M18x R2 Drive Configuration & Troubleshooting - Ask your questions here

SO dell again throwed a wrong information? have u tested it urself?

 

No but there are photos posted on these forums by others showing labels on the sata cables. They showed the middle as only SATA2, the others were SATA3/SATA2

Sent from my Motorola Razr using Tapatalk 2

 

He was mistaken?

 

Yes, he is wrong. That's why we're using this forum instead of believing dell representatives/support. Alienware M18x R2 Sata 3 Ports available | Dell

 

So its port0 and port2 == SATA III (6gb/s) and middle one port1 is SATA II, that's it?

 

thats correct
and the msata port is sata 2

 

Thanks, so you placed your ssd's in port 0 and port 2, 750gb hdd went in the middle port 1, right?

 

thats what I did, according to the documentation from dell it should not fit but it does.

I'll quote myself from another thread :

 

Thank you, xmadror!

 

So I'm getting an M18x as a warranty replacement for my M17x, and the tech told me I would be getting the same hard drives as what I have now, (2x 256GB SSD = 512GB).

My question is that 512GB, while solid state is great, I would like more space. I heard somewhere that the M18x might support THREE hard drives? Is this true?

If so, is it best to get dell to install it? I just want like another 512GB regular hard drive to store misc stuff on. What are the price ranges for that kind of thing?

 

The regular prices are around $100 and $200, and yeah you can definitely add a 3rd hard drive to your computer, here is a link to the specs of the machine in comparison to the R1. We can also have a service set up for you so that we install the upgrade. Please send us an e-mail to [email protected] and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

 

Hey well I have a question since you were able to get yours to work. I have a portable hard drive that I want to gut out and hopefully fit in here. My portable drive is a Toshiba 1TB 2.5" sata drive. Any luck squeezing this in the m18x r-2?

 

So for have the maximum performance with TRIM, it this setup ? Or we cannot do Raid 0 with 3 Drive like the M17X R2 ?


SATA Port 0----- SSD SATA 3
SATA Port 1----- Seagate Momentux XT hybrids 750GB--- In raid 0
SATA Port 2----- Seagate Momentux XT hybrids 750GB--- In raid 0

Bay Caddy------- Seagate Momentux XT hybrids 750GB--- In raid 0
mSATA----------- SSD Caching of the Raid 0

 

Has anyone had trouble reconnecting the "interposer" ribbon cable to the motherboard? I cant get it locked into the connector on the board. Any insight?

 

at the moment i have

mSATA - boot drive
Crucial M4 (port0) - Programs/Games
2x WD 750gb black raid0 (port 1&2) - applications
im waiting for the caddy to add the WD 1TB for backup

 

is there a way to disable the screen notification on the r2??
the problem is that i usually use (caps Botton) to walk in my first person shooting games, and that annoying sing of caps on and caps off makes my games minimize...... please help

 

Hello, i will receive my r2 maybe friday and i will install a 512Go SSD and 2 momentus XT 750Go.
But, i see in a picture that the 2nd slot accept 7mm DD.
Is it right?

Then, wich DD can i put in the 7mm.

I buy the alienware with 500Go DD only at DELL.

Thanks.
(I'm french, and my english is not very good, please excuse if i made mistakes)

 

