M17x Raid Configuration

Hey everyone,

I got my Alienware M17x(R1) with two 500GB HDDs in RAID 1 however now I realize I don't really need the extra protection so I want to switch either to RAID 0 or no RAID at all (Without loosing any of my data)... which one is better?

Also it would be really helpful if anyone has a guide to do this... tried to look around but didnt find any thing really helpful !

THANKS,
Darthmanaic

 

You will need to format and reset up as raid 0 has parts of files on both drives ect. If you didnt want raid anymore you could possibly go into the bios and swap it off and since its mirrored it wont be mirrored anymore and thus allowing you to do what you want with drive 2. Shouldn't have to reinstall by doing that.. I never have in the past when breaking a mirror.. Make sure its backed up first just incase. lol

I would never use raid 0 on a notebook. That is just asking for problems.. I would just break the mirror and then your storage doubles... Your call.

 

Hey kilthro,

I'm not really good at dealing with the BIOS so can you please specify where I should go to disable the RAID...

Just curious is it possible to do a RAID 0+1 or RAID 1+0 on the laptop?

THANKS,
Darthmaniac

 

I will once I get home. I dont have them memorized.
To your raid configs you cant do that in the M17x since you are limited to 2 hard drives only... If you had more hard drive bays and the controller supported it then yes.. In our case the answer is no.

 

Does anyone have any idea where I could disable RAID 1 from the BIOS?

Instructions would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Darthmaniac

 

If you disable raid 1 you can do it in the BIOS. It's should be an easy change just look around. RAID 0 in my opinion is flirting with disaster and doubles your odds of loosing your data. Since it's striped across two differant HDDs, if one goes down your out of luck and all your infor is gone. I'd only recommend it if you do weekly backups. Just poke around in the BIOS, you'll find it. Only options on the laptop are RAID 0, RAID 1 or no raid at all.

 

Hey DR650SE,

Is RAID 0 really worth the risk ? Does it like really speed up the HDD read speed and stuff like that?

Thanks,
Darthmaniac

 

It will speed it up, but in my opinion not enough to outweigh the risk. I don't know what the specific numbers are on it though.

 

I run Raid 0 on my Laptop, but it's mainly for games, I backup anything important, so if it crashs no worries. I have been running Riad 0 on my P171x FX for 2+ years no problems.

 

hello
I'm thinking of doing the same with my raid 1
theoretically doubles the speed, but it really is so?
if there really is improving
I run the risk and I build a RAID 0

 

Did you get this taken care of? Sorry I had to pack and go out of town for work so didnt have a chance to get this for you.

If you still need it I can do so this evening.

 

Hey kilthro,

It would be really helpful if you could specify what I'm looking for in the BIOS and what I should do

Thanks,
Darthmaniac

 

There is already a thread for it
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/422486-how-configure-raid-1-0-m17x-didnt-come.html#post5369386

 

Hey stamatisx,

Appreciate the link but I'm actually trying to get rid of RAID 1, so if you know anything about that please let me know...

Thanks,
Darthmanaic

 

If you have the R2 just go into the bios by pressing f2 at boot.. then go to advanced menu then go down to sata configuration.. Press enter your will be set to raid.. change that to achi and that will disable raid.

 

Hey,

I changed it to ACHI and when the computer reebooted I GOT WINDOWS ERROR RECOVERY I selected windows repair and I just got the same thing!

Should I just do a clean install of windws again?

 

If repair didn't help then yes, you have to install again windows. At this point you will loose your data. I hope you kept a back up

 

Hey,

I'm reinstalling windows...

It says:-

DISK 0 PARTITION 1:OS 451.9 GB
DISK 0 PARTITION 2 : RESPAWN RECOVERY 13.8 GB

DISK 1 PARTITION 1: OS 451.9 GB
DISK 1 PARTITION 2: RESPAWN RECOVERY 13.8 GB

I do not want to lose Alien Respwan what should I do?

i Also want the full 1 TB of HDD space.

