Spacekoekje77

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4 years ago

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February 21st, 2019 02:00

9020 USFF, Mini PCIe

Hi,

I recently bought a 9020 USFF second hand and was looking into adding a mini PCIe card or rather an mSATA SSD, however couldn't really find any specs for the mini PCIe slot except it's a 52 pins, I take it it's 1 lane/usb 2.0, so a Nvme will not work and will be limited to an sata 600 if there's a sata controller connected to it.

If anyone has some more information or used it with an mSATA or M.2 that would be great, also if it was bootable from that.

Regards,

John

  • bmcowboy

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    Posted February 21st, 2019 05:00

    Hi @Spacekoekje77 ,

    It's a mPCIe connector only but not a mSATA connector. It won't work even if you add a mPCIe-to-mSATA adapter. mSATA drive only works on a slot that actually wired to SATA controller. The one in 9020 USFF is not SATA-wired. It's for cards like mPCIe WiFi only.

  • 20284

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    Posted February 21st, 2019 06:00

    Hi @bmcowboy,

    Thanks for the information, I suspected as much but couldn't find a definitive information.

    In any case thanks a lot for the confirmation, thank you @JOcean for other solutions.

    Regards,

    John

  • JOcean

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    Posted February 21st, 2019 06:00

    As an alternative, this video shows how to install a second HDD in the system. As bmcowboy has posted the idea you had would not work. But adding a second HDD or SSD would seem to be a lot less trouble and allows a larger capacity drive.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIbSP4gzsoU

    I am not a Dell employee...I am forum volunteer

    Serious work on an E5430 and constantly building and working on an i5-6500 Desktop

  • JOcean

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    Posted February 21st, 2019 06:00

    Glad we could help out!

    I am not a Dell employee...I am forum volunteer

    Serious work on an E5430 and constantly building and working on an i5-6500 Desktop

  • SOGLAD5

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    Posted May 29th, 2019 20:00

    WOW!  Thank you for that great YOUTUBE approach!  It's a great idea and solution...I had no idea that plastic CD/DVD "adapter tray" was available?  The YOUTUBE poster gave no information about it, but not to worry... I'll research that next.  A SSD upgrade is still possible without the 'adapter' though... 

    Also what was not clear was IF the YOUTUBE poster was installing the SSD Drive as Drive "0" or Drive "1"?  Just follow your DRIVE Cables to the mother board to see which is which...

    (Of course) I would use the Drive 0 Cable and a bootable Windows (or pick your poison) USB/SD 3.0 or 2.0 SD Flash Drive + adapter with your new Operating System... (so the original CD/DVD Drive is not really needed)... In fact, a USB install is (usually and noticeably) faster...  

    AS 'Drive 0'... your System will boot to the SSD drive and this is HIGHLY desirable because of the BLAZING SPEED one can attain.  In fact, I would not 'upgrade' to a SSD Drive if BOOTING was not possible... unless that SSD was used as a 'vault' or 'backup'.  Sure a few exceptions may be out there, but using your original HD as a 'source' and resource is also quite handy.

    After you've harvested as much as you can one can reformat and use that original drive as mentioned above... or better yet, disconnect that drive and use IT as a way to 'get back where you are today' ~ before your additions or modifications!  Because SSD Drives are so reasonable, I do my best to keep the original HD intact... before any changes.

    Anthony 

  • talonts

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    Posted November 27th, 2019 15:00

    This post shouldn't be marked as a "Solution" because it's wrong.  Please stop spreading misinformation.

    The mini PCIE slot on the 9020 uSFF supports some SATA m.2 "short" drives.

    I have one right in front of me with a Samsung 256GB PM851 mSATA drive as the only drive, and Windows 10 is running on it just fine.

    And there is a Forum post that is nearly 4 years old that notes the mSATAs that Dell has sold it with, including the Saumsung 128GB PM851 - https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/Optiplex-9020m-and-m-2-SATA-drive/td-p/4744470

    That said, Justin on that post noted an m.2 2280 fit, and pictured a "9020M" with it installed, but that is NOT what my uSFF 9020 looks like.  There is only enough room for a 42mm.  The picture he posted showed both an 80mm m.2 slot and a 42mm m.2 slot, and the 9020 uSFF only has one mini slot.

