SOLVED Flimsy SATA Ribbon Connector

[wikifun]

I have been testing *lots* of drives in my Mini-Note. My latest drive, well not really a drive - but it works like a drive, booted once and then nothing.

The big problem was afterwards *NO* drive could be detected through BIOS, even known good SATA drives. I finally got to the bottom of the problem.

With a strong magnifying glass, microscope would have been better, and a pair of test leads and lots of patience, it seems there was one broken line between the miniature surface mount plug and the ribbon tape.

The miniature surface mount plug has six pins on each side - 12 total. Two on each side are ground - 4 total. One of the corner ground pins, the one facing the big SATA connector, separated from the ribbon tape.

I suspect the *drive* I was testing drove too much power through the ribbon tape, which acted like a fuse, and the line burned out. It makes sense the drive might draw the most power at boot time.

There were a few possible solutions. (1) Get a replacement SATA ribbon cable, (2) Return the HP2133 for repair (warranty or other), (3) Use 30AWG wire wrap to solder the surface mount lead to the ground lug on the side of the miniature surface mount plug.

Option (1) would be nice and if we could order replacements. I would get a few. Option (2) is very inconvenient. Option (3) worked nicely, assuming use of a Weller iron with sub-millimeter tip.

I might advise caution, do not try this at home, and checking how much power your *replacement* driver requires - e.g. maximum draw. Because the flimsy SATA ribbon connector seems like an electrical point of failure.

I have been extremely careful to not stress the ribbon when changing drives, but it is also difficult. I have read where someone broke their cable simply replacing the drive.

I wish I could order replacements for the flimsy SATA ribbon cable!!!

[ZaForD]

Hi wikifun,

Glad to hear you could fix your MiniNote, that level of soldering is way out of my league. :wink:

I think there is a 'work around' solution to the HDD cable problem.
I found this on the UK Mininote page last week.

482272-001
4GB solid-state drive (SSD) - Includes bracket and SATA connector

Maybe you could get that and then sell the SDD on ebay to get some of the cost back. :wink:

[huracan]

:shock: Wow :shock: 54 different mininote models to chose from. There you go, every possible combination.

[wikifun]

@ZaForD

WOW. That is the most amazing list of parts I've seen yet!!

I wish the AC charger was "orderable" - as the price is about half (23.75 USD) the price on the accessories page.

I wonder what this includes? :: 483381-001 Plastics and cable kit - Includes an ExpressCard slot bezel, SD card slot bezel, and Bluetooth module cable

Probably only the three things listed, but you are right the 4G SSD drive also lists SATA connector - I wonder if that means the flimsy SATA ribbon cable... Hmmm

Of course, I could always sell my ribbon cable - as *reinforced* (high-er power) SATA cable for Mini-Note.

@huracan

Yeah. I don't think I can find my own model in this list ....

AM784US,AM822US,AM823US,AN041US,AN042US,AN043US,AN 143US,FF009AA,FH403PA,FH404PA,
FH405PA,FH414PA,FH418PA,FH423PA,FH424PA,GW698AV,KR 922UT,KX866AA,KX867AA,KX868AT,
KX869AT,KX870AT,KX871AA,KX872AA,KX873AA,KX874AA,KX 875AA,KZ959PA,KZ960PA,KZ974PA,
KZ975PA,KZ976PA,KZ977PA,KZ978PA,KZ979PA,KZ980PA,KZ 981PA,KZ982PA,KZ983PA,KZ984PA,
KZ985PA,KZ986PA,KZ987PA,KZ988PA,KZ989PA,KZ990PA,KZ 991PA,KZ992PA,KZ993PA,KZ994PA,
KZ995PA,KZ996PA,KZ997PA,KZ998PA

Further searches lead me to this item.

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC - Maintenance and Service Guide
http://h50178.www5.hp.com/FILE/81075/81075.pdf

But, still no drive cable.

[huracan]

Further searches lead me to this item.

HP 2133 Mini-Note PC - Maintenance and Service Guide
http://h50178.www5.hp.com/FILE/81075/81075.pdf

Man, this is getting stored. Thanks wikifun, nice find.

[ZaForD]

@wikifun,
There were two AC adapters on that list before 1x 95w and 1x 65w
I still can't work out how HP can charge more for a 3 cell battery than a 6 cell :?:
Still i'm not gonna complain to much, as I've got to buy a 6 cell battery. So the cheaper the better. :wink:

In that Service Guide it lists two different WiFi Cards, but isn't there a third one for Japan/Aus :?:

[mikez]

The multi-chip solution, front ended by the 4310 (UK at least);
The specs mention the 4311 (not reported in the wild);
The 4312 in the US (perhaps other places);
The 4315 was recently reported from somewhere.

Three known; four suspected; might change with the next HP-2133 shipped.

[Warder]

I wonder how much power it can really push through those drives? I heard WD's Scorpio drives are supposed to be really low voltage, so I went looking to see what I could find about the Mini-Note's 120GB 7200RPM drive and found it is also a 'low voltage' drive. Here's the data sheet on the Hitachi 72K00

http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/A198FEF5A3B22F08862572D400656432/$file/7K200DS.pdf

and the main model page for the rest in the series:
http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/sit...ecae2eac4f0a0/

Might clear up some questions on what drives to stick in the Mini-Note

[billpool]

I wonder how much power it can really push through those drives? I heard WD's Scorpio drives are supposed to be really low voltage, so I went looking to see what I could find about the Mini-Note's 120GB 7200RPM drive and found it is also a 'low voltage' drive. Here's the data sheet on the Hitachi 72K00

http://www.hitachigst.com/tech/techlib.nsf/techdocs/A198FEF5A3B22F08862572D400656432/$file/7K200DS.pdf

and the main model page for the rest in the series:
http://www.hitachigst.com/portal/sit...ecae2eac4f0a0/

Might clear up some questions on what drives to stick in the Mini-Note

Hello:

I got my 2133 about a month ago and they tried to force feed vista to me so I ordered a WD 320G 2.5" drive but it's the 5400 rpm one... what with all of the comments about heat and having noted same I was hesitant to go with their 7200 rpm 320G. Any ideas/thoughts/opinions? I bought a Seagate Momentus 160G 7200 RPM drive and used it in another laptop as the C drive. Speed was nice but after about 1 hour the notebook hardware softare would begin beeping a warning that the hard drive temperature was at or above 50degrees. I took it out and am using it as USB drive on the 2133. I'm still gunshy about the 2133 temps. I'd appreciate inputs.

bill
:?:

[ZaForD]

I've got a 'WD Scorpio WD2500BEVS - 250 GB' in my MiniNote.
This too is a 5400rpm model, but thats by choice. :wink:

I tend to stay away from 7200rpm HDD's in laptops due to heat issuses I've had in the past. This goes doubly for the MiniNote.