It would not require it, although that would make using the storage drives a whole lot easier. You could also use software/OS-level RAID through Windows, too.

~~~

It'll likely be a 9.5mm 5,200RPM drive, so it should fit most likely. Just be careful taking the enclosure apart in case you ever want to use it again down the road. Good luck!

 

Nice, I'll check into a guide on how to install it. I could care less about the toshiba enclosure, my friend sells me these terabyte portables for $20

 

I want 2x500 gb hdd + 120 GB 2.5-inch Racer Series Ultra Performance SATA III 6.0Gb/s Solid State drive. Will this work??

 

On the M18x R1 you can have 2 HDDs/SSDs, On the M18x R2 you can have 3 HDDs/SSDs as long as all 3 has a 7.0mm height.

 

While this is what the manual says, I've read some are getting it to work with one 7.0mm and 2 9.5 mm drives.

Edit 2: Merged with the thread I referenced, lol.

Edit: And this post by Speedy

 

On the M18x R2 you can have 3 physical drives, but the middle connector states SATA2 and to physically fit one drive should be 7mm. That said, I have 2 x 500Gb Hitachi running RAID and a Patriot Wildfire SSD, which fit and work happily together (and a 64 SSD on the slot board)

 

I have 3x9.5mm drive in there.
2 vertex 3 60gb (9.3mm) + the 750gb (I assume its a 9.5mm, its definitely not a 7.0mm)that came with my m18x.

 

As the other guys have said, larger drives than specified in the manual can be fitted, I think the reason the manual states that when using three drives, they all should be 7mm, is simply to provide adequate ventialtion around them - especially if you were cramming three spinning drives in there......I have seen a pic here somehere of someone fitting x3 9.5mm drives in the caddy - tight squeeze but they do fit in. Question would be "would any potential additional heat build-up affect any of the drives?" - answer would have to be "try it and find out" because I dont think anyone has run into problmes yet but it is early days for the R2 so who knows what might happen further down the line.....

Just make sure you put the SSD on top or bottom port in the caddy, not the middle or it will only operate at Sata II 3gbps speeds as pointed out above.

 

No need to have multiple threads on the same discussion topic... merged them accordingly.

 

I have 4 SSD installed in my system (please see my sign):

1. mSATA at the 6GB/s (but it works at the speed of 3GB/s) - SATA II

2. SATA at the 6GB/s (but it works at the speed of 3GB/s) - SATA II

3. SATA at the 6GB/s (it works at the speed of 6GB/s) - SATA III

4. SATA at the 6GB/s (it works at the speed of 6GB/s) - SATA III

 

I have searched but can not find the answer. So I thought I would ask. Can you use the HDD caddy can connector from the m18 r2 in the r1 to get 3 hdds i nthe r1?

 

No. The interposer on the R1 only has two Sata connections so even if you had three drives in the caddy, you would only be able to connect two at any one time.

 

stevie ,

Seems you a man in the know , question for you . so i have 2 x 256GB M4's and want to add a 3rd , now as i am aware the middle connection in caddy is only sata 2 , so does this mean i will lose performance on my other 2 if i do triple raid with the m4's ?

 

^^ yes you would loose speed, the other 2 ssd would have to wait for the one on sata 2, neglecting most if not all (or more) of the performance increase you could get. It would be like having all the drive on sata 2 (at least when the transfer speed would be greater then sata2).
If you want more ssd space you could add a 3rd ssd and just leave it by itself (no raid). Or just add a hdd for more capacity 750gb or 1tb.

 

was just looking on ebay i could get a 512GB M4 SSD for £299 and run that on it's own ? and maybe raid the other 2 256GB's ?

 

Since its gonna run on sata2 you could get something slower/cheaper.
I cant really see the need for that much ssd space tho. A hdd would be a lot cheaper and higher capacity.

I'm quite happy with the 2*60gb vertex 3 that came from my desktop (which I sold when I got the m18x) + the stock 750gb that came with my m18x.
I could see myself going for 2*120 in the future but not more then that for sure.

 

yeah your right a storage drive would make more sense ,i will have a look now .

gotta admit thou i am more concerned about the 7970s that i ordered , as it seems everyone is having issues with .

 

