M4800 Owner's Thread

Hey guys so I've altered the drive setup on my m4800 laptop:
Moved the main drive from where it was to DVD slot (with HD/SSD adapter). This has the OS on it.
Got an SSD and put that where where the main drive is. This has VM files.

I keep getting "invalid partition table!" message on startup every time I turn on/restart the computer. Hitting any button clears this and the computer starts up fine. My question is is there any way to fix the error so I don't have to keep hitting a button every time I power on the laptop? I configured the hard drives this way because the main HDD port is SATA 3 and I wanted the most out of my SSD.

 

Did a quick google search, found this in this thread (Microsoft Community):

"I ran into this problem on a Dell Precision M4700 workstation laptop running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

After the information from this set of posts I remembered a small problem that can be caused by an action like changing a boot drive, e.g. clone from a smaller drive to a larger.

A side affect on some laptops, when using imaging software via optical media (e.g. CD-ROM, DVD-ROM), and attaching the new or original drive externally is that BIOS may update the boot order on the basis of not having a valid boot device, which does not restore itself when the new boot device is imaged and set too boot.

If you have more than one HDD in the mix (regardless of interface: USB, eSATA, SATA), the change in the boot order may put a non-boot drive (e.g. external USB drive, or internal drivebay drive) that is not a bootable partition in to the lead boot order and that causes the "Invalid Partition Table" error, while still allowing you to boot the system.

I fixed the issue by going into BIOS, checking my boot order (which was shuffled from what it should be) and after restoring the required order, boot was normal and everything fine. No more "Invalid Partition Table" error.

So if you are imaging a system or have an external drive that could boot, and you get "Invalid Partition Table" during the boot, but can still boot to Windows--Check your BIOS boot order and make sure it is what is required to properly boot your system.

Thanks to those who helped me remember how BIOS can be changed by a missing boot device (something that should never be possible, but happens)."

 

As the m4800 I'm waiting for is my first laptop I have a question that could sounds stupid to some of you. When you plug the laptop to a port replicator (in the US Dell website a dock station is another type of accessories), the laptop is powered by the replicator AC, right?

#alexhawker : is your port replicator this one : Dell Cable - E-Port Plus Advanced Port Replicator with USB 3.0 : PC Accessories | Dell
Thanks

 

I have quite a few Dell docking stations around, and my M4800 works on all of them. I have the USB2-only basic and advanced, and the newer USB3 basic and advanced, works great on all.

 

No, and likely no one ever will. I've handled an M6800 a few times, and have an M4800 now, and the one thing that gave me pause was MXM options. The M4800 uses the smaller MXM 3.0 Type B slot, the M6800 can take a full MXM 3.0 Type A card. I may end up buying an M6800 and selling my M4800, so that I can put a GTX 780M into it. It's possible only with the larger Type A slots, which give you many, many more options.

 

It's a dock, not a replicator. I'll post the part number tomorrow.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

What you linked is a docking station. The M4800 draws power from that while docked. Be sure to get a 180W+ power adapter for it, or run BIOS A06 and earlier.

 

His link goes to the USB3 advanced dock. Whoever at Dell named these various docks needs to be tortured a wee bit, since it's making things massively unclear for end users. Now that I fully reread that link, it's also the one with the 240W adapter, so it's lovely for M4800 use.

 

Isn't the Firepro m6100 an mxm 3.0b card?

 

FirePro M6100 is a 75W part, MXM 3.0 Type A has a thermal limit of 55W, so no, there are no Type A FirePro M6100s.

(Edit: I apologize, I had type A and type B reversed yesterday. M4800 has 3.0 Type A, which is the smaller, lower wattage slot.)

More information about MXM, we're most interested in the Gen 2 section: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_PCI_Express_Module