Question external m.2

bjlockie

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Dec 10, 2005
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I was planning to use an external M.2 enclosure with a spare Nvme drive (HP EX900) but it doesn't recognize the drive (tested in 4 computers, USB2, USB3, powered USB3 hub).
I am using the USB-A plug but I did try the USB-C plug on one computer.

I tried another drive (Kingston SNVS500G) and it works on the USB-A plug.
The HP just says it is 3.3V (no amps specified).
The Kingston says it is 3.3V and 1A.
The HP drive used to work in a computer but it could be dead or it could be power related.

Would an M.2 Sata drive use less power that an Nvme drive?
 

Tech Junky

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Jan 27, 2022
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Well because it fits both B and M key doesn't make it work for both types of drives. Which enclosure is it? The other option would be put it into the PC and boot live Linux and see if it sees the drive.
 

Tech Junky

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Jan 27, 2022
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1672107737919.png

Interesting setup. Hard to say though exactly what they did here but, it seems almost like they put different controllers based on which USB you use.

If I'm deciphering this correctly ...

C - NVME
A - SATA

Who knows for sure since they didn't list the controller they used.

I tried one of these in the past before picking up a Plugable
The controller they use is listed on the page - RTL9210B

Plugable

I didn't test it with a SATA drive though so, I can't confirm whether it works with both.

PCIE / NVME drives only have M-key
SATA M2's started off in B key only and later added M to the mix IIRC

B gets x2 PCIE Lanes / M gets x4 -
SATA (750MB/s / 6gbps) but, on average only gets ~500-550MB/s when internal.
 

bjlockie

Member
Dec 10, 2005
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I installed the HP EX900 in a Nvme to PCI card and it still works.
Code:
$ sudo smartctl -a /dev/nvme0n1
smartctl 7.3 2022-02-28 r5338 [x86_64-linux-5.19.0-26-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-22, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Number:                       HP SSD EX900 250GB
Serial Number:                      HBSE28480300247
Firmware Version:                   R0802B0
PCI Vendor ID:                      0x1dee
PCI Vendor Subsystem ID:            0x126f
IEEE OUI Identifier:                0x000000
Controller ID:                      1
NVMe Version:                       1.3
Number of Namespaces:               1
Namespace 1 Size/Capacity:          250,059,350,016 [250 GB]
Namespace 1 Formatted LBA Size:     512
Namespace 1 IEEE EUI-64:            010000 0000000000
Local Time is:                      Tue Dec 27 15:46:47 2022 EST
Firmware Updates (0x06):            3 Slots
Optional Admin Commands (0x0006):   Format Frmw_DL
Optional NVM Commands (0x005f):     Comp Wr_Unc DS_Mngmt Wr_Zero Sav/Sel_Feat Timestmp
Log Page Attributes (0x0f):         S/H_per_NS Cmd_Eff_Lg Ext_Get_Lg Telmtry_Lg
Maximum Data Transfer Size:         64 Pages
Warning  Comp. Temp. Threshold:     70 Celsius
Critical Comp. Temp. Threshold:     80 Celsius

Supported Power States
St Op     Max   Active     Idle   RL RT WL WT  Ent_Lat  Ex_Lat
 0 +     9.00W       -        -    0  0  0  0        0       0

Supported LBA Sizes (NSID 0x1)
Id Fmt  Data  Metadt  Rel_Perf
 0 +     512       0         0

=== START OF SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

SMART/Health Information (NVMe Log 0x02)
Critical Warning:                   0x00
Temperature:                        54 Celsius
Available Spare:                    100%
Available Spare Threshold:          10%
Percentage Used:                    1%
Data Units Read:                    18,218,856 [9.32 TB]
Data Units Written:                 17,598,374 [9.01 TB]
Host Read Commands:                 142,789,612
Host Write Commands:                822,631,432
Controller Busy Time:               68,601,621
Power Cycles:                       1,402
Power On Hours:                     14,565
Unsafe Shutdowns:                   150
Media and Data Integrity Errors:    0
Error Information Log Entries:      0
Warning  Comp. Temperature Time:    15
Critical Comp. Temperature Time:    0

Error Information (NVMe Log 0x01, 16 of 256 entries)
No Errors Logged

Is the
Supported Power States
St Op Max Active Idle RL RT WL WT Ent_Lat Ex_Lat
0 + 9.00W - - 0 0 0 0 0 0
causing the problem for USB?