If anything, and if you got deep pockets, I would go for x2 512gb SSD's in Raid 0 on ports 0 and 1 and slap a traditional HDD in the middle for even more storage - I wouldnt bother with a triple raid as the Sata II port 2 is gonna drag it down...best off having a large traditional drive, maybe something like the Samsung M8 5400 1Tb or WD Scorpio Black 7200 750gb.

 

My rig came with 500GB HDD and I bought a 120GB Intel 520 SSD as boot drive. Since the markings seem to suggest that the middle SATA slot is for 7mm drives, I put the two drives into the top and bottom slots.

Just today I collected the remains of my kaput Sager NP 9262 from the repairman. It went bust in the motherboard so I couldn't even boot it to back up its 250GB HDD.

What appeared to be the logical solution at first was to swap out my 500GB HDD in exchange for this 250GB one, back it up, then swap back again. However as I fiddled around, I actually managed to slide the 250GB HDD in between the two occupied slots. And guess what: the threads for the screws are in the right place too!

So as of now, all three hard drives are working normally. I cannot help but wonder why Alienware advises you against doing this in the first place. Could there be thermal issues? My hard drive temps are now 37/35/28 °C but of course they're not under load..

So, esteemed experts of NBR, do you think it's safe to keep this config? Or should I sell off that 250GB for what it's worth.. (not much I'd imagine ) Thanks in advance!

EDIT: the temperature reading of 28 °C was from the external hard drive (no wonder). As it turns out, the Intel 520 SSD does not have a temperature sensor

Tentative verdict: DO NOT TRY THiS!!

So I was backing up some files from the old 250GB drive to the current 500GB drive. Nothing too much, just about 40GB of more important files. After that was done I went to eBay and listed some more items from my deceased Sager.

Then I realised the bottom left-hand side of the palm rest was rather warmer than usual. Not scorching hot but alarming enough. Feeling around the laptop, the left side of the laptop (region with the earphone/ mike sockets etc) was actually somewhat scalding.

I quickly opened up the computer and found that I initially installed my HDD in the bottom 7mm slot (the one that's only slightly displaced from a 9.5mm slot), hence making room for another 9.5mm in the middle. As it was, the three hard drives were stacked back to back without any air gap in between. The temperature on them were not dangerous to touch but definitely not healthy for prolonged operation so I guess I shall be selling off the 250GB after all..

TBoneSan, you have been warned..

 

Sponge - I've been wondering about doing this since I heard it was possible.
I think you're probably fine with the extra drives being SSD, hence there being less moving parts to generate too much heat.
But I do wonder if the HDD's need that tiny gap for thermal too.

I'm interested to how things go with you, or if anyone else will chime in here.

 

I will update in the original post.. In short: argh!

 

I'm doing it with 2 ssd and 1 hdd and the side/palmrest does get somewhat warm but nothing alarming.
2 hdd might be too much heat though ...

 

Noted! Thankyou for the update!

Rep +1

Xmadror, what height are your drives ?

 

Thanks for the rep!

I did toy with the idea of sandwiching my SSD between the two HDD's as a thermal barrier but hell I wouldn't want my boot drive to take double damage!

My respects to Xmadror's courage..

 

all drive are 9.5 mm

my stock 750gb is between my 2 ssd
I cant read the temp on the raid array but the 750gb is at ~35C

 

I stuck with the two 7mm ssd's and 500 gig single platter 7mm, palm rest and that area never feels warms. Nice gap between the three drives.

 

So you got what you paid for from the sound of it?

 

i went for crucial M4 256gb 7mm and 2 x WD 750gb blacks in the cradle.
as far from temps are concern they stay high 20s low 30s which seems pretty normal
unless its getting to 40degrees i wouldnt be so worried about it

 

Thing is I can't read the temps on the Intel SSD and it feels rather too warm

It seems my Hitachi runs close to 40 even with just two drives (and not much hard drive activity at all). Alienware premium product eh

 

Thanks for this I was wondering about it myself.

 

I have an m18x r2 with 256G SSD and 1 680m. My question is can I put in a mechanical hard drive in addition to the SSD without compromising the cooling capabilities? And is the height of the mechanical drive a consideration?

 

Hello and welcome to NBR.

The answer is yes, you can add a second HDD. Just get one that's 9,5mm thick.

 

Is 9.7 mm ok?