Quick Question: SSD mostly died (confirmation needed) + possible replacement Aspire E5 575G

kaspalan

Hello, community. My Acer Aspire E5 575G, a 7 y.o. laptop seems to require a new SSD.

In the BIOS (InsydeH20) is not shown (so I assume windows installation tool diskfrag won't read it either), and when I try to start the OS says "No bootable device". Settings in the BIOS are default (boot mode UEFI, secure boot Enabled). I opened the the laptop, unequipped the M.2 SSD, clean the pins gently, used a air blower to clean any possible dust, still dead.

I don't have the equipment to check voltages, and so on, but I am almost certain what died was the SSD, or could it be the motherboard? Is there any other option I can try before sending the laptop to a technician with the tools? Should I sent it to a technician or just assume the SSD died?

And last but not least, in case is the SSD, what good replacement can I buy, keeping in mind the laptop motherboard speed limitation. I don't want to buy an overkill SSD replacement with speeds in MB/s above the motherboard capabilities. Does anybody know the motherboard speed capabilities?

[Edited the thread to add model name to the title]

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/694652/quick-question-ssd-mostly-died-confirmation-needed-possible-replacement

Compressed air or vacuum cleaners are not recommended to clean a PC, the rubber ball bladder blower sold at DIY PC shops and very soft (cosmetics) brush are best. Not sure you have a 2.5" Sata-3 SSD or a M.2 PCIe SSD issue? The Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 (2280) has been tested in this model laptop:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-MZ-V7E1T0BW-V-NAND-Express-Solid/dp/B07CGGP7SV/ref=pd_di_sccai_2/259-1531574-6673644?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07CGJNLBB&pd_rd_r=bf6293ea-01de-45d2-861a-0afc9407b72a&pd_rd_w=MEBZk&pd_rd_wg=eqcHm&pf_rd_p=4d243aa6-d88e-4de2-9cbb-cd5cf6bb2669&pf_rd_r=GJVH4B5BR1PZ8EQ2CW9W&refRID=GJVH4B5BR1PZ8EQ2CW9W&th=1

You can test the SSD in an external SSD USB case or cable on another PC. 7 years is nothing for an SSD, a spinner yes that could be the end, but I doubt your problem is hardware related, more likely a corrupted bootloader. If BIOS cannot detect the SSD, reset BIOS with F9 (in BIOS) and save settings on exit. Alternatively reset the CMOS (Google this forum).

Bring the laptop to a reputable PC repair shop if you cannot find the problem.

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/694652/quick-question-ssd-mostly-died-confirmation-needed-possible-replacement

Just in addition, as you should also check the Disk Management if the boot M.2 SSD is showing there, as you might need to initialize the disk again and give it a drive letter, as that is common and can happen with M.2 SSD drives, especially if you use them as external drives with a USB-C cable, so try that also.

Also, these are the M.2 drives that Acer fits oem to your Aspire E5-575G laptop, which are a PCIe3x2 that have a max read/write speeds of 2000Mbps (see caption below) so fitting a PCIe3x4 is recommended but I wouldn't spend too much on the expensive higher end PCIe3x4 M.2 SSDs as your laptop would never ever utilize their speeds of 3800Mbps read/write speeds, but a mid-range M.2 SSD drive like the WD SN530 would be ideal for your laptop, as its a PCIe3x4 that has a max speed of 2400Mbps. The top of the range PCIe3x4 M.2 SSDs like the Samsung 970 Plus EVO NVMe or the WD SN750 Black would be a total waste of your money as your laptop will never ever utilize their top performance speeds.

Puraw

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/694652/quick-question-ssd-mostly-died-confirmation-needed-possible-replacement

Compressed air or vacuum cleaners are not recommended to clean a PC, the rubber ball bladder blower sold at DIY PC shops and very soft (cosmetics) brush are best. Not sure you have a 2.5" Sata-3 SSD or a M.2 PCIe SSD issue? The Samsung 970 EVO 1 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 (2280) has been tested in this model laptop:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-MZ-V7E1T0BW-V-NAND-Express-Solid/dp/B07CGGP7SV/ref=pd_di_sccai_2/259-1531574-6673644?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07CGJNLBB&pd_rd_r=bf6293ea-01de-45d2-861a-0afc9407b72a&pd_rd_w=MEBZk&pd_rd_wg=eqcHm&pf_rd_p=4d243aa6-d88e-4de2-9cbb-cd5cf6bb2669&pf_rd_r=GJVH4B5BR1PZ8EQ2CW9W&refRID=GJVH4B5BR1PZ8EQ2CW9W&th=1

You can test the SSD in an external SSD USB case or cable on another PC. 7 years is nothing for an SSD, a spinner yes that could be the end, but I doubt your problem is hardware related, more likely a corrupted bootloader. If BIOS cannot detect the SSD, reset BIOS with F9 (in BIOS) and save settings on exit. Alternatively reset the CMOS (Google this forum).

Bring the laptop to a reputable PC repair shop if you cannot find the problem.

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/694652/quick-question-ssd-mostly-died-confirmation-needed-possible-replacement

Just in addition, as you should also check the Disk Management if the boot M.2 SSD is showing there, as you might need to initialize the disk again and give it a drive letter, as that is common and can happen with M.2 SSD drives, especially if you use them as external drives with a USB-C cable, so try that also.

