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    HDD on Port0 Randomly Disconnecting

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Chuzzz, Sep 4, 2013.

  1. Chuzzz

    Chuzzz Notebook Consultant

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    This has happened a few times now... I can be happily doing my thing on my M17xR3 when suddenly my 750gb Momentus XT on port0 will 'disconnect', as notified by the Intel RST application (or I'll miss the notification and realise later when there's only one drive in My Computer)!

    Searches are diluted by a ton of queries about the SATA speed of the port, so I'm hoping someone who sees this may be familiar with a known issue or knows what might be wrong with my setup.

    Worth noting also:
    -Graphics card (6990M) recently died and I've physically removed it
    -Just now when this occurred, I noticed too that my wireless disconnected at the same time. Not sure if related?
    -HDD reappears and works fine when I reboot
    -Haven't noticed a consistent cause of disconnection, though on this occasion I was installing Office from it (so it was actually doing some work). PC then froze for 10 seconds or so, then installer closed and I got the notification of disconnection on port0

    Thoughts? HDD dead? Mobo problem? BIOS setting?
     
    Chuzzz, Sep 4, 2013
    #1
  2. Amroth

    Amroth Notebook Consultant

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    Dude, I lost not one... but TWO 750gb Momentus XT in drive bay 0. I think it's something to do with the drive's controller and the constant changing from SATA II to SATA III speeds. My advice is:

    1 - Backup everything important from that drive first because it may fail any moment.

    2 - What BIOS are you running? Stay away from unlocked A12. Go back to unlocked A10 or stock Dell A12 like me. You will never get a stable SATA III on port 0. The harder you try, the more drives will bite the dust! (from experience)

    3 - After rolling back BIOS, use a program like HD Tune to check that all your drive's clusters are OK. If so, then you're probably good!

    I lost a lot of important data so hopefully you won't lose it as well
     
    Amroth, Sep 5, 2013
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  3. Chuzzz

    Chuzzz Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks a ton for your post, very good to know. I believe I am on unlocked A12 so I'll do as you've suggested asap.
     
    Chuzzz, Sep 7, 2013
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  4. Amroth

    Amroth Notebook Consultant

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    Amroth, Sep 7, 2013
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  5. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    Alienware-L_Porras, Sep 9, 2013
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