2101 Error: X220 with Kingston 64GB msata

[jsoell]

So I've read through the history of the msata and the x220 (4286-CTO) and how the BIOS revisions were required during the middle of last year in order to get the Intel 310 and some others to work.

Thinking that my little x220 with Bios revision 1.26 (i7, 8gb, 4286-CTO) would be fine, I purchased a Kingston SSDNow mS100 64GB mSATA Internal Solid State Drive SMS100S2/64G and installed it yesterday. The instal went without a hitch, but when I restarted the machine, I received a 2101: Drive detection error on hdd2 (mini sata) error.  

I've seen that the 2101 error has been mentioned in relation to a couple of Sandisk msata drives on the forum, but those discussions didn't seem to go anywhere.

I just got off my second call with Lenovo support (30 minutes today and 25 minutes last night), only to have them tell me that msata is not supported by my 4286-CTO.  That sounds incorrect, as others with the 4286-CTO seem to have luck with Intel and Renice.

What am I doing wrong?  Is this something that another BIOS revision could cure?  At least on one of the sandisk discussions, the OP said that he/she had tested the drive in another computer without a problem, so I don't think it's a problem with the actual drives.  

Somebody else mentioned that some drives are not compliant with the JEDEC standard, but that doesn't sound like an explanation to me either.  Thoughts?  Help!

Best,

sad x220

[PurduEE]

I have the same issue with x220.  The mSATA I have is the Sandisk SDSA4DH-064G.  I can also add that the function of the mSATA is the same regardless of whether the mSATA is used in the mSATA slot or on an adapter card in the SATA hard drive bay (Error is 2100 rather than 2101, but the text is the same).  For this reason, I believe the Lenovo BIOS is unable to configure the mSATA drive appropriately.  I imagine that Lenovo could quickly resolve this with a new BIOS.

I have tested this drive on a desktop consisting of a Asus P9X79 Deluxe + Intel 3960x running Windows 7, 64-bit.  Device is recognized by BIOS and WIndows Disk Manager.

[jsoell]

Thanks for replying.  Let me add in bits from two conversations I had yesterday.

1. Lenovo ended up telling me that the x220 does not support msata, which is, at least as far as I can tell, patently false.
    
2. Kingston responded with: "This drive is not designed for the use in Lenovo. You need to order a 2.5" 7mm SSD such as the V200. This drive is incompatible with your system, please contact Newegg for any return issues for this drive."

[jsoell]

Add to that this article, that looks at caching and msata drives.  One of the test drives was the exact same Kingston model that I am trying to install.

http://thessdreview.com/our-reviews/nvelo-dataplex-ssd-caching-software-review-seven-msata-ssds-prov...

[jsoell]

Wow.  And now this from Kingston -->

"I had a gentleman try this in the lab here and he was able to get it to work, however, you will need to remove the wireless adapter card but it will work. This is simply why we did not recommend this. We still do not recommend this but it will work."

That sounds like a confict on the system board or something else that could be resolved by a BIOS update, right?

I won't be home until late tonight, so I might not be able to try this fix to see what happens until then.  I'll report back.  Anybody else have similar problems? 

[PurduEE]

I think the "wireless card" he's talking about is the WWAN card, which would be in the same slot as the mSATA, if it was installed.  There's no way to install an mSATA in the slot containing the 802.11n wireless adapter - there's simply not clearance, as the WLAN card is much shorter.

As I said previously, I don't think this is merely an issue of the mSATA slot.  Lenovo's BIOS cannot correctly recognize and configure these devices as hard drives when used in the 7mm bay with a mSATA -> SATA adapter.  Lenovo needs to resolve this issue in BIOS.  It may be that there are issues with mSATA, over and above the 2101 errors we are seeing.  However, as a baseline, Lenovo needs to resolve whatever configuration issues are involved here.  Essentially, Lenovo has a laptop that is incompatible with a variety of hard disk devices - this is inexcusable.

