Samsung 840 EVO - Magician/Migration doesn't recognize it

[Steven P]

Trying to migrate (clone) my laptop HDD to a Samsung 840 EVO SSD. (Thinkpad x120e, Win7 Pro x64) Fresh install is not an option. Should be simple (cloning instructions comprise just 6 cartoon pictures!). Basically, attach SSD to a SATA/USB interface, plug into laptop, run Data Migration software, clone HDD, swap drives. Alas, hitting a major glitch.

I have the SSD in an external USB enclosure. It shows up as an external drive--I formatted it, has a drive letter. BUT: when I run the Samsung Magician software (to check/update firmware) or the Data Migration program (to clone HDD), a window comes up saying that no Samsung SSD was detected. The name of the drive appears as a Samsung 840 SSD, but the programs will not talk to it and update firmware, check functionality, clone HDD to it, etc.

I set the BIOS SATA mode to AHCI, tried reformatting the SSD, tried connecting to my other laptop and running Magician, etc. I've been searching online to no avail. Any ideas? Thx!!

 

[VR Atelier]

yes this work for me http://www.disk-partition.com/download-home.html

i had to buy the pro version 🙁

Thank you for both your speed and precise answering.
So, based on your answers, I have a plan...
A. I can somehow figure out if the source drive is MBR rather than GPT and if it is MBR then try again with target drive MBR (do you know how I can figure out which the source drive is?). And if that doesn't work then...
B. I mount both the source Windows 10 HDD drive and the target Windows SDD drive as external drives (using two USB-SATA cables) on a Windows 8.1 machine that is running Samsung Data Migration... and do the migration that way. Can you see any flaws with that plan?
C. Otherwise do you know of any other cloning programs that could support Windows 10?

 

[MDegent]

The workaround with two external drives will probably work; on the other hand I assume Samsung will to an effort to solve this. If it is really not urgent I'm willing to wait till Samsung has a new release for their Data Migration Tool (a version that works of coarse).

 

[jigami140]

OK, but no cable came with it. Is the SATA/USB enclosure really different than a plain SATA/USB cable?

Yes, some external enclosures have additional features such as hot-swapping, encryption, or support for drives lager than 2TB.
The cable that should have came with your drive has no special features; it is just a straight SATA-to-USB cable.

You need a plain cable so that Samsung Magician can recognize your drive.

Dereck47 is correct, many external enclosures cause driver issues with the SSD causing the Migration program to not detect it. MAgician is made to not detect the SSD until it is plugged internally.

- I have similar issues. I have fujitsu ah530 that do not have 3.0 usb. should i purchase the cable that u recommended but using 2.0? I did find that on amazon for less than $3. thx

 

[NoeMTS]

I also had errors 400230 - 400180

Acronis Migrate Easy Free trial !!
- I used the connection from an external drive USB, not the "special cable"
- no disable page file
- no elimimiation of the restore point

recommended
- check hdd
- defrag
- change hibernation

Good luck !

 

[drwdjones]

I had a similar problem - the SSD showed up in Devices but not File Manager nor would Data Migration work. I formatted and gave a drive name to the SSD, it showed up in FM, but still not in DM. I then (after several dead ends) downloaded the Data Migration software from Samsung, installed it, and then DM saw the SSD and worked perfectly. Samsung download site:

http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html

 

[Fongpay]

Samsung just came out with ver 3.0 (11/12/15) which takes care of the Windows 10 issue (not recognizing the Samsung SSD). Downloaded the new version and it works perfectly!

http://goo.gl/otgLDo

 

[MauriceM]

I had the same problem. My 850 Evo was recognized in Samsung Magician 4,5. But my Windows 10 OS was not. So i was unable to enable rapid mode. I saw in a different post that it is possible in the 4,4 version for Magician, but in that version it didnt even recognize my SSD. I checked my BIOS settings if AHCI mode was enabled instead of RAID (not sure if this is important though) but it was on AHCI mode.

How I fixed both problems: Install Samsung Magician version 4.9 from the Samsung website: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html

Now my OS is available in Rapid mode and it recognizes my SSD again!

