24 hours old NOVA laptop: 2nd M.2 Drive is not showing/working anymore.

[mrlip]

This is even worse. If they knew but still choose to sell it this way.

That’s what I was saying in my first post on this thread, PCS and Clevo might not be aware. A lot of users don’t go for 2 .M2 drives and just have 1 or 1 and a SATA Drive. So it needs raising with PCS so they can discuss with Clevo to see if it can resolved.

in the meantime, I would just use 1 M2 and 1 SATA if you need the storage

 

[LauBus]

If I recall in your first post you were saying there had been quite a few reports of this issue. How come they not know while you do. It's their job, they should know better. I ordered this PC for a specific job so we could finish on time and instead I can't use the laptop till whenever they find a solution. Definitely frustrating and their lack of reactivity is not helping. Anyway no point for me to keep bugging you guys with my frustration, I apreciate your help.

 

[ubuysa]

Both drives showed the first day I got the laptop. If that was a motherboard issues why would it have worked at all the first day? Not saying it's not the case, just seems odd.

Now that's interesting, I hadn't realised you did see both drives for a time. That begs the question; what changed?

 

[mrlip]

If I recall in your first post you were saying there had been quite a few reports of this issue. How come they not know while you do. It's their job, they should know better. I ordered this PC for a specific job so we could finish on time and instead I can't use the laptop till whenever they find a solution. Definitely frustrating and their lack of reactivity is not helping. Anyway no point for me to keep bugging you guys with my frustration, I apreciate your help.

im just 1 user reporting it though. And then there was another user. And now yourself, so at least 3 cases that we know of. So PCS can see it isn’t an isolated issue was my point.

As I say, I would just swap it out for a SATA SSD for now until PCS can look into it and discuss with Clevo hopefully

 

[mrlip]

Now that's interesting, I hadn't realised you did see both drives for a time. That begs the question; what changed?

Nothing will have changed Ubusya. It does show ok for periods of time but as soon as you try write any decent amount of data too it, it will fall apart and disappear. Usually won’t appear again until you unseat and reseat it. Then rinse and repeat.

 

[ubuysa]

Nothing will have changed Ubusya. It does show ok for periods of time but as soon as you try write any decent amount of data too it, it will fall apart and disappear. Usually won’t appear again until you unseat and reseat it. Then rinse and repeat.

Have you tried swapping the drives around to see whether it's a port issue?

 

[LauBus]

Now that's interesting, I hadn't realised you did see both drives for a time. That begs the question; what changed?

Yes, strange. When I got it only the first M.2 was formatted with Windows. The second was showing but needed to be formatted. Which I did. Then I started installing softwares and copying files on both drives. I restarted the laptop a few times between software installations. All good. then the next morning the second drive was gone...

 

[ubuysa]

Yes, strange. When I got it only the first M.2 was formatted with Windows. The second was showing but needed to be formatted. Which I did. Then I started installing softwares and copying files on both drives. I restarted the laptop a few times between software installations. All good. then the next morning the second drive was gone...

If you swap the drives around (and boot the install media if Windows won't then boot) you should be able to tell whether the issue persists with the same drive. It could simply be a flaky SSD.

 

[mrlip]

If you swap the drives around (and boot the install media if Windows won't then boot) you should be able to tell whether the issue persists with the same drive. It could simply be a flaky SSD.

Swapping the drives around made no difference when I had the issue. I think it’s a PCI/e lane limitation on the board

 

[ubuysa]

Swapping the drives around made no difference when I had the issue. I think it’s a PCI/e lane limitation on the board

OK, worth a try though.

 

[dylgri]

I had the same issue I sent it back the first time and they replaced the the m.2 ssd when I got it back tried downloading files onto that drive and it disappears again. I’m waiting for DPD to collect it to send it back again

 

[FerrariVie]

I had the same issue I sent it back the first time and they replaced the the m.2 ssd when I got it back tried downloading files onto that drive and it disappears again. I’m waiting for DPD to collect it to send it back again

Yeah, as we imagined, it is not an SSD issue. Is any of your nvme drives from Samsung? Would you mind sharing make and model of both your drives?

We're trying to find a pattern 😉

 

[dylgri]

My problem is the pcs 1tb drive I have a samsung 500gb one but have no problems with it, I wonder will they fix it this time

 

[FerrariVie]

My problem is the pcs 1tb drive I have a samsung 500gb one but have no problems with it, I wonder will they fix it this time

Have you tried swapping the drives on the m.2 slots? If when doing so the Samsung drive stops working or you start facing weird issues (like crashes and BSODs), then it is not an issue with the PCS drive. I doubt 2 PCS drives in a row will have issues, but who knows?

It's just my educated guess from what I've read on this and other forums and was also explained by @mrlip (who faced the issue himself) on his above posts.

 

[dylgri]

I’ve swapped the drives and they have put 2 new drives in it and still the same it is weird because it you can see the drive sometimes but when you download files or games onto it the drive crashes and disappears

 

[FerrariVie]

I’ve swapped the drives and they have put 2 new drives in it and still the same it is weird because it you can see the drive sometimes but when you download files or games onto it the drive crashes and disappears

Yeah, as I imagined. I'm guessing again, but it looks to me that the mobo is not able to handle another nvme if you have one gen3 drive. So my theory is:
- 2 nvmes: slot 1 with gen3 and slot 2 with gen2 = doesn't work (even though the manual states that it does)
- 2 nvmes: slot 1 with gen1/gen2 and slot 2 with gen1/gen2 = might work (as confirmed by @lauwai on his post, intel on the 1st slot and PCS on the second)
- 1 nvme gen3 and 1 sata (either m.2 or 2.5") = definitely works, but if using an m.2 sata, the nvme will run with gen2 speeds

There is still something yet to be tested: a gen3 drive not from Samsung, as everyone seems to be selecting samsung for their fast drives at the moment.

The quick solution for your problem will be either replacing one nvme by a Sata drive (suggestion: 2.5"), or replacing your fast samsung drive (likely gen3) by a slower gen2 drive and hope that it will work.

 

[dylgri]

I guess I would have to buy a new m.2 ssd if that happens or will pcs just put one in for me ?

 

[FerrariVie]

I guess I would have to buy a new m.2 ssd if that happens or will pcs just put one in for me ?

You need to speak to them about it, I have no idea. But since you bought the laptop that was supposed to run with both NVME drives and is not, I assume they might be able to replace one for a different type, if the price is same/similar.

 

[dylgri]

Yeah I will have to call them DPD collected it today so probs won’t get it back for 3 weeks that’s how long they had it last time

 

[Scott]

I'm thinking there may be some misunderstanding with the compatibility of the drives and a limitation with the BIOS itself also.

There is a limitation of the chipset that's listed, PCIe 2.0x4 would be the slower M2 NVMe drives, with PCIe 3.0x4 being the faster lane option.

My guess here is that plugging in a PCIe 3.0 device into the 2.0 lane is causing the problem as the system is inadvertently trying to operate at full speed. This may be happening once the full throughput of the primary drive is realised via driver updates (hence why sometimes it is seen working). No matter what you do you aren't going to get full speed out of the M2 drive in the 2nd slot so it's probably a wasted purchase to go for anything particularly high end.

The BIOS/Chipset should be configured to handle this though as it's like putting in DDR4000 RAM into a 3200Mhz system, it'll still operate... just at a lower frequency.

With the findings though, the obvious immediate fix is to limit the M2 selection of this particular chassis to the lower spec M2 drives for the secondary drop down. That should at least put a band aid over the problem for future customers while Clevo come up with a BIOS fix to allow for the drive to be used at lowered speeds.