Poor man's SSD for CF-29

I have an adapter that I bought from dealextreme some time ago, and just for kicks put my 16 GB Transcend 300X CF card in it to see if the CF-29E sees it. SUCCESS!! It does see the card. I am not going to install Windows on this card yet, as I am waiting to receive a ZIF to IDE adapter that I ordered so that I can see if my Mtron 1.8" PATA SSD will work. If it doesn't, then I may order a larger faster CF card and use that.

The adapter that works with CF cards is this one:
$2.33 - CompactFlash CF Card to IDE Hard Disk Adapter Card (IDE-44) - Hardware Parts
(make sure you get a fast CF card that can do DMA/PIO modes)

And this is the one I am waiting on (that I hope will let me use the Mtron SSD):
$2.69 - CE ZIF to 2.5" IDE/CE Hard Disk Drive Adapter Card - Hardware Parts

 

Why do you want to use CF card instead of real SSD or HDD?

 

Another way of doing it is to use a Renice E7 Series 2.5" PATA SSD Solid State Drive using Eastwho EWS720 controller:

Can refer to http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...e-ews720-zif-ssd-user-review.html#post6952134 for performance data. The ZIF unit is architecturally the same as the IDE unit.

 

The only reason I am considering the CF or ZIF to PATA route, is because the 4200 rpm Mechanical drive I have is too slow, and the only reasonably priced PATA SSDs I've seen are the Kingspec ones that the eBay seller says do not work with CF-29s. Since this is a 7 year old laptop, I want to stay within a budget, but also want it to perform well. I already have an Mtron ZIF/PATA SLC SSD, so this route only costs the amount of the adapter (if it works).

I know that a spinning hard drive would be cheaper, (and higher capacity) but if I find a good enough price on an SSD, (it should not be too terribly high) they last longer, and are generally faster in laptops. Especially if they get bumped around a lot. In spite of the foam around the hard drives in the ToughBooks, I feel this is an area where a little extra "shock protection" would be provided by an SSD.

Nando4,
Nice review of the Renice SSD. Not bad prices. About what the Kingspec ones are. I may try it if the Mtron does not pan out. I just wonder if they are compatible with the CF-29s, since the Kingspec ones are not.

 

We've covered this subject at nauseating length a dozen times on this forum. The CF card will work, but you'll hate the way Windows randomly freezes while it catches up on the swapfile. The ZIF interface will work, but you're going to spend as much on a ZIF SSD that is any real improvement over any good, 5400 RPM HDD with a decent cache as you would for a known good PATA SSD. You'll find you might as well go with the IDE/SATA adapter arrangement outlined elsewhere; however, there you introduce the same failure point as you do using this adapter: 1 more device, 2 more connectors in the data path to wear/break/work loose all bouncing around inside a container that's not designed for them.

Until you've actually TRIED one of the 160GB Samsung Spinpoint 5400 RPM PATA HDDs we recommend on this forum, you really shouldn't knock them. They are STILL a quantum leap in speed over the original 4200 RPM drive; plus, you know, like 5 times as big. As for shock mounting... see the above caveats. Panasonic sent these laptops to WAR using spinning platters; I promise you they're a lot smarter about this stuff than you or I.

mnem
Three... three brain cells all firing at once. Ah hah hah hah hah!

 

Mnementh,

I guess you didn't notice, I already have an Mtron ZIF SSD. That's why I want to try going that route.

And for the record, I used to have a netbook that I used the adapter with CF card in . It is an SLC nand card, without the write amplification problem that causes the stuttering, and worked great. (I eventually got rid of that netbook because of problems with drivers. Although it came pre-installed with Linux, the WIFI card only worked in Windows.) I can only suppose that the Intel processor and 1.5 GB RAM in the CF-29 will work better than the VIA C7-M processor with 1 GB RAM.

But since it is only a 16 GB CF card, I'll wait for my adapter to use the Mtron SSD first. If that doesn't work, then I'll do something different. But I still would prefer an SSD. Just call me crazy.

I did read that many here liked the Hitachi, then the Spinpoint HDDs when the Hitachis were no longer available. I also read about those removing padding from the drive caddy to put an adapter with SATA SSD in. After searching these forums, I've not been able to find any real recommendations on which PATA SSDs people have used in the CF-29s. There was mention of the Mtron ZIF to PATA adapter. There is a 4 page thread entitled " CF-29 SSDs: Is it possible to get around IDE bottleneck?". But it does not really mention any PATA SSDs. It mostly talks about SATA SSDs in CF-18s & CF-19s, and using an adapter with an SATA SSD.

 

By the way Mnementh, I hope this didn't sound confrontational, because I have followed your posts (as well as those of other frequent posters) and I do appreciate your more than helpful posts. Especially your long thread on The CF-29 F.A.Q. This is an overall great reference on all things CF-29, which must have been a bear to put together, since you indicated you don't even have a CF-29. So please don't take offense. I just cannot find anything on PATA SSDs for the CF-29. And that eBay seller that is selling Kingspec PATA SSDs specifically says they do not work with CF-29s.

Again, thanks for all your hard work on that F.A.Q. I have read it about 3 times now!!

 

No prob; I got no issue with someone trying to crank it up with something they already have. That's the heart of ToughBook modding.

Panasonic really hosed us on the CF-29 by not including even one fully functional mini-pcie slot; I think it would be a killer machine if you could put in a native SATA controller and boot from it. I still have one of the 32GB Mini-pcie HDDs from my eeePC 900.

mnem
ZOOP!

 

The adapters I ordered finally came. So I connected my Mtron PATA ZIF SSD to the adapter, put it in an aluminum box ( $14.13 - ZIF SSD to 2.5" SATA HDD Converter - Hardware Parts ) I already bought for a previous project. I removed the SATA circuit board, a little Dremel work & a little drilling, and it fit nicely! The adapter came jumpered for Master. It worked that way, but then disappeared in the BIOS after the next reboot. Took the drive caddy apart, opened the aluminum box, and removed the jumper. Now it shows up in BIOS continuously.

I did a clean install of XP Pro with SP3 and all drivers, and this works great. (Unless you already had the ZIF SSD (which I did), just buying a PATA SSD would be cheaper.)

 

DealExtreme does kick @ss... lookit all that machined billet for 14 bux DELIVERED. PLUS you still get the SATA adapter TOO...

mnem
I need a HUGE servo so I can RC one of my kid's Power Wheels...

 

True, true! But I only have one Mtron SSD. And to make matters worse, I've ordered a Renice SSD. (That is NOT my fault!! Blame nando4!!!!!)