Hi @JoeyA8625 thank you for sharing update. Dell Product Support for Alienware 18 is Here.
Alienware 18 Specifications, Storage says:- Type: SATA Interface: SATA 3.0 (6 Gbps) Hard drives: * One mSATA drive * Up to three hard drives (2.5-inches) or Solid State Drives (NOTE: The third hard drive/Solid State Drive is optional and can be installed in the optical-drive bay.)
The mSATA drive provides cache to improve hard disk drive performance. If no Solid State Drives, advocate use other 2.5" bay or replace 2.5" HDD with Dual-Slot M.2 Drive to SATA Adapter so that two M.2 SATA cards can be installed. There is then no requirement for RAID 0. OS(C:) is installed on single M.2 SATA drive and extra storage is available with second M.2 SATA slot. If the depth of 2.5" bay can accommodate two SATA Adapters, get the dual version that has cable for two SATA Adapter connections, to give four M.2 SATA card option for future expansion.
Drivers & Downloads provides support for Windows 10 x64 and other operating systems in the drop down menu.
It would help to know what model system you have (Alienware m17, etc.) and what configuration you have (it appears you have two drives in RAID 0 or cache mode).
If it's just an Optane or other cached system, you may still have an intact copy on the main drive (the message refers to the cache drive that has failed).
Hopefully you have your data backed up at minimum, because you're likely going to need that backup.
Hi @JoeyA8625 welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.
Thank you for providing image. The SATA Array in RAID 0 configuration is having problems. RAID 0 requires two identical drives to share data 50% 50% to each drive, if one drive fails, both have to be replaced. If your system supports M.2 NVMe drives, RAID 0 is not required. The image does not include the Windows OS(C:) drive, is there a different way for the operating system to get online?
Please click on Product Support for Dell to identify your system. Please share system Model and Revision so that a remedy can be offered. Thank you.
Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from another user. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.
The mSATA drive serves as a cache for the main drive. It looks to the system like a RAID 0 array, but it is not. None of your data is permanently stored on the (now failed) mSATA drive - it's all on the hard drive.
While you could replace the mSATA drive and do a repair install, the more important thing is whether or not your data is backed up. If it is not, and the system doesn't boot, remove the hard drive, mount it in a 2.5" external drive case, and attach it to a working system to copy your data.
From there, you can decide whether to:
1. Replace the mSATA drive (they're still available, though obsolete and as a result more expensive than native SSDs in other formats), or
2. Replace both the mSATA drive and hard drive with a 2.5" SATA SSD.
Since mSATA drives are generally slower than native SATA SSDs, I'd take Option 2. It will also relieve you of a hard drive that, if it's original to the system, is a couple of years beyond its design life.
At minimum, back up what you can't afford to lose, regularly.
Hi @JoeyA8625 the M.2 to SATA Adapter [Example] requires a M.2 2280 SATA III Solid State Drive [Example] plus Windows 10 x64 operating system, so that Alienware 18 has an OS(C:) drive. Use other computer with M.2 slots to create a M.2 2280 SATA clone and install it in the Alienware 18, you will be asked to install a windows 10 serial number. Get a Windows 10 x64 product key and use this to activate the Alienware 18 SATA Windows x64 OS(C:) drive.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
1
April 19th, 2021 00:00
Hi @JoeyA8625 thank you for sharing update. Dell Product Support for Alienware 18 is Here.
Alienware 18 Specifications, Storage says:-
Type: SATA
Interface: SATA 3.0 (6 Gbps)
Hard drives:
* One mSATA drive
* Up to three hard drives (2.5-inches) or Solid State Drives (NOTE: The third hard drive/Solid State Drive is optional and can be installed in the optical-drive bay.)
The mSATA drive provides cache to improve hard disk drive performance. If no Solid State Drives, advocate use other 2.5" bay or replace 2.5" HDD with Dual-Slot M.2 Drive to SATA Adapter so that two M.2 SATA cards can be installed. There is then no requirement for RAID 0. OS(C:) is installed on single M.2 SATA drive and extra storage is available with second M.2 SATA slot. If the depth of 2.5" bay can accommodate two SATA Adapters, get the dual version that has cable for two SATA Adapter connections, to give four M.2 SATA card option for future expansion.
Drivers & Downloads provides support for Windows 10 x64 and other operating systems in the drop down menu.
ejn63
10 Elder
•
30.7K Posts
1
April 18th, 2021 16:00
It would help to know what model system you have (Alienware m17, etc.) and what configuration you have (it appears you have two drives in RAID 0 or cache mode).
If it's just an Optane or other cached system, you may still have an intact copy on the main drive (the message refers to the cache drive that has failed).
Hopefully you have your data backed up at minimum, because you're likely going to need that backup.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
1
April 18th, 2021 18:00
Hi @JoeyA8625 welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.
Thank you for providing image. The SATA Array in RAID 0 configuration is having problems. RAID 0 requires two identical drives to share data 50% 50% to each drive, if one drive fails, both have to be replaced. If your system supports M.2 NVMe drives, RAID 0 is not required. The image does not include the Windows OS(C:) drive, is there a different way for the operating system to get online?
Please click on Product Support for Dell to identify your system. Please share system Model and Revision so that a remedy can be offered. Thank you.
Please click on Kudos to say thank you for response from another user. Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.
JoeyA8625
4 Posts
1
April 18th, 2021 20:00
I have a 2015 Alienware 18 R1.
ejn63
10 Elder
•
30.7K Posts
1
April 19th, 2021 03:00
The mSATA drive serves as a cache for the main drive. It looks to the system like a RAID 0 array, but it is not. None of your data is permanently stored on the (now failed) mSATA drive - it's all on the hard drive.
While you could replace the mSATA drive and do a repair install, the more important thing is whether or not your data is backed up. If it is not, and the system doesn't boot, remove the hard drive, mount it in a 2.5" external drive case, and attach it to a working system to copy your data.
From there, you can decide whether to:
1. Replace the mSATA drive (they're still available, though obsolete and as a result more expensive than native SSDs in other formats), or
2. Replace both the mSATA drive and hard drive with a 2.5" SATA SSD.
Since mSATA drives are generally slower than native SATA SSDs, I'd take Option 2. It will also relieve you of a hard drive that, if it's original to the system, is a couple of years beyond its design life.
At minimum, back up what you can't afford to lose, regularly.
crimsom
7 Technologist
•
6.1K Posts
1
April 19th, 2021 11:00
Hi @JoeyA8625 the M.2 to SATA Adapter [Example] requires a M.2 2280 SATA III Solid State Drive [Example] plus Windows 10 x64 operating system, so that Alienware 18 has an OS(C:) drive. Use other computer with M.2 slots to create a M.2 2280 SATA clone and install it in the Alienware 18, you will be asked to install a windows 10 serial number. Get a Windows 10 x64 product key and use this to activate the Alienware 18 SATA Windows x64 OS(C:) drive.