[SOLVED] Cloning SSD to larger SSD: Unable to boot new SSD

[Mister_Pink]

Hi guys,

I realize there are similar threads and this is my first post but I've tried following the steps in other recent threads and have been unsuccessful. My first time doing this and I'm definitely not the most tech-savvy here. I mean, I'll try this out but obviously, I'm failing.

Technical info:
Cloning a my current 128gb SSD to a new Samsung Evo Plus M.2 NVME (1tb)
Asus FX503VD (double checked compatibility, user manual states it support both SATA and NVME)

Tools:
Samsung Data Migration (and I've only one slot on my laptop so I'm using an enclosure to put the new SSD in and I clone the current SSD as it sits in the laptop).

Steps:

1. Closed all other apps/programs
2. Checked my original SSD for any errors via CMD using CHKDSK (no errors or further action taken)
3. Cloned original SSD to new SSD (Evo) making sure there were no other removable drives plugged in (except for the second internal HDD that came installed with the laptop)
4. Turned off the machine as per Samsung prompt.
5. Turned on the machine and entered BIOS. My BIOS is the new looking version. I changed the priority of the bootable drive.
6. Installed the new SSD in the slot where the previous SSD sat.

EDIT: From another thread: "Also, at the end of the clone process, the FIRST thing you do is power off, disconnect the old drive, and attempt to boot from only the new drive. " I did not do this on recent attempts. Should I do this without entering the BIOS?


What happens:

Goes into a short boot loop before prompting me to check PC or UEFI settings. Also a generic Microsoft error code: 0x0000001

Below is a screen of diskmanagement after the clone - so, new SSD (Disk 6: 'E' is in the enclosure via USB and my current SSD (Disk 0) is still installed

Please, any help will be greatly appreciated. Sorry if I left out some information.

Thanks in advance.

SOLVED - SOLUTION: Changed the original SSD SATA drive to ACHI. It's possible it was a combination of things I was doing wrong at first, as mentioned in the thread but the last option for me to try was switching my original SSD to ACHI before cloning.

Thanks to USAFRet for the help.

 

[rgd1101]

you need all the partition to boot. not just the c drive

 

[USAFRet]

EDIT: From another thread: "Also, at the end of the clone process, the FIRST thing you do is power off, disconnect the old drive, and attempt to boot from only the new drive. " I did not do this on recent attempts. Should I do this without entering the BIOS?

Yes.
You absolutely need to do this.

Also, you do this clone with ONLY the source and target drives connected. Physically disconnect all others.

 

[Mister_Pink]

Thanks for your responses.

Does this mean disconnecting the internal HDD (D) that came with it? Sorry for my lack of understanding.


To complicate matters, now I have a bizarre problem:

I was doing another clone. This time it got interrupted for no obvious reason. Now, my original SSD doesn't boot by itself as it was doing originally. My laptop only boots with the new SSD plugged in via USB. And the new SSD doesn't work when plugged into the internal single SSD slot only when plugged in to via USB. Very worrying. Hope that makes sense.

Cant boot windows from either drive now

you need all the partition to boot. not just the c drive

Not sure how to do this. In the options to clone, it only shows destination drive and source. And then you just choose from a dropdown. You'll need to explain to me like I'm 5, please. 😀

 

[USAFRet]

Can you return the system back to original configuration?
If so, does it boot up?

 

[Mister_Pink]

Yes, thanks. I was able to copy boot files via CMD prompt and boot it up again.

So, now I guess, I'm able to do a fresh start once more.

 

[USAFRet]

Yes, thanks. I was able to copy boot files via CMD prompt and boot it up again.

So, now I guess, I'm able to do a fresh start once more.

OK....redo this migration thing.

-----------------------------
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
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, 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
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

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 specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
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.
-----------------------------

 

[Mister_Pink]

OK....redo this migration thing.

-----------------------------
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
Download and install Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration, if a Samsung SSD)
If you are cloning from a SATA drive to PCIe/NVMe, 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
Run the Macrium Reflect (or Samsung Data Migration)
Select ALL the partitions on the existing C drive

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 specifiy the resulting partition size, to even include the whole thing

Click the 'Clone' button
Wait until it is done
When it finishes, power off
Disconnect ALL drives except for the new SSD
This is to allow the system to try to boot from ONLY the SSD
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.
-----------------------------

Still no joy. 😭

 

[USAFRet]

Still no joy. 😭

What specific motherboard is this going on?

 

[USAFRet]

Hang on...

