Can't Get Windows to Use mSATA for Boot Partition on M4600?

[Zzyzxtek]

Your procedure sounds just like what I did, except that I actually did a full wipe (wrote all 0's) to both disks. This required them to also be re-initialized, not just partitioned and formatted. I believe I also marked all devices except the DVD as not bootable before I installed. And I put the HDD back before I installed all the Dell drivers or anything beyond the Windows 7 install. I have no idea if any of that matters.

My BIOS boot sequence has only the MiniCard SSD enabled, and so it's the only thing in the list. Boot list option is Legacy. If I want to boot from the DVD, I hit F12 (I don't want to pick up an unexpected bootable CD).

SATA is AHCI.

diskpart list disk shows the HDD as disk 0 and the mSATA as disk 1, just like you. As does the Disk Management tool (no surprise there).

And perhaps the BIOS in the M4600 is different, so what I did may not work for an M4500?

Hi. I am having the same problem with my M4500. I've done what you describe, but with different behavior. Here is what I have done:

1) Installed mSATA Intel 310 80GB
2) Set BIOS to boot from CD/DVD and mSATA
3) Set BIOS SATA to AHCI
4) Booted from install DVD
5) Used DISKPART CLEAN ALL on existing HDD (disc 0 HDD, disc 1 SSD)
6) Shutdown and removed HDD, leaving only the SSD
7) Booted from install DVD
8) Installed WIN7 to SSD with 100MB System Reserve on SSD
9) Installed necessary drivers and other Dell schwag
10) Shutdown and installed HDD
11) Set BIOS to boot from CD/DVD and mSATA
12) No Dice on Win7 booting
13) Tried Startup Repair >3 times per other forum recommendations
14) Still no luck

I can boot into Win7 by selecting the mSATA as the boot option from F12 menu. I cannot boot otherwise. I figure the issue is that the SSD was Disk 0 when Win7 was installed w/o the HDD. The SSD becomes Disk 1 with the HDD installed and at Disk 0. I haven't tried setting the BIOS to boot CD/DVD, mSata, and internal HDD (I just saw this posting). I haven't yet tried bootrec /fixmbr or /fixboot.

What is your boot order in the BIOS? Is your SATA configured for AHCI or RAID? According to "diskpart list disk", is the HDD disk 0 and SSD disk 1, or vice-versa?

Anybody else have a M4500 with a similar and working configuration? Can you provide BIOS settings and "diskpart list disk" results, including location of system reserve?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

[Giarc392]

I got it working perfectly yesterday by setting the HDD partition to active and assigning it a drive letter in DISKPART. I then ran bootrec /fixmbr, bootrec /fixboot, and bootrec /rebuildbcd. The recovery tools then found my OS installation and created a new MBR on the HDD not SSD.

All was happy... Until encrypting both disks using PGP WDE. PGP WDE ignored the MBR settings and tries to boot the HDD, not the SSD. I can boot again by selecting the mSATA from F12 menu.

I think all of my problems stem from the mSATA SSD not being DISK 0. Why does the BIOS let the OS even attempt to boot from DISK 0 when it is not listed as an allowable boot device? I don't have this problem with other machines where the W7 is not on the DISK 0. Confusing.

[Giarc392]

Ok. This is odd.

I became impatient (my best trait) and decided to run the Windows recovery disk and attempt to use bootrec /fixmbr, /fixboot, and /reuildbcd to fix this. The first two "passed", the third failed. I tried booting again, and no dice. So I booted in W7 using F12 to select the mSATA SSD. My HDD format was now corrupt. I reformatted it and started encryption again. I rebooted before the encryption was complete and again failed to boot. Really long story shorter...

I then decided to remove everything from the boot list EXCEPT the mSATA. Now it boots to the mSATA, I can enter my passcode in BOOTGUARD, and it boots to Windows just fine. Now we'll see if all is good in 3 hours when the HDD is done being encrypted. (PGP might still think the HDD is the boot drive...)

[GJM_77]

Hi... some questions
1) is 128Gb for mSata ok to install win7, office, video programs etc ? so you have the 2nd HD for data ?

2) is there on the market any mSata more than 128Gb ?

3) can you add as 2nd HD an SSD ?

Thx

[Zzyzxtek]

Hi... some questions
1) is 128Gb for mSata ok to install win7, office, video programs etc ? so you have the 2nd HD for data ?

2) is there on the market any mSata more than 128Gb ?

3) can you add as 2nd HD an SSD ?

