mSATA SSD on Aspire 5920G possible?

I have an empty mini pci express slot on my 5920G and was wondering if it is possible to install an Intel m310 80GB mSATA SSD.

PS: Every time I try to create a thread it comes up empty

 

No, you can't - the mini-PCIE slot in the 5920G is really mini-PCIE; mSATA uses the same socket as mini-PCIE, but with a completely different pinout.

 

Thank you.

 

sorry to grave dig. Some 5920g motherboards have two of those slots, i figured the second slot for those models equipped with blue tooth (mpcie) no? Are there any (mcpi/mpcie) SSDs are they worth a damn?

EDIT: Perhaps i shouldn't even bother as my board doesn't have that second slot, unless it can be soldered on (what resistors/caps? etc etc)

 

Even if everything is there, I don't think that you'll be able to boot off it.

 

Have you tried it? In my bios the socket not occupied with the wifi card has the intel turbo mem 1gb in it, and it is listed in the boot menu as a boot device and it comes up in the sys info as sata/ahci pci memory controller. and the "7zin85ww.exe" if installed gives you access to IMD_0 a disk device listed in device manager, then caching for the disk as no other use is configured, as the turbo cache is not a drive, but if one was to put one in...so I guess sticking an mSATA miniPCI-e SSD into that memory controller should bring up the disk in the bios...and off one goes... :thumbsup:

close to the cpu u should have the wifi mini-PCI-e slot and close to the front/bios batt u should have the intel turbo mem mini-PCI-e / mSATA slot...or you don't have a 5920g but a 5920 can u send a pic of ur mthrbrd?

 

Two pins in our mPCI-E are separating us from running mSATA. If you swap them, and then run grub loader, or whatever, you'll be golden. How would be the speed, I don't know.

 

thanks for the tip.
which two pins do you mean?
and why does it already now show up as "pci memory controller", which tells me that one should stick in an mSATA card to be controlled by this AHCI/mPCIe slot.

why grub loader if the bios is already trying to boot from it and gives clear messages re pci not being able to read the tubro mem card, which it should not, since it is not a drive, but only a cache mem card to be used with the intel drivers, but what if one uses proper pci mem ctrl drivers?

speed should be 2.5/5gb/sec as per sys info given for the pci.

the main point is to distinguish the windows features, the intel driver specs, the intel motherboard specs btw wifi and pci me ctrlr and then only use what is needed for the mSATA, not turbo mem.

what do you think?
has anybody tried to stick an mSATA 128/256/512gb by crucial or mushkin into it?

 

I did tried Crucial M4 mSATA 256GB, and it wasn't recognized in the BIOS. I don't know how you got those options, but I've tried (long time ago) to boot off external through ExpressCard eSATA, but no luck.

I think it was pin 33 and 31, and pin 25 and 25 that has to be swapped or moved, I don't remember, it was long time ago. Compare the mPCI-E's pin-out with the mSATA's ones and you'll get your answer

 

Second slot is for Bluetooth on blue tooth enable models. i answered my own question i must be a genius.

WHAAAATTT!? if that is tru i'll have to get a bluetooth version that has two mpice slots and re do my bios and pll mod. (that way i can have wifi and ssd)

have you tried one of these?

Wintec FileMate 3FMS4E128JM-R Solid State Drive - Newegg.com

also grub isn't the end all be all, there is also PLOP boot loader. also the bios does not need to see a drive for you to boot off it but, instead it needs to be able to see one bootable device which contains a boot loader like Grub or PLOP.

 

It's pretty pricey, and I don't know how it is going to perform. I like the current state of tune of mine

 

Do you mean this?
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/8695/msatavsmpcie.jpg
Interestingly, in the original drawings, the pins are the same, but in the added notation A12/A13 are switched on the left side under mSATA, this is odd...

 

More likely this: http://www.ecs.com.tw/ECSwebsite/images/pin/intel mSATA pin.bmp

There you can see the missing 3.3v lines and GNDs, as well as few others. I do think that the GND is present, since that's how the manufacturers deal with the "Reserved" pins. Also we can see that the 4 SATA lines correspond with the 4 PCI-E lines. I don't think that they are interchangeable, nor I have mPCIe boot option to be sure I've tried Plug'n'Play, it didn't worked, and it's not something that I need badly, so I left it there. If you have the time to test it, do so

 

After reloading defaults from the bios, the pci controller is listed as a boot device
"PCI BEV: MBA v9.4.5 Slot 0800"
and putting it as boot device #1 brings up the following error messages:
Broadcom UNDI PXE-2.1 v9.4.5
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Broadcom PXE ROM
even if both, the wifi card and the intel turbo mem card are not in,
which confirms, that this is the pci controller being listed as boot device,
and windows brings the turbo mem part up as "pci memory controller",
if no driver is loaded yet for that device.
What do u think?

What exeactly does
"PCI BEV: MBA"
stand for?

