M18x R2 Drive Configuration & Troubleshooting - Ask your questions here

There have been many questions about the drive configuration of the M18x R2. For some strange reason it seems that every time a question arises people feel compelled to create a brand new thread instead of participating in an existing discussion. I will merge new threads asking questions on the subject into this thread to minimize clutter and confusion by having a single repository for the topic. It is easier to search and read through one thread than it is dozens of random threads. Merging threads can make discussion difficult to follow, so whenever possible, please search the forum and choose the right place for discussion before posting questions.

For questions or discussion about setting up Windows in general, or creating a RAID0 membership, please review the opening post for technical details and the discussions that follow in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...llation-questions-troubleshooting-thread.html



Here is a helpful video from our friends at Alienware:

<embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vv9eCWFaV1o?hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='853' height="480" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true">

---

For some reason the SATA interposer (ribbon) cable is defective on a fair number of M18x R2 systems before the box is opened. A bad interposer causes the drives to intermittently disappear or not be detected, and it causes drives to drop from SATA-3 6.0GB/s down to SATA-2 3.0GB/s speeds. It is very simple to replace and Alienware can sent you one to replace the defective part that came from the factory. Use caution when working with this component or you will break the clamp that secures the ribbon cable to the motherboard. This part is not serviced and requires replacement of the motherboard if broken. See quote and images below.

---

How can I say I agree with the most emphasis possible? Absolutely, yes... tetsussaiga is correct. You will not regret the performance. It will make you despise using a HDD. You can feel the difference in everything thing you do, from the moment you press the power button. The only drawback to SSD is cost per MB is too high. Be sure to not buy too small of an SSD to save money because you will run out of space for apps and games. You can install them to a HDD, but they will run slower. A large HDD is fine for data storage. A 128GB SSD is the minimum I would suggest. You will fill it up quickly and it will be an impediment rather than an asset if you don't have another drive on which to install apps that don't need to be fast (MS Office, for example) and store data.

 

I orderd m18x r2 with 256gb ssd option that use only one hdd bay in caddy, I guess one caddy has two bay.

I have a some question with add second hdd.

first question.
Can I install this?
This is 6.4cm(2.5inch)
Seagate 750GB Momentus XT ST750LX003 (SATA3/7200/32M/for laptop)

second.
Following ordered hdd option that just one 256ssd installed(it using one bay)
So, if I wish assemble a second hdd in caddy, number of screw is enough? or not?
The one of hdd already installed bay in caddy that had screw(for screw up) but how about the other blank bay's screw is included? or not?

Sorry for bad english, Please someone let me know.

 

Hi all,

It's finally time to take the plunge and upgrade the HDD's in my beast.

At the moment I have 2 500Gb Hybrid Drives installed from manufacture.

I want to replace the primary drive with a SSD and the secondary with at least a 2TB HDD.

1) Which drives do you all recommend for the SSD and the HDD
2) I have never opened my M18X before. How do I know which drive is the primary one?

Cheers

MP

 

I recommend the Crucial M4 SSD. They're awesome drives, and so are the Samsung PM830. I don't think you can fit a 12.5mm HDD in the M18x drive caddy. The highest capacity 9.5mm HDDs that I am aware of are generally no more than 1TB. There is a 1TB Hitachi that is rated at SATA 3.0 6GB/s, but it is only 5400RPM. Be careful not to get a low power HDD, as they often sacrifice performance for the sake of "energy savings." Green is good for lawns, money and NVIDIA, but not much else, LOL.

It does not really matter as far as functionality is concerned which port you use, but as a matter of principle and common sense, Port0 would be the primary and Port1 the secondary. You will find the side of the caddy has a "0" and a "1" stamped on it.

Remove your battery. Remove the four screws in the battery opening. Slide the bottom cover off. It slides from front to rear. You will immediately see the HDD caddy.

If you need any help getting things set up, the first page of the http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...llation-questions-troubleshooting-thread.html invaluable.

Two tips: (1) leave the BIOS set to RAID, not AHCI, even if you are not configuring the drives in RAID. (2) Do not clone your installation from HDD to SSD. You'll end up with an underperforming SSD if you do that.

 

The Drive Caddy also has 0 and 1 written on it if I remember correctly. (Fox pointed out same thing above) Either way its an easy upgrade and congratulations! an SSD will rock your system! I also had a stock drive, and after installing the SSD I was very impressed! It also took my Windows Index Experience from 5.4/8.0 to 7.1/8.0

 

Just as a footnote to the great info already given I found this on my travels but its very expensive and 15mm high so not sure it will fit ?

1TB Seagate ST91000640NS Constellation.2, 2.5" HDD, 15 mm, SATA III - 6Gb/s, 7200rpm, 64MB Cache, 8.5ms

 

Depends on your budget, but I'd opt for the 830 series from Samsung over the M4 (well documented stuttering issues), but both are at amazingly low price points. You can also take a look at the PM810 (Samsung 470 series), it has a proven track record for reliability.

 

Only thing with the PM810 or 470 series is that it is Sata II and not Sata III. Still a good drive but just not AS good as the 830 series.

