CF29 MK1 Media Pocket Bay 2nd hard drive hdd

How's everybody been? I'm poking my head up real quick to ask a simple question (and sorry for the fubar title, I searched for the answer to the following question with limited results):

Can I use one of those media pocket adapters and a SATA hdd in a CF29 MK 1?

The MK1 did not employ SATA anywhere, and has limited usb 2.0 ports available. I wasn't sure if the adapter sled handled the conversion or if it is just a straight through sata connection.

Thanks again, ya'll!

 

Yes one of those adapters will convert a standard cd/dvd drive to a harddrive. The only real differences will be you will now have a sata drive interface as the factory media drive bay had a IDE hook up on the harddrive. Also the factory drive had shock padding, the newer adapters don't have any extra shock protection.

 

My original plan was to go with a small Native Pata SSD in the caddy & a larger drive in the optical bay...."Best Laid Plans Of Mice & Men"....all takes time, so it's still on a growing list.

Nando4 & Co. appear to have covered most bases:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-ssd-hdd-storage-using-optical-bay-caddy.html

Some good info if your going that way....I like the hot-swapable ability.

 

Well thank'ye!

 

I posted this info in buy sell trade and thought it should be here also.


The linked one is ide to ide. Do you want sata hdd to ide cd caddy or ide hdd to ide cd caddy?
The Panasonic cd drives are ide.
You need the Panasonic cd caddy also in order to use the aftermarket 2nd hard drive adapter.
The official Panasonic 2nd hard drive adapter is for an ide hard drive.
The Panasonic 2nd hard drive setup is a unit that accepts the hard drive only. It is completely different from the cd caddy.
It fits into the media bay.
I had an aftermarket sata hard drive adapter for the Panasonic ide cd caddy in my CF51 and CF52.

Shawn

More info

My OEM Panasonic 2nd hdd caddy may not have room for the sata hdd to ide hdd adapter. I will look. Nothing about this caddy has anything to do with a cd drive.
I do have the sata hdd to a Panasonic ide cd caddy adapter. I don't have the needed oem cd caddy.

When I get home, I will post some pics to make it easier to understand. The oem 2nd ide hdd caddy is a rare item that a lot people don't even know exists. That is part of the confusion. This caddy is designed for a hdd only.

I agree that the Panasonic ide 2nd hdd caddy is the best choice. Only limitation is size of ide or fitting the sata to ide adapter. Same adapter guys put in the main hard drive caddy.

 

I found an old tread up where there was a discussion on this http://forum.notebookreview.com/panasonic/471261-2nd-hdd-caddy-dvd-bay-sata-pata-2.html#post6153782
I have this setup (without the hd) for sale as i have no longer a CF-29
You can put whatever sata hd in it (i had a 320 Gb WD in it)

Picture added

 

Here are the pix of the official 2nd drive caddy.....

And it's padded.........:wink:

 

I've transfered my information posted in interestingfellow's WTB thread here....

Hopefully, this clears up the confusion & miss-understanding:

The aftermarket optical bay caddy is available in different sizes & interfaces....the most common used in a CF-29 is 12.7mm height caddy containing a Sata-To-Pata adapter used by those wanting a larger capacity Sata drive in the media bay pocket....so check before buying that it's Sata-Pata & NOT Pata-Pata or Sata-Sata.

The space in the drive gives enough room to house a 2.5 inch form factor Sata drive in an open caddy. The next step is to remove the contents of your Panasonic CD/DVD drive & place the optical bay caddy into your Panasonic CD/DVD drive enclosure which retains the existing Panasonic media bay interface (no need for additional adapters,use the existing interface adapter) & then transfer the original face plate from the CD/DVD to the new enclosure.

Note above comments by ADOR....there is no shock absorbing foam in there.

Note from the link to Nando4 & Co. they give an indication of the additional over-head power requirements of different Sata-To-Pata adapters....you may want to take this into consideration when using battery power.

Note the shipping time if buying from China....you can wait 35 day's, nothing arrives so you get a refund....but you've still not got a media bay drive.

Optionally....Panasonic produced a media bay HDD caddy specifically designed to house an additional HDD which is interchangeable between the CF-27/28/29. The benefit with this caddy is the shock absorbing foam similar to a standard HDD caddy....the downside being it's a Pata interface....I'm not sure if there is enough room to fit a Sata-To-Pata adapter but would be the way to go if you are using a Pata drive.

I've just had a thread update e-mail....bet ya Shawn has posted the same infromation.

 

If you hack up some of the foam, the sata adapter will probably work.
Personally I wouldn't bother. I would just get the 320gb or 500gb WD pata and keep it ultra reliable and padded. To each his own though.