 

Yes, I found threads
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...latitude-e6520-boot-expresscard-sd-slots.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...65905-e6520-owners-thread-26.html#post7664228
http://forum.notebookreview.com/dell-latitude-vostro-precision/565905-e6520-owners-thread-101.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo/574993-msata-faq-basic-primer.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sol...sf1222-msata-ssd-user-review.html#post7389868
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...latitude-e6520-boot-expresscard-sd-slots.html
forum.thinkpads.com • 2.5" regular HD & mSATA SSD experiment (in progress)
and
will think about how economical it is to do anything about it...

Perhaps a few adapters will work and make upgrading easy as time goes by and CF/(micro)SDHC get cheaper.
But a large SATA SSD in the HDD bay and a 2nd HDD in the DVD bay may be just fine, easier and cheaper.
Any better ideas?

 

Well, I use the ExpressCard54 slot for two USB3.0 giving me 77MB/s transfers :thumbsup:
I ponder what the most economical, flexible way could be to put an SSD into the main SATA HDD bay (they are still expensive) and a fast large drive into the 2nd HDD bay from the DVD space...any good ideas?

 

can' you remove the USB 3 card from the express card slot with out having to remove drivers? if yes my goal would be to use the epxress card for USB 3 and sound card, swapping them out at will when one or the other is needed, while using an internal mPCIe slot for an SSD. assuming express card sound cards are worth a damn, it's been a while but, i think i remember last hearing that ro or two were decent. we already know the express card USB 3 IS useful. if all else fails this > Wintec FileMate 3FMS4E064JM-R Solid State Drive - Newegg.com < can be had for about $120 USD on ebay.

i need all the stage and speed i can get.

Steam Gauge | Account Summary for cdoublejj + 1.25 TB of movies + 150 GB of music + non steam games + reasonable amount of free space: should put at around 3 TB of space. so i think an SSD + 1.5-2tb 5400 rpm would be do able minus movies. i suppose i could put my movies on a USB drive but, now sure how HD movies will run over USB 2 and how XBMC will handle a library on an external, it might freak out if it's turned out with out the external plugged in.

EDIT: kind of wanna keep my dvd bay for an IDE bluray> Sony NEC BC 5500A 2X Blu Ray DVD CD Player 8x DVD Burner 12 7 IDE Laptop Drive | eBay
it might make more sense... if want to take my movies with me to install a second drive on top of an Express card SSD or mPICe/mSata SSD but, the DVD drive bay IS IDE and but, i guess for storage purpuses might not be to bad.

HOWEVER if we can get an mSata/mPCIe SDD working, that would mean i could use a SUB3 express card adapter and just a get a USB bluray player (assuming it the USB would be fast enough) but, i would have to use on board sound.

EDIT i was messing around on ebay and found mPCIe SSDs but, i'm not sure they are truly mPICe.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/SanDisk-SDS...?pt=US_Solid_State_Drives&hash=item2582376f4a

http://www.ebay.com/itm/120GB-MSATA...Internal_Hard_Disk_Drives&hash=item3cc4d104c1

http://www.ebay.com/itm/MINI-PCI-E-...?pt=US_Solid_State_Drives&hash=item2580928f66

 

That's the LAN boot option.

@both - The thing with those EC/mPCIe SSDs from what I know is - they are slower, they are lower capacity, they cost MORE per GB. Because of those reasons, I don't think that it's worth it to put time in investigating them. It is just me, if you find it useable, go ahead.

 

well that's news to me.

that is also news to me.

i'm kind of fixated on having internal SSD but, the main problem is my 5920g was never Bluetooth equipped so it would be even more expensive and i doubt i would go that route because i don't think i will give up internal wifi. I think the 64GB express card might be the most reasonable upgrade. would speed up booting and OS rand writes and free up about 40GB gb off my HDD and would give me the ability to run 2 storage drives if i convert my DVD bay at the cost of not being able to have a blu ray drive (not sure i would make use of it anyways). maybe i have to many options and am talking to much.

 

You can make the DVD/BD drive with OBHD caddy swappable as well. Just install HotSwap! and you're golden.

To add to my previous post - getting mSATA to work is another story. It would hit the bandwidth limitation of the PCIe as well, BUT - costs less; has higher 4Ks (which is crucial for real-world performance, not benchmarks); comes in 480GB flavours as of now; and it's contemporary technology which would go on-and-on.

EDIT: OK so, since I'm the kind of a guy that LOVES mods, I got into digging again, and this is what I've found:

- mSATA and mPCIe are hardware identical - what a surprise
- mSATA uses SATA lines instead of PCI lines on mPICe, they are on the same place - pins 23, 25, 31 and 33.
- mSATA has 2 additional lines for juice - pins 39 and 41.

