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128003
July 3rd, 2012 19:00
Alienware Aurora ALX (R4) - Adding an Second Hard Drive Question
Last month, I recently purchased the Alienware Aurora ALX Chassis and found out yesterday it's an R4 and can't find any information on them. When I placed the order, I went with the raid 0 dual 2TB hard drive configuration but have always configured my other two Alienware machines with a second internal backup drive and want to add that extra drive so not using an external drive all the time.
On the Dell website for upgrades, I tried to automatically scan my system but that didn't work nor did entering my service tag. I called Dell and placed an order for Dell Part# : 341-7906 which they assured me would work but am having doubts. On my computer there is no power connector in either open drive bay and do I need to get a carriage as well.
All I want is just to add a second internal drive. When I ordered this machine, they said upgrades were a snap and all you had to do was slide in the new drive. Now I'm questioning if that is truly the fact. Does anybody know?
Thanks Much!!
TigerG
12 Posts
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July 4th, 2012 07:00
This is an excellent question! I have multiple hard drives that I want to transfer into my new Aurora R4 ordered 6/30. From what I can tell the motherboard has enough headers to support up to 6 SATA devices. Do we have enough power connections? I can consolidate the multiple drives into a larger drive if need be, but for use with virtual machines I would prefer separate drives. They are also used for internal (fast/on demand) backups prior to external backups.
Toddboy2001 - are special cages/trays required to add drives that are not already in place like placeholders?
Thanks!
toddboy2001
14 Posts
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July 4th, 2012 09:00
The drive will arrive on Friday and waiting to see what it will take to get it installed. By looking at the two empty bays, I have some work a head of me. The drive don't come with cables but my first Alienware Dragon Tower motherboard died in 2007 after six years of faithful service and now use it for spare parts. My second Alienware Area 51 system which I purchased in 2007 is still going strong. I liked the new design and technology needed updating so I purchased the new Alienware Aurora ALX Chassis (R4).
I wish they would provide documentation on what needs to be done to add additional drives.
TigerG
12 Posts
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July 4th, 2012 10:00
Please keep me posted. I found this video on YouTube on the official Alienware channel - http://youtu.be/qTB07kNBDVc. It talks about replacing a drive - maybe it will also apply for new additions. It doesn't look like cables are needed (almost like they attach to a backplane). I hope those trays with the connectors are included! (If I understand the video)
There is also this online manual. It appears that everything is built into the trays...
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
toddboy2001
14 Posts
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July 4th, 2012 19:00
Thanks for the video and that is what I was lead to believe would be the procedure to adding a hard drive but I think the cables need to be already in place which the power cables are not. I'm thinking I will not need a carriage but will know for sure on Friday when the drive arrives.
Thanks for the links, most helpful!!
toddboy2001
14 Posts
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July 6th, 2012 18:00
I received the hard drive today and it was "plug & play". No extra cables needed, just slide it in until it locks. It did not see the drive until I went into Disk Management and formatted. Life is good now!!
Thinking about getting another one since I have room for one more. ;)
TigerG
12 Posts
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July 7th, 2012 04:00
That's excellent! I didn't get a chance to pull all of my old drives, so hopefully it will be plug and play for me next week as well!
toddboy2001
14 Posts
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July 7th, 2012 18:00
Just a reminder that there is no power connector on these drives so don't know if your other drives will require additional cables.
TigerG
12 Posts
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July 8th, 2012 10:00
All of the cables I needed were available nearby. I am impressed. I have yet to place my 3rd additional drive, but it will need to go in the BD/DVD drive area and it looks like there is an additional power and SATA connection there as well.