 

No need to get it padded if you put a SSD disk inside, this is when it come interesting as the sata SSD are way cheaper and have better quality than the ide ones

 

Ok: to summarize and clarify.

There are two choices:
OEM- a self contained complete unit with shock absorbing foam that you put a pata HDD in and slap in the media pocket
or
Aftermarket- a "hdd sled/caddy" that is used in place of a cd-rom that also requires the use of the "cd-rom sled/caddy." you can have some combination of sata and pata, but the overall output of the " hdd sled/caddy" must end up as PATA for a CF29 " cd-rom sled/caddy".

Correct?

 

YES to OEM....YES to Aftermarket....you plug the Aftermarket (Pata side) into the adapter that is already in the CD/DVD caddy....resulting in a Sata-OEM media bay drive.

 

Perfect!

Once again, the toughbook crowd is probably the best and most well informed group of all the forums I annoy

 

Hi guys.
Need some advices for the issue.

CF-30 MK2.
I need to install SATA HDD drive into ODD bay.

I found an option:
2nd SATA to IDE Hard Drive HHD Caddy Adapter for Panasonic Toughbook CF 29 CF 30 | eBay


Can it be installed into laptop?

I have some doubts about this item.
My original DVD drive (as well as second battery) has a special handle (looks like a black button) to fix the drive inside the bay.
That adapter doesn't have it.

 

Also, I found this option:
2nd IDE Hard Drive HHD Caddy Adapter for Panasonic Toughbook CF 28 CF 29 CF 30 | eBay

 

You can put these into the "caddy" used by CF-74 optical drive. The 74 caddy is really just a frame around the drive with a connector on the back end. The 74 caddy has a latching tab that sticks out on the bottom, but it is easy to pop out the button and trim down the plastic so it will fit into the CF-30 bay. In fact some Fleabay sellers use that trick with standard laptop DVD drives as a substitute for expensive CF-30 DVDs.

You don't really need the latch on the left side, it will stay in place by friction. To remove just open the drive and pull *gently* to unseat the connector and remove it.

 

Thanks a lot for such a quick reply!
So, for me there is no need to find that CF-74 thing, isn't it?

Then, can you give me an advice which option to purchase - the 1st or the 2nd adapter I mentioned above?
Are they same?

 

SATA drive in the media bay may not be accessible in windows.
My cf51 passed boot POST with a 2nd media bay SATA HDD. My cf52 locks up and will not do anything. I used an IDE 2nd drive in my cf29. .. Forget using ANY SATA to PATA adapter in a Toughbook. I tried 5 different SATA to PATA media bay adapters for HDD. I also tried 6 different SATA HDD adapters for the main drive.
The best bet for reliable data storage is to use a native drive in the media bay or the standard HDD caddy.. For a cf29 that means IDE / PATA. Otherwise data corruption is very possible. Been there done that.

 

If it is accessible in Windows Explorer I would be happy ))).
For me, booting from this 2nd drive is not necessary.

 

So, you think I should not use such adapters?
Actually, I just wanted to use SSD or HDD drive like a huge replaceble drive...

 

Toughbooks have very picky bios's. It surprised me that I HAD to remove the media SATA HDD in order to boot the cf52. The cf51 at least would boot past the SATA.
Those adapters are CHEAP. I would buy one and try an old SATA drive that you already have. If it works then go ahead and buy a large drive. For the cf52 I ended up buying a PATA 320gb WD drive for the media bay. It's always in and NEVER gives me any problems.


PS.. If your mechanically inclined, you could open the case of the cf29 and mount (2) 128gb usb sticks inside. Use a small hub if needed. Double face tape them to the wwan sled location. Use an internal usb port. It would be internal, sealed, and you could use your dvd at the same time.
Or even an USB SD card reader setup.

 

As far as I understood - you finally decided to use IDE drive in you ODD bay?
So, you used a special IDE-IDE adapter for ODD bay?

That is a good advice!
I will think about it!

Initially, I had HDD 120GB in my laptop.
Two weeks ago I installed a new SSD Plextor 256GB + Win7x32.
Also, I have lots of 2.5" IDE HDDs and wanted to use them with the laptop.

 

New 9 5mm PATA IDE to IDE HDD Optical Bay HDD Hard Drive Adapter Caddy W31 | eBay

The adapter caddy is the same as the sata one but it takes a pata hdd. Looks like they are tough to find anymore...The above link shows the correct adapter, but it has the wrong sticker.

 

Thanks a lot!
But - this adapter is 9.5, and for CF-30 we require 12.7 inch

 

Moreover - how those adapters:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/pan...ket-bay-2nd-hard-drive-hdd-2.html#post9395756
http://forum.notebookreview.com/pan...ket-bay-2nd-hard-drive-hdd-2.html#post9395762
can be used in CF-30 since they have IDE slot located in another place ?

