Vaio VGN-Z - Second Hard Drive (or SSD) - Working Solution

I managed to figure it out

Actually, it is 50% done as I am waiting for my second SSD and then I will also create slim and thin connector wire so I can stuff everything inside without any problems

So, what is this all about? As you all know Sony Vaio Z, unlike TZ or TT, has only one 2.5" HDD/SDD fitting, and it is not possible to swap the optical drive with the HDD, as it is possible in TZ/TT. Sony allows two SSDs by sandwitching them together and connecting through a custom RAID cable, that does not seem to be available in service part listing

Luckily, I realized that the DVD drive is connected to the motherboard with "Slimline SATA" kind of connector, which is a new SATA standard that is to replace slim ATA connectors still being widely used in slim optical drives aimed for notebook market. Slimline SATA connector is 100% compatible with "desktop" SATA when it comes to the data lane. Power lane is different, but it has the same voltage - 5V ( note: slimline sata DOES NOT have 3.3V - so most 1.8" drives will not work with this method!!!)

So, with some extra cabling and a bit of patching, it is actually possible to >convert< slimline SATA to a regular SATA connector! You can't just use same cable as one used to connect HDD/SDD to Motherboard, as it looks like - the motherboard connector pin out is different. So, the only way - as of today, is to create the "adaptor"

So, what do you need?

- One Slimline SATA male connector (one example: http://www.delock.com/produkte/gruppen/Kabel/Cable_SATA_Slimline_male_+_4pin_power_SATA_84376.html)

- One SATA power to molex power cable (there are bunch of those available everywhere) - you can even use SATA power connector from some old desktop PC PSU - just cut it from the rest.

Now, you need to cut the molex connector of the SATA power cable, as well as molex connector from the Slimline SATA male connector. We do not need them Then, wire the same-colored wires together.

So, in essence you just got yourself "Slimline SATA to SATA" adapter

Which is just what I did - and for testing I connected it to Vaio Z's DVD connector and other side of the cable to original Toshiba HDD...

Well, here is the first result (not for looks, this is just proof of concept, for checking if the drive would work at all):



And, drive works!!! - now, all that needs to be done is to cut / shape the cables to make the whole thing small enough, and also to find spacing for the second SSD - which, with some luck, should be achievable by removing its casing and leaving the PCB only. This way, it might even fit on top of the optical drive that will not be used.

Perfect solution would be just throwing the DVD drive out... However, this might not work as the DVD door cannot stick without the DVD loading mechanism If only Sony would make a plastic fitting like they did with TZ...

Here is a picture of a device manager with the drive perfectly recognized (note that DVD drive category shown holds a virtual DVD drive from Daemon Tools):

 

that is so awesome! Although I miss the point. do you want more storage or just two separate storage devices to back things up?

 

I am just wondering what the internals would look like on a Type Z if you made to order a model with the SSD RAID + DVD ROM.

From my understanding Type Z can only be HDD + Blu Ray OR SSD RAID + DVDROM

If you ordered SSD RAID + DVDROM on the Type Z doesnt that mean Sony needs a way to put 2 SSD drives and the DVDROM Drive as well?

*Shrugs*

 

Sony stack 2 HD in the same position and use special cable to connect the HD one on each side.

 

Actually, I need two SSDs as one Samsung 64GB SLC is not enough for me

Anyway, I really do not need internal DVD drive in a notebook, and I really do not understand why Sony made the decision not to allow replacement of the DVD drive with HDD in Z, like they do allow in TZ/TT...

 

o m g.. my blondeness just hit sky rocket.. and I even forgot what I was going to say - o ya COMPLEX dude!!!!!! Lol but CooL!

now they have a 256gb SSD RAID 0 FYI (for people like me, cant figure out molex a from b)

 

Nah, it is a RAID of two MLC drives, and I am not a big fan of MLC drives

So - I'll stick to my SLCs which I got pretty cheap from e-bay hehe

 

Thanks,Psyq321..
I made it.

