shnarf

the size difference is because the r2 can use either a standard 2.5" ssd or an mSATA ssd. the best option i think is both

If you have the free mSATA slot id suggest getting 1x mSATA and 1x 2.5" with the same controller and running RAID0. I first did this with a Mushkin Atlas 120GB mSATA and a Corsair ForceGT 120GB. I have since replaced both and now run a Atlas Dx 240GB and ForceGS 240GB. this setup does 1,000MB/s read/writes. for a less techical benchmark my Windows 8 wei disk score is 8.2. last startup time according to windows 8 was 5.4s.

so any advantages/changes for someone such as myself with no msata/odd issues? Im currently running svl's test A10 (btw, thanks svl7). I dont really feel like going through 2 flashes to get to an unlocked A11 for no real benefit.

thanks

I'm with you bro, Dell should have better support for their "high end" product line. I had a small crack/manufacturing defect when i got my r2 and called day 1 about it. They gave me grief about getting it repaired saying they dont cover cracks/cosmetic blemishes. I told them it is 1 day old and the damage was obviously a misaligned plastic rivet from they factory that was responsible. they eventually agreed to send someone out. well the guy that came took my machine apart at least 5 times breaking something else each attempt. he broke keys off the keyboard, the dvd retention clip, and something on the board that caused a flashing screen, then BSOD. He called in to his office and tried to tell them I gave it to him broken right in front of me! I told them I had zero mechanical problems before he touched it and had been using it for the past few hrs at my office until he called to meet me at my house. they then wanted me to send the bunch of broken parts out to the repair depot for an undetermined amount of time to be cobbled back together by them and sent back to me. I told them there was no way I was going to send it out for repair and at this point all I would accept was a new machine. After talking to a bunch of people I finally got someone who said they could get me a new one built.

I made sure to verify that it would be new and not built using refurbished parts as I know they pull that crap from past experience. they said brand new not refurb so I accepted. well I get the replacement machine and it looks worse than my r1 which I bought on its release day! no plastic like the first r2, a discolored spot on the lid, and a obvious thumb print on the palm rest area that wont wipe off and is obviously under the soft touch coating. I sent a email to the alienware resolution experts and didnt even get a response. I got ended up accepting that dell screwed me till I had to get my MB replaced a few weeks ago. the rep I talked to tried to tell me it was a brand new build and not refurb again! LOOK, THERE ARE YELLOW PART STICKERS ON TOP OF OTHER WHITE PART STICKERS! If thats not proof of a part being used in 2 builds I dont know what is.

my apologies on the length of my rant, I just feel compelled to share when I see crap like this or when someone asks me if they should get a dell. I have since turned countless potential buyers somewhere else, yet I feel like in the end I feel like I have accomplished nothing. If only the people I have sent somewhere else had each sent a email explaining why they are choosing a different manufacturer, maybe something would be done. I think Im going to start finding perspective buyers a good deal elsewhere in exchange for sending a email stating why. probably still wont do anything, but its a start.

guys i could not flash the a03 bios the one from svl7 could u guys help me plz ;( i have now bios a10 i want to the flash the unlocked a03 tell me how plz it says flash write error in SMI

welcome ashknani, being that you are on a new stock bios you cant change to a lower bios from the windows bios flash utility. you would need to do a "blind flash" to get to a custom bios from your current state. if you read through these threads there is a link to a step by step, but there is a higher than normal chance of bricking your laptop this way if not done exactly right. I bricked 1 myself thinking it was not working after like 5 mins of beeping and unplugged it like a dummy,lol. it was either locked up or i didnt give it long enough. just be fully sure you have the process down 100% if you decide to go for it. I did again after studying the process while waiting for a new board. knowing what this card is capable of now I am glad I did it.

You have to downgrade to an earlier official bios (a03) via recovery flash procedure. you can't instal a modded bios straight over an original a10.

Slightly related question, I'm currently on the test A10, but it seems my overclocks were better on the unlocked A03. can I move from the test A10 back to unlocked A03 using the windows utility, or do this still require a blind flash?

thanks for all your help and clarification.

