how to sli an m18x r2 (noob style)

got an m18x r2 (like new) from a friend , with one gtx 675m so i thought why not buy a second 675 to sli? ok i ordered the fan, 330w psu , gpu, sli cable, and heatsink from ebay and i waited like one month for everything to get here (panama) . today i got the last piece i needed (heatsink) and i was very anxious to get home after work to get this thing going , i watched some Mr Fox videos on youtube and i was a little bit worried about not damaging anything on the laptop (since i had several F@ck ups in the past) , got home took a big breath and started ; it took me like one hour to install the second card , every thing was right !!! .... ( i was wrong) turned on the machine and the two cards where showing on the bios but got a no hard drive error , long story short ; i spent like 4 hours trying to get the hard drives to work and finally the blasted flexible broke because it folded in half ... conclusion : that flexible cable is the worst thing this laptop has , i love the possibility of having 3 hdds but that cable , oh boy thats just annoying , so now after waiting so long im worse than before because i cannot use a hard drive on the laptop and the cable costs on ebay 60 to 90 bucks and i dont have a penny to buy jack because i spent all on the 2nd gpu , im getting tired of this expensive gaming laptop hobby i might just stick with consoles and ****y laptops from now on.

PD im praying the motherboard hdd slot is not damaged , but i cannot tell until i get a new hdd cable , and that is not going to happen for a while , for now the laptop is going to collect dust on my shelf ...

 

worst case scenario you could run off the R2 MSATA slot, I know that a bummer and future cost but it wouldnt be wasted machine and if you have one you could install to test everything else.
If the hdd cable clip and connector both appear on MB to be in good shape for the cable to connect, its probably only the cable as an issue.

Mr FOX has a posting about leaving the two screws for the palmrest out that live under the HDDs with no ill effects and eliminates the need to remove HDDs in the future. I plan on doing that on mine when I open next, granted it still needs to have the HDDs removed to do it the first time.

 

i forgot to mention that the clip falls off , i dont know why because at glance is not broken or it is? i see a very minuscule difference between the two sides but if i use a tiny screw driver it can be placed in the right position. i still think it was the flexible cable because when i got the laptop a few days back the hdds where not recognized and i had to open the lapotop to put the ribbon cable on the slot , furthermore i noticed that the cable was cracked by then (not completely broken though) . if i get a new cable can i glue it to the socket?

 

If the clip falls off its broken in the fact it shouldnt come off. If you got it like this is likely nothing to do with what you did, it had broken clip and damaged cable to begin with.
Id try to use the existing clip with the new cable and maybe a bit of Kapon/polymide high temp non conductive yellow tape to hold the clip down to keep cable in place as well as skip the palmrest screws above caddy so you can go as long as possible without touching the caddy if you have to open it.

The clip is needed to 'push' the cable as I see it toward the connector for contact.
I'd be very hesitant to try a glue.

I think with a new cable, reusing the clip it should be fine.

 

Incynr8 is right...the clip is just a small wedge that applies pressure to keep the connector in the slot. Once you get the new connector, use a pair of tweezers to remove and install the clip, and you'll be fine. The only reason the clips stay put to begin with is for aesthetics and convenience. I've taken some cheaper electronics apart where the clip comes out every time, purposefully from the factory.

Leaving the screws out and not even bothering with the HDD caddy is an awesome idea because that miniscule little part can render the entire laptop useless. I hope that's your problem and you're able to get your laptop up and running though.

 

i could not resist and ordered the cable yesterday (i am very paranoid about the socket being damaged lol) like the tape idea. most definitively will try that and also will remove the two screws of doom

thanks ... i keep my fingers crossed that a new hdd cable will fix the issue and the motherboard slot is ok

 

ok got a new cable and is working now !! but i have another problem now:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...em-gpus-have-different-ram-chips-bios.778756/