Question M.2 drive wiggles around in slot

[Mikus Graudins]

So i bought a laptop and realized that the 256Gb of storage it came with is too small for my needs. I decided to buy a 1TB M.2 NVME ssd because i knew that there is one more m.2 slot that i can use. Turns out, the new drive wiggles around in that slot. Its not much, but enough for it to not show up in the bios. Same happens when I tighten the screw. So i decided to use the other slot for this drive, the only difference being that it does not have a standoff for a long drive. As i could not think of any other solutions, it is now just sitting there, withouth a screw and is being held in place by my laptops backplate. Any other solutions would be arecippated.
Laptop - (Lenovo ideapad 3 15')
SSD - Kingston A2000 1TB

( https://ibb.co/VNgYhg9 ) Green shows where the drive should be, and red - where it is.

 

[SteveRX4]

Plain M.2 and NvMe have different slots - with different cutouts in the SSD - so they can only fit mating slots.
What slots does your laptop have?

 

[Mikus Graudins]

Plain M.2 and NvMe have different slots - with different cutouts in the SSD - so they can only fit mating slots.
What slots does your laptop have?

M.2 2242 SSD / PCIe NVMe, PCIe 3.0 x 2, 16Gb/s

M.2 2280 SSD / PCIe NVMe, PCIe 3.0 x 4, 32Gb/s
Im 99% sure that thease ar the right specs

 

[alceryes]

If it doesn't have a standoff screw hole for the longer 2280 SSD then that SSD really shouldn't go there.

Does the 2.5" drive carriage stay there when the M.2 drive is in place? If so you could try to use some good, thermal double sided tape to adhere it to that. It may not work. It may damage your components somehow. But it's an option.

 

[Mikus Graudins]

If it doesn't have a standoff screw hole for the longer 2280 SSD then that SSD really shouldn't go there.

Does the 2.5" drive carriage stay there when the M.2 drive is in place? If so you could try to use some good, thermal double sided tape to adhere it to that. It may not work. It may damage your components somehow. But it's an option.

The drive carriage does stay there, but i dont have any thermal double sided tape. Might look into that solution.
But is there any way to tighten the m.2 so it does not wiggle?

 

[alceryes]

Other than just making sure it's pushed all the way into the slot, there's no way to 'tighten' it in the M.2 slot. That slot is just a connector. It's not meant to hold the SSD in place. That's what the standoff screw is for.

You could look into electronics glue/epoxy. Many of them are permanent though - you don't want that. You want the kind that can hold a component in place but can be peeled off. Truthfully, I wouldn't go that route. You have the potential to really mess up your system.

If it were me, I would try non-conductive, thermal double-sided tape first but, bear in mind, you may eventually damage your M.2 slot and SSD if there is any kind of wiggle. The very best option is to not use that M.2 slot for a 2280 M.2 SSD.

 

[geofelt]

The small pcie slot is intended for a wifi card or is perhaps unused.

When you insert the m.2 ssd into the correct slot, it should angle up at perhaps a 20 degree angle.
It is then bent down and secured by a very small screw.
That insures good electrical contact.
Be certain you do not install the ssd upside down.

 

[Mikus Graudins]

Ok. So i found out, that if place the m.2 in the intended 2280 slot and screw it in just enough so it holds in place, the system detects it. This will probably be the final solution for now. If it starts randomly disconnecting (as im sure it will), Im just going to sell it and buy a sata SSD and place it in the 2.5" drive carriage . The only problem being that the connector cable i would need is not being sold in my country and the only way to get it is trough Amazon, which together with shipping would cost about 50$.
Thanks to everyone who helped

 

[SteveRX4]

M.2 2242 SSD / PCIe NVMe, PCIe 3.0 x 2, 16Gb/s

M.2 2280 SSD / PCIe NVMe, PCIe 3.0 x 4, 32Gb/s
Im 99% sure that thease ar the right specs

Then they should both have NvMe SSDs in them. Not just plain M.2 (sata) drives.

 

[Mikus Graudins]

Oh, and one more thing. Im guessing that using my warranty on a problem i found while upgrading my laptop probably wont work.

 

[SteveRX4]

I thought the drives them selves were OK and that you now had the laptop working again.

 

[Mikus Graudins]

I thought the drives them selves were OK and that you now had the laptop working again.

The drives were ok from the begining. The m.2 slot was faulty. The laptop works, but as I guessed, the drive keeps randomly disconnecting.

 

[SteveRX4]

Sounds like you'd have to change the motherboard. Or RMA it

 

[Mikus Graudins]

Sounds like you'd have to change the motherboard. Or RMA it

The motherboard would cost about 1/3 of the laptop price + the fact that I found an issue while upgrading by my self wont help

 

[SteveRX4]

So looks like you either put up with it or buy and fit a new motherboard.

 

[Mikus Graudins]

So looks like you either put up with it or buy and fit a new motherboard.

Yup. I will put up with it for now. When it starts to bother me a lot, im just going to sell this drive and buy a 2.5' sata one and install that

 

[SteveRX4]

OK. Sorry things didn't turn out better.

 

[hang-the-9]

The motherboard would cost about 1/3 of the laptop price + the fact that I found an issue while upgrading by my self wont help

How you found the issue does not matter, if it's a faulty slot the warranty will take care of it. Swapping drives or RAM should not void the warranty.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

The motherboard would cost about 1/3 of the laptop price + the fact that I found an issue while upgrading by my self wont help

Unless they can prove (and the onus is on them to prove it) that swapping memory or the hard drive actually caused the slot to fail they must (at least in the US) cover the fault under warranty. Of course all bets are off if they can show that the slot was damaged due to user error or negligence.