NVMe drive failed

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MRMARTIN HUTCHINGS473

New member
Hi all,
My PC has given me a SMART error message in the BIOS telling me my SSD is about to fail. I removed the second SDD, where most of my data is, and put that in a USB caddy and it works fine. So I'm sure its the SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2 drive. I don't really fancy having to unscrew the plate on the motherboard to take the drive out. Its also the windows drive so the PC won't boot anymore.

I have gone into the BIOS and tried to do the Boot override by selecting the M.2 drive but it does nothing. Briefly flashes the monitor black and then back to the BIOS. So that would suggest the drive is still identifying as a drive but windows is toast.

I would like to try an get the PC to start again so I can see if the any data on the drive can be recovered. The PC is just within its 3 year warrantee so I could send it back to PCSpecialist and see what they can fix.
I have a number of options. Swap out the 2nd SDD which has most of my data on it and put in a new clean one where I can install windows and try to get the PC to reboot and see if the NVMe drive is readable. Buy a NVMe enclosure and plug it into a laptop to see if the drive is recoverable. Alternatively send the PC to PCSpecialist to get them to fix it as I believe the warrantee still covers me for labour. I don't know if their service will include data recovery or if they can just return the old NVMe drive back to me so I can see if I can recover it myself.

I know where the NVMe drive is on the motherboard but its behind a metal plate just below the GPU and its a bit of pain to get to. As the PC is still under some warrantee I don't want to really risk making the situation worse by breaking anything while trying to fix it.

So anyone have experience with returning a PC for fixing? Would it be easier if I just tried to fix it myself? Any advice much appreciated.
 
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TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
If you have access to another computer, you could try downloading the Windows Media Creation Tool to allow you to build a USB install disk (min 8GB, USB3 preferably) to boot from to see if the SSD is still recognised.

Data recovery/backup is your responsibility, so PCS won't offer anything other than a replacement SSD (if the SSD is in warranty). So buying a new replacement from Amazon may be your quickest/cheapest option...assuming it is the SSD that has failed and not just come a bit loose (which is shouldn't). However, SSDs tends to give very little warning when they're failing, so if you've got the warning, it's probably already toast.

Unless you've got a particularly small case, or motherboard, I can't see why getting to the main m.2 slot would be particularly difficult....it's not like it's underneath a 3-slot GPU like the 2nd/3rd/4th slots usually are.

If you give us some more detail about your build (from your order page), I'm sure someone can guide you!
 
M

MRMARTIN HUTCHINGS473

New member
Thanks for the replies.

Its a SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS. The Motherboard is a ROG STRIX X299-E GAMING II. I can see the plate the NVMe is under and I'm sure I can get it out. I might need to remove the GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti but I can just get my hand into the gap. So I think its all possible to do I just wanted to look for my easiest option.

I did build a USB boot drive last night and will try it out this evening to see if the drive can be found. If it gives me a repair option then I might try that but I really want to make sure I don't lose any data if possible.
I had no warning there was an issue with it. Everything was fine until some apps suddenly started to go slow and a few seconds later the PC froze up, shutdown and rebooted to the error. No blue screen, no warning at all. So I do suspect the drive is gone. I suspect I won't even replace the NVMe drive and just get a second SDD.

From what I've read NVMe drives are prone to suddenly failure due to heat and not always due to hitting their Read/Write limits. The drive will need to be properly analysed to see what's wrong with it. My laptop has had one for 6 years now and its going fine. So it might just be its very close to the GPU and just hasn't lasted as long as it should have.
So I think I will look into get another SDD anyway so I can get it to boot and test the NVMe drive. It might just be a case of me removing that drive and not replacing it.
I'll also give PCS a call and see what they advise and what their repair timescales are like.
 
F

FigmentOfYourImagination

Gold Level Poster
I've never heard of PCS offering a data recovery service.

As to the drive itself, I would imagine they will send a new drive out to you so you can replace it (and return the faulty drive with the courier)....that's what they did when I had a power supply unit fail.
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
MRMARTIN HUTCHINGS473 said:
Thanks for the replies.

Its a SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS. The Motherboard is a ROG STRIX X299-E GAMING II. I can see the plate the NVMe is under and I'm sure I can get it out. I might need to remove the GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti but I can just get my hand into the gap. So I think its all possible to do I just wanted to look for my easiest option.

I did build a USB boot drive last night and will try it out this evening to see if the drive can be found. If it gives me a repair option then I might try that but I really want to make sure I don't lose any data if possible.
I had no warning there was an issue with it. Everything was fine until some apps suddenly started to go slow and a few seconds later the PC froze up, shutdown and rebooted to the error. No blue screen, no warning at all. So I do suspect the drive is gone. I suspect I won't even replace the NVMe drive and just get a second SDD.

From what I've read NVMe drives are prone to suddenly failure due to heat and not always due to hitting their Read/Write limits. The drive will need to be properly analysed to see what's wrong with it. My laptop has had one for 6 years now and its going fine. So it might just be its very close to the GPU and just hasn't lasted as long as it should have.
So I think I will look into get another SDD anyway so I can get it to boot and test the NVMe drive. It might just be a case of me removing that drive and not replacing it.
I'll also give PCS a call and see what they advise and what their repair timescales are like.
Click to expand...
If it's a Samsung then you just need to email them with various photos and they'll sort you, I'll post the email address later when I'm home
 
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MRMARTIN HUTCHINGS473

New member
Hi all,

Thanks all for the responses.
I've got a new NVMe drive, fitted it and reinstalled windows and the PC is running again. Fortunately I had all my data backed up. The broken NVMe drive was recoverable. I could put it into an enclosure and was able to read the data off of it. Its got a SMART error on it and when using the enclosure another windows PC said there was a problem with the drive but I could copy data from it.
PCSpecialist help a huge amount and I didn't need to send the PC in as I was able to fix it myself. After speaking to them they checked and the NVMe drive is still under warrantee. So I'm going to send back the old one via PCSpecialist.
I won't mention all the support people by name because I probably not allowed to do that but I would like to give a shout out to all of those who helped. Great support.
 
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