Aurora R4 hard drive not found

I probably should add that the tech service I received was top notch. All three techs that helped me with my issue were very friendly and helpful. Just wish the issue could have been resolved without a new computer being the solution. I've been a Dell customer for more than 10 years and don't foresee that changing. I also have some Macs in the house, some of which have had issues, and I'd have to rate the Dell service I received recently as being better.

Hello jmitro. I am having the exact same issue. My R4 ALX was ordered and received within a few days of your dates. My R4 has Windows 7 Ultimate, SP1, a i7-3960x, 4.2 GHz for 1st core and 3.9 GHz for cores 2 thru 6, 32 GB DRAM, GTX690, Micron C400 7mm 512GB SSD and 1TB HD. Updated the BIOS from A06 to A07 but system will still present the same "no boot drive found... press F1, F2...F5 etc." It can occur from either a cold or warm boot and with 50% of all boots. I also saw your thread concerning the 512 gb SSD Micron C400 Real SCSI Disk device with the "new firmware" revision of 040H and dated 12/2012. I had downloaded this firmware updated a week ago, but have not installed it. My current SSD also has the 6/21/2006 firmware version 010G. Waiting to see if your thread gets answered. I contacted tech support and we went through the normal "bootrec.exe /mbr" etc., process will no improvements. Currently, If the above "no boot drive" occurs, I press F5, when the diagnostic starts, I press ESC and wait about 20 seconds until the mouse becomes active. Then I click on the Configuration tab and I usually see the Micron SSD. I exit the PSA and the R4 boot normally into Windows. Good luck with your new R4 and please keep us posted.

I think you are wise to have only downloaded it but not installed it. I hope somebody replies to the Micron thread in time. I would really like to be able to solve this with a firmware update and be able to call Dell to cancel the order on the computer replacement. Let me know If you do happen to install the firmware. thanks.

Hi Karen,

Thanks so much for the reply. I tried the update but was unsuccessful on two attempts. Followed instructions to the letter. But now I see in the troubleshooting info that the "update tool may not properly operate in PCs, notebooks or tablets with UEFI-based BIOS. Micron will make an update tool available separately, which will support firmware updates under unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI)." And of course, UEFI is what my BIOS is set to. So I guess we're back to square one until Micron provides another update specifically for UEFI. I might add that there was no apparent damage done by the update attempts. They just didn't work for me. Maybe n6yn will have better luck.

jim

Hello jmitro & n6yn

You can try to update the firmware for the SSD Micron C400, I would recommend that you download the file that can be installed through windows and please check the PDF for recommendations before processing the installation.

Might add that I just  burned an iso disk image and attempted to boot from that but ran into problems there also. Looked like it was going to work for a second. I did get to the Micron splash screen but it failed after that....... And with all the fiddling and restarts I've done now I notice in BIOS that the hard drive is not even listed in the boot order any more but what is listed for it is Windows Boot Manager. Only place I can see the hard drive in BIOS is under one of the tabs that shows Legacy.

I had a similar problem with my system this month  when it came.  Same system as you are discussing and the first time I booted I got a prompt that said several different things.  File name not found, insert system disc and something to do with  select a boot drive.  

All the input I got from both Alienware, (I love their tech support in Costa Rica) and people that know about these things pointed to no OS installed.

Also at that time a tech had come by to install a second optical drive as it was not done at the factory.

Later I turned the R4 on to write down the exact error messages, ( I can't find that paper now), and it went  right into Windows.  

I have no idea why it worked, nor is that my forte, but I was happy.   It never happened again afterwards....very strange.

Hi Jim & Karen,

Have you run CPUID's HW Monitor on the R4? I was concerned about the +5V & +12V voltages it reported as shown below. I measured the +5 & +12 voltages, with a Fluke DVM and they are OK, at least at an open / extra Molex connector near the DVD Optical drive bay. I am not sure where HW Monitor is reading the voltages or if there is just an incorrect scaling factor being used. I bring this up because the Micron C400 512 GB SSD operates off the +5V bus and possibly "some" of these SSDs (like ours) could be voltage sensitive, and could present these "no boot drive found..." issues, especially during boot up if the main power supply has some voltage droop or overshoot a during turn on (cold boot or warm boot). I understand this is probably not the case but I have not put a scope on the +5V bus to monitor it during turn on and reboots.

BTW, when is your new system scheduled to arrive?