 

Hi, im interrested too, there are Intel 1.8" SSD 160GB... I want to connect 2 of them through a raid.... like sony does and use my blueray burner too...

Is there a way to get 2x 1.8" SSD working with Blueray Burner? How that make sony?

Cheers

 

I believe you would have to get somewhere the Sony cabel to connect that SSDs in RAID0. Also the frame which is keeping the SSD/HDD on the place is different...

There shouldn't be problem with Blu-Ray burner, as with the Z's refresh it's possible to buy combination of SSD and Blu-Ray on the Sony webpage...

 

Hi, one other thing compared to the SSD....

There is a brand new hard drive! HDD...

Seagate ST9500420ASG (Momentus 7200.4, G-Force Protection)
-500GB
-7200 U/min
-23,0 db(A) (normal use) / 25,0 db(A) (On Searching Files)
-1,55 W (On Searching Files) / 0,67 W (On do Nothing)
-Data Lost: 1ms=175G(running), 2ms=350G(running), 1ms=1000G(Off)
-Fall Sensor in the HDD included!
-SATA300 / 2,5" / 110g / 70 mm x 9.5 mm x 100 mm

Speed Benchmark:
http://www.barefeats.com/note05.html

PS: It's 7200 (fast), but it eat lower energy as a 320GB(5400)....
--------------------------------------------------------------

This drive is very cheap, costs in Germany 100€.... And there is much Space (500GB)

I would buy one next week...
And replace it with mine...

What youre thinking about?

 

So did you finally manage to get everything to fit inside the notebook? I'm looking to do the same setup (64GB SSD/ 320GB 7200RPM HDD) and would like to know if you have any updates on this.

 

Please update even i am interested

 

Only in the 1600x900 resolution, not 1366x768.

 

Finally got a chance to test the setup myself. Everything fits once the optical drive is removed. I still need to find a way to secure the optical drive cover though.

 

Is there way to jam SSD in optical drive bay without actually removing optical drive? Then cosmetically it will still look good.

 

Yes, in theory - if you remove the chassis of the SSD and leave the PCB only - however you'll have to use 2.5" drive since I am not really sure that the second SATA connector (for DVD/BD) has 3.3V lane (if somebody could check/confirm that it would be great - as fitting 1.8" drive would be much easier, even without removing the optical unit).

I tried that as the first solution, but the "sandwich" of optical and SSD drive was too thick so the right side of the Z was looking a bit awkward (there was a ~1mm gap between the keyboard and optical drive cover)

But removing optical drive is really easy - just put all the parts in a anti-static bag once you're done, so you can reconnect it later if you want to.

I did it with super-glue from inside - completely invisible and relatively reversible without too much mess

 

Can SSD that you put in optical drive be set as a boot drive for OS? That way I can buy small size but fast SSD for OS and use regular HD I have now for storage. Thanks!

 

I was unable to fit the SSD PCB without removing the optical drive. The SATA connector itself is too thick to be sandwiched between the drive and keyboard without producing a noticable bulge.

This was the other problem... My Z will always boot the original SATA hard disk connector before the Optical drive one. Changing the boot sequence in the BIOS yielded the same results. I ended up replacing my HDD with SSD, and moving the HDD to the optical connector. The optical drive cover is secured in 3 places by double-stick tape as I didn't want to make it permanent yet. So far it's holding up pretty well.

 

With the tape do u feel any significant vibrations from HDD?

 

Worked fine in my system - however, it can be that bootsector was being read from the first drive, and Windows boot info just points it to the SSD...

I didn't really bother to check - but, end result is - the OS was booting from the second SSD for a while.

Now I reverted this back to a default setup - primary SSD is Intel X25-E and the secondary SSD is Samsung 256GB SSD - the system boots from the first SSD.

