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    Unable to boot from mSATA

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by superparamagnetic, Aug 14, 2012.

  1. superparamagnetic

    superparamagnetic Notebook Consultant

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    I just installed a Crucial m4 msata 128gb in my Vostro 3460, but it doesn't appear in the boot menu. I can indirectly boot from it by keeping the bootloader on the HDD, but if I force the bootloader onto the SSD then BIOS refuses to boot at all.

    Has anyone else encountered this issue with other laptops? Is there a workaround that will allow me to not rely on other drives for booting?
     
    superparamagnetic, Aug 14, 2012
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  2. MGSteve

    MGSteve Notebook Enthusiast

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    Although not ideal, is there really any problem with having the bootloader on the hard drive? I had planned to have an mSATA SSD in my wife's 3460 but as mentioned in your other thread, the mSATA connector isn't present on the i3 3460s.

    The plan was to have a 32GB M4 mSATA for Windows and then use the slower HD to store data on, although to be honest, she'd probably be OK with the 32GB anyway!

    I would have had the 64GB M4, but it has slower writes than the 32! (175mb vs 95mb) 95mb/s is pretty shocking for an SSD anyway.
     
    MGSteve, Aug 14, 2012
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  3. superparamagnetic

    superparamagnetic Notebook Consultant

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    There's a few issues that result:

    1. Part of the boot process occurs on the hard drive, which will be slower. Admittedly this is probably negligible.

    2. If the hard drive fails or if I want to remove the hard drive (save power/weight), then I will be unable to boot.

    3. If I replace the hard drive I'll have to set up the bootloader again. This mitigates one of the advantages of running a multi-disk setup.


    Ultimately it's still useable, but it does reduce flexibility.
     
    superparamagnetic, Aug 14, 2012
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