E6540 mSata support

Question

HI

Knowing this is a topic which has come past a few times... I'm hoping someone can help.

I own an e6540 (i7-4880, 8GB RAM) with bios update A21. I've tried putting an mSata drive in there in the WWAN port (a toshiba thnsns128gmcp). This is a known working drive, which works fine on a different system.

Regardless of what settings I use in the BIOS, the drive is not detected at all. Not in Linux (which I run) and not in the BIOS.

I've tried load BIOS defaults, enabling and disabling WAN port settings, turning off the switch on the side of the laptop.

I've even tried this on a second e6540 of similar specs with the same mSata drive. Both e6540 have exactly the same problem : No drive shows in BIOS or when Linux loads.

Is this a drive incompatibility issue perhaps, or are there variants of of e6540 where mSata simply won't work?

Hoping anyone has a tip.

Thanks

Rogier

rogiers · Accepted Answer

Hi

To conclude this thread, I can finally report success on my end too. I bought a Kingston SKC600MS (msata variant) of 500GB. I'm happy to report that it is correctly detected on my laptop under LInux and in the BIOS

Regards,

Rogier

JOcean · Answer

Technically the system was not certified for use with an mSATA drive. But the following forum post would suggest that users have done that. It may depend on the make and capacity.

https://www.dell.com/community/Laptops-General-Read-Only/Latitude-e6540-and-mSata-advice-please/td-p/4162680

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/adding-msata-to-e6540.753707/

http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-3156347/latitude-e6540-add-ssd-replacing-hdd.html

rogiers · Answer

Hi

Thanks for the answer... That was also what was confusing me. Many people report success with msata, yet when I tried on two e6540 systems neither recognized the msata drive I tried... I don't have a problem with a different drive. I was actually thinking of Samsungs evo 860. However I'd hate to buy a card to find out it wont work because of other reasons, being stuck with a drive i cannot use.

Are there perhaps different PCB stucking options because of which msata would not be able to work?

Thanks

Rogier

JOcean · Answer

If you buy a different drive, just make sure it is from a retailer than will let you return it if the drive is not compatible. I am not sure about any PCB limitations. It could be a BIOS version though. The problem with using a piece of hardware that has not been certified for the system is that it is hit and miss. Also kind of a catch 22. The hardware was not tested and never certified but some users have success. So if it does not work for you, there is no tech support because the hardware was not tested or certified. So is there a problem in a system where a piece of hardware does not work but was never....you know? The link I suggested before does have a post from a user that suggested a specific brand and model I believe.

PtrPtrPtr · Answer

Hello,

Good to see this thread, was intending to place exactly the mentioned type (Samsungs evo 860) in the mSATA-slot of my E6540 (where now the WWAN module lives).

I was looking for what the limitation for the mSATA slot was, wondering if I could go up to 1TB, or just stick to 500GB, but as I understand it's actually not guaranteed at all... too bad, but at least good to know.

Thanks & I'll keep following this thread with interest.

rogiers · Answer

I've seen some posts that the evo 860 or evo 850 seemingly work. I'm wondering if it is dependend on either BIOS version or BIOS settings, and if so which ones.

Would anyone with a working drive be willing to type the drive, BIOS version and any settings they had to modify?

PtrPtrPtr · Answer

I _thought_ to have read somewhere that people saw a vague imprint 'in the plastic connector' that said both WWAN & mSATA, so I opened my E6540. I did see a very clear 'WWAN' on the metal chassis after removing the WWAN module, and found it hard to imagine there could be any visible additional info on the connector, without removing additional covers at least. I did remove an additional cover (the corner-piece), but below that there wasn't any info. I'm inclined to buy the cheapest mSATA SSD I can find to check if it could work at all.... although that's not too scientific: if it works, still no guarantee it'll work with a larger EVO... Have a good weekend, and yes, would be much appreciated if people who managed to get it working post info. Thanks!

First Name · Answer

A week ago I purchased 64gb mSATA SSD card from this manufacturer: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07DH3RRBP/ref=cfb_at_prodpg under the sticker, the main ingredient of this card is a Toshiba chip Placed the card in the WWAN socket (of e6540); BIOS, OS recognized it; installed XP, Win7 and Linux on it; it works without any resentment.

U2CAMEB4ME · Answer

Just to add my 2 cent worth.The top 256GB mSATA drives worked fine.The 850 EVO did not show in BIOS.Best regards,U2

First Name · Answer

So, it could be that WWAN slot takes 250gb cards, but not 500gb cards.  Or, it hates Samsung EVO ?

LeszekPie · Answer

Works on my: Crucial_CT250MX200SSD3 M2 2260

rogiers · Answer

Hi

Thanks all for your replies! It offers hope that it should work! Can you confirm if BIOS settings make a difference for detection? I suspect the PCIE / SATA ports / WWAN settings may make a difference

Unfortunately sourcing those old cards is quite expensive in my area...

Regards

Rogier

rogiers · Answer

Hi

For those still following this thread: I did some more digging. At some point the mSATA specification changed a bit, see also here: https://sata-io.org/sites/default/files/ECN049_v1.0-for-mSATA-Connector-1-12-2011.pdf. The following experiment is at your own risk should you want to try (no legal responsibility here). I can only state what it did for me:

The e6540 seems to require pulling pin 51 to ground to switch to mSATA. I verified this with an mSATA <-> SATA converter, an external power supply and an old SATA HDD I still had around. This conveter allowed easy measurement, and I can confirm that on that one pin 51 is pulled to ground. Without any other changes this setup allowed me to detect this harddisk if I connect it.

I also measured some of the pins, this is what I found:

The converter I used had a sata power connector of which one of the GND pins was directly connected to pin 51. If I ensured that this molex was used to supply power all was OK, and the harddisk could be detected. Perhaps some mSATA devices have a low resistor or no resistor between ground (pin 50 amongst others) and pin 51 (Presence Detect) which would explain why some people report that the mSATA cards are not working, and others give conflicting reports (where a card / brand works for some but not for others)
Possibly the ASM1767 chip used to switch between mSATA and mPCIE on this e6540 laptop has different tolerances because of which on some laptops it may work and on others it doesn't given certain values of resistor between pin 51 and ground.
Additionally, any form of resistor on pin 43 or tape or such has no effect, leading me to believe it is the pin 51 that is the issue here.

For me this means now searching for an mSATA that has pin 51 grounded. This seems to work....

Regards,

rogiers

Esworld · Answer

Hello friend, I hope you answer me, I registered here for you since it is the most recent post about this pc, obviously I have a dell e6540 laptop with an i7-4810mq processor, it is somewhat slow, I want to buy a Msata that gives me at least 500 mb of reading or more and 450 mb of writing or more, which one do you recommend?

rogiers · Answer

Hi Noticing this one only now. I use a kingston skc600m 512gb. It works for me.

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E6540 mSata support

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