UPDATE: after trying every possible configuration on bios a08, a09 and a10 I was unable to get the drive to show up in the bios and stay. seeing that the bios on the r1 was pre-uefi, I decided to go to one of the pre-uefi bios numbers on the r2. this required a bios blind flash which is a little more involved than a windows bios update. after going to a04 the drive began to show and stay in the bios and now appears to be a solid piece of hardware.

RECAP: $125+$15s&h for a now solid BD-RE burner that has better specs than the Panasonic uj267 that costs twice as much. this Pioneer BDR-US01 also supports 3 and 4 layer BDXL burning and single layer burning at 6x instead of 4x on the Panasonic.

I can say im quite happy with it now. I may buy another since the seller has 3 left and I cant find it anywhere else. I feel as though I bought a unicorn. I was 1/2 expecting to get a dvd burner with BD-RE stamped on it, but it is real and works great now. kinda strange that the $300 Panasonic burner is being sold as "worlds first 9.5 slot load BD-RE drive" and was just release a couple months ago. The pioneer I got totally beasts the specs at 1/2 the price. The real crazy part is the sticker on it says it was made in june 2011, lol.

so for anyone interested, I bought a Pioneer Burner I found on ebay for $125. its the BDR-US01. what strange is I cant find a thing about it anywhere online with the exception of the ebay page. it is being sold as "not new- fully tested", but I figured id give it a shot for the team. anyhow I am of course having a strange problem with it. it seems to diasppear at the bios level after rebooting and will only come back after setting bios to defaults. it then is good for the next boot and works fine until i reboot or shutdown and have to do it again if I want to use it.

so I figured i got a shady drive that was most likely an engineering sample and was never released or something. I then wanted to test it in my r1 before I complain to the seller. well in the r1 it works flawlessly everyboot regardless of settings. I believe i have a unlocked bios on the r1 if i recall correctly.

I have tried various bios settings and hardware configurations but can not get the r2 to reliably pick up the drive without messing around in the bios. Im probably going to leave this one in the r1 and get the panasonic 267 burner for the r2 unless anyone has any ideas?

Did you flash the stock Dell A03 file or svl7's modified A03? The suspicion is that blind flashing a modified firmware results in a brick.

This is a UEFI requirement for secure boot. The firmware must be properly signed by a signing key in the Secure Boot keystore. This security check is made by the EFI itself starting with A08. It is possible for end users to install their own keys in the Secure Boot keystore and use these keys to sign EFI binaries which means it should be possible for individual users to sign their own copies of svl7's modified firmware files.

So would creating my own self-signed keys allow me to move to an pre-UEFI custom firmware using the windows flash utility? I really don't want to blind flash again unless absolutely necessary to get to a custom BIOS. if this is not possible could someone post a link to svl's blind flash instructions? I searched the forums and couldnt find his post with instructions, only others listing instructions they said came from svl's posted instructions- the ones i cant find.

I am on A09 currently on a new board after killing the first one during an attempted blind flash, as such I am hesitant to try again without knowing where I went wrong during my first attempt. I got the beeps, but they never stopped, i left and came back after like 20 or so minutes and it was still beeping so I felt my only option at the time was pulling the plug and crossing my fingers. after that she was done. I do believe I was attempting to move to svl's A03 unlocked instead of stock A03, I just assumed a blind flash would work with either one as long as they are both valid firmwares.

thanks in advance for any more clarification to the process.

I have just seen recently a 9.5mm BDR drive has been released. Panasonic UJ-267. I see they can be found on ebay for about $300us or the non-burner is around $200. Im not that big a fan of physical media to drop that kind of money on one, but its out there for those who are.

I am on official A09 and bricked trying a blind to A03. after that i decided to wait until something is done for a A09/A10 bios. would I be able to move to a build such as this using the windows bios flash utility, or does moving from A09 stock now require a blind flash regardless of the target firmware? Thanks beyond measure for all your work btw. truly a friend to the community. been a huge fan since rocking your bios mods on my R1. keep it up!

any chance we could get a RAID module in this? a very common mod for the m14x is swapping the optical drive for a HDD bay. I got a pair of matching SSD's in mine, problem is they are running as separate drives as its all the stock A05 allows. I would be more than willing do any testing needed to make it happen. thanks!