Dell Inspiron 3050 Micro Desktop - Discussion/Help

degsie

Following on from the BA for the Dell Inspiron 3050 Micro Desktop, this thread was created to provide a focus some non-BA discussions like upgrading/modding/user tips etc..

So,
Original BA thread:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057490986

Dell product page:
http://www.dell.com/ie/p/inspiron-3050-micro-desktop/pd

Some good info on teardown and modding here:
http://www.atxgeek.me/2015/05/dell-inspiron-3050-micro-teardown.html

Link to manuals:
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/inspiron-3050-micro-desktop/manuals

Please share your experiences and questions.

Mahogany Gaspipe

Does anyone have an idea of a suitable storage upgrade?

After reading that atxgeek tear-down I am confused on the difference between PCIe vs. SATA connections. The installed drive is a 42mm M.2 card which are associated with PCIe and therefore the upgraded card should be likewise, correct?!

Also, do I need speakers? I will be connecting to a speakerless monitor.

BabySlam

Does anybody know is it a regular 3.0 usb it takes or the ultra usb 3.0 please? (to do the win 10 installation)

SmallTeapot

Mine has shipped, so hoping to have it before the end of the week. I intend to use it as a streaming hub initially (add a vpn) and hook it up to my smart tv; later on down the line I will bump the RAM and up the HDD storage (might opt for the lazy route with a external drive or SD card).

I picked up a HDMi In Harvey Normans last week - I assume that will be all I require to connect it to the Smart tv......?

It won't ever be connected to a monitor so I won't invest in VGA adaptor....

Sappy404

Anyone added a drive using the ribbon cable? Any luck accessing it while booting from the original SSD, or does any additional HD need to be a replacement?

Sappy404

Just added a 2nd drive. Seen by the original OS without any setting changes and is now set as my drive. No hassle really but I'd point out two things:

- The connector on the MB has a white bottom part that slides out to accommodate the cable.
- The cable goes in connector-side up, i.e. the gold connectors should face you as you slide it in. It will click in, and you then slide the white bottom bit back in. Use a tweezers or two ends of a paper clip to manipulate the white part as it's so small you can't really get to both sides of it with your fingers.

Here's the cable I used. Around €10, 3 week delivery:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/wholesale-for-FOR-HP-Envy-17-Series-Hard-Disk-Connector-with-Cable-DW17-6017B0421601-6017B0421601-F061006R/2053432726.html

I don't know if anyone here can help me with this but recently I was trying to increase space due to the limited amount available and I stupidly messed up the recovery partition on the drive. Totally my own fault and afterwards I was unable to restart Windows or perform a repair install. I thought I might be able to reinstall using my own Windows 8 media but apparently the OS on this is slightly different (Windows 8.1 with Bing)

Anybody know where I could get a copy of the recovery media for this computer; I looked on Dell's website but this option only appears to be available to customers in US and Canada. At the moment I am thinking I might have to look at installing an alternative OS. Any suggestions?

Sappy404

Deleted User wrote: »

I don't know if anyone here can help me with this but recently I was trying to increase space due to the limited amount available and I stupidly messed up the recovery partition on the drive. Totally my own fault and afterwards I was unable to restart Windows or perform a repair install. I thought I might be able to reinstall using my own Windows 8 media but apparently the OS on this is slightly different (Windows 8.1 with Bing)

Anybody know where I could get a copy of the recovery media for this computer; I looked on Dell's website but this option only appears to be available to customers in US and Canada. At the moment I am thinking I might have to look at installing an alternative OS. Any suggestions?

Contact support. You can call them on 1850 543 543. Online chat might be good too.

thecivvie

Sappy404 wrote: »

Just added a 2nd drive. Seen by the original OS without any setting changes and is now set as my drive. No hassle really but I'd point out two things:

- The connector on the MB has a white bottom part that slides out to accommodate the cable.
- The cable goes in connector-side up, i.e. the gold connectors should face you as you slide it in. It will click in, and you then slide the white bottom bit back in. Use a tweezers or two ends of a paper clip to manipulate the white part as it's so small you can't really get to both sides of it with your fingers.

Here's the cable I used. Around €10, 3 week delivery:

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/wholesale-for-FOR-HP-Envy-17-Series-Hard-Disk-Connector-with-Cable-DW17-6017B0421601-6017B0421601-F061006R/2053432726.html

Was it a second m.2 ssd that you added or what

Sappy404

thecivvie wrote: »

Was it a second m.2 ssd that you added or what

It was a 2.5" HDD that I took from a broken laptop. The lid of the unit has a housing for disks of that size.