New Life to Older PC / Adding a Second Hard Drive to ThinkCentre M83 / M93p

Background...

The plan was simple, get a used PC to help me organize pictures, documents, and create more documents. I wanted to keep under $200.00 a friend pointed me toward a ThinkCentre M83 SFF with an i5-4570 CPU, 500GB HDD, and 4GB of RAM. After the available rebate I had a starting point of $120.00. With the advice to add a SSD, 4GB more RAM, and upgrade from Windows 7 to 10. Simple, right? Well not so fast. I had had nothing to do with computers, other than using them, for years and mostly with laptops. my last desktop was old when I bought it and its been dead over half a decade now. Even before my M83 arrived from Newegg I had started to do research and the more I looked the more confused I became. One thing I knew is that I did not want to “just” Velcro my SSD to the internals of my compute. Here is a step by step record of my “build”, if you can call it such.

Find the SSD bay…

This step took the most time and research. Lenovo had factory models of the M83 and M93p with two hard drives (HDD & SSD) and in those pictures I saw second bay bracket. More research in the service manual and I knew what to call it, Secondary Hard Disk Drive Carrier also known as 2.5 HDD bracket. More research on Lenovo’s support website under service parts tab and I found the part number, 04X2310, and picture! I was able to order it direct from Lenovo’s website for $8.98. Some times the bay is listed with the stamped manufacture numbering Bay:1B3355H00A Tray: 1B41HCT007

Find the cables…

Next I researched the necessary cables I would need. Support forums, looking at pictures, and learning about SATA cables, SATA Power Cables and SATA Data Cables. I wanted to go with factory components as far as the bracket and cables but I am sure there are great aftermarket options available. The one big FYI is that I only have 2, 4 pin SATA power connectors on my motherboard and they are both in use, one for the HDD and the other for the DVD/CD drive so I needed a two headed SATA power cable or an aftermarket Y. Lenovo made a two headed power cable and I was delighted to find it!SATA Power Cable 54Y9378. My motherboard has 3 SATA III 6.0Gb/s connectors so I found another SATA data cable like my HDD had. SATA Data Cable 54Y9395. I bought the cables used on eBay for $15.99 and $5.75 respectively

Find the SSD…

I wish I could tell you all about SSD’s but I got lost trying to search through them all. As per the recommendation of my friend I went with a ADATA brand SSD, SU800 with 128GB, from Amazon for $26.99

Put it all together…

I am not a professional computer person, I’m not even a hobby computer person, I just wanted to get done what I needed to so I could do what I wanted - FOLLOW AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I backed up the few new doc’s I had created before I moved on.

I turned off and unplugged my M83 and let it sit a few minutes, then I made sure I had touched everything on my counter that I have ever static shocked in the bast then I touched the metal computer shell. Note I was careful to not rub my feet on the floor or rub my hands on anything because friction is a great way to build up static.

Open the case and then press the bay latch so the metal top folds up reviling the bottom side of the HDD rack. There is a small plastic cable retention clip that holds the cables going to the HDD, that needs to be removed. Now take the metal 2.5” bracket and slide it into the corresponding tabs on the underside of the HDD bracket, it will click into place. Put the retaining sheet metal screw in place.

Unplug the SATA power cable to the HDD and then unplug it from the motherboard.

Move the SATA data cable for the DVD/CD drive to the number 3 SATA data port on the motherboard. Move the HDD SATA data cable to the number 2 SATA port on the motherboard. Plug the new SATA data cable into the number 1 SATA data port on the motherboard, this cable will be for the new SSD that will run the operating system. Route the cables in a way that they will not get pinched or damaged when you fold the drive bay rack back down. Install the SSD into the purple drive tray, then slide it into the new 2.5” bay! Connect the data and power cables to the appropriate drives. Fold the drive bay rack down and put the case back together.

I did a clean install of Windows 10, for $28.50 with a DVD off of ebay. If you don't know how install an operating system then google it. For me it was a fly by the seat of my pants but it all installed nicely. I believe there are ways to transfer your operating system to the new SSD without a clean install but again google is your friend.

The RAM

To finish out my build I needed more RAM, and here is where I blew my budget out of the water!

Why have 8GB of RAM when you can have 16? and why fill all four slots with 4GB modules when your computer can support 32GB of ram? So I bought a set of 2x8GB of RAM to give me 16GB, this was accomplished with CORSAIR Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) CML16GX3M2A1600C10 at a price tag of $82.99 from Newegg.

