Alienware m18x R2 not detecting any booting device.

[xeper8x8]

So i bought an Alienware m18x R2 with a modded bios and i cant get it to detect any kind of boot device except for an mSata to USB. It was able to load Windows 10 via that way, but im not going to run windows that way. I tried everything i can think of; UEFI mode, Resetting CMOS, swapping to other mSata's and other SSD's, putting the SSD in a HDD/optical drive caddie, Reflashing BIOS. Its detecting the gfx card, cpu, ram, optical drive etc...just not any kind of boot device directly connected to the motherboard. Any ideas are welcome, because ive ran out of them lol. Thank you.

[Klem]

Hi!

Try this way:

• Create a bootable, FAT32 formatted USB Flash drive containing the desired Win10 image by using the tool Rufus (important: choose the UEFI mode partition table = GPT).
  Here is a picture, which shows the most important Rufus settings:
  
• Enter the BIOS and navigate to the "BOOT" section and - if applicable - the "SECURITY" or "Keys" section. 
  Make sure, that the "Secure Boot" and "Fast Boot" options are disabled. The "Compatibility Support Module" (CSM) can either be set to "Disabled" as well (better option, but requires full UEFI compatibility of the graphics adapter) or to "Enabled" with the ability/preference to load EFI BIOS modules for the Storage Disk Drives. If you see BIOS options for the "OS type", choose "other OS". This will disable the Secure Boot setting.
• Now plug your SATA HDD/SSD.
• Insert the prepared USB Flash drive and boot off it in UEFI mode (the related bootable USB drive should be shown by the Boot Manager with the prefix "[UEFI]").
• When you come to the point, where you have to decide onto which Drive and which partition the OS shall be installed, delete all existing partitions from your HDD/SSD. After having done that, let the Win10 Setup create a new partition for your future drive C: on the related SSD. Then point to this just created partition as the desired future OS location.
• The rest should be done by the Setup automatically. You will get a message, that some additional partitions have to be created. Accept that and follow the advice of the Setup where to install the OS.
• Once the OS is up and running, shut down the computer, remove the bootable USB Flash driver

[xeper8x8]

On 11/8/2024 at 11:30 PM, Klem said:

Hi!

Try this way:

• Create a bootable, FAT32 formatted USB Flash drive containing the desired Win10 image by using the tool Rufus (important: choose the UEFI mode partition table = GPT).
  Here is a picture, which shows the most important Rufus settings:
  
• Enter the BIOS and navigate to the "BOOT" section and - if applicable - the "SECURITY" or "Keys" section. 
  Make sure, that the "Secure Boot" and "Fast Boot" options are disabled. The "Compatibility Support Module" (CSM) can either be set to "Disabled" as well (better option, but requires full UEFI compatibility of the graphics adapter) or to "Enabled" with the ability/preference to load EFI BIOS modules for the Storage Disk Drives. If you see BIOS options for the "OS type", choose "other OS". This will disable the Secure Boot setting.
• Now plug your SATA HDD/SSD.
• Insert the prepared USB Flash drive and boot off it in UEFI mode (the related bootable USB drive should be shown by the Boot Manager with the prefix "[UEFI]").
• When you come to the point, where you have to decide onto which Drive and which partition the OS shall be installed, delete all existing partitions from your HDD/SSD. After having done that, let the Win10 Setup create a new partition for your future drive C: on the related SSD. Then point to this just created partition as the desired future OS location.
• The rest should be done by the Setup automatically. You will get a message, that some additional partitions have to be created. Accept that and follow the advice of the Setup where to install the OS.
• Once the OS is up and running, shut down the computer, remove the bootable USB Flash driver

Everytime i click the RUFUS image to enlarge it, it never loads.

Update: Tried this method and it didnt work.
Update #2: Turns out the idiot who had this rig before me left the mSata port unplugged, so i had to take apart the whole machine to plug it in. Jesus H Christ lol.

Edited November 17 by xeper8x8