Insert Hard Drive into Ultrabay 2000 2nd HDD Adapter

[temp8127]

I have been trying unsuccessfully to insert a hard drive into an Ultrabay 2000 hard drive adapter. The hard drive is a (new) 60GB Fujitsu MHV2060AH ( Enhanced IDE (ATA-6)) drive. The Ultrabay 2000 hard drive adapter is IBM part number 08K6068. The adaptor fits into my Thinkpad A21m and my Thinkpad Docks. Try as I might, I just can't push the hard drive far enough into the connector to be able to close the plastic latch at the far end. In fact, I accidentally broke off a feeble thin strip of plastic on the latch, by trying to close it with the hard drive in place. I know that it is meant to fit tightly once it is seated, but is it supposed to be so difficult to insert? Does it require very strong fingers to push it into place, or is there some other problem with using that hard drive? Should I buy a different brand of hard drive or a different model? I would be grateful for advice. Thank you.

[ajkula66 Guru]

The way I've been doing it for years is to put a regular HD caddy on the bottom of the adapter, put the drive in the caddy (no screws required) and push it gently with the plastic in the back lifted, then lower the plastic down once the connection has been set.

Are you sure there are no jumpers on the pins of your hard drive? That's pretty much the only thing I could think of that would cause such an amount of grief...

Good luck.

[temp8127]

Thank you so much for your help, George. I think you have solved the problem! The hard drive adapter has two rows of 25 pin-holes.  The hard drive itself has a gap at the 23rd position on the top row, and 1 gap in the middle and another gap in the 23rd position on the bottom row. The pins in the 24th and 25th positions on both rows do have an obstruction that would prevent them from being pushed further into the connector. I presume these obstructions are called "jumpers." (I have seen pictures of the same hard drive advertised on the internet that do not have these obstructions.) 

Is it reasonably safe for me to remove the jumpers myself using tweezers, or should I exchange the drive for one without jumpers? Thanks for your advice. 

Does it matter that the adapter has more pin-holes than the drive has pins (but the pins that are there do line up with the adapter)? 

I also wonder if the presence of the jumpers on my drive suggest that I did not receive a brand new drive.

[ajkula66 Guru · Accepted solution]

Jumpers would usually be on the four pins that are grouped together - on the left side if memory serves me - and they are no more than tiny rubber circles in most cases. You should be able to remove them if you're careful enough not to bend the pins.

The hard drive model that you're referring to has been out of production for at least 2 or 3 years. You might have bought a NOS (New Old Stock) unit, though.

Good luck.

[temp8127]

Thank you so much, George. I removed the jumpers and the drive is now seated in the adapter.

(The jumpers - it turned out that there were two, not four - were on the left side, just as you said, when looking at the drive from the upper / label side. The drive is dated 2008-05-06, so it would be an NOS unit.)