Regards,

Ed

HWMonitor  v1.21.0     Driver  v136

I measured the +5 & +12 voltages, with a Fluke DVM and they are OK, at least at an open / extra Molex connector near the DVD Optical drive bay.

Thanks for doing that and posting. However, it needs to be under load. I think a digital power supply tester helps with that. Maybe while running a drive, take a reading from another connector that is obviously "in parallel" to it (down the wire a bit).

This is the 850w PS in an Aurora R-1 (x58 chipset).

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/p/19482051/20256643.aspx#20256643

Those are some crazy numbers. So, it's just a glitch in HW-Monitor or MB? It's just reading what the motherboard thinks it's getting, right?

Do you know why these programs always show just one +12v value, even on PS like this that has Five 12v rails?

I've seen several like this thread. I've escalated it.

I'm not sure if this user has SSD boot, but this sounds similar:

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/p/19482099/20256911.aspx#20256911

Oddly enough my computer has been behaving nicely the past couple of days. I think it knows it's about to be replaced and wants me to feel guilty. I did take a windows update today so I'll see what happens on tomorrow's boot. FYI, I have had some success, coincidental or not, using crap cleaner after windows updates to clean the registry. Seems to boot ok after that. But probably just coincidental.

New computer shows to be in production. Don't have a delivery date yet. But expect it will be a week or two...... I do have a question. When the new computer arrives, Is it better to do a restore from Windows system image backup or to do an Alienware Respawn restore from Alienware backup. I have done backups for the computer to my external using both methods. Which should I restore from? or does it matter?

Personally, I would run with what you get. Install required apps and restore data files as needed.

Do you know why these programs always show just one +12v value, even on PS like this that has Five 12v rails?

Let me answer my own question ...

I think because it's only the 12v hitting the motherboard, right? The other rails go straight to other things.

This relates to your testing because the 12v rail going to the drives could very likely be a different one. Again, a Digital PS Tester would make this easy to verify. It makes it easy to test different 12v rails at MB 24pin, SATA, Video, etc.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16899705003

I am having the same problem, I also have the Micron C400 512gb ssd.  It only happens occasionally, like on cold boots, but not all cold boots.  Very wierd.  I have upgraded to bios a07, and thought it had fixed the problem, but it reapperared.  

Chris-DELL, Can you please figure out what the deal is with these micron c400 ssd 512gb drives?  We spent good money to have this setup, and we shouldnt be getting no bootable driver errors on cold boots

-Tim

Interesting. Certainly more work but I suppose it is the more conservative approach.

Jim,

I agree with Tesla1856 regarding performing any system restores. There will (could) be new system updates that you do not want to overwrite from your original computer. I would first confirm that your 512 GB SSD "is found" and it boots / reboots properly and probably over the period of a day, before installing any applications.

I always use Ccleaner, and you’re correct, it was most likely coincidental your system is behaving. :-)

Tesla1856, I don't have a schematic of the Aurora R1 or R4 PS, but in general switching power supplies with multiple 12V lines are fed from a single 12V output regulator for cost reasons. This regulator will supply a very stable +12V from no-load up to full-load (its maximum rated capacity). The reason for the multiple output feed lines is to minimize IR or voltage drop due to the resistance of the wire. By using more, smaller gauge wires, the PS can provide the same total current capacity to different sections in the computer for component usage with lower voltage drop. This is probably true for the high current +5V side of the PS as well. Now, that being said, when I measured the +5V and +12V lines in the R4, the power supply was loaded because I was running a simulation that caused the R4 to consume approx. 300W from the 120V AC Line (normal "resting" power consumption is about 90 Watts for my R4).  I understand and agree with you about measuring the voltage directly at the SSD but there can not be such a large difference as HWMonitor reports, no matter what 5V connector you measure. So, in effect the +5V & +12V lines were loaded when I measured with a DVM, but CDUID's HWMonitor reports the 5V as 3.8V and the 12V as 16.2. It has to be a sensor / scaling factor in that program, but this is still odd. I was wondering if others can run HWMonitor and confirm this +5V & +12V measurement anomaly. Thanks.

T-Hefner, I also agree with your statements. There must be either: an "out-of-spec" lot of Micron C400 512 GB SSDs / Motherboards or possibly a transient condition / issue between the MD and SSD that occurs during a system initialization (cold or warm boot).  My main concern for this SSD issue is one of system reliability.

Regards,

Ed