[Soporose]

Hi all.

I have a stock-standard Mini-9 running Windows XP Home as it came out of the box. It was running fine one day, then on starting up the next day I was confronted with the following:

-----------------------------
Intel UNDI, PXE-2.1 (build 082)
Copyright (c) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation

For Realtek RTL8101E/8102E PCI-E Ethernet Controller v. 1.08 (080408)
PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: exiting PXE ROM
Operating System not found
-----------------------------

Could really use some advice on this folks.

Thanks in advance...

[w7ox]

It could be the system drive connector is loose or the drive has failed. You need to open it up and see if the connector or the drive is loose.

Phil

[holmes4]

The message you are seeing is simply the result of the SSD not being bootable. On the 9, it's EXTREMELY unlikely that a connector became dislodged due to the way the SSD fastens. However. I have seen quite a few reports of Mini 9 SSDs just dying, and this is the most common symptom.

If it is still under warranty, contact Dell for assistance.

[trxify]

Same situation,same message, i've had to use a dremel (carefully)to get the ssd screws off, i have also taken the memory module out then put both back in and ssd is now recognised thank f**k,(out of warranty) this does'nt say a lot for ssd's and i have no confidence it's going to last, not good dell, not good at all!

[Soporose]

My two-year-old desktop (not a Dell!) has a three year on-site warranty which I've never had to claim on.

This Dell Mini-9 comes with a 12 month warranty and craps out in month 13.

Guess how happy I am?

If it needs a new SSD can I buy one somewhere other than from Dell? An Australian source preferably.

Also...

There is just one important file that I'd like to recover if possible. Is there any technique for attempting to recover files from a crapped out SSD? If it was a real hard drive I'd have numerous ways of attempting some sort of recovery.

[holmes4]

I believe that MyDigitalDiscount.com ships internationally. They also have a USD$20 USB adapter for the MiniPCIe SSDs.

You might want to try booting from a USB flash drive version of a Linux distribution to see if it can see the drive.

[Soporose]

Thanks for the suggestions folks.

I opened the back and released and reinserted the RAM and hard drive cards. No loose cables by visual inspection.

A few points...

1. Steve, what does the "USB adapter for the MiniPCIe SSDs" do for me? How does it fit into the picture?

2. The reason I prefer an Australian supplier is for ease of comeback and claims if something goes wrong. If someone can give me the proper description (make/model/whatever) of the SSD for the Mini-9 I could probably search out a supplier. Also, I might even consider one with a greater capacity, depending on price.

3. I have no experience at all with Linux. Can anyone suggest a small, easy to setup distro that would be good for the purpose suggested by Steve (i.e. try booting from a USB drive)?

By the way, I went into the configuration screen and it shows the following:
Fixed HDD: STEC PATA 16 GB-(PM)
HDD Size: 0MB

And on the board itself is: STEC P1850 Rev. C

But I'm not sure if any of this is a description that a non-Dell supplier would recognise.

TIA

[holmes4]

1. It allows you to take the SSD from the Mini 9, insert it into an adapter, and then connect the adapter by USB to a PC where it will appear as a USB hard disk. However, if the SSD is not functioning in the Mini 9, it's likely to not function in the adapter either. One never knows, though.

You have the standard 16GB SSD that Dell provides, manufactured by STEC, a company better known in the OEM and business world than to consumers. That the HDD Size reports as 0MB indicates that the SSD is not working properly.

See Boot and run Linux from a USB flash memory stick | USB Pen Drive Linux

[dsf3g]

The reason you're getting that message is that your min 9 is trying to boot from the network adapter. The reason that's happening is that it cannot see or boot from the SSD.

[Soporose]

Originally Posted by holmes4

1. It allows you to take the SSD from the Mini 9, insert it into an adapter, and then connect the adapter by USB to a PC where it will appear as a USB hard disk. However, if the SSD is not functioning in the Mini 9, it's likely to not function in the adapter either. One never knows, though.

Sounds like a useful piece of hardware to have around and it's certainly cheap enough. I'll see if I can find one locally.

Originally Posted by holmes4

See Boot and run Linux from a USB flash memory stick | USB Pen Drive Linux

Thanks for that tip. I used the "Universal USB Installer" to put "Ubuntu NetBook Remix 9.10" on a 2GB thumb drive. Choosing that particular Linux was just a guess based on the name -- not sure if it's a good choice or not?

Anyway, it just confirms what was suspected, that the drive is kaput.

It'll be a while before I can replace it so I might as well have a play with Linux in the meantime.

Can anyone recommend a dead-simple-for-Linux-beginner tutorial for that distro? The first thing I'd like to do is get it using the built-in wireless to connect to my router, but it's not obvious to me how to do that. The help file is apparently online so I can't call that up.