Hi,

I researched this board and found two other posts documenting this issue:

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-P-and-W-Series-Mobile/P51s-sata-ribbon-attachment-FAIL-NO-FIX/m-p/4030446

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-P-and-W-Series-Mobile/P51s-sata-HDD-cable-FRU-dislodged/m-p/4003421

Interestingly enough, this seems to be a problem to at least two other people during the month of March 2018.

I have this same problem. My p51s just all of a sudden stopped detecting the storage drive. I opened the case to find that the SATA connector wasn't even connected to the motherboard.

The connector that should hold the sata cable is just completely detached. And the piece that was within that connector is out of place as well.

Please reference this photo (NOT MY PHOTO -- not taken by me, credit:

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-T400-T500-and-newer-T/Upgrade-ThinkPad-T570-from-SATA-HDD-to-M-2-NVMe-SSD-Samsung-960/td-p/3686521):

This person's laptop seems to have a strong solder, which I don't believe mine did.

Please advise how I can get this repaired, get a new computer, or just give me my money back. I've used Lenovo for ~10 years and have never had problems like this. I need this computer to work.

+ picture of connector parts, detached

your picture looks like a defective solder connection.  To me, that looks like a manufacturing problem.  The first link referenced a failed ribbon cable wihch is usually is usually a pinch connector damaged during an upgrade.  (your picture is is not a ribbon and doesn't use a pinch connector.) The other link wasn't clear what was happenning so I asked for a picture.

How can I get such a defect validated by Lenovo? And repaired?

I really like this machine, and ideally would love to keep it.

If you are close to a dealer who does warranty service, I suggest carrying it in

The repair depot has received my laptop and via a phone call I placed to them, they have indicated that this is billable. I am expecting that I'll receive a bill in the amount of somewhere around $665 like the person here: https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-P-and-W-Series-Mobile/P51s-sata-ribbon-attachment-FAIL-NO-FIX/m-p/4033726#M73354

This is a racket. I would like to speak to an escalation agent as soon as possible. Judging by the warranty in section 2:

2
What This Agreement Does Not Cover
This Agreement does not apply to Lenovo Servers, Storage and Phone products.
Lenovo shall have no responsibility for the following:
(i) uninterrupted or error-free operation of a product or Service;
(ii) loss of, or damage to, your data ;
(iii) any software programs, whether provided with a product or installed subsequently;
(iv) failure or damage resulting from misuse, abuse, accident, modification, unsuitable physical or operating environment,
natural disasters, power surges, improper maintenance, or use not in accordance with product information materials;
(v) damage caused by a non-authorized service provider,
(vi) failure of, or damage caused by, any third party products, including those that Lenovo may provide or integrate into the
Lenovo product at your request;
(vii) products or parts from a Lenovo product or non-Lenovo product with an altered identification label or from which the
identification label has been removed,: or
(viii) any pre-existing defects in your product that occurred on or before the date of this Agreement.

I fail to find any of these that apply to my situation. The PC was working fine, unopened, and I started experiencing symptoms of hard drive failure, then the pc stopped detecting the storage drive altogether.

Secondly, I fail to see how accidental damage protection applies:

C. Accidental Damage Protection (“ADP”)
This Service covers operational or structural failure caused by:
(i) liquid spills on the keyboard,
(ii) unintentional bumps or drops from not more than fifteen (15) feet or five (5) meters,
(iii) an electrical surge that damages the product’s circuitry, or failure of the integrated screen, Lenovo will repair or replace (in
its sole discretion) the product; provided, however, that the damage to the product is caused by an accident and is
unintentional.
This Service only covers components installed in your product at the time of purchase, including the internal central processing
unit, integrated hard disk drive, integrated optical drive, integrated keyboard, integrated pointing devices, integrated screen,
optional features installed by Lenovo at the time of purchase, and other components that Lenovo includes as a standard
feature with the product.

Because aside from the manufacture defect in the SATA mobo port, the laptop is in pristine condition.

case number 03551325  ref:_00D30V2Wu._5001O1G4kDs:ref

Did you get this resolved? I am having the exact same issue, $704 motherboard replacement quote deemed accidental damage. Laptop is 15 months old. 

Yes, lenovo finally fixed the mobo connector at no cost to me, but 4 months later it happened again so i just replaced it with a dell xps i found that seems to have a more sturdy build

overall a poor experience with my lenovo product this time around, will i buy another lenovo in the future im not sure

Hope you find a solution to your issue

Same problem here. We sent to a Lenovo Center, they quote new mobo around 800 + service. 

User of Thinkpad since R60. Only problem before was design change of T440s trackpad without buttons, I have a working my R61 with only upgrade to SSD SATA as spare at home.

I ordered a new P52. Hope it doesn't have same problem.

Really disgusting not to get a good solution from Lenovo for a 15 months professional laptop.

Hi,

I have the same problem. HDD connector to the motherboard broke last week, and now the 15 month old laptop is a dud (also off warranty). 

Are there any potential solutions to make the laptop usable? Is it possible to buy the connector piece separately? If I installed a NVME hard-drive could that be used as a bootable drive? As it stands, I would hate to spend ~$800 for such a small repair, but would also hate to restrict it to booting some USB linux for the foreseeable future.

Thank you!