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    Problem replacing HDD with SSD in Alienware m14x r2

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by dualtagh, Jun 26, 2013.

  1. dualtagh

    dualtagh Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am trying to to replace my HDD with an SSD (HyperX 3k 120gb) and move my HDD to a optical drive caddy. But my laptop won't recognise the SSD in the main drive bay (neither windows or BIOS), but it reads fine in the caddy drivebay.

    Are there any particular settings/method I should be doing to get my laptop to "see" the new ssd in the main drive.

    Also, with the ssd in the main drive, it won't boot to BIOS straight away, it hangs on a black screen for a number or minutes before trying to boot from disk drive/ second hdd. Thanks
     
    dualtagh, Jun 26, 2013
    #1
  2. GamerJoe

    GamerJoe Notebook Consultant

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    Did you change the boot order?

    Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
     
    GamerJoe, Jun 26, 2013
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  3. dualtagh

    dualtagh Notebook Enthusiast

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    It's not showing up at all while it's in the main drive bay, so I don't have the option to boot from it.

    I'm trying to do a fresh install of windows from a disk, and then add my old 500gb HDD into the optical drive caddy. But the windows install can't see the SSD.
     
    dualtagh, Jun 26, 2013
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  4. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    What's the SSD brand? It should be appearing. :S
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Jun 26, 2013
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  5. dualtagh

    dualtagh Notebook Enthusiast

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    It's a Kingston HyperX 3K 120gb. Yeah, it's weird. It shows up fine when it is in the Optical drive caddy. But I need it to be in the main drive bay for SATA III
     
    dualtagh, Jun 26, 2013
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  6. RPM MX

    RPM MX Notebook Consultant

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    I installed an adata 128gb msata drive in my r2. For me I installed the drive and then just booted into windows with my existing installation. I think I had to format the drive through my computer, manage drives, etc. Then it showed up no problem and I did a fresh install of windows on it.
     
    RPM MX, Jun 26, 2013
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  7. dualtagh

    dualtagh Notebook Enthusiast

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    I should clarify, this is NOT an mSata drive, it is a standard SSD
     
    dualtagh, Jun 26, 2013
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  8. ThatOldGuy

    ThatOldGuy Notebook Virtuoso

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    Does the location of the drive matter a lot to you? You can make it boot from it even if it is in the optical drive bay and save yourself the trouble. If it does matter a lot, try to see if you can find the drive in Command Prompt. Type "diskpart" in CMD press enter, then type "list disk" and press enter. If you don't see it there, then I don't know what's wrong.
     
    ThatOldGuy, Jun 26, 2013
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  9. dualtagh

    dualtagh Notebook Enthusiast

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    The reason it matters is because the main drive bay is Sata III whereas the optical drive/secondary bay is Sata II :(
     
    dualtagh, Jun 26, 2013
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  10. ThatOldGuy

    ThatOldGuy Notebook Virtuoso

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    Ok, good point. If you don't mind installing everything again you can use CMD to make it your boot drive by typing these commands:

    Diskpart
    List disk
    Select disk n (Whichever number isn't your current primary)
    Clean
    Create partition primary
    Format fs=ntfs quick
    Active
    Exit

    Now you can install windows fresh, or from a backup onto your new primary drive.
     
    ThatOldGuy, Jun 26, 2013
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  11. dualtagh

    dualtagh Notebook Enthusiast

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    I am planning a fresh install and I tried diskpart last night, and even that wasn't seeing it. I'm thinking it could need a firmware upgrade, which I will try after work.
     
    dualtagh, Jun 26, 2013
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  12. dualtagh

    dualtagh Notebook Enthusiast

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    Sill can't get it to detect the drive in the primary bay... Any ideas?
     
    dualtagh, Jun 26, 2013
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  13. iPhantomhives

    iPhantomhives Click the image to change your avatar.

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    Sometime hdd/sdd locked will have this problem(my hdd locked by dell, the issue still haven't get resolve yet)

    How about try boot with ahci/raid see if thats detect your drive.

    OR try, boot priority hard drive first.
     
    iPhantomhives, Jun 26, 2013
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  14. dualtagh

    dualtagh Notebook Enthusiast

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    Shouldn't be locked, you are allowed replace HDD with Alienware
     
    dualtagh, Jun 26, 2013
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  15. lksing78

    lksing78 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hai there

    Sorry to revive this dead thread but seem to me, dualtagh is not the only one that face this problem.
    I've trying my luck for month now..and still my Kingston Hyperx SSD is not showing itself in the bios.

    I know that the SSD is working find as I already tested them in my desktop..and
    My m14x r2 can detect other HDD / SSD just find...

    I really hope someone could help us out here. :)

    Thanks
     
    lksing78, Aug 19, 2013
    #15