Question Can't Migrate Data from Samsung 750 EVO to 980 (Samsung Data Migration)

[Usrename]

Hey guys,
I just bought a new Samsung 980 M.2 and tried to migrate all the data and OS from my old SSD.
I tried a lot, updating BIOS, reinstalling Data Migration and checking both for errors...
When it failed the M.2 got thrown out and I had to initialize it all over again.
I couldn't even find any drivers for the 980 M.2

Maybe somebody here has an idea what I could do..
In the meantime I'll try something other than Samsung Data Migration(doesn't even start the migration and I need to close it via taskmanager...)

 

[USAFRet]

What size are the 2 drives?
How much space is consumed on the original drive?
Firmware up to date on the 980?

 

[dwd999]

Hey guys,
I just bought a new Samsung 980 M.2 and tried to migrate all the data and OS from my old SSD.
I tried a lot, updating BIOS, reinstalling Data Migration and checking both for errors...
When it failed the M.2 got thrown out and I had to initialize it all over again.
I couldn't even find any drivers for the 980 M.2

Maybe somebody here has an idea what I could do..
In the meantime I'll try something other than Samsung Data Migration(doesn't even start the migration and I need to close it via taskmanager...)

Most people here use Macrium for disk cloning.

 

[USAFRet]

Most people here use Macrium for disk cloning.

For a Samsung target, I use SDM.
For all others (or when SDM fails), Macrium.

 

[Usrename]

What size are the 2 drives?
How much space is consumed on the original drive?
Firmware up to date on the 980?

The old one is 250 GB and the new is 1 TB. The data I would transfer is about 220 GB
I haven't tried updating the firmware yet, but if Macrium wont solve my problem I'll do it.

I'll keep you updated if Macrium works.

Edit:
I tried Macrium and it gave me the error 0 and 6... I really don't know why this could be but I'll try to repair my main drive...

 

[fzabkar]

It seems to me that the cloning procedure used by these tools is fundamentally flawed. I mean, they both allow the user to clone the boot drive to a target while the system is running from the boot drive. Ideally one should lock the source drive to stop the OS from modifying it during cloning, otherwise the target will have an inconsistent file system. In fact, I recently cloned my OS drive, and the target did in fact end up with massive errors in the $MFT and $Bitmap metafiles.

 

[USAFRet]

It seems to me that the cloning procedure used by these tools is fundamentally flawed. I mean, they both allow the user to clone the boot drive to a target while the system is running from the boot drive. Ideally one should lock the source drive to stop the OS from modifying it during cloning, otherwise the target will have an inconsistent file system. In fact, I recently cloned my OS drive, and the target did in fact end up with massive errors in the $MFT and $Bitmap metafiles.

I've done it many many times with Macrium Reflect, and talked hundreds of members here through the process.

I too was astounded that it worked on a running Windows instance.
Macrium uses the VSS service to start.

Of course, not everything is perfect all the time.
It does need a perfectly running source.

 

[fzabkar]

Macrium uses the VSS service to start.

Thanks. That explains why Samsung Data Migration was able to clone my HDD to my SSD. However, something went wrong when cloning my SSD to a new SSD. I think I used Macrium, but I can't be sure. I know there was a "lock" option in the menu, but it didn't allow me to do so.

Anyway, I'll try again. One thing to note is that there was a signature collision after my last attempt. I don't recall any collision after using SDM.

Edit:

This time the clone with Macrium was good and CHKDSK was clean, plus there was no signature collision.

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks. That explains why Samsung Data Migration was able to clone my HDD to my SSD. However, something went wrong when cloning my SSD to a new SSD. I think I used Macrium, but I can't be sure. I know there was a "lock" option in the menu, but it didn't allow me to do so.

Anyway, I'll try again. One thing to note is that there was a signature collision after my last attempt. I don't recall any collision after using SDM.

Edit:

This time the clone with Macrium was good and CHKDSK was clean, plus there was no signature collision.

As for the sig collision...you absolutely need to disconnect the old drive before booting up the first time with the new.

-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

 

[fzabkar]

Thanks very much for the detailed procedure.