My Samsung 980 says:
Code:
$ sudo smartctl -a /dev/nvme0n1
smartctl 7.3 2022-02-28 r5338 [x86_64-linux-6.1.0-060100rc3-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-22, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Number:                       Samsung SSD 980 500GB
Serial Number:                      S64ENU0T708170P
Firmware Version:                   2B4QFXO7
PCI Vendor/Subsystem ID:            0x144d
IEEE OUI Identifier:                0x002538
Total NVM Capacity:                 500,107,862,016 [500 GB]
Unallocated NVM Capacity:           0
Controller ID:                      5
NVMe Version:                       1.4
Number of Namespaces:               1
Namespace 1 Size/Capacity:          500,107,862,016 [500 GB]
Namespace 1 Utilization:            161,171,480,576 [161 GB]
Namespace 1 Formatted LBA Size:     512
Namespace 1 IEEE EUI-64:            002538 d721a6b16c
Local Time is:                      Tue Dec 27 15:56:05 2022 EST
Firmware Updates (0x16):            3 Slots, no Reset required
Optional Admin Commands (0x0017):   Security Format Frmw_DL Self_Test
Optional NVM Commands (0x0055):     Comp DS_Mngmt Sav/Sel_Feat Timestmp
Log Page Attributes (0x0f):         S/H_per_NS Cmd_Eff_Lg Ext_Get_Lg Telmtry_Lg
Maximum Data Transfer Size:         512 Pages
Warning  Comp. Temp. Threshold:     82 Celsius
Critical Comp. Temp. Threshold:     85 Celsius
Namespace 1 Features (0x10):        NP_Fields

Supported Power States
St Op     Max   Active     Idle   RL RT WL WT  Ent_Lat  Ex_Lat
 0 +     5.24W       -        -    0  0  0  0        0       0
 1 +     4.49W       -        -    1  1  1  1        0       0
 2 +     2.19W       -        -    2  2  2  2        0     500                                                                     
 3 -   0.0500W       -        -    3  3  3  3      210    1200                                                                     
 4 -   0.0050W       -        -    4  4  4  4     1000    9000                                                                     
                                                                                                                                  
Supported LBA Sizes (NSID 0x1)                                                                                                     
Id Fmt  Data  Metadt  Rel_Perf                                                                                                     
 0 +     512       0         0                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                  
=== START OF SMART DATA SECTION ===                                                                                               
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED                                                                           
                                                                                                                                  
SMART/Health Information (NVMe Log 0x02)                                                                                           
Critical Warning:                   0x00
Temperature:                        25 Celsius
Available Spare:                    100%
Available Spare Threshold:          10%
Percentage Used:                    0%
Data Units Read:                    2,432,388 [1.24 TB]
Data Units Written:                 2,329,152 [1.19 TB]
Host Read Commands:                 73,152,438
Host Write Commands:                81,100,340
Controller Busy Time:               79
Power Cycles:                       125
Power On Hours:                     85
Unsafe Shutdowns:                   7
Media and Data Integrity Errors:    0
Error Information Log Entries:      0
Warning  Comp. Temperature Time:    98
Critical Comp. Temperature Time:    0
Temperature Sensor 1:               25 Celsius
Temperature Sensor 2:               26 Celsius
Thermal Temp. 2 Transition Count:   9597
Thermal Temp. 2 Total Time:         4743

Error Information (NVMe Log 0x01, 16 of 64 entries)
No Errors Logged
 

Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
3,365
1,118
106
Could be. It's a bit odd to only see a single output for power as there should be a few options to make it compatible with different mounting options such as in system or in enclosure.