[Xevyn]

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jsoell wrote:

Thanks for replying.  Let me add in bits from two conversations I had yesterday.

1. Lenovo ended up telling me that the x220 does not support msata, which is, at least as far as I can tell, patently false.
    
2. Kingston responded with: "This drive is not designed for the use in Lenovo. You need to order a 2.5" 7mm SSD such as the V200. This drive is incompatible with your system, please contact Newegg for any return issues for this drive."

---

This contradicts something I read in a previous thread where they admitted a bug and even released a fix.  Here's what the rep said last June:

This will be fixed with a BIOS update in July.

Every X220 is categorized either as "WWAN model" or "non-WWAN model".

"WWAN model" may have WWAN card pre-installed from Lenovo factory, or only antenna and wiring pre-installed and customer can add the WWAN card later (either way it is considered "WWAN model").  "non-WWAN model" does not have WWAN card or antenna/wiring.

For some reason, X220 BIOS is disabling the mSATA device on certain WWAN models.  The mSATA device works on certain other WWAN models, and on all non-WWAN models.  The BIOS update in July will enable the mSATA device on all models, even where it doesn't work today.  Apologies for everyone's inconvenience caused by this issue.

Quoted from:  http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/X220-with-USB3-0-no-mSata-SSD-possible/m-p/462...

And then reading on further it looks like the fix came in BIOS 1.18/1.19

http://forums.lenovo.com/t5/X-Series-ThinkPad-Laptops/X220-with-USB3-0-no-mSata-SSD-possible/td-p/44...

But based on what has been posted here it seems like the problem is back. 

[ccl13]

@everybody above,
That as I know, the models you are talking about like Kingston model and Sandisk model, they are simply not the microSATA interface Intel is supporting. There are like 5 major different standards that takes a mini PCI-E form but is actually a SATA interface. But they are all different in pin-out and/or switching methods. For example, SSD used on Macbook Air is not be compatible with X220, not only because of size but also because they are electronically different. Another case would be Sandisk's pSSD, it has a kinda compatible pin-out but does not support certain switching protocol so system cannot initialize it.

[Xevyn]

---

ccl13 wrote:
@everybody above,
That as I know, the models you are talking about like Kingston model and Sandisk model, they are simply not the microSATA interface Intel is supporting. There are like 5 major different standards that takes a mini PCI-E form but is actually a SATA interface. But they are all different in pin-out and/or switching methods. For example, SSD used on Macbook Air is not be compatible with X220, not only because of size but also because they are electronically different. Another case would be Sandisk's pSSD, it has a kinda compatible pin-out but does not support certain switching protocol so system cannot initialize it.

---

I think this would be understandable if none of the models never worked to begin with - but the frustrating part is that the Kingston mS100 SSD has been reported to work for many owners in other threads and there doesn't seem to be any consistent explanation as to why it isn't working for others.  Also, if you look at the link to the review that jsoell posted above you can see that they used the same mS100 model that he is trying to install on his X220. 

The Intel 310 is probably the safest bet for compatibility but then you are gambling on getting the 8 MB bug:

http://communities.intel.com/thread/24126

Intel released a firmware fix for the Intel 320 series but it looks like they haven't released anything for the 310 and doesn't look they will anytime soon.

[ccl13]

Yes the compatibility problem is just weird. I would say the industry is who to blame because simply nobody tried to standardize mSATA from the beginning, just use it as a propriety technology to gain some kind of competitiveness. And when every implementation grown out of control, end users suffers.

I am using Intel 310 now. Hopefully no tragic will happen to me. It is the most stable SSD I have ever used.

I have tested other models that is compatible with X220, including Samsung 810/830 (830 highly recommended), OCZ Nocti (never touch it) and MyDigitalSSD (better than Nocti but same controller so in doubt). They all seem to be working, although SandForce ones will BSOD your laptop about once per week.