The Asus FX503VD

FX503｜Laptops For Gaming｜ASUS USA

Bristling with high-refresh rate displays and competitive GPUs, ultra-durable TUF Gaming laptops deliver a reliable portable gaming experience to a wide audience of gamers.

www.asus.com

-----------------------
Hard drive:
1TB 5400 rpm SATA HDD
1TB 7200 rpm SATA HDD
1TB 5400 rpm SSH-8GB
Solid state drive:
128GB/256GB/512GB SATA 3.0 M.2 SSD
-----------------------


If you have some other documentation that states NVMe capable...please link that.

 

[Mister_Pink]

FX503VD
Asus

Page 86 of the manual says my new SSD is compatible.
https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/GamingNB/FX503/0409_E13137_FX503VD_VM_B.pdf

Thanks again for your assistance, I really appreciate your time.

 

[USAFRet]

This is a Samsung 970 EVO Plus?

What is the original 128GB ? Make/model, please.

 

[Mister_Pink]

Correct, Samsung 970 EVO Plus.

119GB SanDisk SD8SN8U128G1002 (SATA (SSD))

Hmm.. now I'm thinking because it's SATA, I didn't update drivers when converting from SATA to NVME. Would I be correct?

Not sure how to install the driver. I downloaded it and opened it but says "device not connected."Connect device and try again." So I assume the driver is installed directly to the new SSD. Just wondering at what point of the process I should do that. Before the clone?

 

[USAFRet]

Correct, Samsung 970 EVO Plus.

119GB SanDisk SD8SN8U128G1002 (SATA (SSD))

Hmm.. now I'm thinking because it's SATA, I didn't update drivers when converting from SATA to NVME. Would I be correct?

Not sure how to install the driver. I downloaded it and opened it but says "device not connected." So I assume the driver is installed directly to the new SSD. Just wondering at what point of the process I should do that. Before the clone?

Yes, the driver ma well be the issue.

And yes, you'd install it before the clone process.
How are you connecting the 970 for this?

 

[Mister_Pink]

Ok, I'll try install it before the clone. However, with the install file, shall I drag and drop it onto the new SSD before I click to install. I'm not sure it gives a manual destination to install the driver.

I'm connecting the 970 to a PCIe/M.2/NVME external enclosure (well, it's not enclosed, just the board via USB-C)

 

[USAFRet]

Ok, I'll try install it before the clone. However, with the install file, shall I drag and drop it onto the new SSD before I click to install. I'm not sure it gives a manual destination to install the driver.

I'm connecting the 970 to a PCIe/M.2/NVME external enclosure (well, it's not enclosed, just the board via USB-C)

No, install with the OS on the current C drive.
Then, it will accompany the OS during the clone operation.

 

[Mister_Pink]

Thanks but now I can't install the driver. It's not recognising that the device is plugged in, even though Samsung Migration app recognises it as well it appearing in Windows and everything else. Seems others had this issue and couldn't install the driver.

Their solution to install the driver was this: (Changing RAID to AHCI) I don't know what this means and if it's relevant.

View: https://youtu.be/9ngnIKqPOc4

Go into the system's BIOS Setup and check the "SATA Operation" setting, which despite the name applies to NVMe SSDs as well. I wonder if Dell will ever update that setting's name -- or if they did for this new Area 51m, please report back. Anyhow, if it's set to RAID, that's the reason it's not working. It needs to be in AHCI mode in order to accept the Samsung AHCI NVMe driver. The catch is that you're supposed to change that setting prior to installing the OS, because changing it from one state to the other will cause an existing OS to become unbootable, since that OS will have been configured to expect a different boot configuration. There are apparently ways to work around that through some combination of changing registry settings before making the switch, going into Safe Mode, etc., but I haven't looked into those in detail.
https://www.dell.com/community/Alie...us-NVMe-can-t-install-the-driver/td-p/7285442

Edit: Checked BIOS. Seems to be in AHCI mode all ready

Also, to install the driver.. downloaded it from Samsung but it looks for the device and never finds it.

Page 4 of driver installation guide..

https://s3.ap-northeast-2.amazonaws.com/global.semi.static/Samsung_NVMeDriver_InstallationGuide.pdf

 

[USAFRet]

Can't install the driver because the drive doesn't "exist".
Can't boot from that drive without the driver.

I've seen this before with Samsung drives, and don't believe we found a solution.

 

[Mister_Pink]

Got it!! It's working!

So, I mistakenly thought the original SATA SSD was in ACHI. It wasn't. So I changed it to ACHI in the BIOS. Re-done the cloning process and it booted up quickly.

USAFRet, thank you so much for your support. You spent a lot of time with me trying to figure it out. I commend you. It's great to have people like you that are so willing to help.

 

[USAFRet]

Excellent. Yes, that AHCI will do it.