M18x R2 Drive Configuration & Troubleshooting - Ask your questions here

Actually, you can install 5 hard drives and have a max of 5.5TB storage in the M18xR2. 3x1TB in the main HDD bay, 1x2TB HDD ( WD20npvt) in the optical drive bay, 1x480GB mSata SSD.
Also, you can install an internal USB drive(64GB+) in the WIHD slot using an adapter card, thanks to Mr. Fox and his interesting discovery. And if that's not enough, you can land another ssd ( up to 128GB, I think) in the expresscard slot.

 

Thanks ... Sorry for the confusion. I have an M18X, not an M18X-R2. Does it have the same options ?

 

the r1 doesn't have the 3rd slot or the msata slot, you can do the rest. so 2 in the bay, one in the optical bay, and the express slot, and pretty much unlimited externals. since it is a replacement you might get an r2.

 

Okay ... One last question ... Does the hard drive in the optical bay take the place of the optical drive? (I haven't disassembled it to look.)

 

You forgot to mention about the sd card reader slot. I have permanently installed 128GB SD sandisk at 45mb/s

 

Haha, yes. Is it sitting flush on your machine?

 

yes it does.

 

Thank you ... Not an option for me then. I guess I will have to wait until I can replace it with an R2.

 

No, it is just inserted in the system. I have 2 of those and keep swapping them when needed (on one I have more than 25k songs and still there is plenty of space). Sorry about the 'permanent' word. I was just referring to the fact that I am using them for the pc only.

 

With 5TB desktop hard drives coming out next summer-fall, I assume laptops will at least get 7mm 2TB ones and up to 1TB mSATA, I wouldn't mind 10TB in my beast, though will probably end up with 3x1TB SSD's + 2TB HDD + 512GB mSATA. Should be more than enough for all my virtualization projects

 

Man, you'll be able to store everything INCLUDING the proverbial kitchen sink with those mutha's !!

 

If you take the mSata for the OS, it possible to do a Raid 0 of 4 HDD on it ? I think exemple take 4* Seagate 750GB XT 8GB SSD on each.

 

That would be pretty wild.

You could do that with the optical drive bay taken for HDD. I have 2 SSD in RAID0 and 2 HDD in RAID0 and no mSATA. Could easily add mSATA for the OS and run a 4 disk RAID. Bear in mind, everything in your system would operate at the slower SATA-2 3GB/s maximum speed. If that is OK with you, there would be no reason not to do it.

I am going to move this into the thread we already have for questions and discussions on drive configurations for the M18x R2. No need for a separate thread. I must have missed this one a long time ago when I was merging duplicate threads.

 

I ask that Mr Fox because the M17X R2 cannot do a Raid 0 setup with 3 drive, only 2 , I have try with 3*500GB and in the raid menu I cannot choice 3 drive only 2 . I have not try with the M18X R1 but before buy 4 HDD , I would be sure that the bios or hardware support 4 Drive in raid 0.

 

Hello Sectorz. The M18x R1 does not have mSATA or the capacity for 4 internal drives. The limit based on installation space would be 3 drives including one occupying the optical disk bay.

 

No I know, I would say that I have not try a Raid 0 of 3 drive on my M18X R1, because when I have try it on M17X R2 this have not work, Now I have a M18X R2 and I would know if he support Raid 0 of 4 HDD or the limit is always 2 ?

 

you should be able to raid 0 anything above 2.

 

No it's not recommended. You only have 3 ports with SATA 3 speeds, therefore if you RAID 0 all of them, they'd be forced to SATA II speeds. The top and bottom ports in the HDD caddy are SATA III; every other port is SATA II. Best go for RAID 0 on those SATA III ports only

 

While it might not be recommended due to the fact that all of the drives in the membership will be limited to SATA-2 3GB/s, there is no reason I know of that it would not work properly. I think a lot of owners (myself included) want the maximum performance of SATA-3 6GB/s and that will not be achievable with drives on all ports being included in the array.

