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    Secondary Harddrive Problem.

    Discussion in 'Alienware 18 and M18x' started by pantresazer, May 14, 2012.

  1. pantresazer

    pantresazer Notebook Consultant

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    My m18x1 is not recognizing my recently purchased hard drive in the secondary slot but if I swap it with the primary hard drive it does. I contacted Dell and they suggested that I get a new interposer which I got today and swap it out..... still no luck.
     
    pantresazer, May 14, 2012
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  2. ForeverZen

    ForeverZen Notebook Deity

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    Have you tried creating a volume for the drive in disk manager? Also does does bios recognize it?
     
    ForeverZen, May 14, 2012
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  3. pantresazer

    pantresazer Notebook Consultant

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    I have tried both but no detection.
     
    pantresazer, May 14, 2012
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  4. pantresazer

    pantresazer Notebook Consultant

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    Could it be a motherboard issue? DELL has offered to replace it for free.
     
    pantresazer, May 15, 2012
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  5. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

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    What does it show in the BIOS? Nothing there, too? I would not suspect a problem with the motherboard unless no drives are detected on the SATA port that could not see your new drive. If both drives show up in the BIOS, I would say your issue is probably not the motherboard.

    It does not really matter which SATA port you use. If both drives are detected when you swap them around that shouldn't present a problem in and of itself. However, there could also be an issue with the drive if it is not visible in the BIOS. What is the drive brand and model? Is your original drive visible no matter which SATA port you connect it to? If so, I think you may need to RMA the new drive.

    Some of the OCZ Vertex SSD drives have issues with not being recognized in the BIOS. This is a defect in the design of some drives. Often entering the BIOS and exiting will cause them to be recognized, much like what used to be commonly necessary when upgrading system memory on older computers.
     
    Mr. Fox, May 15, 2012
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  6. pantresazer

    pantresazer Notebook Consultant

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    It is not detected in the BIOS but if I switch it with my primary drive slot (port 0) it shows up in the BIOS. Seems like both drives work in the primary slot but not the secondary slot. Both drives show up in conjuction on my m17xr3........
     
    pantresazer, May 15, 2012
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  7. pantresazer

    pantresazer Notebook Consultant

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    Any thoughts?
     
    pantresazer, May 16, 2012
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  8. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

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    Is your original drive recognized in either Port0 or Port1? If neither drive is recognized except when attached to Port0, you have issues that may require motherboard replacement. Since you have replaced the interposer, the next logical problem would be the SATA controller is messed up. If the original drive is recognized in either position when installed by itself, then I think there may be something wrong with the drive you purchased.
     
    Mr. Fox, May 16, 2012
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  9. pantresazer

    pantresazer Notebook Consultant

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    read this post.
     
    pantresazer, May 16, 2012
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  10. Mr. Fox

    Mr. Fox BGA Filth-Hating Elitist®

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    Then this applies...
     
    Mr. Fox, May 16, 2012
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