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How do I get a NVMe drive working on the Alienware 15 R2??
I was told by a Dell support person that the 15 R2 supports NVMe.
I was told that the system was "validated" with a particular drive.
I purchased this particular drive but I am having the exact same issues with this drive as the previous one.
What is the magic sauce that gets NVMe drives working on this computer?
The drive I purchased in the LiteOn CX2.
Again, I took this drive from a list of "validated" drives provided by a Dell support person.
So far it's exactly the same experience as the previous drive (Samsung 950 PRO).
The drive shows up in the BIOS.
The drive does not show up in windows.
I can write a recovery image to the drive.
I cannot boot from the drive.
Can somebody please help me with this?
tennismaster
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February 8th, 2017 14:00
UPDATE:
Samsung 950 PRO is working in Alienware 15 R2!
So the big issue was simply converting the drive to GPT. Once that is done it seems to work fine in the Alienware 15 R2. During install if you get an error saying "Windows can't install to this drive etc." press Shift + F10 then run diskpart, then "list disk", then "select disk 0" if you have two disk or more type "detail disk" it will show the name etc so you know you select the right disk. Then type "clean". Then type "convert GPT". Then type "create partition primary" then type "assign letter = C". After you do all that it may give an error about the partition when try to install, use the install tool to delete them all then press "new" then press "next". Then it should work.
tennismaster
37 Posts
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February 4th, 2017 00:00
UPDATE:
Windows finally installed to the LiteOn drive but of course it won't boot to the drive now...
When booting it seems to be checking for things then decides that "No media is present".
What are the options for solving that?
tennismaster
37 Posts
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February 4th, 2017 01:00
UPDATE:
I got it to work. The key things are to set AHCI in the BIOS, choose the Legacy boot options, and boot from the windows CD using the Legacy option on the boot options screen..
Now the drive is installed, yay! And it's quite impressively fast, not SAMSUNG 950 PRO levels of fast but a massive improvement over the stock drive.
tennismaster
37 Posts
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February 8th, 2017 01:00
UPDATE:
It broke!! Yes, my MBR got corrupted when I plugged in the Alienware Graphics Amplifier! Wow! How great is windows? When you try to install to a drive that isn't GPT when booting with UEFI, the installer will tell you it can't do it.... But makes no mention of the fact that the drive can be switched with a few commands in DiskPart. Long story short, system is working again using UEFI, and if you have the AGA do not use MBR + Legacy options on your SSD!
tennismaster
37 Posts
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February 8th, 2017 12:00
UPDATE:
It broke again!
So, either my drive is faulty (it works fine until I plug in the AGA), or the LiteOn CX2 which was recommended by Dell Support as a "validated" drive, does not work with the Alienware Graphics Amplifier...
I feel like I've tried everything with this drive with no luck.
Tesla1856
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February 8th, 2017 12:00
Are you doing a clean Windows-10/64bit install to a blank/raw SSD ?
Set all your BIOS options correct first. Win-10 install should create it's own GPT partitions. After it's working, I would not try to plug/un-plug AGA with the power-on.
Do you still have the Samsung 950 Pro SSD? Actually, it's the nicer SSD in my opinion.
tennismaster
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February 8th, 2017 13:00
Yes clean install. What do you mean by blank/raw SSD? I have used the format tool during Windows install if that's what you mean. The BIOS is configured for AHCI and UEFI with Secure Boot... I also have Overclock-2 set, not sure if that could be an issue.
In my case win install won't create it's own GPT partitions if the drive doesn't have a GPT partition on it already. Every time I tried it gave an error saying it had to be a GPT drive because I was using UEFI. Then I Googled (finally) and learned about Shift + F10 to open Command Prompt and use diskpart to convert to GPT during install.
I do have the 950 PRO and I currently have it working as a second drive with the stock drive that I'm trying to replace. Might as well try installing to that one again now that I have some more troubleshooting knowledge.
I guess you're right about the AGA, better not plug it in while the system is on. That used to work though.
Tesla1856
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February 8th, 2017 15:00
Well, first I will say I don't have any experience with this particular laptop.
1. New, fresh, out-of-the-box, un-initialized. Or, just "cleaned" with diskpart.
2. Good
3. Yeah, I would turn that off. Go back to stock-clocks. Especially if you are having system stability problems.
4. Just never heard of that. That would mean you can't just install a fresh out-of-the-box SSD into laptop and do a clean install with Bootable Windows-10/64bit USB Flash-Drive without a bunch of jacking-around.
tennismaster
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February 12th, 2017 05:00
It seems, at least with the Alienware 15 R2, that you can't just install a fresh out of the box SSD without a bunch of jacking around...lol Maybe my install media is old? I bought it in 2015. Anyway, *** thing is working now so I'm able to use it at least. Been playing Fallout 4, I kind of hate it but now the load times are lower so dying isn't as rage quit worthy... haha.
Tesla1856
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February 12th, 2017 14:00
1. I'm sure others will appreciate your posts if they also have this problem.
2. Same here. As I play, my wife sometimes helps with PipBoy duties running on the iPad. She liked Fallout-4 enough to step away from WoW for a while and has started her own female character on her own machine.