The other thing to consider is unless all of the drives are identical, any variance in specification or capacity will limit performance and size of the array based upon the weakest link in the drive membership. For example, placing two 128GB SSD and two 256GB SSD into one array would limit the size to 128GB x 4, so 256GB of space would be inaccessible and unusable, and the array speed would be no faster than the slowest drive in the bunch.

 

I am not sure if you all have really understand my questions, I know all fact about Sata 3 and Sata 2 and speed. But me I need the best average speed / capacity / price.

So I repeat my question again , The M18X R2 can do Raid 0 with 4 Drive yes or no ?

I ask that because on M17X R2 with the 3 Sata II port, it impossible t do a array of 3 Drive only 2. I have test that with 3 Seagate 500GB same model. I have not test this on the M18X R1 and don't know if this thing is resolve, but now that I have upgraded to a M18X R2 and this unit have 4 SATA internal port, I would know if the bios or hardware support a array of 4 drive with exemple 4*750GB Seagate XT that have 8GB SSD SLC on each, this do me 3TB with good speed . ( no matter SATA 2 or 3)

 

And, I already answered that question for you. The answer is yes, it is possible using 3 drives in the regular drive caddy, and a 4th in either mSATA or replacing the ODD with a HDD caddy. You might even be able to add a 5th drive to the RAID using the eSATA port. Whether or not the drives you select are the right height to fit into the space allowed and compatible with one another is a different question. So is how much heat would be generated if you sandwhich 3 750GB HDD into the caddy. I can only imagine that it would get pretty warm.

 

Ok thx mr Fox this was not clear for me the firts time . For the M17X R2 why he cannot do Triple Drive array in raid ? Bios limitation ?

 

I don't know... never tried it with my M17x R2 before. DR650SE ran three drives in his M17x R2, but I don't remember hearing that he ever made an effort to combine all three in RAID. I think that many Alienware owners are interested in speed more than having massive drive capacity.

 

Hi,

So, I have ordered my M18x R2 with 1TB RAID 0 (2x 500GB 3B/s 7200 RPM) + 64GB mSata Caching SSD. I've heard of people getting this and the OS being installed on the SSD, is that normal or a mistake? I've never had a caching SSD before. I'm assuming the RAID HDD's are supposed to have everything on them and the SSD is for caching ONLY, correct? At least that's how I've read it is supposed to be.

Another question: With this caching SSD, assuming everything is setup correctly and I make a "system image" using AlienRespawn, would it only take data from the two HDD's in RAID? So, I could basically install two SSD's in place of the RAID HDD's and restore it with the Respawn and have no issues. (And of course remove the mSata SSD).

Thanks,
J.Dre

 

I am skeptical that would work correctly. I think you will be looking at a fresh install, or having to do some experimenting or troubleshooting. Using the mSATA as a caching SSD will really speed up things with HDD RAID0, and that is the purpose of having that. You could use the mSATA SSD for the OS installation as well. I think where you would have potential issues is cloning from HDD RAID0 to SSD RAID0, as that has been proven to normally produce poor performance results.

After witnessing your frustration with the SSDs on the system you returned, I would hate to see you go through all of that turmoil again by trying to clone or Respawn the HDD installation to your new SSDs. Those who have been successful at doing it without taking a performance hit or having complications have been few and far between. The HDD OS setup is not optimized for SSD and you may end up wiping it out and doing a clean install after wasting a lot of time trying to do a shortcut by cloning or Respawning.

When used for caching, the mSATA SSD does not contain the operating system. The OS is installed to the HDD(s) and the SSD is used for caching only. It (mSATA SSD) does not get assigned a drive letter and is not accessible as a folder or file system when used for caching. I would say that if someone ordered it as a cached setup and it came with the OS installed to mSATA it was configured improperly from the factory.