Note to the OP:

Following on from your other thread concerning respawning a factory image, as you will be going from x2 500gb drives in RAID to a single SSD & large storage drive, I am in doubt wether you will be able to restore your factory image to your new hardware configuration.

Looks like clean install time......check your thread and I have posted some useful links there for you. You can always try a respawn as it wont hurt anything - I just think it's doubtful that it will work with such a hardware change from your image.....but you never know until you try - if it doesnt work, at least you can clean install by following the links on your other thread!

 

That drive will almost certainly not fit, nor will the laptop be able to supply the correct voltage to it. I'd love to be proven wrong on this, though, so feel free to go ahead with it, heh heh.

 

I agree... too thick for the space allowed. Newegg.com - Seagate Constellation.2 ST91000640NS 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache 2.5" SATA 6.0Gb/s Enterprise-class Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

 

Hey guys,

I recently ordered my alienware m18x r2 laptop and I ordered it with a 228g ssd.

I want to put another HDD in it so I can store pictures, music, and other things I don't use often on it.

What all do I need to do to install a 500 or 750g HDD in the laptop? Is it as simple as just ordering it, unscrewing the back and placing it? Or do I need some sort of bay or something?

Would it be better to take it somewhere and have DELL install it?

Lastly, what HDD should I buy for it?

Thanks for the help!

 

Well for replacin HDD you should look over here,
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/660296-official-m18x-r1-r2-owners-lounge-thread.html
Please look for M18x R2 documentation, you will get complete guide how to replace or add new HDD or SSD.
Right now there one 750GB seagate momentus XT hybrid drive available, which is quite good for storage and speed. hope this helps

 

A 750 GB or 500 GB Scorpio Black are good choices, I've had both for extended periods, both been working great.

 

Awesome. Looks good Thanks

Sadly, now I noticed a distorted sound in the right speaker when something is playing. After testing the speakers, neither of them emit any sound. Looking for a fix.

Suggestions?

 

I'm also very happy with my Seagate Momentus 750GB HDD.

Could be an audio codecs issue. Try uninstalling the audio drivers, reboot into safe mode, run CCleaner's registry tool, reboot in to Windows normally and then reinstall the audio drivers.

Also, be sure "Speakers / Headphones" is set as the default device. Launch the Control Panel > Sound applet or right-click the system tray speaker icon and select "Playback devices" to get there faster. It should have a green check mark and say "Default Device" (see image below).

 

Hi Joseph, it is pretty simple to remove the hard drive on this Alienware machine, we have a complete Tear down guide on our website, here's the HDD part of it, How to remove the hard drives on the Alienware M18x R2 | Dell . When you need to disassemble something just type on the search bar at support.dell.com "how to remove m18x R2" and you will get all the links to the articles. I will recommend you a 750GB HDD, the seagate momentus is an amazing one as Mr. Fox and Peter mentioned, if you need any other technical information for upgrades on your machine please send us an e-mail to [email protected] and we will answer all of them, also if you need technical assistance with the issue on your computer's speakers you can let us know by sending an e-mail to [email protected] including your service tag, phone number and a brief description of the issue. #IWork4AW

 

Nice guide, can you please tell - port0 to port2 is counting from up to down?

 

Exactly, they are Port 0 on top then port one in the middle and port 2 at the bottom. #IWork4AW

 

Thanks, port0 and port1 is SATA III (6gb/s) and port2 is SATA II, right?

 

That's right, an awesome machine by the way, you just got yourself our biggest, fastest and best machines. #IWork4AW

 

Thank you, Porras

 

Thanks for all the information and help!

 

You are welcome Heihachi!

 

Hey no worries! That's why we are here.

 

Porras, just thought that we can have 3 hard drives and msata? what the point of mSATA? If i have used 3 hard drives i still can use msata?

 

Yes you can, you can have the 3 HDD's and the mSATA, you can use the mSATA and the other 3 for storage since the mSATA is very fast or you can use the mSATA as Cache to increase the speed of an existent hard drive as well. It really depends on the user's preference

 

mSATA is in SATA II mode? what max capacity for mSATA port?

 

Depends on which one you chose but actually it can run only on SATA II,

 

Sandy Bridge and Ivy Bridge mobile chipsets support a maximum of two SATA ports at 6GB/s SATA 3.0 speeds. All the SATA ports except for ports 0 and 1 will run at SATA 2.0 3GB/s speeds. If you plan to use the mSATA for caching it will should not matter. It will function well for caching at 3GB/s.

Edit: Luis - we posted simultaneously. Please advise if my response is accurate.

Also, is there an Dell/Alienware Engineering document that covers the steps how to set up caching? Is it set up in Rapid Storage Technology using the Rapid Response utility, or is there a proprietary software package that goes along with the mSATA caching functionality?

 

are you sure? some one here already confirm the mSata port operates at sata 2 speed with a samsung PM830 SSD

 

^ curious about the mSATA speed, if true can really do the 3xSSD RAID0 6GB/s thing

 

I hope I am wrong, but all indications are that the mSATA port runs at SATA 2.0 even when SATA 3.0 hardware is attached.

