Precision M4600 Owners Lounge

It should not be possible that your M4600 is "locked" to your original drive. This seems to be some kind of goofy hardware issue.

Are you using AHCI or RAID as the SATA mode on your M4600? (This is set in the BIOS.) I would say, whichever you are using, try using the opposite and see if that makes any difference. Windows 8/10 can be switched using this procedure:

* With the system running, hold the "Shift" key and select the "Restart" option.
* As Windows shuts down, some options appear, select "Advanced startup options" or some such option from the menu. Goal is to get it to present the option for safe mode upon reboot.
* System reboots, at the Dell screen press F2 to go to BIOS setup and switch the SATA mode now.
* At reboot the system asks you about advanced startup options like you asked it to, choose to boot into safe mode.
* After booting into safe mode successfully, reboot into normal mode.

The boot into safe mode immediately after making the SATA mode change is necessary in order for the system to notice that the drive controller has changed and to get the appropriate driver installed. If you do not do this you will get an "inaccessible boot device" BSOD after changing the SATA mode. Windows 7 needs more than a trip to safe mode, a manual registry change is required to make the switch.

 

Thanks for your reply Aaron.
I was also doubtful about the lock, however it was an idea I had so I mentioned it.

My M4600 runs currently fine with the RAID setting. I think I tried both settings, specially with the SSD, as I remember having a BSOD after plugging the original drive back. It took me a while to figure out what I did change.
I will try your procedure tomorrow. I feel like I will face the same shutdowns, but who knows. It is worth trying.

 

Oops double post, sorry

 

Double post, please delete.

 

Try comparing LPM (link power management) settings on the two PCs?

 

OK so I tried to change the SATA mode. It was RAID and I installed Windows 10 with this option. I had two shutdowns within the hour, and one before even reaching the logon screen. So I restarted, changed to AHCI, then I booted into Safe Mode, stayed into safe mode for a while without shutdows, then rebooted to Windows.
I logged into my session and stayed on the desktop. The laptop stayed up for almost one hour before shutting down, again.
When trying to restart after this shutdown, I did not even reached the logon screen before the next shutdown occurred.
So the SATA mode does not seem to make a difference unfortunately.

I forgot to mention in my original message: I upgraded the BIOS to the latest A16 a couple weeks ago, as I was originally running A08 I believe and I also faced the issue.

@alexhawker, where can I find LPM settings? I googled a bit, and I found some information related to registry entries and to Intel Rapid Storage Technology. If it is related to Intel RST, I do not have it installed on my original HD, and in my new installs I had some where I did install it but most of the time I did not.
Also, a tutorial I found suggested changing some advanced options in the Power options, but I do not have the options mentioned to set HIPM or DIPM

 

The LPM setting is in Control Panel -> Power Options -> Change plan settings -> Change advanced power settings -> PCI Express -> Link State Power Management (LPM)
I have had some M4800's where this setting had to be set to "Off" or the machine would periodically hard lock. (Different from what you are experiencing which is an abrupt power off.)

You mentioned that you had a colleague with a M4600 that works fine with your drive. I wonder if your colleague would mind switching M4600's with you (just swap the drives), if they are similar enough? Just a thought.

 

Thanks. I checked this option and it is set to OFF.
The M4600 ran fine for two hours straight, but I was in "safe mode with networking". As soon as I went back to normal mode, it ran 20 min before powering off.
There is definitely something running in normal mode causing the issue, which is not in safe mode. Now what? This is the question.
I even tried to disable Nvidia Optimus. No change.

I asked him for a swap, as the material config is quite the same (excepted for the graphic card), but he wants to keep his backlit keyboard and I need the webcam for teleconferences.

I will see if I can find a cloning drive software, to clone my current drive to the new one, and check if I face the same issues

 

When there is an issue in normal mode that does not exist in safe mode, here's one thing you can do.

Start->Run (or Win+R) and type "msconfig"
Choose "Selective startup", uncheck services and startup items, and hit OK. Then reboot.
You will now be in normal mode with a safe mode like configuration, in that a lot of things will not be loaded. Run like this for a while and see if you have any issues. (Will be difficult to do work as network will be broken, but this is for troubleshooting.)

If you *do* have issues, it could be something driver-related (lots of drivers will still start in this configuration but not in safe mode), or something else unknown to me, and this technique will not help you. You can go to msconfig and put it back to "Normal startup".

If you *do not* have issues, go back to msconfig, and turn on some things in the "Services" and/or "Startup" tab. Hit OK, reboot, and check again. The idea is to keep turning things on until you narrow down what exactly you have to turn on to cause the problem, and then see if it would be OK to operate with whatever that is disabled.

 

The more I try, the more I am sure this is a weird hardware issue, not specifically related to the hard drive.
This morning, I was never able to reach the logon screen, neither was I able to boot in safe mode. The laptop powered off itself before I was able to do anything.

I tried to reinstall Windows (as I know it can stay on for a while), but even in the install process, I face issues. No power-off, but file copy failures instead which prevents a successful install.

So I think I am going to give up and forget my idea to replace my hard drive.
I may try again later with older SATA drives, just in case.

Thanks again for trying to help me with my weird issue. I will keep the tips and procedures in mind, as they might be useful in the future.