Question Kingston A400 480gb SSD Repair

[NightHawkRMX]

I got a used computer a few months ago and it included a Kingston A400 480gb SSD (SA400S47/480g). The PC wouldnt boot to the SSD and the SSD was not detected when I went to reinstall windows. A few years ago I had a 240GB A400 that also had windows become unbootable then was not detected in the Windows installer. Kingston's technical support said the firmware had reset and mailed me a new drive, but this time I do not have the luxury of a warranty. I've since learned that this is a remarkably common issue with any drive using an Phison S11 controller and early firmware, and I suspect this is what has occurred here, although I am not certain.

I would like to see if anyone knows some magic I can do to fix this drive, otherwise It will go off to recycling shortly. I know there are a few drive wizards here. Keep in mind this drive has no data of mine on it, so I am open to data destructive methods.

The symptoms:
Drive is not recognized by Kingston SSD manager, Windows 11 Disk Management, Windows 10 installer, or Win 11 Diskpart
Drive IS recognized by device manager (no errors) and Crystaldiskinfo is able to pull a smart report (attached)

What I have tried:
Testing drive in 2 separate computers
Testing with multiple SATA Cables
I looked into updating the firmware through Kingston SSD manager, but the drive is not detected in this state.
Tried to run RepairS11, which fails

Not sure how relevant it is, but someone will want to know my test system specs:
Ryzen 5 3600
B350 Gaming Plus
24GB Ram
GTX970
WD SN740 256g Boot drive
Athena Power 800w Bronze Redundant 2U Server PSU
Windows 11

 

[Lutfij]

Actually, I avoid anything Kingston since they've been known to bait and switch. bait = send out cherry picked samples to reviewers, then said reviewers give grand reviews, users go out to buy them and learnt hey aren't so great, either due to horrible DC or bad firmware. Logan on TekSyndicate had seen as such and people on reddit followed suite.

From what you've explained it's very likely a controller issue and now it's gone beyond the point of no return as the software responsible for updating the firmware doesn't see it. I've also found a reddit that states you can't even flash the firmware on the A400 with Linux, so you're very likely out of luck, unless you can flash the firmware with a CH341A BIOS programming toolkit. To add, if the controller has conked out, no matter what you flash to it, it's still going to be conked out.

FYI, I've experienced the same thing on a TeamGroup GX2 256GB 2.5" SSD, which very likely had the S11 controller on it. The OS installer would see the drive but an error would spit out as soon as you tried installing the OS. The drive was under warranty so I didn't waste time behind repairing it and was handed a brand new drive in a matter of mins at the store = they knew these drives would come back in for an RMA.

My 2 cents on the matter.

This might be of use to you;
https://www.elektroda.com/rtvforum/topic3859967.html

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Actually, I avoid anything Kingston since they've been known to bait and switch. bait = send out cherry picked samples to reviewers, then said reviewers give grand reviews, users go out to buy them and learnt hey aren't so great, either due to horrible DC or bad firmware. Logan on TekSyndicate had seen as such and people on reddit followed suite.

I do tend to agree with you on avoiding Kingston SSDs at this point based solely on my experiences, although I was largely unaware they were bait and switching. As far as the S11, I do wonder if the updated firmware truly prevents this issue from occurring. I have updated any a400s I still own (none with important data on) in any case.

FYI, I've experienced the same thing on a TeamGroup GX2 256GB 2.5" SSD, which very likely had the S11 controller on it. The OS installer would see the drive but an error would spit out as soon as you tried installing the OS. The drive was under warranty so I didn't waste time behind repairing it and was handed a brand new drive in a matter of mins at the store = they knew these drives would come back in for an RMA.

How old was that GX2? Most of TeamGroup's lower end SATA models USED TO be primarily Silicon Motion SM2258XT based (like a Crucial BX500), and I never had a reliability issue with them. In the past couple of years, I have found the cheap Teamgroups to be slowly transitioning to S11 controllers, which is an unfortunate downgrade IMO, even if performance is comparable. This is at least from my findings opening up ones I bought, although it has been quite some time since I have purchased a SATA Teamgroup SSD.

From what you've explained it's very likely a controller issue and now it's gone beyond the point of no return as the software responsible for updating the firmware doesn't see it. I've also found a reddit that states you can't even flash the firmware on the A400 with Linux, so you're very likely out of luck, unless you can flash the firmware with a CH341A BIOS programming toolkit. To add, if the controller has conked out, no matter what you flash to it, it's still going to be conked out.

I do have a CH341A i've used to unbrick motherboards, will look into that route. Very true that updated firmware may not fix this at this point.

Will look into that thread and report back how that goes, thanks.

 

[USAFRet]

I do tend to agree with you on avoiding Kingston SSDs at this point based solely on my experiences, although I was largely unaware they were bait and switching.

https://www.extremetech.com/extreme...itching-cheaper-components-after-good-reviews

They've been on my DoNotBuy list ever since.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Specifications of KINGSTON SA400S37480G Drive with Firmware S3501103

Information about the KINGSTON SA400S37480G data storage device model with firmware S3501103 of the Kingston trademark

smarthdd.com

Looking into the firmware update force flash utility, it seems my drive has an unusual firmware version that does not match the naming conventions there. I can find a couple mentions of other a400s with this FW online, like the link, but not a download... Will keep looking. That link also says its silicon motion but i dont know that ive ever seen an a400 which isnt S11. Will crack this open and remove the warranty sticker and see

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Guess it is time to insert foot into mouth, this is in fact a silicon motion drive. SM2259-AB specifically.

Put it into safe mode via jumping some pads the SSD.

Pictures:

https://imgur.com/dAQmkiW

View: https://i.imgur.com/dAQmkiW.jpeg

https://imgur.com/LSIQ6Jo

View: https://i.imgur.com/LSIQ6Jo.jpeg

https://imgur.com/RMqYcmG

View: https://i.imgur.com/RMqYcmG.jpeg


Not sure where to go at this point. Going to let it sit for today unless anyone has an idea.