Total build price:

$260.70*

Total without the RAM:

$177.71

Shopping list:

-2.5 HDD bracket 04X2310 Some times the bay is listed with the stamped manufacture numbering  Bay:1B3355H00A Tray: 1B41HCT007

-SATA Power Cable 54Y9378

-SATA Data Cable 54Y9395

-ADATA SSD, SU800 128GB

Optional Items

-Windows 10

-CORSAIR Vengeance LP 16GB (2 x 8GB) CML16GX3M2A1600C10

Final Thoughts

I am happy with this little desktop computer! It boots up fast! It runs smooth, dose not bog down on anything I have thrown at it. Am I happy I went this rout? Absolutely! I could have had a system with 8GB of RAM and kept it at a price under $200.00 but I’m not sorry I went this route.

Lenovo ThinkCentre M83 Hardware Maintenance Manual  

https://www.manualslib.com/manual/893218/Lenovo-Thinkcentre-M83.html?page=213#manual

2.5 HDD bracket 04X2310

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-M93p-SFF-2-5-HDD-CADDY-CARRIER-04X2310-1B3355H00-1B41HCT00/132473471106?epid=2244827014&hash=item1ed808c082

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-M93p-SFF-2-5-HDD-CADDY-CARRIER-1B3355H00-1B41HCT00-/264215418866?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l4275.c10#viTabs_0

SATA Power Cable 54Y9378

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-ThinkCentre-M93P-SFF-Series-SFF-PC-SATA-Power-Cable-54Y9378/132473470257?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-Desktop-SFF-M93-M93P-Series-Sata-Power-Cable-FRU-54Y9378/323695141821?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

SATA Data Cable 54Y9395

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lenovo-M83-M93p-SFF-ThinkStation-OEM-SATA-Complete-Set-Cables-54Y9395-54Y9377/132473470658?hash=item1ed808bec2:g:LMoAAOSwJwpZu9~e&frcectupt=true

ADATA SSD, SU800 128GB

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01K8A29BE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Windows 10

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Microsoft-Windows-10-Professional-PRO-64-Bit-FULL-Version-DVD-with-Product-Key/352572535280?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

CORSAIR Vengeance LP 16GB RAM

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-233-280

 Use any info in here at your own risk. You could destroy your equipment. I am not a professional.

*assumes that I already had an old screen, keyboard, and mouse to use. Although I did have a keyboard it was not able to plug in to this computer but one trip to my local good will and $4.00 later I have a USB keyboard I love to type with!

D-Link DIR-825 B1 Firmware update and DD-WRT Firmware Install

Background:

I had an old DIR-825 laying around from a few years ago, almost useless to me as my only internet connection is through my smartphone. Early this year (2019) I felt a need for a better computer at a cheap price point. With the help of a friend I settled on a used ThinkCentre M83 SFF. Once it arrived I realized that there actually are computers without built in wireless adapters. I had a little old NETGEAR N300 that I was able to use but it was unhandy.

Yesterday a YouTube video caught my attention and from there I ended up at an article that talked about using an old wireless router as a wireless bridge, but in order to make it work I needed to flash a new firmware called DD-WRT on to it. Over 24 hours later it is working but what a headache. You can do it too, and probably with a lot less frustration! Here’s how I did it!

 Use any info in here at your own risk. You could destroy your equipment. I am not a professional.

Items needed:

D-Link DIR-825 B1 (maybe others could work too)

Power cord for router

Ethernet cable

Computer with working Ethernet port

Windows 10 and Windows 7 or just Windows 7

Internet connection/ available wifi

USB thumb drive

Web-browser

Web pages that are needful/helpful:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-turn-an-old-router-into-a-wireless-bridge/

https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/D-Link_DIR-825

https://support.dlink.com/

Let’s Do This…

1. 

First I set my IPv4 network adapter. In “Network connections” right click on your “Ethernet Connection”, select “Properties”, select “Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4)” then click on “Properties” at the bottom left of the field. And select “Use the following IP address”

Set IP Address to: 192.168.0.2

Set Subnet Mask to: 255.255.255.0

Set Default Gateway to: 192.168.0.1 click OK

2. 

Update to the latest D-Link Firmware version 2.07 (to properly update to version 2.07, you must first upgrade to firmware version 2.06NA)

Go to https://support.dlink.com/ scroll to bottom of the page and click on Downloads. In the sub window scroll down and click on DIR-825. Select the appropriate hardware version (mine is B and this write-up is based off of B) Click on the drop down menu to see all available versions, also read the Release Notes

Go ahead and download all of the versions one at a time and save them to an easy to find place, label the folder “D-Link Firmware” Unzip or extract all the updates before use. Version 2.05 has two updates in the folder, read the text file first, use them one at a time in the right order.

I was at version 2.02 and installed each update one at a time until I was at 2.07

Note, it may not be necessary to upgrade to the latest firmware but I know this way works.

Note, D-Link says to update java, I did not do that, if i would have it could possibly have helped  make things go better.

