available on the NotebookReview forums regarding doing a legal, clean install.
Note that using Lenovo's Recovery Media that you created when you purchased your notebook is not considered to be a clean install, as it restores via a recovery image. Your best bet is to boot from an actual Windows install CD, install the OS from scratch to your SSD, and then update your system's drivers either manually, or by using
Lenovo's ThinkVantage System Update.

EDIT: It appears that Lenovo Recovery Media is SSD-aware, capable of restoring an SSD in an aligned state, and with attention paid to SSD-specific details (i.e., system restore and scheduled defragmentation turned off). Kudos to mazzmond for providing the thread with useful information and details (see page 4).

Also note that unlike previously thought, your ThinkPad BIOS does not need to be set to UEFI-only mode for proper recognition of an mSATA SSD as a boot device.

UPDATE (6/21/11): At this time, there have been reports of issues with some ThinkPad X220 models and mSATA drives. The problem seems to be an issue for ThinkPad X220 systems shipped as WWAN-capable or WWAN-ready; systems without WWAN capability are not affected, and should work. Lenovo has pledged a BIOS update in July to fix the issue, but at this time, your new X220 may or may not support an mSATA SSD out of the box.

Lenovo Forums - X220 with USB3.0, no mSata SSD possible ? (p. 8)

UPDATE - It appears that newer BIOS updates have resolved most (if not all) issues with mSATA SSDs in the ThinkPad X220.
http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Serie...SB3-0-no-mSata-SSD-possible/m-p/486373#M27837

 

Lenovo provides videos of most if not all of their models removing and replacing components at lenovoservicetraining.com.

 

This, or a thread with sort of a "Current Model Thinkpad FAQs" should be stickied at the top of this forum. Too many repeated questions.

 

LoneWolf, thanks for putting all these together.

Re: "Make sure at this time you also set your system's BIOS to UEFI-only mode to allow your system to boot from the mSATA SSD."

I don't believe you have to choose UEFI Only / GUID Partition Table (GPT) to boot from mSata. I can't imagine why the mSata wouldn't work with Legacy BIOS with MBR.

 

Might also want to add in MyDigitalSSD. They're rebrands of the Renice. mSATA Solid State Drives | My Digital Discount

They've got the 64GB for $140, which blows away the 40GB Intel 310 for $99. The speeds on the Renice/MyDigitalSSD's are 270/200 compared to 170/70 for the intels. I'm considering the 64GB for mine (the 128GB is prohibitively expensive- I'll just order one of the slim 500GB internal hard drives to go with it if the 250GB isn't enough)

 

For purposes of the thread, I linked to source companies so that I didn't promote one vendor over another.

As said before, Intel's 310 SSD's have two different speeds.

The 40GB = 170MB read, 35MB write (peak)
The 80GB = 200MB read, 70MB write (peak)

The Renice drive is faster according to listed specs. On the other hand, Intel has a reputation for the highest reliability of major SSD vendors. The Soda Creek drives also have a three-year warranty (when purchased OEM aftermarket), as opposed to the 2 years of MydigitalDiscount.

It comes down to a question of which is more important to the end-user.

EDIT (6/16/11): - I have added MyDigitalSSD as a vendor, noting that they make separate drives from Renice, with different controller chips (Phison, rather than Sandforce).

 

In my research I found some 70mm mSATA cards (built for tablets and/or netbooks). It should be worth noting that the cards for ThinkPads are 50mm in length so the 70mm models should be avoided.

-darren

 

Thanks, this primer is very helpful!

 

Is Samsung another source of these? See this announcement from 2009 (and were, I believe, used by Dell). The Samsung ZX310 / 900X3A uses one of these storage devices (currently 128GB but 256GB was also mentioned when the notebook was launched). However, they seem to be hard to find in the retail chain.

John

 

It could easily be. Any flash-memory vendor could jump on board pretty easily. I'm guessing that like Toshiba, they could make drives but not have them in the retail channel.

I wouldn't be surprised if Crucial comes up with something down the road, given the Intel-Micron flash partnership, and that they're already in the SSD business.

Intel and Micron Open Singapore NAND Flash Memory Operation | techPowerUp

 

Bought one of the last few generic Renice 64gb! Thanks!

 

I would avoid all older "minicard" models period, they don't even use the same signaling pattern of traces. Everything pre-mSATA is basically proprietary, like the asus netbook format etc.

