Alienware 14 HDD issues

Hello i am having some issues with a brand new system.

It came without a HDD as requested.
I plugged my old SSD in and booted the laptop with the win 7 cd, went to format the disk and a message pops up saying: that i cant install on this drive and that i need to change some settings in BIOS. I changed to AHCI mode and try again. Now it started to install - altho slower than i can remember any other installation ive ever done.

When the install finishes i am unable to log on to windows.. I keep getting a black screen with message: "check cable connections!, no bootable device"
I tries with ATA, RAID and AHCI.. I swapped boot order and even took out the battery and held the power button for 30 sec. ...still nothing.

I clearly have a bootable device, it showed up as a fixed hdd in BIOS, and i was able to install windows on it.. What the hell is the problem?

And yes i checked and re-checked the conectors on the drive.


Update: now it boots but right when setup is preparing for first use i keep getting BSOD - crashdumps... Something about some crucial things that exited and/or got terminated.. Code 0x0000000F4 (0x00000000003, 0xfffffa8007315060, 0xfffffa8007315340, 0xfffff8000298cdb0) - and yes google shows no answers for the full code..

 

Try reinstalling windows. Windows does not like it when the storage controller changes (ata > ahci, etc, even ahci to raid with ahci only enabled on the raid controller). Alternatively, lookup the bsod error number to see what the common cause is.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

 

Tried installing in ATA, AHCI and RAID mode... Always the same outcome.. And the BSOD.. Nothing helps cause i cant even enter windows, not even in safe mode

 

Ahh OK. Thought you installed then switched modes after. Did you research the bsod error code?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

 

Yes i researched it but there is only so much i can do.. i tried disconnecting everything and reconnecting, tried booting with no HDD and again with the HDD.. nothing and i mean nothing that i do works..the Fix options that are on the CD/DVD do detect that there is a problem with windows and that a fix is needed, but every time i try to fix it a error comes saying that it was unable to fix the problem. Something along the lines of "cant load save state"....

Is there a problem with my RAM or SSD? .. i cant believe the SSD is bad cause it gets detected and i manage to install windows on it and it worked flawlessly in my old laptop..

RAM - i have reseated it but i cant run diagnostics for it, the laptop wont let me..

Do i need to install a new firmware for the SSD or a new BIOS version... for a brand new Alienware 14...? (A03 is what the BIOS tells me it is)

 

Try f12 at post and run Diags and let it test your system/ram. To me it sounds like a possible bad SSD. It should take a very long time to install windows on a SSD.

 

Unable to enter diagnostics, the SSD isnt bad, i tried it on another PC and it works flawlessly,,

Are the HDD0 and HDD1 connectors on the board on a same controller or whatever its called.. shouldnt the latter work if the one plugged in the first has a working DVD drive??? - im thinking the connection is maybe bad?.. but than again it cant be, everything is brand new out of the box.. and it detects the SSD in BIOS and i am able to delete/create partitions and eventually install a OS on the disk.,..?

 

Do you have an mSATA drive installed, or a second hard drive (in the DVD bay)?
if so, disconnect those until after you have Windows completely installed and have rebooted (after updates) at least once.
Windows 8 does NOT like having multiple drives in the AW 14 for some reason.
I struggled with getting Windows 8.1 installed alongside Windows 7 for about an hour, until I removed the mSATA, then it installed fine. After the install was completed and I had a good working (dual-boot) system I put the mSATA back in and everything was fine.

 

I have NO HDD's and i dont own a mSATA, i am completely lost... maybe i should remove HDD's and just install a mSATA and use that as a primary drive... this is getting annoying.. (and i dont have windows 8... only the WIN7 SP1 on the DVD that came with the laptop.

 

Have you tried the bios diagnostics on the machine before buying extra stuff? Hit f12 and choose diagnostics to make sure it is not a hardware issue. It will even test your ssd/cable (if ssd fails, but works in another machine, cable or controller on mb may be the issue).

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 4

 

I did but everything seems fine... Ive run out of ideas, i have no AW Support where i live and i need to have a functioning laptop... Until someone has any ideas on what the problem is i have installed a mSATA and was able to install windows on it flawlessly and will run it like that.

Still waiting for email support from dell/AW.

 

Did you clean the drive and re-partition with the Windows OS disk before installing Windows on the drive? Don't know if it will help, but I cannot think of any other software solutions.