 

I would imagine that it is SATA2. It's the same case with the Sager/Clevo side of things. So, any SSD you place in the mSATA port will be slightly speed deficient due to SATA2 - but still perform better than an HDD (the question you have to ask is - is it worth it?). I say no.

Therefore, with the 3 drive capability of the M18X R2 - use the two SATA3 ports for your SSD and use the 1 SATA2 port (in the main HDD bay) for your HDD versus using the expensive (and smaller) mSATA.

 

So mSATA port on M18x R2 can run at SATA 3 speeds?

So maybe the mSATA can run at SATAIII speeds only if 1 port in the HDD caddy is at SATAIII, and the rest at SATAII, so something like
mSATA + port 0 SATAIII rest SATAII or some variation of that.

Or maybe Porras was just referring to the max available mSATA SSD on the market.

 

I want Luis to clarify so I am not spreading wrong information. My impression is that he was referring to the capacity for some mSATA SSD to operate and SATA 3.0 speeds and not that the mSATA port actually does.

 

You are totally right Mr. Fox, sorry about the misunderstanding we posted at the same time.

The mSATA as cache needs to be set-up from the Intel Rapid Storage Utility as you mentioned, however we don't have any article available yet for the setup, I'll forward the information right away so that we can create one.

 

If i have 2x256gb SSD SATA III and 750GB HDD in SATA II, do i need msata for better caching? Should i buy for example a 64gb version and use it as additional cache?

 

Actually it would not be necessary I think that you have more than enough speed just with the Raid 2x256 SSD SATA III, the mSATA would increase the performance but not enough to really get to really notice it.

 

If one can use two drives from the drive bay in sata III mode, (for example a ssd raid), whats the point of having an mSATA drive ?

Because i was thinking to the following setup:

mSATA drive 256 gb for Windows and applications (for instance this drive Samsung PM830: MSATA-SSD mit 256 GByte Kapazität )
2x1TB drive for storage, then

i have learned that the m18x R2 has excluding the mSATA 3 drive bays.

Then in my mind the best solution would be:

64 or 128 gb mSATA port for OS SATA III
256 or 512 gb SSD for games and applications SATA III
1 TB storage hdd SATA II
1TB storage hdd SATA II

Or
256 gB mSATA ssd for OS and Games
512 Gg SSD for more games
2x1TB storage sata II

Then we would have 2xSATA III as maximum supported by cipset and the rest storage where speed doesnt matter.

Can anyone confirm such a configuration is possible ?

 

I've read conflicting posts about the 3-drive caddy and what size hard drive/SSD's it can fit.

The official documentation for the M18x says that when installing 3 drives, only 7mm drives will fit in any of the 3 bays.

I've heard that confirmed on these forums by a few owners and Dell staff as well.

However I also read a post claiming success with putting two 9.5mm hard drives in the top bays and a 7mm SSD in the bottom bay. I don't remember which thread it was in, but the person said there was still enough space between the 3 drives for air circulation as well.

I plan on getting an M18x soon and I would love to be able to stick 2 Seagate Momentus XT 750GB Drives in RAID 0 and still have room for a Samsung 830 256GB solid-state drive as well to put Windows 7 and a few games on.

Can anyone please verify if that would be possible or not?

Thanks!

[my first post ]

 

I have a 256gb ssd in my m18x r2 atm. I ordered a seagate momentus 750gb 2.5in to put it in. So hopefully it won't be a problem. I don't need more memory so the third slot isn't really a worry to me.

I'll keep a couple of games on the ssd and keep all music/videos on the hdd.

 

You're probably referring to this post by Speedy in the M18x R2 HD 7970M Xfire GTX 680M SLI when ? thread.

Based on this I already made sure the aftermarket SSD I am adding is 7mm so that I can attempt adding another 1 TB HDD if I feel I need it later on. Speedy seems to be a very reliable source.

 

@hydrogue:
Thanks for pulling that up. Speedy does seem to be quite reliable based on all the posts of his I've read before finally registering myself

 

if i buy the (2x 500GB Sata 3B/s 7,200 RPM)+64GB mSATA Boot Drive from dell will they put the sdd in the sata 3 bay?

 

The mSATA drive can only go in one place (the mSATA port, not an SATA port/bay), which appears to only work at SATA2 speeds, not SATA3 speeds.

Your best bet would be to get the cheapest possible hard drive, make your recovery disk, and then purchase two hard drives and an SSD on the side, as that has been confirmed to fit in the hard drive bay by Speedy.

 

would that require me to set up raid with the hard drives? if so is it really worth it to do all that. is the msata 2.0 really that bad?

 

Is it possible to fit one 256gb crucial ssd, one 750gb 7200rpm (games + data) and one 1tb 5400rpm (music/films/pictures) in the m18x?

Also would there be any benefit to adding a msata for caching on the 750gb or 1tb drive?

 

Not really.

Actually port0 and port2 are SATA3, and port1 (the middle one) is SATA2.

To reach the best performance of SSD, you gotta place the SSD at the SATA3 port.

 

Are you sure?

 

Fairly sure he is right.

Sent from my Motorola Razr using Tapatalk 2