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Dell Precision M6800 SATA Options
In an ongoing curiosity exploring all the storage options on the Precision M6800, I decided to try both an mSATA SSD and a PCIe SSD in the WWAN card slot to see if they would work.
The mSATA SSD allowed the system to power on but showed a black screen and wouldn't POST. The PCIe SSD allowed normal function but simply wasn't recognized anywhere in the system. So neither options work in the WWAN card slot. Note that an mSATA SSD does apparently work in the WWAN card slot on the M4800, but I guess that's a combo slot as it only has one full-size slot.
This left me wondering, in the M6800 BIOS and Owner's Manual, there are six SATA options that can be enabled or disabled, SATA-0 through SATA-5. So what are these options and which number corresponds to which storage bay/slot? I'm guessing four of the six are Primary HDD, Secondary HDD, Optical bay, and mSATA slot. So what are the other two?
HedgeFundManager
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August 7th, 2023 15:00
This is the manual https://i.dell.com/sites/doccontent/business/smb/merchandizing/en/Documents/Dell_Precision_M6800_Spec_Sheet.pdf
the problem is that SATA devices are all that are supported: one sata storage unit and thee dvd drive is sata too
GaryWright
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August 7th, 2023 21:00
That's the spec sheet, not the manual. I've pretty much established that the slots are SATA-only, and there's actually four internal storage options including the optical disc bay.
I guess what I really want to know now is the answer to the second part of my original post... what are the two unaccounted for SATA slots listed in the BIOS/manual... and indeed which numbers correspond to which bays/slots would be useful info too?
Chino de Oro
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August 7th, 2023 23:00
There are two of 2.5" SATA drive bays that will take SATA HDD/SSD.
There is one of mSATA slot that will take mini-half height mSATA SSD.
There is one of optical connector for slotted CD/DVD.
The remaining ports are assigned to external connectors: eSATA, Replicator port.
GaryWright
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August 8th, 2023 11:00
So just to be clear, are you saying that the other two SATA options that can be toggled on or off in the BIOS are for the laptop's onboard eSATA/USB combo port and the same for the one on the docking station?
Do you have any idea which SATA option applies to which SATA port/slot? Like I said, they're just listed as SATA-0 through SATA-5 in the BIOS with no indication which is which.
Thanks for the input so far.