 

will caddy linked to 4th post in this thread work? Thanks! http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4655818#post4655818

 

I apologize for bumping this, but I would also like to know if the caddies that NewModeUS sells are compatible with the Vaio Z. They have two varieties of 9.5mm caddies; a SATA SATA and SATA PATA.

 

if using 2 drives as hardware RAID (from the BIOS) which driver is needed? Im using XP Pro and Intel's SATA driver for ICH9. If I upgrade the single drive to a RAID configuration, Im expecting a blue screen upon botting without RAID drivers. Is this correct?

 

Hi, can you post the pictured of the installed second hard drive? i'm trying to put one but have some problem with the wiring. Thanks

 

here is a picture of an SSD 1.8 stuffed into the dvd drive

http://www.youngyoungblog.com/2009/07/sony-z-short-review-diy/comment-page-1/#comment-734

i want to try this myself, what are good ssd that are fast and work with this?

is the VAIO SATA uncapped? or capped?

thanks

 

hey guys, i ordered the slimline cable.

Today i took my VAIO z appart for the fist time, i took out the DVD drive to clear space.

1. make sure you open the DVD drive before you turn the computer off, you need to have it open to take it out.
2. its a little bit of a pain in the neck to take it out, there are 4 screws ,and it requires some serious bending to get that puppy out. But i managed it alright.
3. the Vaio keyboard cable is very loose, when i put it back together half my keyboard didnt work. Make sure when you put everything back you make sure they keyboard plugs are plugged in extra well.



Here are some photos of my vaio with no DVD drive:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gallery/showfull.php?photo=2138

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gallery/showfull.php?photo=2137


Note: the slimline cable on ebay was $3.75 and i even use MS cashback

 

i've never opened the DVD drive before taking it out in all the times i've opened the Z (like 6 times in 2 different Zs).

The drive slides right out...and the whole thing slides right out...with 1 screw. I'm not sure what other things you're unscrewing, are you using the service manual?

 

no i did not use any manual, just kinda went at it.

Well i am not sure how that is done considering there are 4 screwes, and 3 of them screw directly into the chassi of the laptop. The smallest one is right on the edge near the lid to the right side. Kinda close to the button. That one is the one i needed to open the drive to pull it out. It slid out fine afterward.

 

Download this from my server

Extract Everything into a single folder, open up the "top" folder, and open up "top.htm" in your web browser


this is how you take apart the Z properly....after taking out the keyboard, just the 1 screw holds the DVD/BluRay drive in before sliding it out

 

i bought the wrong cable, it was the female version, arg

Upon looking at it now, all the cables i can find have only (2) wires coming from the power. The RED and BLACK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812200219
^^^^^^^^^^
(even though this shows many colors in picture, its actually only red and black, read review)

does this matter? or should i continue looking for one with all the cords?

I am unable to find anywhere in the USA you can purchase the DELOC cord. The other STARTECH cord i found only has the two (red/black) power cords. This is the only one i can find in the usa.

some help would be greatly appreciated, i really dont want to buy the wrong cord again.

 

Hi, i think it doesn't really matter if there is only black and red power cable present. the Slimlinesata only uses a 5v for its power which is the black and red cable. The other black and yellow/orange (which is not present in the slimeline sata to sata converter cable in the startech one), is for a 12v power setting (yellow) and 3.3V (orange) ~CMIIW~, so it doesn't quite matter. For reference on SATA cables tech you can look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_ATA it has a good information on sata cable.

btw here is my setting for the second hard drive:







I'm using a slimlinesata to Sata converter that i get from a 9.5 mm hard drive drive caddy (purchase it on newmodeusa). At first i want to use the wiring set-up but after a long thought i don't like how the wire loom around the internal of my notebook and decided to use a converter board instead the hard drive i'm using is samsung 320GB SATA with 8mb of cache.

 

I was looking forward to pulling this trick on my SZ to add an SSD to my setup, but found that my Optical Drive is actually ATAPI, which kind of blows. Any idea if a SlimATAPI => SATA setup is possible?

