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    mSATA on Alienware M14x

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by vkt62, Dec 15, 2012.

  1. vkt62

    vkt62 Notebook Consultant

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    I have an Alienware M14x R1 without the wireless display card but a killer wireless card. Anyone know if I can put a mSATA (128gb or 256gb) in the laptop and run it? Has anyone tried it with any success?
     
    vkt62, Dec 15, 2012
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  2. le0n

    le0n Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have killer wirless in mine and the 32GB SSD mSATA it came with. But mine is an R2
     
    le0n, Dec 15, 2012
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  3. vkt62

    vkt62 Notebook Consultant

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    I heard that setting up a mSATA in a R2 works but can't find threads where someone got it working for the R1.
     
    vkt62, Dec 15, 2012
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  4. Dienz

    Dienz Notebook Enthusiast

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    My R2 came with a Samsung PM830 256gb mSATA SSD. They work just fine as a primary or single disk drive system. I reinstalled Win7 on mine and I have no problems at all - system is stable and fast as hell.
     
    Dienz, Dec 15, 2012
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  5. shnarf

    shnarf Notebook Consultant

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    i just tried it a few minutes ago for you in my r1 with a 120GB Mushkin Atlas mSATA. no luck my friend. im on an unlocked bios, i forget which number but its the last one that still had sata 3 support.
     
    shnarf, Dec 16, 2012
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  6. vkt62

    vkt62 Notebook Consultant

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    That should be the Bios revision A4 or A5. I have the same one. The versions after that have the SATA 3 locked out atleast on the R1. What is so different between the R1 and R2 that mSATA doesn't work on the R1 but does so on the R2?
     
    vkt62, Dec 16, 2012
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  7. Alienware-Luis_Pardo

    Alienware-Luis_Pardo Guest

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    The M14x R1 does not have an mSATA port, if you'd like an extra HDD slot you would need to remove the optical drive and use the SATA port for an extra HDD. (You can even get a caddy to make it fit properly) However, mods like these will void you warranty.
     
    Alienware-Luis_Pardo, Dec 19, 2012
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  8. shnarf

    shnarf Notebook Consultant

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    Void your warranty?! really?!? seems strange replacing a user accessible part would void the warranty. I guess i could understand if it required more disassembly than swapping the stock hdd does, but being that one must remove the optical drive completely to get to the HDD I dont see any additional potential for damage to justify voiding a warranty.
    looks more like dell just grasping at any excuse to void a warranty, regardless of the fact that it has no greater potential for damaging the system than replacing the stock hdd. thanks for the heads up Luis!
     
    shnarf, Dec 19, 2012
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  9. Alienware-Luis_Pardo

    Alienware-Luis_Pardo Guest

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    To be clear.

    Replacing a user replaceable part will not void your warranty. The ODD is not meant to be replaced with a HDD, it's not an option in the configurator, and if it's replaced with a third party part it won't be covered under the warranty as well as any damage caused while replacing the part.

    If you need tech assistance with your computer, you would just need to re-configure it as it was ordered from factory. In other words, as long as you keep the original components and don't break any parts you can do as you like.
     
    Alienware-Luis_Pardo, Dec 19, 2012
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  10. shnarf

    shnarf Notebook Consultant

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    thanks Luis, I appriciate for the clarification. I can understand "damage caused by replacing the part". Glad to know that for instance, if my GPU fried they wouldn't tell me im screwed because of a completely unrelated drive swap. I guess it would also be prudent to replace the optical prior to being seen by a tech so the question never arises in the first place.
     
    shnarf, Dec 19, 2012
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  11. juliant

    juliant Notebook Deity

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    ^^^ You got the point now :D Whatever you do to the system, have all the parts with you as they came when you bought it and most important, don't damage your system while doing trials :)
     
    juliant, Dec 21, 2012
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  12. vkt62

    vkt62 Notebook Consultant

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    Damn, you m14x R2 guys really have it nice with the mSata slot.
     
    vkt62, Dec 31, 2012
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