Alienware 18 mini-card available ports?

Hi everybody,

I like to play games using a PS3 controller through Bluetooth. Also I don't like to lose the BT transfer file hability on my laptop. Currently I have a USB BT 4.0 adapter attached to my laptop, so I have the Internal BT adapter for file transfer and the external USB BT adapter for the PS3 controller.

Reading the "Alienware 18 Specificacions" under the "Ports and Connectors" chapter is says:

I think the half mini-card slot is being used with the WiFi+BT 4.0 combo card, but what about the two full mini-card slots? Are they available? if so, were are they located at?

I'd like to have an internal solution for the extra BT adapter.


Thanks in advanced for your answer..

 

Anyone?????

 

I think it is possible.. @TBoneSan did do something like this for his R2...

 

Are the M18x R2 and the AW 18 similar about inside ports?... For example the M17x R1 had two mini-pci internal ports, one for BT card and the other one for the wireless card, to achieve what I was looking for I just changed the wireless card for a wireless + BT combo card.

 

You could use a half height to full height adapter

 

Not too long ago I had to disassemble the laptop to change the touchpad board. I looked around and wasn't able to see any other mini-pci port than the one for the wifi/BT combo card. But according to the Alienware 18 Specification guide, there has to be more mini-ports available somewhere:



Any ideas?

 

well im using a ps3 controller on my AW18 with a mini bluetooth usb u just need to download this driver then install but before that disable the bluetooth you use for files and plug the one you want to use for the controller then install and you should be good
and it would be better to use the usb bluetooth for the controller and leave the wifi + bluetooth card for files transfer and why bluetooth there is meany better ways to transfer files via wifi
i did buy this bluetooth usb for my ps3 controller and its working perfectly
and also the 2nd mini PCI-E slot is just under the wifi pci-e slot

 

Well at the moment I'm using an USB BT dongle aswell, altough I think it is a waste to use an USB 3.0 port on this. Are you sure the second mini-pci port is under the wifi/BT mini-card? I don't want to disassemble the laptop just to check,

 

I have seen at least one Alienware 18 motherboard that did not have a second mini-PCIe slot. I'm trying to remember now if it was @DumbDumb that posted a photo or someone else, but I was shocked to see an empty solder pad connection where others have an actual port available. Maybe you got one that is missing the extra slot. Mine has two right next to each other, just like the M18xR2 does.

 

well do you really need the 4 usb slots ? i only use 2 one of them is the BT dongle well so what you wasted 1 port you still have 3 so i think its better like that and not disassemble just for this

 

here is a picture of my AW 18 WLAN card area:



As you can se there is no extra port, or am I looking in the wrong place?

At worst I use 1 usb port for headphones, other usb for mouse.. altough I don't like the idea of having an external BT dongle, is just not optimal. Though it seems I don't have any other option

 

that what i saw im not sure about it

 

Well I don't have such port, that's a full mini-card port.

 

The motherboard in the 18 I have has that slot with the red box around it. I think they must have done some sort of hardware revision and newer Alienware 18 motherboards do not have that.

 

Remember that is a 3d render rather than a real photo.

 

Well, here's a photo of the Alienware 18 motherboard I have, showing that slot is on some motherboards. I don't know why (or when) they did away with it. I know that all of them initially had it, and some Alienware 18 owners where using that to add internal USB ports.

Conspiracy theory suggests they may have been worried someone might add a USB/eSATA bootable combo port, blind flash the 18 with a modded ROM (bypassing Secure Flash) and have an unlocked BIOS like everyone deserves to have, so they removed it to try to keep that from happening. Alienware is hell-bent on us not having an unlocked system BIOS for the 17 and 18. None of the USB 3.0 ports (which is all they have) are accessible until POST has completed and the BIOS is ready to hand-off to the OS, so blind flashing is not possible without some kind of mod to boot from USB prior to POST like the older machines.

 

It's more likely it was just not shipping with anything in it so why pay to solder on the connector?

 

Maybe so. It's hard to know why they've done a lot of things they have done to diminish the value, features and performance capabilities of the products they offer over the past couple of years. It's a disturbing trend, whether it's to save a few bucks or cripple their machines, or both.

As far as the conspiracy theory, I bought a different USB 2.0 mini-PCIe card that is supposed to be a bootable model. I'm going to test it. If it is bootable before the BIOS like the older machines were blessed with, then I'm going to try to blind flash modded firmware to unlock the BIOS.

Edit: this one (Dell part # 4703X) has it...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Genuine-Ali...124?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item35e611aa7c

So does this one...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dell-Alienw...765?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5673895615

 

As you know the 6.5kg beast also has a missing msata port.

 

yes you are Correct Mr fox.. if you do not order the add on card they have been getting slick and just not installing the hardware.. I had to call and complain to them that i paid for every thing and that leaving this out was not acceptable.. and they swapped the motherboard.

 

What was suppose to go in that port anyway labeled as "DMC"?

As you can see in this picture I do have the port pin's, is just I don't have the plastic card holder that goes over the pin's.. Maybe I can just glue the plastic piece I'm missing, do you think that would work? of course takink care with the pin placement position

 

any number of things can go there.. another mini drive.. usb adapter andy thing!

 

What's the name of the plastic piece I'm missing? how can I look for it on eBay?

 

anyone??? I think if I can glue that piece I'll have an extra PCIe port

 

It has to be soldered. Glue isn't going to work. I've not seen that socket for sale, but you can find out and solder it in place it should work unless the removed something else from the motherboard that it needs to work correctly.

See this... http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-in-m17xr3-using-mini-pci-e-raid-card.699592/

Edit: maybe this place has them... http://www.te.com/usa-en/products/c...ors/mini-pci-express-msata.html?tab=pgp-story