Also, these are the M.2 drives that Acer fits oem to your Aspire E5-575G laptop, which are a PCIe3x2 that have a max read/write speeds of 2000Mbps (see caption below) so fitting a PCIe3x4 is recommended but I wouldn't spend too much on the expensive higher end PCIe3x4 M.2 SSDs as your laptop would never ever utilize their speeds of 3800Mbps read/write speeds, but a mid-range M.2 SSD drive like the WD SN530 would be ideal for your laptop, as its a PCIe3x4 that has a max speed of 2400Mbps. The top of the range PCIe3x4 M.2 SSDs like the Samsung 970 Plus EVO NVMe or the WD SN750 Black would be a total waste of your money as your laptop will never ever utilize their top performance speeds.

kaspalan

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1240415#Comment_1240415

Ok, let me try. Resetting the BIOs to it's default settings didn't work. Checking on the CMOS.

Unluckily, I don't have any friends right now using a SSD.

kaspalan

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1240401#Comment_1240401

Done and checked. It was the SSD. I just installed a Win To Go partition on an external HDD I have, and the laptop is working again. Well, it could also be the connector, but the issue is related to the SSD.

I only need to check if it is the drive or the connector. If it is the drive, I will but that one you suggested.

Thank you, I will let you know.

William_mk2

@kaspalan

I would like to provide some additional info which will really help you. 

Kindly go through the details given below.  The info provided below will be very helpful to get the current memory and ssd details of your computer and the options to upgrade it.  

Please visit the website given below.  There is an option to  "start your scan "  and " select your computer " .  Please chose the options and try it.  It will show you the memory and SSD’s details and the best upgrade options for you.. 

https://www.crucial.com/

It will tell you what you currently have and what you can add for memory and SSD's. 

Note: If you decide to buy you can always compare the prices by visiting other websites or stores and then you can decide.  We are providing the info of scan app just to show you the upgrade options.  You can even download similar scan apps from other memory upgrade websites too. 

To check the compatibility of ram which you can use on your computer.. Get CPUz and check it with that in SPD section of all the RAM and specs that you have, its a quick and simple way to check all OEM specs and what you have in your system. 

kaspalan

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1240415#Comment_1240415

Hi, agan. An overview on the internet shows that the PCIE 3x2 is outdated enough to be more expensive than the PCIE 3x4 counterparts. I assume it is possible to make them work, but they will be capped to the motherboard capability.

What are the max read/write speeds of the ACER motherboard?

The cheapest SSD, 2280, PCIE 3x4, I've found was

https://www.amazon.com/MSI-SPATIUM-M371-NVMe-Internal/dp/B0BRQTMX1N/ref%3Dpsdc_1292116011_t3_B082BX6999?th=1

But I want to be the less overkill I could be/Price tag.

What do you think about the MSI finding?

That question is also open to anyone else.

Also, I plan to find an upgrade on the DDR-4 RAM. What's the motherboard capacity?

Commodore_1995#

VHave you tested the SSD on another computer? Can you test another SSD on your computer?

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1244499#Comment_1244499

The M.2 SSD PCIe3x2 has a max sequential read/write speed of 2000MB/s but Acer laptops usually have a 1650MB/s speeds for PCIe3x2 mainboard M.2 slot speeds. Do a quick speed test within Windows by doing the below and see what your mainboard PCIe3x2 speed is:

winsat disk –drive c (with laptops with 2x M.2 SSD use the "d" being the 2nd SSD slave drive etc)

kaspalan

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1244521#Comment_1244521

I haven't, but most likely it is the SSD and not the port. But if it is the problem is the internal SSD port, I can still make the SSD an external device with an adapter and USB cord. Since the laptop has USB 3.0 ports, theoretically, I can use them at the same speed as the SSD internal port. and it is still an improvement of the external HDD.

But I want to also provide some ram. If you can, please.

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1244543#Comment_1244543

Yes, you can make the M.2 SSD an external drive but it will be way way slower when connected externally. As using an M.2 SSD drive connected to your R5-571G laptops either USB 3.0 port and with a 3.0 plug/cord or even a much faster USB-C 3.1 that your laptop has plug/cord to an external drive enclosure is way way slower than connecting an M.2 SSD drive connected to the R5-571G internal M.2 slot,

With the external case connected to the USB-C port on your R5-571G you will get like a sequential speeds of 600MB/s max, compared to 1700MB/s speeds when the M.2 SSD drive is connected internally to the R5-571G internal M.2 slot, there is no comparison between the two. I’ve tried all these things out and I’m speaking from personal tested experience😀

With the ram upgrade, its best for you to do the Crucial System Scan and use their recommendations for their ram upgrades, as they are 100% correct and they guarantee their scan results 100%, as its the best way to upgrade your ram.

kaspalan

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1244561#Comment_1244561

Finally I found a technician with a SSD 2280 port to test. I will comment the results, but if the BIOS isn't recognizing the SSD, the laptop starts without troubles with an external drive, I am sure it must be the SSD, not the port.

Another option, is to buy the internal HDD. This model has a port to an internal HDD, and an internal SSD to HDD port could be used, and match the maximum speed of the laptop.

kaspalan

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1244561#Comment_1244561

It was the SSD. The technician I've found used an SSD M.2 and both recognized the drive, the bios and a windows installation flashed in a USB the technician had.

The SSD he used it's, coincidentally, the same SSD I posted above with the Amazon link. What I have read is that the SSD speed under the PCIe 3x4 installed in the motherboard is capped by the motherboard speed.
Now I only need to find a suitable ram to upgrade the speed.

Thanks for everything.

Commodore_1995#

You need to confirm with cpuz the type of ram:

billsey

The specs I see for the Aspire E5-575G models have a SATA drive on the M.2 slot, and only PCIe x1 provided to the port. So an NVMe drive should not work…