  • bmcowboy

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    Posted November 28th, 2019 01:00

    Hi @talonts ,

    Thank you for your reply and challenge.

    The mini PCIE slot on the 9020 uSFF supports some SATA m.2 "short" drives.


    1st of all, mSATA is NOT m.2 SATA! They are in two different interface. A "short" m.2 SATA drive doesn't mean it's a mSATA drive, dude.


    And there is a Forum post that is nearly 4 years old that notes the mSATAs that Dell has sold it with, including the Saumsung 128GB PM851 - https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops-General-Read-Only/Optiplex-9020m-and-m-2-SATA-drive/td-p/4744470

    That said, Justin on that post noted an m.2 2280 fit, and pictured a "9020M" with it installed, but that is NOT what my uSFF 9020 looks like.  There is only enough room for a 42mm.  The picture he posted showed both an 80mm m.2 slot and a 42mm m.2 slot, and the 9020 uSFF only has one mini slot.

    Again, mSATA is NOT m.2 SATA! Also, 9020 USFF is NOT 9020M! The whole thread you referred to talks about 9020M and m.2 SATA only. Not sure why you quote it in this thread as reference.


    I have one right in front of me with a Samsung 256GB PM851 mSATA drive as the only drive, and Windows 10 is running on it just fine.

    In Dell's practice, they label those mini slots in different way in order to distinguish them between mini-PCIe and mini-SATA. Take a XPS 8700 motherboard (P/N KWVT8) for example. There are 2 mimi slots on the board. The upper one labeled as PCIE_MINICARD, for mini PCIe cards only. The lower one labeled as MSATA1, ready for mSATA hard drive.

    XPS8700_motherboard_KWVT8.jpg

    Now take a look on a 9020 USFF motherboard (P/N KC9NP) which contains 1 mini slot only and labeled as PCIE_MINICARD.

    Dell_9020_usff_KC9NP.jpg

    @talonts Are you sure the machine right in front of you is a 9020 USFF really? Would you mind providing part number of your machine's motherboard together with photos for further discussion?

  • savvy2

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    Posted November 28th, 2019 07:00

    9020 USFF or 9020 MICRO? the latter has m.2 slots the former not.

     

    yes folks get so confused and think all sizes use the same mobo, sorry , not. and can very by country, ! none stated.
     

    here is the list of support on 1 PC.

    seems dell does not tell at all what that slot can do mini card.  all manuals tell, zero on topic,

    see this, for case types.

    the micro is 1.4" wide case,  and dinky 65watt PSU, (laptop tiny)

     

     

     

  • bmcowboy

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    Posted November 28th, 2019 21:00

    Hi again @talonts ,


    Now for the interesting part - MY 9020 uSFF uses the board you pictured, with the mPCIe slot parallel to the RAM slots.

    I'm afraid your PC is actually 9010 USFF. Here's the corresponding mobo (P/N: DXYK6/HJG5K)

    Dell_9010USFF.jpg

    Edit: Sorry that I mistaken your meaning of "parallel to the RAM slots". After your pictures released by the moderator, I can see that your mobo should be a 9020 USFF mobo.


    Dell pictures one with it perpendicular to it here under the WLAN card section - <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>.

    Check on the document for <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell> and you will see that exactly the same picture applied. Both mobo should be similar but not identical. Maybe the one who prepare these reference guides not studying enough.


    I really don't want to disassemble it any further than this to try to find markings.

    Instead of disassemble your PC, you may get the motherboard part number information by Speecy.

    T5600_Speecy.jpg

     

     

     

    (edited)

  • talonts

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    Posted November 29th, 2019 05:00

    As you can see, Speccy reports the MB as 014GRG, which is the 9020 USFF (I need to stop using the small "u" before it confuses me), and the Storage is my mSATA.

    20191129_070045.jpg