Are laptop cdrw drives generally interchangeable except for the brackets?

[tnitsuj]

I am trying to add a cdrw to my old thinkpad 600e, and was wondering if I could just buy a bare cdrw/dvd laptop drive on E-bay and install it in my 600e cd-caddy?

 

[zerogear]

They should be, of course, you also have to check if the bezel fits, but most drives should work if you have the bracket.

 

[bastula]

Yes, usually the bezel is the problem. About a year ago, I tried putting the OEM Panasonic slotload DVD/CD-RW drive into my Inspiron 8200, and it fit into the system fine. The problem was that it was slightly recessed and dust might have been able to get into the system a lot quicker.

 

[jschuk]

You also have to pay attention the configuration of the drive, whether it is a M/S (master/slave) or CSEL (cable select). The IBM should be expecting a CSEL drive, though I think you will only lose the ability to boot to the drive if you put in a M/S (a lot of M/S laptops will not see a CSEL drive period). Some drives can be flashed with firmware to change their configuration, of course they have to be recognized first to be flashed.

 

[bastula]

Originally posted by: jschuk
You also have to pay attention the configuration of the drive, whether it is a M/S (master/slave) or CSEL (cable select). The IBM should be expecting a CSEL drive, though I think you will only lose the ability to boot to the drive if you put in a M/S (a lot of M/S laptops will not see a CSEL drive period). Some drives can be flashed with firmware to change their configuration, of course they have to be recognized first to be flashed.

Ah yes, that was the other problem with the drive. I also lost the ability to even boot from my internal HD when the new optical drive was in there.

Maybe the best way to get around this problem is either:

a. Make sure you know what kind of drive you are getting.

b. Hook up the drive to a laptop IDE to desktop IDE adapter and flash the drive on a desktop so that it matches with the setting which you require.

I didn't have a desktop at the time, so option b was out of the question. Even the distributor I got the drive from didn't know what was the setting of the drive. *shrugs*

Ended up getting a PowerBook this year and took care of my slotload problem