Thx

1. I have a 128 GB mSATA (ends up with 119 GB usable C drive capacity). I have Windows 7 Ultimate (including both the 100 MB system reserved partition, and the primary C drive partition), Office 2010 Professional with everything installed on the disk, as well as a bunch of other apps (QuickBooks, graphics tools, audio editing and mixing tools, etc.) on the mSATA as well. I still have 48.8 GB free, so lots of room for more stuff. I have a 750 GB HDD as the main SATA drive (you must have a main drive -- you can't just have the mSATA), but I got that because I need to store a lot of high bit rate lossless audio for editing). 119 GB is actually a good amount of space for programs, even these days, especially if you use the main SATA drive for data storage.

2. 128 GB is the largest I know of. I have the MyDigitalSSD 128 GB from here: MyDigitalSSD 128GB 50mm Bulletproof mSATA SSD | My Digital Discount Works great, specs are good, seems totally compatible with the M4600. Someone on the M4600 Owner's Lounge thread mentioned another brand of 128 GB drive, but it was about $100 more.

3. Like I said, if you have the mSATA, I believe you still *must* have a SATA drive. Oddly, I could boot the machine from the Windows install CD with only the mSATA installed, and install to it as the (only) boot drive, but the BIOS would not let me set the mSATA as the boot drive without the SATA drive also installed. Maybe I was doing something wrong, but the BIOS seems to be set up to require the main SATA drive to always be present. The Dell system configurator seems to require it as well.

To answer your question, though, yes the SATA drive can be either an SSD or HDD, so you could have 2 SSDs (the mSATA and the SATA) and still have the DVD/CD in the secondary bay.

Hope that helps...

[GJM_77]

can you install the 256Gb Kingston in mSata ? Kingston Technology Company - Solid State Drives - SSDNow V+ 180 Drive model No .... SVP180S2/256G

[Zzyzxtek]

can you install the 256Gb Kingston in mSata ? Kingston Technology Company - Solid State Drives - SSDNow V+ 180 Drive model No .... SVP180S2/256G

Well, it looks like it's fundamentally the right kind of drive as far as the specs are concerned -- mSATA, PCI-e pins, 1.8 inch (50mm) size, etc.

However, in the M4600, the mSATA drive has to fit into the card slot. The Kingston drive seems to be packaged in that metal case, which does not look like it will fit into the slot. Look at the difference with the MyDigitalData drive at MyDigitalSSD 128GB 50mm Bulletproof mSATA SSD | My Digital Discount -- see how the MyDigitalData is a bare card with no case around it, so it snaps into the card slot?

I wonder if the Kingston has the same form factor card inside that metal case?

Is anyone actually selling (and shipping) the Kingston 256 GB yet?

[WaNaWe900]

..seems that similar issues with M6600

[Zzyzxtek]

..seems that similar issues with M6600

Well, just keep in mind it's not really an "issue." If you want to get an M4600 or M6600 without an mSATA SSD as the boot drive, and then install your own mSATA as a boot drive, just make sure you wipe the other drive (prolly image or back it up first to be safe, then delete all partitions on it) and remove it, install the mSATA, boot from the Windows DVD, then install Windows onto the mSATA so it makes it the only boot drive (with both the 100 MB system partition and the C: partition), make the mSATA the (only) boot drive in the BIOS setup, and then finally put the other drive back in and format & partition it as a data only drive. There are a few other details in the prior messages in this thread, but that's the gist of it. It all works as it should, it just requires a little care to do it all in the right order so Windows doesn't get confused (since the M4600 BIOS treats the main drive as disk 0 and the mSATA as disk 1 Windows will install the system partition onto the main SATA drive instead of the mSATA if it sees both when installing).

My complaint now is that I upgraded my mSATA SSD from the 128 GB MyDigitalSSD mentioned above, to the new 256 GB MyDigitalSSD Smart Series (Sandforce SATA III). The upgrade went perfectly (used Acronis utilities to clone the old drive), and it works great. But the mSATA slot in the M4600 (I suspect the M6600 as well) is only SATA II, so I only get half the transfer rate the drive is capable of. Oh well, I needed the extra capacity, and I guess I have the SATA III for my next laptop when the time comes.

[WaNaWe900]

Yeap that's the way... also what you means by " data only drive " so far only can format to MBR and became Primary Partition... & same goes bought the mSATA III to run in SATA II @ Disk Post 2 cause Primary Bay @ Disk Post 0 & Secondary Bay @ Disk Post 1...