No real loss, most of that stuff is significantly slower and older anyways


Random thought: really wish the x120e had come with mSATA, it only came before other models by a month or two. I suppose it saved them a little bit per unit cost, but they went to the trouble to keep the WWAN+SIM slots which is fairly rare in netbooks anyways. Having the option for dual drive would've completely cemented their model as the only ultraportable "serious user" fusion-class netbook in the market. It already has that title IMO, but better to lead by a foot than an inch

 

Very nice post. Is there any way to re-align the SSD after re-installing the system from recovery images?

 

Paragon Software makes a commercial product that reportedly does the job. I haven't used it myself.

Paragon Paragon Alignment Tool - Overview

 

Just looking at Crystaldiskmark result from that site, the 4k random read write looks like half the speed of intel's soda creek. But they are over twice faster in sequential writes.

For me, I think the random read write speeds are more important, but then again, anything would be amazing compared to regular HDD, and also the price looks good for the 64gb model. I hope more manufacturers start making mSATA SSDs.

 

The MyDigitalSSD drives use the Phison PS3105 SATA2 controller and the Renice drives use the SandForce 1200 controller. That, along with the fact that the capacities don't allign between product lines makes me think that the MyDigitalSSD drices are not relabeled Renice drives.

I have a 128G MyDigitalSSD on its way. If I ever get an X220 to put it in I'll report what I find.

-darren

 

On a scale from 1 to 10 what would you say the difficulty is for installing one? Would the intel be the best for a w520?

 

Installation involves

1) removing the keyboard to access the WWAN slot (Easy, scale 3)
2) Installtion of the mSata (Easy, scale 2)
3) the most challenging part for me was to put back the keyboard connector to the motherboard as the allowance for my hands access is very little (difficult, scale 7)

Make sure you have the W520 service manual for referal and good luck

 

Why did you remove the keyboard? The WWAN slot (shared with the RAM slot) is on the bottom of the T420 and it is very easy to access it - just takes a few seconds to unscrew and open the slot. Is it different for W520?

 

yes it is different for W520. But removing the keyboard is easy.

 

It isn't difficult as long as you read carefully. The ThinkPad T61 and T400 do it differently than the newer T420, so if you're used to the old way of doing it, the new procedure can be momentarily confusing. It took me a minute to figure it out (I removed the keyboard for a RAM upgrade in my case), but yeah, once I did, it wasn't a big deal.

 

Is the difference in read and write rates between the 40gb and 80gb intel 310 msata drive have any noticeable real world difference?

 

I reinstalled the system from the factory restore disks, and as far as I can tell the partitions are aligned properly (= divisible by 4k) - without doing anything special. So it seems the factory restore takes care of it.

 

Yes, if you restore or clone and it doesn't come out aligned, there is a way to re-align. I did this for my desktop. I used either Macrum reflect or EASEUS partition master to move the entire partition a few MB thus re-aligning everything. The problem with the way I did it is, the version of software I used was only capable of moving things to exact cylinder numbers, which if I understand correctly is a property of mechanical harddrives. The proper alignment for SSDs however is determined by a certain number of sectors. You can find the number of cylinders that results in a correct number of sectors with a calculator, then just move the partition to start at that cylinder but you'll end up losing a few MB as I did. It would also be worth looking for partition software that can move by sector number, that would also avoid the problem I had.

 

Just looking at the specs, I can tell that you will definitely feel the 35MB/s max write speed for the 40gb model. Read speed looks excellent though.

 

for those asking about SSD alignment: Win7 by default will align the SSD for you as long as you use the formatting utility that's on the DVD. this is referring to the clean install method.

if you install XP with the XP formatting utility, your SSD will not be aligned. you will also need to disable prefetching in XP if you have a ssd. defragging programs will not be necessary, so make sure you don't have any schedule defrag programs.

without getting into all the technical details, an aligned ssd will perform better than a non-aligned ssd.

as for alignment when you restore from a factory preload, i guess that would depend on how lenovo built their image. to check if your ssd is aligned properly, do the following:

open up system information. click start, search for system information. expand components, disks, then look for partition starting offset (should be the last one). take that number and divide by 4096. if the number is a whole number, your ssd is aligned. if you get a decimal or a repeating number, your ssd is not aligned.

for those of you who want to use XP and have a SSD, you will need to install XP slightly differently. boot up the PC with a Win7 DVD and format the HD with the Win7 formating utility. once the HD is formatted, create the Win7 partitions. by default, Win7 will create 2 partitions. delete the 100mb partition (it will just become unallocated space). take out the Win7 DVD and put in the XP CD. reboot and install XP like normal but make sure to skip the formatting option since the drive is already properly formatted and aligned.

