Area-51m R2, Additional M.2 Slots

Question

Hi there, i ordered my first Alienware and did an instant fail. Dont know what informations are important to find a solution, but lets try it out.The specs are easy. 10900K, RTX 2080 Super, 32GB RAM, 300Hz FHD with Tobi bla bla bla...and here comes the problem: 256GB M.2 SSD + 1TB HDD. Yeah, i did not do a final check. My 51m is already finished in production and nearly on its way to me.I just checked out the Service Handbook and could find out, that there is a 2nd M.2 Slot free to use...ok, ordered a second M.2 for DIY-Installation, easy. But i also realised, that the other 2x M.2 Slots are only available, if you order your Area-51m R2 with 4x M.2 SSD. Otherwise there is only a 2.5 SATA Slot. F*** no...I need 4x M.2 SSD, so i need these M.2 Mount instead of this lame 2.5 Slot.I also checked out the additonal equipment and upgrades, nothing found.There is a free port at the 51m R2 Mainboard for it, so it must be able to kick out the 2.5 Mount and install the M.2 Mount for 2x additonal M.2 SSD.Long bla bla, short sense...anyone out there, who can tell me where i can order these M.2 Mount?Sure, its easy to ask my personal Dell Guy, but maybe there are people out there with the same stupidity. Thanks.

crimsom · Accepted Answer

Hi @MasterRob63 Dell Support for Alienware Area-51m R2 Service Manual includes Installing the solid-state drive interposer board which provides the additional SSD-3 & SSD-4 slots for M.2 NVMe drives.

To get these parts, call Dell Support and ask them to raise an order for all the 20 separate parts (no url, no kit) which includes the 2.5 inch cage NVMe silicone interposer board D3P25, cable #1 2JH8P, cable #2 5F1WR and all the other separate parts of screws, etc. Also ask for all of these parts be included in your Dell System Warranty. Currently, all these parts can be purchased for under USD100.

crimsom · Accepted Answer

Area-51m R2 Dual SATA Interposer Board, Dell P/N D3P25

ejn63 · Answer

The only place you'll find these -- assuming they're available - is Dell Spare Parts. In the US, 1-800-357-3355

A51-06 · Answer

Post some photos with the m.2 slots as I remember my older Alienware 15 r2 having 4 m.2 slots and 2 extras were under the 2.5 inch HDD bay and they all worked.

Christianc277 · Answer

Hey bro does my Alienware area 51m support a 2tb samasung evo 970 m.2?

Christianc277 · Answer

I’m supposed to be getting it tmm because I bought it thinking it’s compatible with my laptop but now I’m seeing other things that it’s not .. I have a Alienware area 51m - 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD

16GB (2x 8GB) DDR4 at 2400MHz

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6 (OC Ready)

Simon1987 · Answer

I’m using 51m r2 with 2tb m2 970 evo with no problems.

crimsom · Answer

Dell UK Technical Support says that our Alienware 17 R5 model's main board will not accept this two cable interposer board D3P25.

raul197600 · Answer

Hi @crimsom Do you remember the parts number of the NVMe silicone interposer board bracket? That's the only thing I can't find. Thanks!

crimsom · Answer

Hi @raul197600  as reported earlier, Dell UK Technical Support says that our Alienware 17 R5 model's main board will not accept this two cable interposer board D3P25. So we did not get this interposer board. Surprised that Dell Support does not provide this Area-51m R2 information when placing interposer board order. Try getting in touch again to ask this question.

cadbob · Answer

I got mine on Amazon, came with Dell Packaging, I installed per our Manual and have 4 SSD's installed.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08T1F1FM8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hope this Helps you

INXSEX · Answer

Thanks i installed mine today and everything works great.   Regards.

Hunteds911x · Answer

I ran into issues where my System would randomly forget it had a boot device after installing this. Then stopped recognizing one of my m.2 drives that were in the tray. It may just be the M.2 itself. I ended up putting the original configuration back and installed a 2TB SSD instead. But if I plug the 1TB drive in to another slot it works fine. Anyone else run into this?

Hunteds911x · Answer

And... It may be the drive. I moved other m.2 drives to the additional slots and did not see the issue. the minute I install the drive that use to work I have issues with booting to Windows and Dell is scenning the disks for a boot device.

crimsom · Answer

Hi @Hunteds911x thank you for sharing update.

Swapping in the drive used for work has a problem. Please right click on drive icon to enter Properties, then Tools, Error checking (aka Check Disk) to look for and automatically fix any file corruption.

Please download the CrystalDiskInfo utility that is very good at giving a quick indicator that a drive is good, and in depth information, that should be useful if a problem is reported.

Please share an update on progress, so that other users derive benefit from your experience. Thank you.

Alienware

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