That's easy to assume from the pic I've posted few posts above. What you can't get from it is this:

- 5920 has an additional SATA "connector" right behind the second mPCIe slot (where the BIOS battery is located).
BUT you'll need to solder four capacitors in order to render it useable. That's C626 and C627 between the SouthBridge and the volume knob, near the mPCIe connector; C361 and C370 on the flip side, near the Subwoofer connector.
- You have to cut the PCI lines, and solder the SATA lines accordingly.
- <s>You have to add the 3.3v lines, you can get them from one of the other 3.3v pins.</s> I think that this one is present already, at least according to the schematics.
- ADDED BONUS it might be bootable, since that's the second SATA line on the board and electrically is the same as the Primary.

If I finish some of my other mods, I might give it a go

 

if all else fails a boot loader can help where and when the bios can't see or boot from a drive.

 

Yep, but I'm hoping for the best - 3 (THREE!!!) useable and bootable-without-additional-stuff drives in 5920!!!

I've added some info to my previous post.

BTW I find it strange that your 5920G, doesn't has the second mPCIe. Which Rev. is your MoBo?

 

how do i find that out? also mine has the buttons on the left side that are all one solid non press able piece of plastic, it also did not come equipped with blue tooth.







i don't know what the heck is going on but, imgur kept screwing up when trying to upload this last photo.

https://mega.co.nz/#!jl5RwRpb!KsxSlGA-nAJWAyHvGJxMAB6Ih1hQNptrBBYXy1ncJXM

 

Thanks for that pic, will use it when soldering/switching pins. Right now I will wait for various adapters to arrive and will first experiment with those before making changes

 

Are these pics of your MoBo?
Cause they do not really focus on the cardslots.

Also, what kind of a cable is this? It is not normal in 5920 or 5920G, I know both of them.

The first/top pic has two screw-towers in the bottom-right, take a shot of that up close and tils the casing, say 10x10cm area and you will have the cardslot (if there) also on the pic, incl the intel controller (if there).

Here is a good/large pic of a general 5920G MoBo.

You will see in the top/right corner the bluetooth cardslot and in the top/left corner the intel turbo mem cardlot (with the above mentioned intel controller chip underneath and the two screw-towers).

If your computer does not have an hdmi and firewire port on the left side, you do not have a 5920G, but a 5920 (without the G).

Hope that helps to clarify.

 

On the back side, in the middle. Or under the black film where the GPU is.

They wont work, unless they convert SATA signals to PCI, but then you'll have performance degradation. Good luck either way.

That's the WiFi and the turbo memory/TV tuner slot. The Bluetooth is next to the Subwoofer.

 

Yes, WiFi/top/right (not BlueTooth, you are right, I know it is next to the SubWoofer, just mixed it up in writing) and Intel Turbo Memory/top/left.
I did not know you can put a TV card into the Intel Turbo Memory slot, have you tried that?

 

look at the mega.co.nz link it has full sized shot that shows the missing mini pci/pcie slot. the cable i added, it's for overclocking. that is the only time i took shots of the mobo and those are the only labels i have pictures of, well except for the fullsized one i just mention, it has pic of the label on the bottom of the laptop.


also are you saying the slot i'm missing is not for blue tooth?

 

I was planing to, but I changed my mind. I'm not watching TV that much to justify the money for this mod. It's not just the TV card, but cable, cable adapter, antennae...

Yes, it's Turbo Memory/ TV card slot.

 

Not sure if you are missing a slot, as the one re Intel Turbo Memory is not visible in your pics, just the screw-towers in the bottom right in first pic ( http://i.imgur.com/sbRth6Ml.jpg), which suggests that the slot should be there.
The WiFi slot is visible in your third pic ( http://i.imgur.com/Mrwk0SLl.jpg) at the bottom left incl the two screw-towers.
The BlueTooth is not on the depicted side; next to the SubWoofer, without cardslot, just with two, plastic, on-cover screw-towers.

 

look at this photo> https://mega.co.nz/#!jl5RwRpb!KsxSlGA-nAJWAyHvGJxMAB6Ih1hQNptrBBYXy1ncJXM < just solder pads the pins and plastic slot are gone. it has the screw holes/mounts but, it's nto there all i have is the slot for wifi.

EDIT ^ that ^ photo zooms in to it's like 3k x 4k resolution.

 

it has HDMI and Firewire.

 

WD combines 120GB SSD with 1TB HDD in a laptop drive - Computerworld

 

Yeah. I read iy yesterday. Fair price by the way and it will go lower in half a year. But...

But they are late for a year at least. Now mSata SSDs rule. There is no point at all to buy it. Only people with older laptops will buy it IMO.

However I wish it would come with laptops as OEM drive anyway. WHY? Because ODMs would use that HDD drive inside for recovery partition and maybe even could use more space for 2ndary OS which would launch recovery to the corrupted SSd partition. Because current recovery options really suck. People who upgrade to Windows 8.1 oftenly get boot problems and lost recovery ability. Darm, even if you change partition name of OS drive you may lost it!

Another good opportunity would be delayed writing from OS partition to mirrored partition on HDD once per day or customizeable time period. Aka partition's RAID, not like RAID of whole drive. And it could be supported on hardware level for example like Intel's Rapid Start or whatever.

I wish they have listened to me... but my words are written for nothing:sad