Predator G9-793 with Samsung EVO Plus 2TB?

GeNeSiS_777
GeNeSiS_777 Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
in Predator Laptops
I have the Predator G9-793-78CM and I would like to know if I can install the Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB on the m.2 NVMe slot--I believe it's the one close to the motherboard. I don't believe I can use two 970 EVO Plus in RAID 0 mode since there is only one NVMe slot available--please correct me if I'm wrong.

Currently, two 128-GB LITE-ON drives (CV1-8B128) are installed in RAID 0, and I'm planning to clone (Forensic Sector Copy) this 256GB RAID 0 disk to the 970 EVO Plus drive using Macrium Reflect 7 Free Edition via Plugable USB 3.1 Gen 2 NVMe enclosure (https://plugable.com/products/usbc-nvme/).

I know that the SATA Mode in BIOS is set to RAID and cannot be changed. But I read that keeping it like that is fine even with only one slot occupied. Some Predator owners actually got their laptops with only one m.2 slot occupied but with the SATA Mode still set to RAID. My question is:
Is it possible to occupy the other m.2 non-NVMe slot with one of the 128GB LITE-ON drives after I installed the 970 EVO Plus on the NVMe slot with SATA Mode still set to RAID?

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Answers

  • brummyfan2
    brummyfan2 ACE Posts: 28,466 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓
    Hi,
    Yes, you can use the 128GB M.2 SATA drive in the other slot, I have recently done a Secure erase on one of my 128GB SATA SSD in my G9-793.

    Acer Predator PT516-51s Performance Results - UserBenchmark

  • GeNeSiS_777
    GeNeSiS_777 Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    Thanks brummyfan2 for the reply. I'm still waiting for the 2TB 970 EVO Plus NVMe SSD to arrive. I'm currently researching on how to do a proper perfect clone with Macrium. I read that using an enclosure could be tricky when it comes to cloning because the cloning app may not be able to detect the actual NVMe SSD. Also, I really want to download the Samsung NVMe driver, but I guess that's not possible since the SATA Mode is set to RAID, and I can't change it. So, I'll probably just accept the generic Windows or Intel driver.
    This may be off-topic but does anyone here have some experience with cloning one NVMe SSD to another NVMe SSD, sector by sector, using Macrium Reflect Free Edition? I know the Samsung cloning app doesn't do that, but the Macrium Reflect has that option. Could anyone provide me a step-by-step guide on how to do it properly? I want an EXACT (bit by bit) copy of my current drive without any shortcuts. The reason is because some of my files are encrypted. I have already checked my drive for bad sectors, so it's ready to go.
  • GeNeSiS_777
    GeNeSiS_777 Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    I have finally cloned the factory installed SSDs (in RAID 0) to the new Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe SSD using Macrium Reflect. I swapped the SSDs and everything seems to be okay. The SFC tool shows no errors (see below).


    Samsung Magician is able to identify the correct SSD.


    Installing Samsung NVM Express Driver v3.3 even boosted the performance of the 970 EVO Plus.



    However, there is one thing that bothers me a bit. In Device Manager, when I checked the Events section of the three devices mentioned below, I see "Device not migrated," but the status of each device shows, "This device is working properly."
    • Intel(R) 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #9 - A118
    • Samsung NVMe Controller
    • Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB
    I already tried Update Driver and Uninstall Device for each one of them without success. So, I don't know what else to do.

    I believe that when I swapped the old SATA-III SSDs (RAID 0) with the new Samsung NVMe SSD (with PCIe Gen 3x4 interface) and turned on my Acer G9-793, Windows installed Intel(R) 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #9 - A118 along with Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB and Standard NVM Express Controller, which I later updated to Samsung NVMe Controller. This all makes sense, but I still don't know how to make the device not migrated issue go away. I'm really desperate to find a solution for this.

    Intel(R) 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port #9 - A118









  • brummyfan2
    brummyfan2 ACE Posts: 28,466 Trailblazer
    edited March 2021
    Hi @GeNeSiS_777
    It's fine, check the time of the events, it was not migrated at 3:30:34 but Device started at 3:30:35 and Device installed at 3:34:38.

    Acer Predator PT516-51s Performance Results - UserBenchmark

  • GeNeSiS_777
    GeNeSiS_777 Member Posts: 15 Troubleshooter
    Hi brummyfan2!

    I forgot to scroll down when I took the picture of the events. Here are the updated images for the three devices. Note that I tried updating the device drivers and uninstalling the devices, which also reflects what you see in the Events section.

    So according to what you see here, I have nothing to worry about?






    The reliability details for 3/3/2021 shows the following:

  • brummyfan2
    brummyfan2 ACE Posts: 28,466 Trailblazer
    Answer ✓
    Hi,
    Yes, there's nothing to worry about, events are recorded for diagnostic purpose, so that if the system encounters any problem it will correct itself.

    Acer Predator PT516-51s Performance Results - UserBenchmark

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