Hi @ejn63 have followed your deductive reasoning, disconnected the HDD WDC SATA device and put the SSD SATA card in the SSD-2 slot. The following BIOS/UEFI image is the result.
The BIOS/UEFI says there are no connected media. The BIOS/UEFI was powered down, reset and there was no change in this result. This seems to confirm that either the SSD-2 slot or the System Board has a fault.
This is inconsistent for this new Alienware 17 R5 Laptop, having been certified as being fully functional when released from final build assembly. It is unlikely that this 17 R5 has been hardwired so we can only use the SSD-3 slot.
Looking at the Dell transit box, it says that on 04 June 2019 this Alienware 17 R5 Laptop was released as Mod No. CASSINI 17 MLK. The Mid Life Kick (MLK) designation signifies that the build configuration has been updated.
We have only removed the rear panel, and noted that three screws have not been returned. Having recently moved the 17 R5 around with its rear panel removed, a screw fell onto the carpet. We shook the 17 R5 to make sure that the other two missing screws were not rattling around inside.
This makes one wonder about Dell Mid Life Kick (MLK) build quality and certification that everything functions correctly.
Hi @ejn63 our new, unused Alienware 17 R5 (i7-8750H, GTX1070, QHD) Laptop was purchased from an authorised Dell UK retailer this year. The Dell transit box with Mod No. Cassini 17 MLK label was delivered with all of the Dell seals intact. The Laptop rear panel warranty seal was intact. The Laptop appearance was in mint condition.
It was a delight to have received this remarkable laptop. We unboxed and applied all the Windows 10 Pro and Alienware 17 R5 updates. Our purchase of a Dell SSD preloaded with Windows 10 Pro arrived soon thereafter, but we have only recently unboxed, installed and applied all the Windows 10 Pro and Alienware 17 R5 updates. It was only last week that the SSD-2 slot was used, and that just the SSD-3 slot was recognised in the BIOS/UEFI main menu.
I think you're going to need to go back to the reseller or retailer and have them work with Dell on a mainboard replacement. It's pretty much clear you have a board with a defective M.2 slot and the only fix for that is a replacement mainboard.
Hi @ejn63 we continue to be within the term of our one year RTB warranty, have just made a claim. Will wait to see if our claim is accepted. Thank you for your help.
Alienware 17 R5 Laptop has been returned under warranty and is now being assessed to see what the problems are. Hopefully, these issues will be resolved by the simple repair option of re-flashing or replacing the EEPROM on the system board. This would be a relatively cost effective repair and retain the original system board, as opposed to installing a new or refurbished system board.
The Alienware 17 R5 Laptop has returned from warranty assessment. They say SSD-2 slot was tested with NVMe SSD and it works and the SSD-2 slot is not compatible with SATA SSD (even though the Alienware specification says it is). Very poor response and not sure that NVMe SSD works in SSD-2 slot.
crimsom
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September 14th, 2020 01:00
Hi @ejn63 have followed your deductive reasoning, disconnected the HDD WDC SATA device and put the SSD SATA card in the SSD-2 slot. The following BIOS/UEFI image is the result.
The BIOS/UEFI says there are no connected media. The BIOS/UEFI was powered down, reset and there was no change in this result. This seems to confirm that either the SSD-2 slot or the System Board has a fault.
This is inconsistent for this new Alienware 17 R5 Laptop, having been certified as being fully functional when released from final build assembly. It is unlikely that this 17 R5 has been hardwired so we can only use the SSD-3 slot.
ejn63
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September 14th, 2020 03:00
Did you purchase this system direct from Dell, or from a third party - or as a used system -- or on EBay etc?
crimsom
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September 14th, 2020 03:00
Looking at the Dell transit box, it says that on 04 June 2019 this Alienware 17 R5 Laptop was released as Mod No. CASSINI 17 MLK. The Mid Life Kick (MLK) designation signifies that the build configuration has been updated.
We have only removed the rear panel, and noted that three screws have not been returned. Having recently moved the 17 R5 around with its rear panel removed, a screw fell onto the carpet. We shook the 17 R5 to make sure that the other two missing screws were not rattling around inside.
This makes one wonder about Dell Mid Life Kick (MLK) build quality and certification that everything functions correctly.
crimsom
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September 14th, 2020 07:00
The 17 R5 came with 16GB of RAM on one card. We have put this RAM card in the other RAM slot and it works.
crimsom
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September 14th, 2020 07:00
Hi @ejn63 our new, unused Alienware 17 R5 (i7-8750H, GTX1070, QHD) Laptop was purchased from an authorised Dell UK retailer this year. The Dell transit box with Mod No. Cassini 17 MLK label was delivered with all of the Dell seals intact. The Laptop rear panel warranty seal was intact. The Laptop appearance was in mint condition.
It was a delight to have received this remarkable laptop. We unboxed and applied all the Windows 10 Pro and Alienware 17 R5 updates. Our purchase of a Dell SSD preloaded with Windows 10 Pro arrived soon thereafter, but we have only recently unboxed, installed and applied all the Windows 10 Pro and Alienware 17 R5 updates. It was only last week that the SSD-2 slot was used, and that just the SSD-3 slot was recognised in the BIOS/UEFI main menu.
crimsom
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September 14th, 2020 08:00
Dell employee says Dell Mod No. terminology means:-
Cassini 17 = the box contains 17 R5 (the most recent, because there is no 17 R6)
17 MLK = the box contains a 17 with Dell's Mid Life Kick hardware improvements / upgrades.
ejn63
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30.7K Posts
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September 14th, 2020 09:00
I think you're going to need to go back to the reseller or retailer and have them work with Dell on a mainboard replacement. It's pretty much clear you have a board with a defective M.2 slot and the only fix for that is a replacement mainboard.
crimsom
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6.1K Posts
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September 14th, 2020 10:00
Hi @ejn63 we continue to be within the term of our one year RTB warranty, have just made a claim. Will wait to see if our claim is accepted. Thank you for your help.
crimsom
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6.1K Posts
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September 18th, 2020 02:00
Alienware 17 R5 Laptop has been returned under warranty and is now being assessed to see what the problems are. Hopefully, these issues will be resolved by the simple repair option of re-flashing or replacing the EEPROM on the system board. This would be a relatively cost effective repair and retain the original system board, as opposed to installing a new or refurbished system board.
crimsom
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•
6.1K Posts
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September 23rd, 2020 14:00
The Alienware 17 R5 Laptop has returned from warranty assessment. They say SSD-2 slot was tested with NVMe SSD and it works and the SSD-2 slot is not compatible with SATA SSD (even though the Alienware specification says it is). Very poor response and not sure that NVMe SSD works in SSD-2 slot.