Alienware 18 (2014) mxm to m.2 nvme boot

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Hello,

I trust this message finds you in good health. I would like to seek your assistance regarding a modification I am making to my 2014 Alienware 18 laptop, which has two MXM slots. Specifically, I have decided to allocate one of these MXM slots for an M.2 NVMe SSD upgrade.

I have recently acquired an adapter from AliExpress at the following link:https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005365734570.html, along with a Kingston KC3000 NVMe SSD with a capacity of 1TB.

The issue I am encountering is as follows: when I attempt to install Windows using the Windows Install Manager, I can detect the KC3000 NVMe SSD, and I am able to initiate the installation process. However, after the initial installation and the first restart, I receive an error message indicating that the boot device cannot be found.

I kindly request your guidance and expertise to provide me with a brief tutorial or any insights on what steps may be missing in my setup, and what adjustments I need to make in order to successfully boot from the NVMe SSD. Please note that my BIOS is currently running the standard A15 version, and additional configurations of my laptop can be found in the attached images.

Specs:

i7-4930mx

gtx880m - I am going to upgrade to gtx 1070 mxm when I will received new heatsink

A15 bios default from dell site.

 

Thank you in advance for your assistance and support.

Sincerely,

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[Noobie Wan]

Hello there,

 

Sorry for the late  reply. I am in the same situation: Alienware 18, same affordable adapter from Aliexpress. I managed to make it work but with issues. The steps were these:

 

Previosly:

1) I Prepared a Kingston USB 3.0 16GB with REFIND. See details here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XT-Sq_UscQE 

 

 

2) A USB always connected to the laptop is a pretty annoying idea to me (I suffer TOC) so I decided to clone the REFIND Kingston 16 GB USB to a spare mSATA drive (Samsung 500 GB) using EaseUS Disk Copy Pro (use this free key to activate it L55YI-NJTIK-K5718-3Z3GM-4GB33)

3) Create in a different USB whatever version of Windows 10 you want to clean install.

 

After all that:

1) Downgrade to A12 OEM Dell BIOS ( I was in A15, the latest for the model)

2) Install unlocked BIOS A12 for Alienware 18

3) Open your laptop and install the GTX 1070 (Left MXM bay) and the NVME adapter with a Samsung Pro NvME 4 1TB (Right MXM bay)

4) Close and REMOVE (this is important) 2 RAM modules if you have 32GB as me. Otherwise installation files copy will fail at 11%.

5) Now close, insert the CLONED mSATA (replacemente of the REFIND pendrive) and close the machine.

 

Finally:

1) Start, go to BIOS, put it in SG mode, save changes, power off. 

2) Insert the Win10 Install USB and let it roll. Follow the steps as usual, and you'll be done in a heartbeat.

3) After that, REMOVE the letter of the mSATA drive (so it becomes invisible to your TOC and mine). 

4) Restart and your Alienware 18 will boot from the NvME m.2 in the adapter.

5) Now, to put in operation the nVIDIA GTX 1070  read here: https://notebooktalk.net/topic/1300-how-do-i-update-to-a-nvidia-gtx-1070/

 

 

Pros: 

Very speedy system indeed.

 

Cons:

I couldn't install Windows updates...not a single one. All all them failded. And system gives some BSOD once in a while (specially if you add the RAM modules you removed initially

 

I hope my process be helpful for anyone who needs it.

 

Thanks for reading.