 

Hey LoneWolf15 nice guide, hopefully this can get stickied as there are probably 200+ topics on mSATA drives here alone.

Using recovery discs, it is unlikely it will be aligned. I believe the Intel Toolbox and Acronis can fix SSD alignment.

 

Write speed should have a noticeable difference, although a lot of us work to minimize writes by moving them to a hard drive (e.g., user profile, web cache, page file, temp directories).

I'm glad I didn't get the 40GB mainly because of the capacity issue. I have 46GB left on my 80GB SSD after a Windows 7 Enterprise x64 install (SP1 integrated) and my apps (Office 2010 is probably the biggest one, but there are more). I did remove non-essential apps from Windows (though I added others, like the Windows Remote Server Admin Tools), but I want my most-used programs on the C: drive to take advantage of load speed, and with a 40GB drive, it would be very difficult.

I evaluated things and realized that if I bought the 40GB, in six months I'd be selling it for a loss and buying the 80GB, so I sucked it up and spent more. The 60GB Renice is the smallest that would have been an option for me, and it costs the same as the Intel 80GB.

If you're a minimalist, you might be able to get by on the 40GB (and it's still faster than a mechanical hard drive) --but on my primary notebook, I can't.

 

intel toolbox doesn't re-align the drive, not sure about acronis. the process of re-aligning the drive is basically like moving the entire partition. there's also the risk of data loss. it is best to do the alignment before you install the OS.

 

Thanks for the advice. I refused the delivery of my 40Gb msata drive and I will be ordering the 80GB model.

 

Where can I buy the 80gb Intel mSATA? Is Newegg the only retailer? They've been sold out for about 2 weeks, and searching on the Fry's website makes it seem like it's not available there.

 

As someone who will be buying an x220t, thank you for this thread.

I have a question that I haven't seen discussed anywhere - battery life and use of the HDD. If I were to install a mSATA SSD, and use it as my primary drive... would the HDD continue to drain the battery?

What about only using a mSATA SSD, and taking out the HDD all together (I'd keep an external HDD at home for storage, and just keep what I need in a 80/128gb SSD). Besides cost, is there a downside to this? How would this compare to simply buying/installing a normal sized SSD?

 

Best thing to do is get on the e-mail list for when it's back in stock --and make sure that e-mail forwards to your cell phone.

Provantage.com has them too, but currently out. I thought NCIX might have them too, but I searched, apparently they don't carry them.

 

Assuming no access to the HDD, the drain would just be the HDD idle drain. Just because you installed an mSATA drive doesnt mean the OS ignores the HDD. It still uses it, however if you only have media that you access on in a while on the HDD, it will be spun down most of the time.

 

I installed the intel 80 gb mSATA card in my wife's T520. Did a standard Lenovo system restore using the recovery media that I burned on initial boot up of the machine and I can confirm that the SSD is properly aligned using this method. Also defrag was not turned on for the SSD (was turned on and scheduled for standard hard drive) and system restore was turned off with this method as well.

I also did a fresh install using the same intel 80 gb mSATA card (ordered 2 of them about 3 weeks ago) on my x220 using Windows 7 and after setting my BIOS to UEFI only. Both computers have same intel processor and 8 GB of RAM. Boot time is very similar so enabling UEFI only and a fresh install doesn't seem to gain any speed over the recovery media method and using the standard BIOS settings. So for those who really want a UEFI only system and contemplating a fresh install...I don't think you gain much at all at least in terms of boot speed and time spent during POST.

 

Very useful information mazzmod. I will modify portions of my original post as a result.

How did you confirm proper SSD alignment?

 

Start menu, type "run" then msinfo32

components => storage => disks

Values for my system are below. This is on the T520 and has both the intel mSATA 80gb and standard mechanical hard drive that came with the system. If you're able to divide "partition starting offset" by 4096 and you get a whole number (no decimal point) then you're properly aligned. Again this was with a brand new intel 80gb mSATA drive. Installed that drive, removed the Hitachi hard disk, used the Lenovo system restore from the burned factory recovery disks. So looks like it works for those not wanting to do a clean install. I personally like clean installs but didn't feel like spending the time doing all that on my wife's system.

