1TB PCIe NVMe Owners: Does your BIOS See it?

I have 512GB Samsung 950 Pro NVMe but BIOS does not see it.

Does 17r3 BIOS see PM951 NVMe and can you set HardDisk Password?

[Note: That should be the only drive in your system. If there is any SATA drive, your BIOS will be able to do HardDisk password to enable Class 0 / ATA Sec encryption, but in reality, it will not set it on NVMe! ]

 

The 951 should be seen as it's the one from factory. Try the latest BIOS update.

 

Thanks Porras. Latest BIOS sees 950 Pro if set to RAID. It does not see it in AHCI.

Regardless, "Harddisk Password" option is no longer available with this drive in BIOS.

Can you confirm if PM951 can enable hardware-encryption of the SSD with 17R3? I don't think Alienware really implemented relevant NVMe command set to enable self-encryption feature of the drive.

 

I will need to check on that. I'll check the lab machines and report back.

 

Seems like it is not possible.

 

Thank you! Appreciated! I discarded 950 Pro and switched back to my Crucial M.2 SATA SSD where hardware encryption is working properly.

 

Oh, so the latest AWs do support NVMe? On both M2 ports? Any idea if a SATA SSD in the 2.5" bay + 1 or 2 M2 NVME SSDs are going to work together? (apart from self-encryption concerns)

 

Yes although the 2nd M2 slot seems to only work at x2 from what Samsung Magician is showing. And yes a SATA SSD in the 2.5" will work with no issues. At least I haven't had any issue in my setup; 256GB 950 Pro, 256GB SM951 and 850 Pro 1TB.

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Good info CJ, thx. Would suggest that soft raiding 2 M2 NVMEs doesn't make that much sense. That's fine, would be a bit of an overkill anyway. 950 + 850 pros should cover my needs.

BTW do you use self- encryption on the 950 pro? Any performance implications or other issues?

Best

 

I don't use any type of encryption at present due something I read about performance degradation. Gotta look into a bit more before jumping into the pool.

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Please do not hijack this thread. It is about NVMe and self-encryption... not about SSD options (there are tons out there for this).

If you did not understand it: You CANNOT use self-encryption (hardware encryption) of the drive on Alienware since NVMe does not use ATA security extensions (NVMe has its own command set, but Alienware did not implement it).

It is still very new technology, however, my AW18 bought in 2015 did not even have HDD Password (ATA security set) option in BIOS and I could not boot my encrypted drive without removing ATA password via hdparm! Considering that ATA password has been available for decades, I would reckon gamers are considered folks at the bottom of IT barrel.

 

Your SSD is ALREADY encrypted. In layman's terms, key is out in the open unless you change it via BIOS (or TCG/Opal). There is zero performance difference when you use hardware-encryption.

Even with software encryption, there is not much difference due to AES-NI instruction set of the processor, however, I avoid software-encryption since it affects my battery life slightly.

 

That's your opinion on the matter. I've read tech papers from respected encryption specialists who say different. And since it is a well known fact that FDE can and does slow down mechanical drives, it only stands to reason that it would do the same on an SSD. So, I'll stick with their assessment until such time as they're proven wrong. Thanks for chiming in though.

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Go away.

 

You're hi-la-ri-ous! You engage me and then get butt hurt because I tell you I'll stick to information from respected sources. #Priceless You're the one that needs to "Go Away". Far away.... #ClassDismissed

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“Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience.”
― Mark Twain

That is the reason I don't engage in conversations like this.

You do not know what is FDE and what is SED, you have never used encryption, yet you spread FUD.

Quote here one research showing built-in hardware-encryption of SSDs have performance penalty. Otherwise, as I said earlier: "Go away" and leave the topic to be useful for those interested in it.

 

I am ready to buy an NVMe drive for my soon to arrive, 17R3 2015,
I am new to ALienware and M.2. I have a new 17r3 with a 1Tb spinning drive . I would like to install the latest and greatest M.2 in it. It sounds like I wont be able to use Acronis or any software to clone ONTO my new M.2 correct?
I will need to do afresh install of windows but not from my recovery partition, correct?
What are your suggestion on choosing a drive from one of these two, or perhaps YOU have a favorite that is proven to work, Thanks for any input.

1.
https://jet.com/product/256GB-SAMSU...CIE-M2-512MB/772b01180cc94dc0b7e5cea30ca89a9d

2..
https://jet.com/product/SAMSUNG-SM9...te-Drive-SSD/a4ac023652824b0bb281c718e7f1ee0e
Thanks for any replies!

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...m-2-ports-with-samsung-950-pro-report.783584/

 

just saw you on that other thread lol sent you on infinite loop. I'm about to try a physical clone sector for sector as I have a clone box just waiting for some adapters to come in will post any success to you