 

I agree with Brother Fox - although the mSata is of sufficient size to hold the OS and a few other bits n bobs, it's probably best left to do it's job as a cache drive to speed up your 1tb array - that way, all of your stuff stored on you HDD's gets a significant performance boost, not just the mSata OS and few other bits. I'd rather have a speedy 1tb drive for the OS and lots faster of data storage space than a fast "small" OS/data drive and slow 1tb array. Whislt being used as a cache drive, forget about the storage size/capabilities as it's being used to speed up slower drives - just forget about it really. Again, it's always highly recommended to clean install vs. a clone/respawn - might work okay but it's only asking for issues later on down the road. Bite the bullet and do it correctly is what I say.

 

I'm not planning on using the mSata as an OS drive, I was just curious if it was supposed to have the OS on it. Because I read somewhere that someone ordered an mSata Caching drive and it did have the OS on it, which it was not supposed to. I only ordered it because I couldn't get RAID SSD's, I'll add those aftermarket I suppose.

And I was able to restore from HDD to SSD fine until I switched SSD's, which is weird. (830 to 840 Pro.)

Anyway, thanks guys, you answered my questions.

 

Hello!

I'm french and I'd like to know if you have issues with SAMSUNG 840PRO SSD with the M18XR2.
I'd like to buy one but I looked forums in France and a few guys tried it and they said it's not compatable with the M18XR2... due to Samsung controller

Is someone could confirm this information please?

Thanks very much!
Best regards from France :hi2:

 

It works fine if you don't RAID them. A single 840/840 Pro works great.

Tested and confirmed with 4 separate SSD's.

 

Thanks J.Dre ! Why don't they work in Raid?
Do you advice me to buy a 256GB SSD SAmsung 840 PRO or an other one?

Thank you very much for your help!

 

I'm not sure why. It may have been my computer, it might work for you. But no, I don't recommend any other brand except Samsung. The 830's RAID just fine. Not sure why, but I think it has to do with the new controller inside the 840 series.

 

I'm using 830s on RAID 0 and I can't even start explaining how fast and good they are. But to be honest, I've never used any other brands so I wouldn't know if it's just me happy for regular SSD performance or if I hit a gold mine and got the best out there.

 

I have the Samsung 840, and while they say it's not as fast as a Pro, I'm extremely happy with it and it's certainly fast enough to boot my OS in 10 seconds flat

 

There's actually not that much of a difference between the 830, 840, and 840 Pro, except IOPS & efficiency. The 830's are just as fast, perhaps 80MB/s less in READ. However, the 830's consume more power, but not much. I notice with the 840 Pro I get an additional 20-30 minutes of battery life depending on what processes I'm currently running.

I'd personally recommend the 830's over the 840's because of the issues you may run into as an Alienware owner, especially if you plan to RAID. I'm sure these issues will be fixed soon, but until then, grab a pair of the 830's if you plan to RAID. Otherwise, grab a single 840/840 Pro.

Disclaimer: What I am saying above is based solely on my personal experience with the 840 series and 830 series SSD's. I am not speculating on what could happen, but what has happened, to me. These issues may not present to all users.

 

Hey.. I wanted to buy pair of Samsung 840 Pro SSD discs, but decided against it because of the problems listed here - they are not stable in M18x for some reason when in raid. I took Transcend SSD 720 256GB and put them into action. I posted my test results in this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...msata-post8966311.html?highlight=#post8966311

I had no issues at all and the speed is pretty impresive. I can only recomend them.

 

Thanks very much for your help!!!

 

You should be fine with the speed of a single drive though to be fair, you have to do some pretty heavy specialised task to go raid SSD.

 

Hi, I just had make a clean install and I having some performance problems with the RAID 0.

Besides windows 8 installation I just change the Stripe size from 32KB to 128KB and this were my results:
Windows 7:

Windows 8:


BIOS A08 Unlocked:

Windows 8 Intel Managment driver

Intel RST v11.07.1013

Does anyone have an idead what is causing this "slowdown"?