Code:
=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Number:                       WDS100T1X0E-00AFY0
Serial Number:                      
Firmware Version:                   614900WD
PCI Vendor/Subsystem ID:            0x15b7
IEEE OUI Identifier:                0x001b44
Total NVM Capacity:                 1,000,204,886,016 [1.00 TB]
Unallocated NVM Capacity:           0
Controller ID:                      8224
NVMe Version:                       1.4
Number of Namespaces:               1
Namespace 1 Size/Capacity:          1,000,204,886,016 [1.00 TB]
Namespace 1 Formatted LBA Size:     512
Namespace 1 IEEE EUI-64:            001b44 8b41008ee5
Local Time is:                      Tue Dec 27 15:08:19 2022 CST
Firmware Updates (0x14):            2 Slots, no Reset required
Optional Admin Commands (0x0017):   Security Format Frmw_DL Self_Test
Optional NVM Commands (0x00df):     Comp Wr_Unc DS_Mngmt Wr_Zero Sav/Sel_Feat Timestmp Verify
Log Page Attributes (0x1e):         Cmd_Eff_Lg Ext_Get_Lg Telmtry_Lg Pers_Ev_Lg
Maximum Data Transfer Size:         128 Pages
Warning  Comp. Temp. Threshold:     84 Celsius
Critical Comp. Temp. Threshold:     88 Celsius
Namespace 1 Features (0x02):        NA_Fields

Supported Power States
St Op     Max   Active     Idle   RL RT WL WT  Ent_Lat  Ex_Lat
 0 +     9.00W    9.00W       -    0  0  0  0        0       0
 1 +     4.10W    4.10W       -    0  0  0  0        0       0
 2 +     3.50W    3.50W       -    0  0  0  0        0       0
 3 -   0.0250W       -        -    3  3  3  3     5000   10000
 4 -   0.0050W       -        -    4  4  4  4     3900   45700

Supported LBA Sizes (NSID 0x1)
Id Fmt  Data  Metadt  Rel_Perf
 0 +     512       0         2
 1 -    4096       0         1

=== START OF SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

SMART/Health Information (NVMe Log 0x02)
Critical Warning:                   0x00
Temperature:                        38 Celsius
Available Spare:                    100%
Available Spare Threshold:          10%
Percentage Used:                    0%
Data Units Read:                    15,125,351 [7.74 TB]
Data Units Written:                 25,570,126 [13.0 TB]
Host Read Commands:                 295,317,008
Host Write Commands:                412,831,904
Controller Busy Time:               360
Power Cycles:                       53
Power On Hours:                     9,425
Unsafe Shutdowns:                   46
Media and Data Integrity Errors:    0
Error Information Log Entries:      0
Warning  Comp. Temperature Time:    0
Critical Comp. Temperature Time:    0

Error Information (NVMe Log 0x01, 16 of 256 entries)
No Errors Logged

One thing that comes to mind is a potential FW update - https://www.multipointe.com/downloads-hp-ssd-support/

https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1880791#p1880791 - this looks like a possibility to try as well

Looks like maybe you cloned the drive?? Since both outputs are using nvme0n1 it could be something dumb like a UUID conflict causing it not to mount from the enclosure.
 

bjlockie

Member
Dec 10, 2005
176
3
81
One thing that comes to mind is a potential FW update

I looked for one but everything I found was for EX920+ so I wasn't sure.
I'd have to find a Windows machine.
I don't know why manufacturers don't make a bootable USB flash drive.
That would work from any OS.
I've ordered a new drive anyways, it is to see if I can boot from it on a raspberry pi. :)
 

Tech Junky

Diamond Member
Jan 27, 2022
3,365
1,118
106
Yeah, firmware utilities are a pain outside of windows. All you really need is a bootable windows USB and drop to dos and run the update on some of them. Or spin up a VM and mount the drive and flash it.
 
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bjlockie

Member
Dec 10, 2005
176
3
81
The new drive only has one power state too. :-(
Code:
The new drive only has one power state too. :-(

Supported Power States
St Op     Max   Active     Idle   RL RT WL WT  Ent_Lat  Ex_Lat
 0 +     6.00W       -        -    0  0  0  0        0       0

It shows up though.
I can use smart on it but I haven't figured out the nvme-cli yet (I don't think I can and I wanted to know why controller it uses).