 

[BrillenSeal]

I had the same problem.
The Windows partition manager doesn't help because if it does see the disk, it gives an error message when trying to mark,it.
So, upon logic (there's different version of SATA protocol, and flavours of USB {I met that chipset issue but on much older hardware}, even on the same version, purposely backward compatible), I did change the converter from my old SITECOM to a newer from a disk bay.
And it works just fine.
So don't loose all your energy on the software issue theory, it might just be an hardware compatibility problem like mine: try a newer version of converter.

 

[Erin_3]

This from Samsung support - images won't paste--too bad.
Please follow these troubleshooting instructions to reset and clone to the SSD:

Confirm that you are connecting your SSD via SATA to USB or internally to a SATA3 port on your motherboard if you are doing this for a desktop computer.

Open the Run dialog by pressing the START and R buttons simultaneously, type in Diskpart, and then press enter. Then enter these syntax commands to perform a clean of the drive:

a. List disk (This will list the disk information along with a disk number)

b. Select disk # (The # symbol I have written in this line is representative of number of the disk the SSD was listed as in the previous command. For example, you would type: Select Disk 0 if the SSD was listed as Disk 0)

c. Clean (this command will wipe the entire contents of the selected drive)

d. Exit the Command Prompt

Please note that the below screen shots are only to assist you and not direct directions
How to Initialize and Format in Disk Management

1. Get to Disk Management :
Go to Start. RIGHT Click on Computer, go to Manage, then select Disk Management.

Windows 8 uses the Windows key and X then click on Disk Management


2. You should get a window popup like this:

If so choose the default that was already there and click OK.
FYI: GPT allows you to create more than 4 partitions on the HDD and 2.2TB+ sized partitions as well.

If you didn't get the popup then right click and select initialize the newly added drive under where it says the Disk # shown below:



Now right click the unallocated space and click create a New Simple Volume shown below:


Follow the on screen wizard by clicking Next


Specify your volume size, default is fine, and now click Next


Assign any drive letter you wish to the drive and click Next


Format the partition and name the volume, default settings are fine

Now click Finish.


Note: If a clone fails, you will have to do the format again (#5-9). When it fails, it resets the volume back to an Uninitialized state. Drives must be initialized and formatted for any date to be place upon them

Now that it is initialized and formatted, you can use our cloning software. If our software continues to give you an error, you may want to consider a third party application in lieu of our Data Migration. The Magician software is to be installed onto the SSD once the operating system is running on it.

Should you need a direct download of Samsung software (Magician and /or Migration), go to http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/samsungssd/downloads.html


You are not obligated to use any of Samsung’s SSD software. If you have issues with our Migration Software, you can feel free to use any third party application of your choice. We cannot and will not make any recommendations / suggestions for 3rd party software. Simply using an internet search of Free Cloning Tools will give you dozens of choices.


If you have any other questions, please feel free to email us right away. To call us, our support hours are from 9am-9pm EST Monday to Friday. We can be contacted at 1-800-726-7864. Please use the phone prompts of 1 for consumer, 1 for first time caller (you always will be), 4 for computer department, 5 for Drives / memory devices, 1 for SSD. Please do not speed through these phone prompts or you will be transferred to general devices.

Thank you again for contacting Samsung Support and have a good day.

THANK YOU!!!
For providing an actual answer to the original question. I also purchased a SSD without the data transfer dongle. These steps worked perfectly for me.

 

[haroldwolf3]

Had a similar problem this week. I kept getting a fragmentation error using the migration software. I also tried using another migration software and did not get any further. I was unable to see the drive in windows explorer. I used a usb3 drive enclosure that is several years old but says it is for sata drives. This was plugged into my usb 3 port on my laptop. I tried all the recommended trouble shooting suggestions with no success I called Samsung and they suggested there may be something wrong with the drive. But as a last resort I plugged the drive into a USB2 hub and low and behold is started to work. I am not a technical guru and can't explain why this worked. After about 1 3/4 hours the migration was complete. I then swapped the drives in my laptop and all is OK. The Samsung technician did say it should not matter weather using a usb drive enclosure or the special cable which is an additional purchase. Hope this info helps someone.