 

Since you won't use RAID 0, you can keep the respawn recovery partition. Delete the DISK 1 PARTITION 1 and 2, format the unallocated space as NTFS and install windows on DISK 0 PARTITION 1
Keep in mind though that this way after installing the OS it will appear that you have two disks ~451GB each, not a single ~900 GB. If you want your disks appear as a single one, you go with RAID 0 and you loose the respawn partition

 

Hey,

i DELETED respawn on DISK 0 but I still have it on DISK 1 PARTITION 1

IS THAT FINE OR HAVE I LOST ALIEN RESPWAN

 

to check and see if you lost it or not, try to enter the respawn, if you can then it's ok, otherwise you lost it. There is a chance that you can keep it though by physically swapping the drives.

 

Ok so I guess I've lost it!

But I still have the respawn CD so it should be fine?

So now when I reinstall windows will I have to reinstall all the drivers via the RESOURCE CD or can I JUST GET THEM BACK BY UNSING THE RESPAWN DISK?

 

Do a clean windows installation, download the latest drivers from the Dell website and you will be just fine

Did you try to swap the disks? Since they were on RAID 1 they were identical so you very likely still have it

 

No I Have Lost It! Is There Any Way To Re Install It Again?

 

*EDIT*
According to DR650SE, you can install it again http://forum.notebookreview.com/6211794-post28.html

Question, is it still present on the DISK 1 PARTITION 2?

 

NO did something stupid and I guess i deleted it on both disks (aghhh)

So anyways... I should install the drivers from the M17X resource DVD or the dell website ?

 

The latest should be on the Dell website

 

Yea, You can get it back on the RAID setup if you setup RAID in the BIOS, and then use the Respawn CD. You'll have to set your disk setup to RAID 0, and then boot from CD and use the respawn CD to install your factory image. Just make sure if your using RAID 0 to make regular backups because if one drive is down, you lose everything

 

To be honest I never had to use a respawn partition or disk... so I have to trust you on this one DR650SE

 

I deleted all the partitions and I am left with only disk 0 and disk 1...

I'll just make a C drive and D drive and get 1 TB!

BUT ARE YOU SURE DR650SE there is no way to get Alien repawn without setting up RAID( because i really DO NOT want RAID on my computer)

The respawn disc should be fine right?

 

If I undestood DR650SE correctly, what he suggested is to use RAID0 for your disks (go to BIOS and select RAID instead of AHCI) and then enter the RAID setup in order to select the RAID 0. After that you will see one disk and use the RESPAWN DISK.

On you previous post I misunderstood and though you said resource disk instead of respanw disk. My bad

 

I am sure you can use the respawn disk even if you don't RAID your disks

 

stamatisx is right, you don't need to use raid for the respawn disck

You should be able to get the respawn partition back by using the Respawn disc to boot from and install the factory image to just the C: drive if you want. At least I'm pretty sure it'll reinstall the respawn partition. I'm not 100% sure. The respawn partition is the exact same thing as the respawn disc. Let us know once you try it. You have nothing to lose at this point since both HDD's are blank. Just install to disc 0. It should create the extra partitions in the process.

Basically the respawn disc will set you computer to the factory image it shipped with. It will do this to which ever disc you use it on. So you should be able to use it in RAID if you set that up, or a single disc. Personally I use two discs, one as a programs and boot drive, the other as a file and data storage.

All the respawn is is a factory disc image disc, in the end, if you have the disk, you don't need the respawn partition.

 

What do you mean by flirting with disaster? is RAID 0 unstable? and would that apply to SSD's in RAID 0?

 

Because now instead of just possibly having one hardrive fail you have two that can fail and if one does, you lose all data as it uses both as one hard drive.. So it could double your chances of a catastrophic failure.

 

Even with SSD's? the chances are less right?

 

SSD are better than reg HDD but they can still fail. Although its a lower percentage, if you are running raid 0 you are doubling your odds of failure regardless... If you keep regular backups then dont worry about it. Use raid 0 for the speed increase.