U150 mini PCIe SSD [ Edited ]

[Runcore]

Bad news guys I bought a U150 from Wal Mart to test it out and I cannot get it to recognize the PCI-e SSD.  Tried PATA and SATA. 

Can a Lenovo rep please help us why in many places around the web does it state that the U150 will come with a 16GB or 32GB Mini PCI-e SSD.  Even if you don't offer it now as an option why wouldn't one work in your system if it was originally intended to work with Mini PCI-e SSD?  Is there something in the BIOS not allowing the signal to be seen in the boot menu?  Or did the device change and no longer has a SATA or PATA bus connected to the PCI-e port?

Matt

Runcore

[andyP Community SuperMod]

Matt,

please remember that this is a peer to peer forum, provided by Lenovo in order that members may seek assistance from others and share their experiences. There is a Leonovo presence here but unfortunately there is no guarantee you will receive a direct response.

Regards

[sritacco]

It's impressive how poor Lenovo support really is. :-)

I called their support line for some help about my speakers not turning off when

headphones were plugged in.  The rep was polite but clearly didn't know the product

at all.  He told me that the Lenovo laptops didn't sense when headphones were

plugged in, so it would never do what I wanted.  (I switched mine to Linux and

I guess I could have gone back to Win 7 to check...)  In the end I didn't have to.

I found the right patch for linux and now the speakers go off when I plug in

headphones.

I have had constant issues with the Intel 5100 WAN card on Linux.  Wireless N just

won't work reliably.  I tried ordering an Intel 5300 and when I plug that in the

BIOS wont even boot saying "unsupported wlan card."

t isn't going to get Lenovo very far if they make nice products but ignore the

needs of their customers.  Such a shame IBM sold this business!

[sritacco]

Dear Lenovo,

I bought a U150, which I fundamentally like.

My decision was to run Linux on it instead of Windows 7.

I've had a number of small problems on Linux with the built-in devices

that I've been able to solve but I'm very unhappy about one major thing.

Why do you have the BIOS restricting what can be plugged in to the

two PCI-E slots?  I'm trying to upgrade my wlan card and would also

like to add an SSD and I find out now I can do neither because I can

only insert "approved" devices.

If this isn't addressed I will NEVER buy Lenovo again.

Please release a BIOS update that eliminates these restrictions.

Steve

[ZoomZoom]

Sorry to hear about the problems with that Wireless N. I was planning on trying to get a new router so that I could experience the faster speed. Haven't tested the headphones yet, either with Linux or Windows 7, Ran into a lot of problems though with Ubuntu and Open Office 3.1 trying to renumber pages in a Word document. Had to go to Windows 7 on the Lenovo.

 I've been unable as well to install Open Office 3.2 which has the capacity to run Open Type Fonts in Linux. If you have any step by step ideas, let me know. What exists on the Web does not work for me.

   As a Mac user, the lack of real technical support on line for the U-150 is a great disappointment. It's clearly a wonderful machine and its hdmi,  its solid keyboard, useable screen, give it a leg up to the much more expensive Mac Air. In regard to its e-sata connection, it is superior and that and its small size and weight made me buy it. Lenovo for some reason is fielding just too many machines instead of concentrating its mind on a few like Dell did on its Mini. I've abandoned the idea of even trying to get OS X up and running on the Lenovo as a Hackintosh. 

   Anyway, thanks for your valuable input.

[Mark_Lenovo Administrator]

sritacco,

Glad to hear that you like the U150 overall....

I moved your last post above which you had started as a new thread and appended it to this one as I was initially left asking what cards you were referring to, and then I backtracked and found your other discussion here.

I'll look into this to see what we had in mind with regard to the 16Gb/32GB offerings and we can compare those to the SSD that you are trying to use.

With regard to the intel 5300 - will look into that.  There have been reasons of power and thermal characteristics which have caused us to restrict supported cards in some models going well back into the earlier ThinkPad series.

Thanks!

Mark

[Runcore]

 Thanks Mark I look forward to answer to this. I tried both a SATA and PATA 50MM SSD.

I really think it is strange that that is listed as an option in many places but it does not work.

Matt

[sritacco]

Thanks very much for looking into this.  Without some active participation from Lenovo

on this site, we have very few resources we can look to for problem solutions.

I hope that it will be possible to use the Intel 5300 card and some SSD devices soon.

Steve

[ZoomZoom]

Dear Sritacco

   You spoke about a patch that allowed you to silence the speakers on the Lenovo when headphones were plugged in. This happens automatically for me in Windows 7, but I can't manage it in Ubuntu. Can you send me information about where to find the patch and how to install it in Ubuntu.

     I've had the devil of a time trying to use Open Office in Ubuntu for serious formatting. I was driven back to Windows 7 and Microsoft Word as I tried to renumber pages. Any advice? I also noticed that when using the SD slot in front, leaving an SD drive in meant that the Lenovo would not usually boot. This was erratic but it failed more times than it succeeded. 

   ZoomZoom

[sritacco]

Hi, look here:

Bug #477226 in linux (Ubuntu): “Sound simultaneously on headphones and speakers - Lenovo IdeaPad u35...