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Aurora R7, second internal hard drive not discoverable?!
Hello all,
I had recently bought an Alienware Aurora R7. I love the function of the desktop, however I can never use a second internal hard drive. I hooked them up to the SATA cable and the computer can not recognize this new 2TB SSHD. It does however recognize the hard drive if it is plugged in through a hard drive dock. I have searched the internet to no avail, Here is what I have tried:
- Boot drive using secondary cables -- Boots up properly
- Boot drive using primary cable and hook second hard drive up to additional internal sata cables -- Boots properly, but the secondary hard drive is not recognized.
- Boot drive using primary (or secondary) cables, using external dock for second hard drive -- Boots and recognized the second hard drive.
I am POSITIVE that the secondary cables are in functioning order as the boot drive can use these cables.
I really want to have this hard drive INSIDE the computer rather than using a dock (I am borrowing a friends). I have tried looking for settings in the BIOS and there is no such setting that has helped me thus far... Has anyone else dealt with this issue?
r72019
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January 15th, 2020 18:00
Not entirely clear what type of hard drive you're adding but SSHDs requires power. But did you connect both the sata data cable plus the power cable from the psu to the HDD?
Astral_Alakazam
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January 17th, 2020 04:00
Yes I did for the SSD. I am a little confused on why the SSHD needs power as it is a 2.5" Hard drive. It would not be a power issue as the SSD also has difficulty on connecting via the second hard drive slot. I did connect power and SATA cables.
If the SSHD does in fact require the power cable, then why do they only include data cables for secondary hard drives?
r72019
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January 17th, 2020 05:00
Power cables are specific to the PSU. Non-modular PSUs like the 460W PSU included in the R7 have no connections on the PSU to add or remove power cables. It doess have two spare 15 pin power cables for a HDD in the case behind the metal tab on the swinging arm.
I don't know what "SSHD" you bought, maybe you got a different type, but usually the basic concept is a spinning HDD (requires power to spin) + a nand/ssd component. And yes, 2.5" SSDs require power too. Only eSATA/usb, etc like what is used for an external hard drive enlosure supplies data + power to a hard drive as far as I know.
speedstep
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January 17th, 2020 10:00
Advanced format drives require AHCI and F6 floppy mass storage drivers to SEE a drive. You cannot point to the exe or zip file you have to extract the file to usb flash drive. 2.5 inch SSD's require BOTH 15 pin power and data cable. This is true for all dell models.
https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/us/en/04/alienware-aurora-r7-desktop/alienware-aurora-r7-sm/Procedure?guid=guid-fc0d4ee8-9c5c-4209-a107-5f46af5c5472&lang=en-us
You then have to boot windows 10 DVD or windows 10 PE and use diskpart to partition and format the drive.
Regulatory Model D23M
http://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/alienware-aurora-r7-desktop_specifications_en-us.pdf
Platforms supported
Tesla1856
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January 18th, 2020 12:00
1. Huh ?
2. Yes, 2 cables . A SATA data-cable and a SATA power-cable
3. Say what ? Lost me again .
r72019
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January 18th, 2020 21:00
Too funny. l'm assuming by the lack of further responses that going back and plugging in the power cable solved the issue.
Astral_Alakazam
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January 21st, 2020 14:00
I greatly appreciate the response, as well as the attention to detail. I would try this but my hard drive has very important data on it and I do not have a secondary place to store all of the files. I may try this if I get a new hard drive however.
Astral_Alakazam
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January 21st, 2020 14:00
Sorry, I am new to the desktop world so am quite unfamiliar with proper terminology
Astral_Alakazam
7 Posts
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January 21st, 2020 14:00
I appreciate the response. I find it odd that if all 2.5" hard drives require power, then the model does not come with additional power cables other than what hooks up to the primary hard drive. I ended up settling with the external hard drive dock unfortunately.
Astral_Alakazam
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January 21st, 2020 14:00
Plugging in a power cable certainly would fix the issue. Unfortunately, there is only one power cable within this desktop which I use for the primary hard drive.
Sorry for the lack of responses; I have been having some family issues as of late.
r72019
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January 21st, 2020 15:00
I have an R7. If you unscrew the metal flap behind the PSU (the metal box that the power cable plugs), you should find additional unused SATA power connectors for a hard drive (there are enough to fill all of the hard drive bays).
Unscrew this flap:
And look for the SATA connector:
r72019
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January 21st, 2020 15:00
Yes, the R7 comes with enough for 3x hard drives, plus the CD drive.
Astral_Alakazam
7 Posts
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January 21st, 2020 15:00
After removing the power cable from the CD drive, I am able to get a second hard drive working. Do you know if there are more than 2 power cables or do I just need to get a splitter?
Thank you again for your help
username_not_found
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October 16th, 2022 18:00
For future people: I have had the same probably sporadically on Alienware Aurora R8, it is extremely annoying. The fix for me is to refreshing the BIOS (new version or current version is its the newest) using the official Alienware/Dell installer. This works instantly and for a while until the BIOS needs refreshing again.