 

hey guys i posted a video of my 2nd Vaio-Z hard drive

check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz2k2ydUOc8&feature=player_embedded

 

does the hard drive you added ever stop spinning?
doesn't it suck a lot of power?
is there a way to turn it off?

 

I did this mode using aftermarket HD caddy that was made to fit into 9.5 mm optical drive slot:
http://cgi.ebay.com.sg/Hard-drive-C...h=item518a8cd7cb&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&afsrc=1
No need to mess with wires and it fits and covers opening on the side pretty good. I put SSD in the caddy and it's my boot drive. No vibration from SSD. HD is still where it was before with rubber bumpers protecting from vibration. I'm sure u can turn it off by disabling. No issues except that installation was a bit tricky since it was hard to open the laptop and u have to be carefull with keyboard flex cable. Battery life is still great.
I ordered external Blu-ray drive and will use it on rare ocasion that I need to burn a DVD or watch a movie from optical media. Since I use laptop on my laps I prefer not to have vibrating optical drive inside the laptop.

 

is a 7200rpm drive officially compatible with the Z590?

 

The 1st gen Z was officially sold with both 5400 and 7200 rpm. But you are not officially allowed to change the HDD by yourself

 

I know this thread is a little old but check this out - I think it is the answer to my prayers!!! :-D

Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy (OBHD9-SATA-B), Black, 9.5mm [OBHD9-SATA-B] - $42.00 : NewmodeUS, Hard Drive Caddys for Notebooks

Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy (OBHD9-SATA-B), Black, 9.5mm
$42.00
Add a Second Hard Drive to your laptop using your laptop's optical drive bay. This is a great solution for those that want to add a second hard drive in their laptop. This device/caddy will fit in a "standard 9.5mm height" CD/DVD/Optical drive bay found in laptop computers. Simply pull out your CD/DVD drive and replace it with our OBHD Optical Bay Hard Drive caddy. This is a really sharp-looking well-engineered product. The front faceplate is finished in black. The metal bracket is finished in a nice silver sheen. Please note that this hard drive caddy will fit "standard"/"universal" CD/DVD/Optical Drive bays.

 

Does anyone know if this works with the sony vaio VPCZ122GX model?

 

does look similar to the one I put in z790

 

Anyone actually tried a swap with this with their Z-series (VGN)?
Been planning for a SSD upgrade, though I did come across the VPC caddy:

http://newmodeus.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2_39&products_id=335

Not sure which is a better option (assuming the VPC caddy works in the VGN), but they did have the VGN caddy at some point but not anymore.

 

Is it possible to put any 2.5 hdd into the caddy? Or do they come in different dimensions? The same question about SSDs ...

 

This thread is for the VGN-Z while you have a VPC-Z... Unless you have a VGN-Z in which case, carry on. (But if you're asking about the VPC-Z and you got a HDD caddy, yes, any 2.5" drive will fit)

 

I have a VPC-Z and I am looking for a caddy that will fit in a 2.5 ssd / hdd in place of the optical drive. I don't have a caddy yet and I'm shopping for one.

Can you suggest where I can get the right size caddy.

 

Newmodeus offers a good caddy that fits for the vpc-z. http://www.newmodeus.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=335

Several user reports available in the forum.

 

Is there any solution for quad-ssd + hdd yet?
I remember there was an issue with speed step and battery life when installing a 5th hdd, is there anyway around this?

Thanks

 

Bump, Anyone?

 

Hey guys,

I would like to change my current CD/DVD drive to a 2nd HDD caddy containing a regular HDD on my Sony Vaio VGN-Z890FKB laptop. I have read on the net that the drive uses a slimline SATA connector. What interface/controller does it use, e.g. IDE, AHCI, etc. ???

which interface/controller is best used for a regular HDD?


thank you in advance!

 

^ anyone?

help much appreciated