Install A Second SSD in your Rose Laptop

All current Rose-Hulman thinkpads ship with a secondary, unpopulated NVMe M.2 Slot. Installing a drive in this slot is an ideal for those who want to dual-boot linux on their laptops, as it removes the need to shrink down EIT's Windows installation to make room for Linux. It is also the cheapest option for those looking to add additional storage to their laptop for any other reason.

Choosing an SSD

The drive slots support multiple sizes of M.2 SSDs, but we recommend sticking with a 2280 size drive as they are by far the most common and readily available. Drives with heatsinks will likely not fit, so it is best to avoid those. Lenovo provides a thermal pad below the slot, which will keep your drive cool. Depending on the generation of your laptop, the secondary SSD slot may be use an older PCIe generation versus the main one. While PCIe is both forward and backward compatible, you should double-check what your machine actually supports to avoid wasting money on a latest-gen drive if you cannot take advantage of the speeds.

Installing an SSD

Bring your laptop to EIT

Installing an SSD in your thinkpad may violate the warranty. To our knowledge, EIT has not refused service to anyone for this reason, but it is still something to keep in mind. If you wish to play it safe, simply bring your laptop and your new drive to EIT and have them install it for you.

Install it yourself

The quickest way to get your new drive installed is to do so yourself. If you have the appropriate tools, it is not particularly difficult. Before starting, make sure you have the following:

• Precision Screwdriver Set
• Plastic Pry Tool

If you do not have the tools, you can also bring your laptop to a LUG meeting and we will help with the installation. We recommend asking first in Discord so our members know to bring their tools.

To open your laptop, remove all screws from the bottom. Then insert the pry tool into the seam around the laptop's bottom panel, and gently pry upwards until you hear a click. Work your way around the seam until you have freed all the clips, and then lift the panel out of the way. The secondary slot varies in position depending on the generation of your laptop, but it should be accessible without further disassembly.

At this point, remove your SSD from it's packaging and make sure it is the right size and has the right connector. Then remove the prepopulated SSD mounting screw from the slot, as well as the protective film on the thermal pad. Insert the SSD into the slot at a roughly 20 degree angle, and then press it down until the SSD is sitting on the standoff. At this point, you can use the mounting screw to finish installing the SSD.

Re-attach the laptop's bottom panel by lining it up and firmly pressing down on the edges. Work your way around the panel until all of the clips have engaged and it is sitting flush. Then re-insert the screws to finis the installation.

If you run into trouble at any point, feel free to reach out on the LUG Discord.

Using the SSD

If you are using the SSD to install Linux, simply select it as the installation device during the normal installation process. To use is for additional space in Windows, you will need to set up a partition on it. Search for the "Manage Drives & Partitions" tool and open it. You should see your drive show up with a black status bar and be listed as "Unallocated Space". Right click on it, and select "Create Partition". At this point, configure the size to use the whole drive, and select your desired drive letter (D:// is common). Once you apply the changes, your drive should be accessible in file explorer. It is possible to move the default user directories such as Downloads, Desktop, etc.. to the drive, and to configure Steam to install games on it, but those topics are not in the scope if this wiki. Feel free to drop by at a LUG meeting for help with those topics.