Question Two New Samsung 870 SSDs

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Carrying the conversation over here from : https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/another-once-in-a-generation-weather-event-is-coming.2609402/

Crystal Disk Info was suggested to check for write information before loading. I have Crystal Disk Mark and Samsung Magician.

 

[Tech Junky]

Since weather isn't related to drives and you have your post history restricted and I'm not flipping through 8 pages of that thread you could just post the info you're looking for/

CDM measures speed
CDI shows info

...

 

[igor_kavinski]

CrystalDiskInfo is a free download. Ideally, SSDs should have zero writes if brand new.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Discussion over there starts at post 126.

Shouldn't/doesn't Magician tell me the same thing?

 

[Tech Junky]

Shouldn't/doesn't Magician tell me the same thing?

No, Magician is primarily for FW updates and cloning from one drive to a new one.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

This is what Magician shows straight out of the box for both units. Nothing has been done to either other than plug into a USB adapter cable (which I'm not entirely sure of). Should it show different? Does something need to be done to the drives for this information to show?




The first two that show on the top bar are my active C and E drives.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

This is Crystal:




The T at the end of the S/N is also on the drive itself, but not on the outer box.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Updated Magician to the latest, same screen shows as above.

 

[Tech Junky]

I'm going to assume the 250 is in an enclosure and some controllers don't pass the full info to the os. What do you want to be able to see?

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Shouldn't Magician show the same info Crystal does?

 

[Tech Junky]

Shouldn't Magician show the same info Crystal does?

Not if the Enclosure Controller doesn't pass the SMART info.

 

[Tech Junky]

SS drives are temperamental when it comes to what they pass to the OS depending on how they're attached. This is a known thing and if you look through reviews for SS drives in enclosures you find which ones work and which ones don't. Magician isn't powerful enough to work with some enclosures and thus results in missing info in the app and lack of abilities to use it properly when using a drive externally.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

It's a very old enclosure, so ...

Looking at some cables that say USB 3 and SMART capable.

Or I may just install one in the second bay of another identical notebook and see what happens.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Other option is to do a backup restore using Acronis instead of trying to clone with Samsung's tools.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Second drive bay in second laptop ... Magician reads it fine.

 

[igor_kavinski]

You need a UASP capable enclosure for the drive to pass all info over USB.

 

[Tech Junky]

Second drive bay in second laptop ... Magician reads it fine.

The it's the ensure controller blocking the info.

 

[igor_kavinski]

View attachment 73622

Looks good!

Keep checking how many gigabytes written every 6 months and you can kinda estimate the remaining life based on your average use. Like if it says 1 terabyte written in 6 months and drive rated endurance is like 150TB, you used up 0.66% of your drive's life.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

My crippled Acronis version is not doing things properly. I get very stressed very easily when things don't go as expected. To the point of being unable to concentrate or relate details.

It did the backup fine as far as I can tell based on the time/date stamp of the file.

But when I try to restore it to the other machine, the result is not the most current file.

The drive in the other machine is still the Intel SSD that I'm trying to upgrade. I was hoping to get a new good image there before I remove it, or use it to clone to the new 870 SSD. I can't figure it out and it's taking a toll on me. I'm trying one last time, but if it doesn't work, I'm not sure what the next step will be.

I may have to wit until I can get a new SMART compatible cable and try the Samsung Clone tool.


But even if I do that, how can I be sure I'll be able to do backup and restores effectively?

Should I just scrap Acronis and go to Macrium?

Get a different version of Acronis? I can't find one that doesn't have an annual fee.

No, I'm not a well person at all. Problems too many to mention.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Should I just scrap Acronis and go to Macrium?

Yes. Works 99.9% of the time, in my experience.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I may have to wit until I can get a new SMART compatible cable and try the Samsung Clone tool.

UASP supporting enclosure. Cable got nothing to do with SMART.

 

[Tech Junky]

SMART compatible cable

It's not the cable it's the enclosure.

If you want to make things easy you could clone with a simple cable if it's a SATA source or even within the same PC. Inside the same PC would be the quickest method as it uses the internal cable / bus which is always faster than the external connection.

Put both drives in and then use clonezlla to make a direct copy to the new drive and it will be done in minutes. When it's done you pop out the old drive and boot to the new one. If you don't remove the old one you'll need to generate a new UUID since that's been copied to the new drive and you'll have a conflict if you don't.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071GRCGF4

This is what I use for SATA drives and it works with both 2.5/3.5 drives with the power adapter. No need for enclosures and messing around with seating them and closing them. Just plug it in on both ends and away you go.

Now if you want a M2 dock those are available too where you just drop it into the slot and proceed like any other method.

Amazon.com: xiaolajiao Laptop Docking Stations, USB C Dock, USB Docking Station, M.2 SATA/NVMe Dual Protocol Drive Base, Type-c 3.1 Support 2TB SSD Mobile Hard Drive Enclosure, Compatible with Systems : Electronics

Amazon.com: xiaolajiao Laptop Docking Stations, USB C Dock, USB Docking Station, M.2 SATA/NVMe Dual Protocol Drive Base, Type-c 3.1 Support 2TB SSD Mobile Hard Drive Enclosure, Compatible with Systems : Electronics

www.amazon.com

https://www.amazon.com/AMZPILOT-Docking-Station-Adapter-Enclosure/dp/B0BBZSNTX7

 

[Tech Junky]

Guess I should note that clonezilla will work with your existing enclosure most likely w/o any issue unlike SS Magician.

 

[Lost_in_the_HTTP]

Both machines are notebooks. No inside SATA cables.

There is a second bay, so I could go that route if nothing else works. Samsung's migration tool should handle that. I just don't like opening these things up.

When I say transfer cable, I'm looking at something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Drive-Adapter-Cable-Support-Black/dp/B07S9CKV7X

https://www.amazon.com/Adapter-External-Connector-Converter-Auto-Sleep/dp/B09G6PTCKW

 

[Tech Junky]

OK, then slot it in the 2nd socket and clone from there. You have to open it anyway to put the new drive in when you're done.

Those cables are a best guess at best. The one SKL at least lists that it's using a ASM controller. The cables would indicate that you're connecting a 2.5" drive to them whish is good to know since the SS drives can also be M2 SATA or NVME as well.

I open my laptop quite frequently to clean it out and 10-15 screws shouldn't be a big deal. If you take your time you wont' break anything. Mostly it's just a worry about flexing the bottom panel when tugging it loose from the main body.

Then again on my current laptop I went barebones and had to install my own NVME / RAM / WIFI and then swapped the screen for a 4K120 because FHD just sucks IMO. By going barebones and doing it myself I now have a rig that could be priced at ~$4K and all in I'm under $2K.