Here is a picture of original DVD drive:


May be - there must be a special frame ("mechanical adapter") between CF-30 and those adapters.

Is it possible to:
1. Get a used (or refurbished, or inoperable) DVD drive for CF-30,
2. Then take off a case of that drive,
3. Then put on that case ("mechanical adapter") on SATA-IDE adapter ???

 

Photo will explain....The aftermarket adapter will fit fine....The cf52 media bay is the same size as a cf30. I have 3 different media bay hard drive adapters I use in it.

 

Great!
Could you tell me an exact name for this item?

 

It comes on the original dvd drive. I bought extra drives and removed these parts to put on the hdd adapter/caddy.

 

Sure can MP Lock assy , MP Cabinet and Drive I/F Pcb unit. The cost of these are $61.04 + $20.00 S/H from Panasonic and these prices are a year old so I bet it will be close to $100.00 now. These prices are the cost price with no dealer markup.
So now you see why Shawn does it his way. It's a lot cheaper

 

That's me...a lot cheaper...

 

Such a useful trick!
Thank you, guys!

Unfortunately - anyway, with shipment to Russia (I live there) these DVD drives (even used) cost about 150 USD om eBay (((

 

When taking apart the caddy there is also double face tape that also holds it together.

 

Both CF-52 and CF-74 optical drives will work because they have the same (or similar?) frames. In a pinch you can also use CF-51 or CF-73 drive frames -- they will fit (after trimming down the latch button) but the front of the frame is slanted with silver paint, not flat like the original CF-30 frame. So look for any of those cheap, even if the DVD drive is broken.

 

Check this out, they ship to you Genunie Panasonic CF 30 CF 52 CF 73 CF 74 CD ROM Housing Caddy Case Connector | eBay

 

Thank you, friends, I ordered items in eBay!
In about one month (as soon as these items will be shipped) I will tell about results!

 

Back to the topic...

What I did:
1. Assembled HDD drive + PATA-PATA adapter + caddy.
2. Removed a caddy's latch and trimmed out the caddy (otherwise it could not be placed into ODD bay).

While trying to login to Windows 7 some issues are noticed:
1. When I turn on the PC, there is a long delay before starting loading Windows (a few minutes). During this delay a "Panasonic" boot screen is displayed.
2. If I press F2 button to enter BIOS, there is same delay before displaying BIOS screen.

If I temporarily remove HDD from ODD bay, everything works as usual, i.e. fast & without delays.
But in Windows, if insert HDD back into ODD bay, Windows freezes for a few minutes.

What am I doing wrong?

 

Like I said before..........

 

Oops, I confused everyone...
I wrote my post very late at night and made a big mistake:
- it was HDD, not SSD;
- it was IDE HDD, not SATA;
- it was PATA-PATA adapter.

I made appropriate corrections in my post.

So, I can see my HDD in Windows, copy\move operations work properly.
The only trouble is a TOO BIG delay on startup...

Also, I must notice that the same HDD was used in the same laptop before until I replaced it with SSD.
So, this HDD is functional.

Of course, I read your post before - that's why I decided to install PATA-PATA adapter, not SATA-PATA.

 

Does the CF29 have a boot from selection in the BIOS? if it does, try to disable boot from cd/dvd/optical drive.

 

I forgot to mention one very important detail.

This HDD was bootable 'cause it still had installed Windows XP. I have already mentioned that this HDD was earlier installed in the same laptop as only HDD.
In BIOS the boot sequence was "first USB floppy, then ODD, then HDD".
As a result, the laptop booted with Windows XP from the HDD (as I said - with a long delay between initial "Panasonic" logo screen and Windows loading screen).

So, I changed the boot sequence to "first USB floppy, then HDD, then ODD".
But anyway the laptop booted Windows XP from HDD (installed into ODD bay) instead of Windows 7 from SSD (installed into HDD bay).

Note: long time ago the laptop was with HDD and Windows XP; then I replaced HDD with SSD; so now the laptop is with SSD and Windows 7.

The only way to load Windows 7 from SSD was to remove HDD from ODD bay.
But - as I wrote before - I see freezes in Windows 7 at the moment when I try to rescan hardware in "Device manager".

 

You've mentioned a long delay, right? Did you try making it primary slave by shorting the pin on the harddribe. There are four pin on IDE harddive on making it primary or slave. I've forgot which pin, lol..

Just give it a try.

ohlip

 

Great!
Now it works!
Thanks a lot!

P.S. Sorry with such a long delay with my answer.
Due to some family problems I had to suspend my tests with external HDD.
Now I resumed it, opened this thread again and used your useful advice ))