Thank you

 

How about striping it back down to 32K, or even 16K? I mean, 128KB is standard for mechanical HDD's, not SSD, what were you expecting

 

I choose that stripe size because was what I read around the forums :/ maybe was wrong decision.

After installing all the software and latest drivers for everything I made a recovery USB, will I be able to restore from that state if I change the stripe size?

 

You should be able to.

 

Its worth double checking the alignment.

 

Sorry in advance, complete newbie to PC systems here...

My new M18x came with 500GB HDD with a 32 GB caching SSD. It also came with a separate Samsung 840 Pro SSD which I installed myself (a fresh install of win7). When I did this, I just moved the factory HDD to the bottom slot in the HD bay replacing it with the new SSD.

The idea was to format the factory HDD, using it for movies, pics, etc. However, booting to my new win7 install on my SSD, device manager doesn't recognize the factory HDD so I can't format it.

I can still boot to the 500GB HDD, which is essentially a virgin factory setup from Dell. Disk manager recognizes the 840pro here, but not vice-versa. I've tried putting in the install disk and booting from it, but it will not recognize the HDD (So I couldn't even reinstall windows7 had I not installed the 840pro).

Does this have to do with the 32GB mSATA SSD assigned to it? Anyone nice enough to give me some help here? Thanks!

 

I don't think you are supposed to RAID different HDD's and SSD's together. Try changing to AHCI in the BIOS; hopefully then it will see everything.
You will get BSODs if you originally installed windows whilst set up as RAID. There is a registry hack to change between RAID/AHCI without reformatting windows. Google it, change to AHCI in the registry, then change to AHCI in the BIOS, boot and see if all your drives are now found. If so, then reformat windows on your SSD.

 

You should remove the mSata SSD and HDD until the process is complete with the SSD, and reinstall them afterwards.

By the way, there's no point in putting the SSD where the HDD is. You have two SATA III slots on that HDD caddy.

 

Don't change your BIOS to AHCI. That will not help anything. I realize that you are not attempting to set them in RAID, but the BIOS should be left set to RAID by default regardless of the drive configuration. The RAID setting will function as AHCI if the installed drives are not in a RAID membership.

Did you install Intel Rapid Storage Technology in the new Windows 7 installation on SSD? If not, the caching setup from your original drives might not be recognized due to lack of proper software/driver support. If not already installed, do this first and see it that allows the drives to be recognized. Running Windows on your new SSD installation, go into the Windows Disk Management console and see if the mSATA and HDD are recognized there. If they are, see if you can delete the partitions and configure both of them as a "Basic Disk" or convert them to MBR and that may allow Windows to use them.

If installing RST does not resolve the situation where you can access and manipulate the drives within Windows, reboot and press Ctrl+I at POST (as shown in your screen shot) and see if there is a way you can turn off the drive caching within the OROM Utility. If you can, do so and then boot the Windows installation on your SSD and see if your HDD and mSATA are recognized in the Windows Disk Management console. From there see if you can format them and assign drive letters.

If the above suggestions do not lead to success, you may need to look at your BIOS settings for Secure Boot/Fast Boot. Those could be interfering with your setup.

 

Mr. Fox was spot-on again. I had forgotten to install RST during my process installing drivers.

Everything is working great now! Thanks all for your suggestions.

 

I checked the alignment also and reformat with 32KB stripe size and update all the drivers to the latest:

Intel RST v11.07.1013

And these were the results:



Still behind what I got before @ W7.

What is causing the problem?

 

The problem is Windows 8. It seems to hinder performance in multiple ways. Several of us have already identified impaired CPU and GPU performance with Windows 8... apparently that special feature extends to drive performance, too. It seems that it's not a good "high performance" operating system.

 

As always Mr.Fox thank you very much, you make this forum lead the way