MTron SSD replacement

I just want to add somethig to the forum.

Having a 110L I almost went mad by the strage behaviour of Linux and switched to XP after two weeks.
Then I found out, that XP did not respond as it does on my desktop PC and I used all the tips from every forum I could find to speed up the whole system.
One problem still remained - when opening programs or simply hovering from one entry to another in the start-menu - it sometimes seemed to be frozen for a few seconds. Running HD-Tune showed me that the read-speed of the Intel SSD was around 24 MB/s and access-time at 0.8ms.
While I liked the ruggedness of a SSD I didn't like it's speed. Thats why I didn't want a HDD. But after reading a lot I came across a manufacturer called MTron who builds fast SSDs at a "not too high" price. And it is Christmas and so I ordered one for me.
It fitted under the main board after removing the now needless screw-sockets for the Intel SSD and I fixed it with a drop of hot glue at each corner.

Now, with 1.5 GB of RAM and the 32GB MTron the AAO is a pretty good substitue for a regular laptop.

Originally I wanted to add some photos,but it says that the attachment quota has been reached (without me having added any photos).

Napfkuchen

 

:lol:
Tinypic.com
photobucket.com
:mrgreen:
How much was not too much $$$ ?
:twisted:
I like my 1.8 HDD but let us know about that SSD any bigger size ?

 

Well, the SSD cannot compare with a HDD in size. My SSD is "only" 32 GB and it was, due to the weak Dollar compared to the Euro, more that half the price of the AAO. (I know that this is still very high)
But until my desktop's HDD failed I had a 40GB model - which was pretty much sufficient for my needs.
In this case Imy first intention was speed, not capacity.
I use the AAO as a"backup system" for my desktop and a mobile system when travelling.

Napfkuchen

 

How about speed ???
And can you link some pics to that device ???
Wanna see tha size if it so i can maybe make a 2nd dary hard drive into my Acer in the PCIE back door.

 

I don't know, why I cannot upload photos, so I have to provide these links:

The new MTron (HDTune)
http://www.250kb.de/u/081227/p/9009161c.png

The old Intel SSD (HD Tune)
http://www.250kb.de/u/081227/p/5622fc23.png

The MTron with the original ZIF cable
http://www.250kb.de/u/081227/j/036ac81c.jpg

Where I had to remove the screw posts
http://www.250kb.de/u/081227/j/0d3caea1.jpg

How it fits
http://www.250kb.de/u/081227/j/84acf5e8.jpg

Original data from the manufacturer
http://www.mtron.net/English/Product/Pr ... D-PATA3018

The speed of my system has drastically gone up:
Win XP boots in 18 s. (pure desktop, no anti virus and WiFi)
Programms starts like they do on a desktop. (or even faster)
Installing and copying of files... awesome.
I have formatted the SSD with NTFS - I don't know, why my speed ist so relativly low, compared to the manufacurers specifications.
What I also like: Write Endurance >140 years @ 50GB write per day****

 

Good to read this post.
I'm thinking about getting the 16GB version of MTron's SSD. IT's pricey, but the original SSD in my A110 really does not deliver when running WinXP.

 

Hey Napfkuchen,

My 16GB 1.8" Mtron zif SSD just arrived today. I was wondering if you had much trouble installing it into your AA1 ?.. I've noticed that the ZIF cable for the Original Intel SSD is too thick and wont fit into the Mtron SSD..
Did you have to buy a seperate Zif cable or is there a way to modify the existing cable?


Any advice (and screenshots) would be greatly appreciated!!!! ..


Thanks,
D

 

I know the original cable is a little too thick - but it fits anyway.
When you insert it carefully from one edge first (in an angle) and gently keep pushing, becoming more and more perpendicular...
That's the way I made it fit.
When you read in the forum, you can find posts, where some users sanded their connectors at the cable down a little. I would probably use a file, instead.

Be careful to insert it the right way, I have added some photos (better: links to photos) where you can see the correct way in my previous post. I started with the wrong way first and had to take it apart again.

Hope this helps...

 

Thanks for the advice!

Unfortunatly I damaged the original zif cable trying to connect it.. I've ordered a new one from ebay

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0288984409


so hopefully this will do the trick!

 

@dmckey
good luck with the new cable


I just found out, why my SSD speed is lower than in the manufacturer's specs.
(At least this is my explanation for the fact that I only get 70 out of 100 MB/s...)

The controller is set to UDMA 5 - the SSD would go up to 6.
Does anybody know, whether there is a chance to raise that speed?
I noticed that the drriver for the controller is dated 2006 - and I couldn't find any newer.

Any suggestions?

 

Sorry, but you can not set the controller to UDMA6, as the intel chipset is limited to UDMA5 on the PATA interface (UDMA6 only on the SATA one).
http://www.aspireoneuser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=7225#p54499
.

 

I'm surprised that the original ribbon fits... I saw on the MTRON datasheet that the contacts of the ribbon must face the bottom of the ZIF connector on the drive.
So I bought a ribbon with contacts at the ends not on the same face (aka flip cable, reverse cable) ->
http://www.kalea-informatique.com/mag/fr/product-361132.htm
MB side's thickness = 0,35mm, SSD side's thickness = 0,20mm

The MTRON is probably similar to the TOSHIBA 1,8" HDD : it provides contacts at the top and bottom of the ZIF connector ?

 

Thanks!!

I think anything would be better than the performance of the original Intel SSD under XP, I was only achieving 2MB/s read!!!

 

@imarune
Well, the cable fits.
If I had had a thinner cable I would have used that, so I had to squeeze the original one into the slot.
I was a little confused about the different cables mentioned here (flip, etc.) and my hope was that the original cable would do the job.
You can see in the picture in my third post how I installed it. (As I said before, I installed it in reverse order earlier and it didn't show up in the BIOS)

OK, the chipset is the limitig factor...
I had read the post, you refer to - I just hoped there was a way to get around the limitations. Maybe a new driver...

@dmckey
I had such a low rate earlier - until I set up XP anew.
Then it went up to the value I provided in the photo - I don't know, why that happened.
I guess it had to do with my nlite version of XP I use during my first installation.
My second nlite version was done following the advise given on this website: http://www.i64x.com/eeexp.php

 

Napfkuchen,
I just want to be sure...are the teeth of the ZIF cable supposed to be facing up or down? I mounted my cable with the teeth down, the other way from how you mounted yours but the drive is not detected.

Also, I mounted my Mtron a bit differently:






yeah, my cable was upside down, now it works teeth on the cable should face the latch on the SSD if anyone wants to know.

 

The New Zif cable did the Trick!!

I've opted against installing an NLited version of XP because I had lots of problems with the first version I installed, probably due to the Limited amount of drivers and hardware support an NLited Version Provides.
I've installed the Full version of XP SP3 and everything works fine (The battery icon was missing in the Nlited Version and I wasn't able to shutdown or go into Standby!)

XP boots in 15s and shuts down in 4s with the New MTRON!!!, Definitly worth the money

 

Hi folks

Could I get a MTron SSD to replace the very slow one I have in my One ZG5?

Thanks