Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2018 July 8

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July 8

M.2 port which disables a SATA port when used?

My motherboard, Asus Pro Gaming Z170 has an M.2 slot and the manual says that when the M.2 slot is in use, SATA port 1 cannot be used. Does that mean that M.2 traffic for this motherboard is using some SATA channel and not the PCI-E channels? My understanding is that PCI-E lanes are needed for the M.2 port to reach the 32 GB/s maximum throughput of the M.2 Nvme specification so if this M.2 port is sharing a SATA channel then it must be limited to 8 GB/s right? --185.230.100.66 (talk) 15:41, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

Not necessarily. Some SATA ports use up PCI-E resources. This review[1] says "Then we have an M.2 Socket 3 connector running off PCIe 3.0 x4 mode and transferring data at a blistering 32 Gb/s which at least six times higher than the traditional PCIe 2.0 x1 could provide (5 Gb/s). It also offers a lengthy mounting area of PCIe/SATA storage devices supporting up to 110 mm of length. When the M.2 socket is operating in SATA mode, the SATA 6Gb/s port 1 will be disabled." --Guy Macon (talk) 17:08, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

Thanks, Guy :) 185.230.100.66 (talk) 10:13, 9 July 2018 (UTC)

Did I just buy a brick?

I just purchased a Lenovo Tab 4 Plus, 8 inch Android Tablet,[2] to replace an old Samsung Galaxy Tab 4[3] that has hardware issues. I have no intention of connecting to any cell phone network; this is just for use with WiFi.

When I power it up it says "No SIM card. Please insert a SIM card" with no obvious way to dismiss the message and continue.

So, did I just buy a brick, or is there some secret to getting it to work as a WiFi-only tablet?

As a last resort, I suppose I can buy a cheap prepaid SIM card[4] and turn on Airplane mode so it never uses any minutes, assuming that the tablet isn't one of those annoying ones that helpfully turn off airplane mode every time you power off. Would this work?

I just spent 40 minutes searching on Google and could not find a solution. --Guy Macon (talk) 16:33, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

I don't know the machine, but it should operate with any SIM of the right kind, no matter if it has a contract or credit (in the case of prepaids). In particular, you do not need to switch on Airplane mode, which typically disables all wireless connections, including WiFi. Maybe the tablet even only needs a SIM on first start, in which case you can possibly pop out and use the one from your phone (assuming you have one). Good luck. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 17:02, 8 July 2018 (UTC)

Yes, activation procedures often require a sim card. I once used a sin-card from another country, which was not suitable for practical use. Ruslik_Zero 17:09, 9 July 2018 (UTC)

Bought a cheap pre-paid sim card from Amazon, didn't activate it, and the Lenovo Tab 4 Plus booted just fine and accesses the Internet through WiFi with no problem. Silly of them to not have a "I don't have a SIM card; use WiFi" option... --Guy Macon (talk) 02:13, 13 July 2018 (UTC)