9020 USFF, Mini PCIe

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

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

Glad we could help out!

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 

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.

Hi @talonts ,

Thank you for your reply and challenge.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

@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?

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)

Hi again @talonts ,

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

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

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.

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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.

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

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

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.

like the old TV shows, "will the real motherboard please stand up"(what's my line)

amazing what accurate photos can do?, or service tags or showing the mobo part number can do.

The D:P/N

Im a HP kinda guy and they have real parts lists there,  and shows 1 PC model with 10 motherboards used world wide, we can't to that here, as dell has no parts lists. at all,  (if not working for dell)

nothing is better than showing the D:P/n in any first port of and MOBO questions.

All this fall under management of complexity, (HP wins that IMO)

You'd THINK the MB part # would be in the parts list under the Service Tag, but noooooo.  They have dozens of part #s, including all sorts of inane things and even an entry for Windows XP and one for Windows 98 (!), but the MB?  Bah!  who needs to know that?

I search for configs on machines by Service Tag all the time so I know what to bid on, but I've searched ones from a known lot purchase, where they all only differ on a single character of the ST#, and the listings for the Configuration will vary widely in WHAT is listed, and HOW it is listed.  It seems totally random.

Well, at least this thread has gotten me to dig around on this system a bit more to find out what else can be done to it.

Fun fact - mine, at least, did not have an internal speaker.  It even notes that in the Configuration page as "

Yet 790 USFFs, 2 generations back, built for the same school, did.  They interchange, so I yanked one from one of my 790 USFFs.

Fun fact 2 - 790 SFFs use the same SIZE speaker with longer wires.  But the speaker housing is molded with different tabs in different positions, and the locking tabs are uselessly different.  So the speaker I pulled from a dead 790 SFF to put in the 790 USFF that was freshly speakerless is going to have to be zip-tied, velcro-ed, or glued into place.

Why someone at Dell decided to make things more difficult and more expensive, I don't know.  In general, each  SKU in a system costs tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars over time, so having 2 different speakers cost them profit seemingly needlessly.

Speakers are optional, so maybe the school got smart and quit ordering this option. The internal speaker on my 790 is not very good, and it only uses sound from one channel. It's pretty close to useless.