pulsarkuant,
it's not a SATA drive, it's an IDE drive.
OK, problem solved. i just wanted to post for everyone's benefit. the t43p has a 15 inch lcd vs t43 which has a 14 inch screen. the hdd housing for the t43p is about 1/2 inch deeper than t43. so, with the cover attached to the end of the hdd, it will not reach the plug holes. t43p uses a special cover with longer handles which pushes the hdd deepr inside the cage. my hdd's were not being pushed far enough inside the cage to engage the plug holes, but it was feeling tight enough to get a feeling that it is "plugged" into to something. my bad was that i was using a t43 cover with short legs vs a t43p cover with long legs. case solved.
thanks everyone for help in this.