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  #1  
Old September 8th, 2006, 10:27 AM
Keyme Keyme is offline
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Laptop HD adapter problem
Hey there, it's my first post here

I have an old IBM Thinkpad 760ED, and I can't boot it. It has no floppy drive, it doesn't support "boot from cd", and the NTFS partition on the HD got corrupted.

So I took the HD out of the caddy and connected it to my desktop with a 2.5" to 3.5" IDE cable adapter.

I tried connecting it in any way possible- upside down, all jumper configurations, on a separate IDE channel, on the same channel with the CD drive...

However, since I was getting weird results and the HD wasn't found in any way, I (desperately) took a stethoscope and listened through it to hear if the HD is even spinning. Well it's not.

I was afraid that I killed it in the process, so I put it back into the caddy, and back into the laptop - and there it certainly is spinning, I got the same error as in the begining, and the BIOS test said that the HD is ok.

The adapter is new, and from the inside it's quite simple, so I think it's probably not the problem.

Any suggestions ?

Thanks, Greg
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  #2  
Old September 8th, 2006, 11:48 AM
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liondad liondad is offline
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What power link do you have for the laptop h/drive,
Did you get the adaptor link for this as well,
their no power on the IDE adaptor cable to run the h/drive,
or caddy
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  #3  
Old September 8th, 2006, 11:55 AM
Keyme Keyme is offline
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It has a standard power connector,
since an image is worth 1000 words, here is how it looks like:

(http://img115.imageshack.us/img115/5421/needmn0.jpg)
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  #4  
Old September 8th, 2006, 03:26 PM
photolady photolady is offline
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Could be a bad adapter. I've never seen one where the power adapter part is a two pin connection. Usually, those are soldered to the adapter. If it can be removed, turn it around and see if that fixes the problem. If it doesn't fix it, then the adapter is bad or the power adapter is bad.
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  #5  
Old September 8th, 2006, 07:55 PM
Keyme Keyme is offline
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I'll try that,
The power is definately going through, I checked some pinholes with an ammeter ...
I just hope that changing the polarity won't toast it =)
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  #6  
Old September 8th, 2006, 08:11 PM
Seth_ Seth_ is offline
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I have the exact same adapter and have successfully used it dozens of times.

Changing the polarity won't affect the adapter, but could fry the component that it's connected to.

What exactly are you trying to do with laptop?
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  #7  
Old September 8th, 2006, 08:23 PM
Seth_ Seth_ is offline
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Continued from above...

I found it odd that a laptop that old wouldn't have a floppy drive. So I went to IBM's site, and according to their documentation on the 760ED, it does have a floppy drive. Click here for information on your product.
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  #8  
Old September 8th, 2006, 08:44 PM
Keyme Keyme is offline
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It had a floppy drive, it was swapable with the CD drive.
But I don't have it anymore...

By the way, changing the polarity didn't do any effect, now I am trying it with an IDE to USB adapter, it doesn't spin the HD up either (but it still goes through the 2.5" adapter).

Hard to believe that such a simple adapter can be defected, but I guess it's the only cause .. Please prove me wrong ..
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  #9  
Old September 8th, 2006, 08:53 PM
photolady photolady is offline
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Quote:
Please prove me wrong ..
It would be hard to do that since you've tried several configurations and none work. It would prove the adapter is bad. Is this a new adapter?
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  #10  
Old September 8th, 2006, 09:48 PM
Keyme Keyme is offline
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Yes it is new.

Now I've done some more checking to the adapter and it seems that pin 41 doesn't let any signal through. By the pin out scheme (http://www.unitechelectronics.com/ide44pinout.gif) it probably should be connected to pin 42 on the adapter (they both are +5V, 42 for the motor, 41 for the logic).
Should I connect them with a bracket (or solder) ?
It does seem to look like the manufacturer tried to connect those pins through the PCB, but my ammeter shows that no current goes through.

Heh, on the other hand I could just go and replace it...
Last edited by Keyme; September 8th, 2006 at 09:55 PM.
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  #11  
Old September 9th, 2006, 04:02 AM
photolady photolady is offline
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I think I would just replace it. And get one with molex power adapter soldered on the adapter. Your choice of course, but that's what I would buy.
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  #12  
Old September 9th, 2006, 06:29 PM
Seth_ Seth_ is offline
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If you're still playing with the adapter:

When you provide a power source to the adapter, are you getting 5 volts on the motor and logic pins? (using the pin ground and not the chassis ground).
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  #13  
Old September 10th, 2006, 02:06 AM
Seth_ Seth_ is offline
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Son of a !$%#@!!!

How ironic is this:

Working on a laptop with a blown mobo. I need to recover the files and am using the same adapter that you have Greg (the one I've used dozens of times with no problem). I've tried every possible configuration, but get this...my bios won't detect ANY ide drives with the laptop hd installed!

I tell ya, with computers a job which seems so simple and should take only take a few minutes, often turns out to take a few hours!
Last edited by Seth_; September 10th, 2006 at 02:09 AM.
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  #14  
Old September 10th, 2006, 03:14 PM
Seth_ Seth_ is offline
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I just installed the above on another one of my test computers. Worked perfectly.
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  #15  
Old September 10th, 2006, 03:59 PM
photolady photolady is offline
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Seth, nothing in computers is ever cut and dried, didn't you know that?
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