Make sure your DIR-825 is powered on, and has only one Ethernet cable plugged in, plug the Ethernet cable into #1 of the LAN ports, DO NOT use the Internet port. Plug the other end of the cable into your computers Ethernet port

Open the DIR-825 Configuration Utility in your web-browser, I used Firefox.

In the address bar type http://192.168.0.1 and press enter. For login use Admin for user name, and leave password blank. Refer to page 13 in the User Manual (2.10) on the same download page as the Firmware. If you can not open Configuration Utility refer to page 99 in the User Manual (2.10)

Once logged in click on "Tools" and the top of the page, then click on "Firmware" in the menu on the left side of the page. In the "Firmware Upgrade" section click on "Browse" and get the next Firmware upgrade needed from the place where you saved the extracted file. Next click "Upload". Follow the on screen instruction. DO NOT unplug, hit the back button or anything when the new Firmware is being flashed Refer to page 75 in the User Manual (2.10) Repeat until you are at Firmware version 2.07.

Exit page.

3.

 Getting the DD-WRT Files

Go to the DD-WRT wiki page and read their instructions.

https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/D-Link_DIR-825

Here is the web page that talks about download options, it was almost over my head.

https://wiki.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Index:FAQ#Where_do_I_download_firmware.3F

In the Main (BrainSlayer) Build locations: I went with

https://secure.dd-wrt.com/site/support/other-downloads?path=betas and that took me to:

https://dd-wrt.com/support/other-downloads/?path=betas

Click on the current year (for me this was 2019). Then click on a date, I went back three from the newest (this probably made no difference) Scroll down to: "dlink-dir825-revb" and click on it. I’m in the US, so I clicked on "factory-to-ddwrt_NA.bin" and downloaded it. NA is for North America. Then click on "dir825-firmware.bin" and download it. Make a folder labeled Firmware DD-WRT and place the two files in it.

NOTE I used Windows 10 for the above steps without any problems. For the next step I had to use Windows 7 to make it work.

4.

Flashing DD-WRT on to your DIR-825.

On the back of your DIR-825 press and hold the reset button (I used the blunt end of a toothpick) for 30 seconds, keep pressing it down and unplug the power for the DIR-825, keep holing down for 30 more seconds, still holding down the reset button plug the power back in and keep holding for another 30 seconds. Now release and you should see the power light slowly blinking and be orange in color.

(if you have the original plastic router stand it works well to hold the router when you are pressing the reset button down for 90 seconds)

Open your web-browser and type in the address bar: http://192.168.0.1 then press enter. This should open a simple page titled “Firmware Upgrade System” Click on the "Browse" button and find the saved file "factory-to-ddwrt_NA.bin" Click on "Send" or its equivalent. DO NOT turn the power off, or hit the back button or anything!

--- At this point I had trouble, I got a screen that said:

“Incorrect hardware ID image, Please check!”

“Notice !!

Please select the right image”

I tried it probably a dozen times and nothing, I tried it in safe mode with networking, and still nothing. I was using Firefox, then I tried Microsoft Edge, Chrome, Opera but with no success. I tried anything I could find on forums, I spent hours pulling my hair out and then one person said they had got it to work by using Windows 7. So I dusted off my outdated ASPIREOne (the only thing I have with Windows 7)

I repeated step 1. on that system (setting the IPv4 network adapter) Unplugged my router from power and computer plugged it into my little Acer netbook and repeated step 3.

Supposedly there should be a progress indicator in the web-browser of the flash process, I did not get anything, the page never changed but the page loading icon kept going, I watched the lights on my DIR-825, the power light goes out but the LAN light stayed on, I did not touch anything. After a little bit the power light came back on and the router rebooted. Lights to know you are done: Blue Power light, Yellow World light, Blue 2.4GHz- 5GHz lights, and a Blue LAN light. I left it sit extra time before I closed the web page.

5. 

Set Up Your New Firmware!

In web-browser address bar type: http://192.168.1.1 and press enter. You should see a screen for setting a new user name and password. Record them in a safe place or on your router.

6. 

Upgrade Your New DD-WRT Firmware

Open the web interface in your web-browser http://192.168.1.1 Go to the "Administration" tab then "Firmware Upgrade" button, click on "Browse" and go find and select dir825-firmware.bin. Click the "Upgrade" button. This will take a little bit, again DO NOT power anything off or hit the back button.

DD-WRT is now ready to use!

I will do another post later on about how I used this DIR-825 for a wireless bridge with my cell phone

Use any info in here at your own risk. You could destroy your equipment.

I did, you can too!

It's simple - my own version of  technical bulletins on how to do something that I have done but struggled to find the correct info at the time. It's a how to. Maybe it can be helpful and a  blessing to others doing the same thing - at least I'll have fun compiling them! At some point I would love to add pictures but I'm not there yet. Any feedback is welcome on how to make them better!