I am used to doing a forensic clone. That's a byte-for-byte copy of the source device, either to another drive or to an image file. Samsung's tool and Macrium Reflect default to "intelligent" cloning. I think in future I will revert to my old ways. I can always deal with signature collisions manually with a disk editor.

 

[Usrename]

As for the sig collision...you absolutely need to disconnect the old drive before booting up the first time with the new.

-----------------------------
Specific steps for a successful clone operation:
-----------------------------
Verify the actual used space on the current drive is significantly below the size of the new SSD
Both drives must be the same partitioning scheme, either MBR or GPT
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung target SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, you may need to install the relevant driver for this new NVMe/PCIe drive.
Power off
Disconnect ALL drives except the current C and the new SSD
Power up

Verify the system boots with ONLY the current "C drive" connected.
If not, we have to fix that first.

Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

[Ignore this section if using the SDM. It does this automatically]
If you are going from a smaller drive to a larger, by default, the target partition size will be the same as the Source. You probably don't want that
You can manipulate the size of the partitions on the target (larger)drive
Click on "Cloned Partition Properties", and you can specify the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing
[/end ignore]

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD. This is not optional.
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD

(swapping cables is irrelevant with NVMe drives, but DO disconnect the old drive for this next part)
Swap the SATA cables around so that the new drive is connected to the same SATA port as the old drive
Power up, and verify the BIOS boot order
If good, continue the power up

It should boot from the new drive, just like the old drive.
Maybe reboot a time or two, just to make sure.

If it works, and it should, all is good.

Later, reconnect the old drive and wipe all partitions on it.
This will probably require the commandline diskpart function, and the clean command.

Ask questions if anything is unclear.
-----------------------------

Thanks a lot man, I tried it with forensic clone and it worked!
Only thing that didn't was that I couldn't change the partition size and can't now... It isn't that important to me, but it is still not what I wanted.
I can only make it smaller somehow. And could you tell me how disk editor works and how you repair your SSDs with it?

 

[USAFRet]

Thanks a lot man, I tried it with forensic clone and it worked!
Only thing that didn't was that I couldn't change the partition size and can't now... It isn't that important to me, but it is still not what I wanted.
I can only make it smaller somehow. And could you tell me how disk editor works and how you repair your SSDs with it?

Please show us a screencap of your Disk Management window.

Forensic probably wasn't needed.

 

[Usrename]

Please show us a screencap of your Disk Management window.

Forensic probably wasn't needed.

But it didn't work in the normal mode.
My OS also starts normaly from the new SSD now.
Here's a screenshot of my disk management. And I allready achieved to make my partition bigger with AOMEI Partition Assistant

https://imgur.com/EqYqfvV

Don't mind the german names of the other SSD and HDD )
and I haven't wiped the old SSD yet

 

[USAFRet]

Have you verified the system boots up with ONLY the new drive?
All other drives physically disconnected?

 

[Usrename]

Have you verified the system boots up with ONLY the new drive?
All other drives physically disconnected?

Yes I tried it before reconnecting all the other drives.
It worked perfectly fine.
Should I now wipe the old SSD?

 

[USAFRet]

Yes I tried it before reconnecting all the other drives.
It worked perfectly fine.
Should I now wipe the old SSD?

IF it all works without that, yes.

 

[Usrename]

IF it all works without that, yes.

So I just delete the Volumes in my Disk Management? because it just told me that some files are currently used and that problems could occur if I delete it now...
Is there any other "safer" way?

 

[USAFRet]

So I just delete the Volumes in my Disk Management? because it just told me that some files are currently used and that problems could occur if I delete it now...
Is there any other "safer" way?

If it told you that, the system is at least partially booting from the boot partition on the old drive.

Verify the actual boot sequence in the current BIOS>

Then, commandline function diskpart and the clean command on the old drive.

 

[fzabkar]

I would check the SMART report from CrystalDiskInfo or GSmartControl, just to exclude bad sectors as a possible reason for the initial cloning failure.

 

[Usrename]

I checked all drives with crystalDiskInfo and they are aparently fine.
I cleaned the old SSD and it seems to work fine.
If any problems might appear the next days I'll update it