SSD replacement for ASUS UX31A

[Fardringle]

One of my wife's coworkers brought me his ASUS UX31A ultrabook to "look at" because it has started getting frequent blue screen errors over the past few days with no known recent changes in hardware or software. After some troubleshooting, including memtest (overnight with no errors), and WhoCrashed to analyze the blue screen errors (almost all pointing to "unknown" drivers related to NTOSKRNL or to "Bad Pool Header", it looks like the SSD might be failing since drive test utilities run for a short while and then report errors and immediately afterwards the laptop locks up completely and goes to a black/gray screen and the only way to recover is a hard reboot.

So, I'm thinking he needs a replacement SSD, but from my limited reading it appears that ASUS used an XM11 SSD with a proprietary connector in this laptop and I haven't had any success finding a suitable replacement. Is it possible to replace the SSD? If so, where can I get him a 128GB or 256GB that won't break the bank?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

Doesn't seem like there are many options: https://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/200552/Replacement+of+the+SSD.

 

[Fardringle]

That's what I found as well. Thanks.

 

[gus6464]

I replaced the ssd on a UX30A recently and it's an easy fix. Get the 18-pin to msata adapter on ebay or amazon then drop an 850 EVO msata in there.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/M-2-NGFF-SS...for-Zenbook-/381344233790?hash=item58c9e3393e

http://www.ebay.com/itm/M-2-NGFF-SS...k-128G-256G-/151783637657?hash=item2357028299

http://www.amazon.com/ZTC-Thunder-R...439916840&sr=8-7&keywords=asus+18+pin+adapter

 

[Fardringle]

Thanks, gus6464. I had looked at that adapter but saw some reviews in other places that said it didn't fit properly. But I believe the internal layout of the UX30A and UX31A are identical so it should work. He's cheap and won't pay for an EVO, though, so I'll just get him something cheap (but not junk) to match his cheap attitude.

 

[gus6464]

Thanks, gus6464. I had looked at that adapter but saw some reviews in other places that said it didn't fit properly. But I believe the internal layout of the UX30A and UX31A are identical so it should work. He's cheap and won't pay for an EVO, though, so I'll just get him something cheap (but not junk) to match his cheap attitude.

128gb 850 EVO is like $100. He wants cheaper than that?

 

[Fardringle]

Yep, he insisted that it couldn't cost more than $50, which seems silly to me, but he refused to go for a $100 EVO, so he picked out a cheap drive and ordered it along with the adapter card. I told him I'll install it for him but won't support it if (when) the cheap drive dies again..

 

[gus6464]

Ahh I didn't even know they made msata drives that cheap. Which one did he order?

 

[Fardringle]

He ordered this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LNF1RVM?redirect=true&ref_=ya_st_dp_summary
I've never even heard of the brand name, but it has decent reviews, including some that specifically say it was used with that adapter card in the ASUS laptop, so hopefully it will work OK.

 

[Fardringle]

Well, I got the SSD and the adapter installed and cloned from an image of the old drive. It seems to be working fine so far, and while it's not going to break any speed records, it appears to be getting reasonably acceptable benchmarks for a super cheap drive that's mostly full..

Now I just need to figure out what junk I can remove from the drive before he complains about it being nearly full, since that's going to be my fault now that I replaced the drive, even though he's the one that filled it up...