The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    SATA III Fix - M14x R1

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by CC268, Jun 23, 2012.

  1. CC268

    CC268 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    39
    Messages:
    573
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    31
    I think this is a thread that should be stickied as it would be very useful/beneficial to us M14x R1 owners who are experiencing SATA III issues with Solid State Drives. It was originally introduced by red1ty1, but the thread title may not notify many users on here that there is a fix.

    This is a BIOS fix which is based on A08 but has a SATA III fix based on A05. Here is the original post:

    M14x R1 - BIOS A08 with SATA fix

    Thanks to svl7 over at TechInferno - all the credit to him

    This fix worked flawlessly for me, simply extract the zip and run the InsydeFlash application.

    Here is the before results from Crystal Disk:


    Here is the results after applying the fix - ignore the 4k READ speed:


    Enjoy! Remember to give thanks to svl7 over at TechInferno! Thanks to red1ty1 for original post!

    Flash at your own risk :)
     
    CC268, Jun 23, 2012
    #1
  2. Wabisabi

    Wabisabi Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    10
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Do yu have problems booting before? If so, what's the result after? Any problem? Thanks

    Do yu have problems booting before? If so, what's the result after? Any problem? Thanks
     
    Wabisabi, Jun 25, 2012
    #2
  3. rockethot

    rockethot Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Made absolutely no difference for me.
     
    rockethot, Jun 25, 2012
    #3
  4. Rogeliocenit

    Rogeliocenit Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    30
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Run gorgeous for me:

    [​IMG]

    M14x R1

    Intel i7 2670QM

    Dell SSD ( Samsung PM830 256 gb OEM)

    NVIDIA GeForce gt555m 3gb "GF116 chip"
     
    Rogeliocenit, Jun 25, 2012
    #4
  5. Wabisabi

    Wabisabi Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    10
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Do you have booting problems as well? I have the same ssd as you and running A05 bios. Booting has always been a problem, so when you upgraded to A08 with this you still got booting problems?
     
    Wabisabi, Jun 25, 2012
    #5
  6. rockethot

    rockethot Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have never had booting problems. Do you have the latest firmware for the drive?
     
    rockethot, Jun 26, 2012
    #6
  7. Wabisabi

    Wabisabi Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    10
    Messages:
    35
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    I have the 2.13 firmware on my ssd. What's yours?

    It took 3 booting attempts for me to reply this message, and it is frustrating.
     
    Wabisabi, Jun 26, 2012
    #7
  8. doniGforce

    doniGforce Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    84
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    The modded bios doesn't have any different SATA III code with A5. It just combines the A8's ability to detect GF116 graphics card with the ability of A5's SATA III. So basically it'll have the same SATA III behavior as A5 did. I guess it's for us lucky ones with Samsung 830 ssds who didn't have problems with a5 at sata III and have GF116 graphics and for those with other SSDs who like sata III and don't mind having a cuple of failed "boots" :)
     
    doniGforce, Jun 26, 2012
    #8
  9. rockethot

    rockethot Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I got it working by disconnecting and reconnecting the CMOS battery. Worked last night. Tested again today and I'm back to Sata II speeds.
     
    rockethot, Jun 26, 2012
    #9
  10. rockethot

    rockethot Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    22
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have firmware 2.22. Try upgrading to the newest firmware.
     
    rockethot, Jun 26, 2012
    #10
  11. shak541

    shak541 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    25
    Messages:
    140
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    hey guys.. just tried this fix. yes i get sata3 speeds with A08 but i do have issues booting with a mushkin enhanced chronos drive. Took me about 10 tries to boot up this morning with a cold start :(
     
    shak541, Jun 26, 2012
    #11
  12. sCrewChief

    sCrewChief Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Is this still good or has there been another fix? Just ordered the crucial mx100 512g for my r1 and was wondering if there has been any update. Does it really make a huge difference if I just leave it running at sata2 speeds?? Just scared of turning it into a brick..
     
    sCrewChief, Jul 29, 2014
    #12
  13. Sesme

    Sesme Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    23
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    6
    need five post to donwload it.... i register and 6 post and no download please upload free
     
    Sesme, Aug 4, 2014
    #13