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model HITACHI HTS545025B9A300
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Fixed hard disk
Partitions 1
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 0
SCSI Target ID 0
Sectors/Track 63
Size 232.88 GB (250,056,737,280 bytes)
Total Cylinders 30,401
Total Sectors 488,392,065
Total Tracks 7,752,255
Tracks/Cylinder 255
Partition Disk #0, Partition #0
Partition Size 232.88 GB (250,057,064,448 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 1,048,576 bytes

Description Disk drive
Manufacturer (Standard disk drives)
Model INTEL SSDMAEMC080G2
Bytes/Sector 512
Media Loaded Yes
Media Type Fixed hard disk
Partitions 2
SCSI Bus 0
SCSI Logical Unit 0
SCSI Port 0
SCSI Target ID 2
Sectors/Track 63
Size 74.53 GB (80,023,749,120 bytes)
Total Cylinders 9,729
Total Sectors 156,296,385
Total Tracks 2,480,895
Tracks/Cylinder 255
Partition Disk #1, Partition #0
Partition Size 1.17 GB (1,257,242,624 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 1,048,576 bytes
Partition Disk #1, Partition #1
Partition Size 73.36 GB (78,767,022,080 bytes)
Partition Starting Offset 1,258,291,200 bytes

 

The Hardware Maintenance Manual mentions special Nylon Coated screws that are single use and should be replaced with new screws only.

Anyone know where we can order these?
Which sizes would be needed for the x220? (keyboard, palmrest etc)
Any additional screws required to install the mSATA? (assuming it didn't have WWAN to start with)

 

@Kaizad:

That's outrageous and sux donkey balls.

You don't need additional screws, because one screw should be already at the WWAN slot.

 

i've never seen a one-time-use only screw before on a thinkpad. can you specify which screws you're referring to?

 

You shouldn't need this. There should be one anchor screw already in your WWAN card slot, there in case the user adds a WWAN card after purchase. This screw will be the one you need for holding the mSATA SSD in place.

 

The information that i got from Lenovo staffs is that the aftermarket mSATA is not going to work in the new Thinkpads, only Lenovo supplied one will. Furthermore, only special bid customers can purchase the mSATA drive with their bulk laptop orders, the normal end consumers do have access to this option as of yet.

 

I thought several members of this forum already got the 310 mSATA drives working in their brand new x220s...?

 

That is the what is told to me by the Lenovo team, i will try to dig deeper into this matter. Can you give the link of the post where users are using the mSATA in their X220?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/574993-msata-faq-basic-primer-4.html#post7451455 Is a post in this very thread I'll continue digging.

 

^I got a 80GB 310 SSD from Newegg on the 2nd of this month. I received it yesterday, disassembled my X220 and installed it.

It was detected, formatted and is currently functioning properly.

 

Page 57 (63 in the PDF) of the x220 maintenance manual from the lenovo site says:

Loose screws can cause a reliability problem. In the ThinkPad Notebook, this problem is addressed with
special nylon-coated screws that have the following characteristics:
• They maintain tight connections.
• They do not easily come loose, even with shock or vibration.
• They are harder to tighten.
• Each one should be used only once.
Do the following when you service this machine:
• Keep the screw kit (for the P/N, see “Miscellaneous parts” on page 125) in your tool bag.
• Always use new screws.
• Use a torque screwdriver if you have one.

 

I can't tell you on the X220, but my Intel 310 80GB mSATA bought OEM from NewEgg works beautifully in my T420. I'd assume Lenovo implements a similar BIOS across the X, T, and W-series lines.

I could also see it being a huge fiasco if Lenovo were to put out a BIOS that retroactively disabled the use of existing mSATA drives and only took whitelisted ones from them.

 

I can tell you first hand this is false for the W520 and T420s. My 80GB Intel Series 310 drive is from newegg.com and works great in either machine. I seriously doubt the X220 or T420 are any different.

 

the W520 currently offers an 80GB mSATA option.   it's simply been slow in being added to the sales site as a configuration option on all models due to the qualification process.

US W520 link: Lenovo - Customize your ThinkPad W520 Mobile Workstation

mSATA devices are considered a standard storage medium and aren't going to be whitelisted like mPCIe add-on cards.   i'm not personally aware of any limitations around mSATA devices on '20-series ThinkPads (save for the X120e which doesn't have mSATA).