[SOLVED] SATA SSD in external USB 3.0 enclosure

[myip2004]

Hi,
I have 3 laptops for different usage.
Asus FX95GT TUF gaming laptop (US model Asus ROG G531GT), build in PCI-e SSD 512GB, added a 2.5" WD SATA 1TB SSD in HDD bay. (newest one, owned for 1 month)
Asus UX330UA-AH54, upgraded to a M.2 SATA 512GB SSD, no internal HDD bay or other HDD storage. (owned for 2 years)
Fujitsu Lifebook U772, SATA 128GB SSD, no internal HDD bay or other HDD storage. (owned for about 5 years)

I bought another new Crucial BX500 480GB SATA SSD, with a SATA to USB3.0 external enclosure box.

1. Firstly i used the Fujitsu to format this external USB SSD, it failed, device manager can't complete all process but end with error message.
2. I re-do the format with the UX330UA, everything goes well, formatted and usable. i also tried to assign it with differnt driver letter, say D, G, Q, all are good; read/write tested okay.
3. then i plug in this formatted external SSD to the Fujitsu. Window explore didn't show up this drive; device manager do detect this external HDD but keep refreshing and exquotation mark come up sometimes. I'm guess this maybe the USB port is not enough power (the Crucial said 1.7A current) to drive it.
4. further i plug this external SSD to the Asus FX95GT; file explore cannot show up this drive too. Device manager can show this external HDD stablely without any warning. tried the all 3 USB ports in FX95GT but all cannot show up the external SSD properly in file explore.
5. plug back to the UX330UA and this external SSD can use without any problem.

Can anyone give me some ideas on what's happening? why this external SSD can't use on either the FX95GT or Fujitsu U772?

another question, can the Fujitsu U772 internal SSD replaced by this Crucial BX500 480GB SSD? will this work or size are too big for the U772 system to recognize? (just read some post by using Macrium Reflect to clone the system)

Thanks alot in advance.

 

[Saga Lout]

In between 2 and 3, does the Fujitsu have a disc with already had that drive letter?

 

[myip2004]

The Asus UX330UA & Fujitsu with only one internal drive, labelled as C:
The external SSD are formatted as D:, works well in UX330UA, but not recognize in the Fujitsu.
I further re-label it as Q: with the UX330UA, it still can't detect by the Fujitsu nor FX95GT.

to add, all 3 laptops are with Windoes 10 64-bits. the external SSD are formatted as NTFS.

Thanks.

 

[Saga Lout]

You might find some information instead of using Device Manager, try Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management in the laptops which can't display the SSD properly. Check the format status.

 

[myip2004]

Thanks. I can try to take some capture tonight, i've tried to check this before, but seems the disk management can identify the disk size, also marked as "allocated", but didn't assign a drive letter to it. if this is the case, what should i do to fix it?

 

[Saga Lout]

Right click on the drive and a list appears, one of which invites you to "Change Drive Letter and Paths.

 

[myip2004]

Hi, when plugged into the Asus FX95GT,
this is the capture of the Manage Storage, it only show the disk/pool of the internal 1TB SSD.

this is the capture of the Disk Management, it can show the external 480GB SSD, as disk 3, but no options are available while right clock it.

 

[Saga Lout]

D:/ cannot possibly be the system disk because is has no spare space. It has to be the external and your system lives in C: which has 74% free space.

You'd have to help me with the top two lines. Chinese is not one of the languages I can manage, I'm afraid.

The second one with 447.12GB is my prime suspect for being the external SSD.

 

[SkyNetRising]

On laptop, where you formatted external SSD drive:

remove external SSD drive from storage spaces (remove it from pool and delete pool);​

use disk management to partition and format external SSD drive.​

 

[myip2004]

Appreciated your help Saga Lout!
Let me clarify a little more and add some more translation, and make a correction for the 1st SSD on above capture.
In this FX95GT, i've 3 SSD installed/connected,
Disk 1, C:\, a M.2 PCI-e 512GB SSD, the disk for the OS.
Disk 2, D:\, a WD 2.5" SATA 1TB, installed in the internal HDD compartment of the laptop.
Disk 3, the 3rd SSD, connected via the external SATA-to-USB enclosure.

hope this clear. thanks!

 

[myip2004]

On laptop, where you formatted external SSD drive:

remove external SSD drive from storage spaces (remove it from pool and delete pool);​

use disk management to partition and format external SSD drive.​

Hi,
Do you means to do this again with the Asus UX330UA?

I've did this in Asus UX330UA successfully, and make it usable in the UX330UA, i can also assign it with different drive letter such as E, Q, etc.

However, when this external SSD can be used in UX330UA, when i plug it into the Asus FX95GT or Fujitsu, it can't be shown up in the file explore; while look into the disk management and Manage Storage in the FX95GT, it shown as above.

the problem is: this external SSD can only be used in the Asus UX330UA (it got only one internal SSD), but NOT the FX95GT (2 internal SSD installed) or Fujitsu (only one internal SSD). thanks.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Do you means to do this again with the Asus UX330UA?
I've did this in Asus UX330UA successfully, and make it usable in the UX330UA, i can also assign it with different drive letter such as E, Q, etc.

You should not have used Windows storage spaces to set up your external SSD. That is, what's causing your problems.
Clean it all up and redo partitioning/formatting with Disk Management.

Windows storage spaces is meant for setting up software raid. There are very few situations, where it would make sense to use it.
Normally you should not use it (unless you're absolutely sure, you need to set up raid). If you don't know, what raid is, then you don't need it for sure.

 

[myip2004]

You should not have used Windows storage spaces to set up your external SSD. That is, what's causing your problems.
Clean it all up and redo partitioning/formatting with Disk Management.

Windows storage spaces is meant for setting up software raid. There are very few situations, where it would make sense to use it.
Normally you should not use it (unless you're absolutely sure, you need to set up raid). If you don't know, what raid is, then you don't need it for sure.

the green line circled areas are the 3rd SSD; its a 480G disk, the system shown 447.12G available, and it didn't show any other storage allocation in the lower are of the disk info, so why will you think that there are some spaces reserved by windows?

i don't need raid, when i'm formatting this external SSD with the UX330UA, i selected the simple one (no raid) (not remember what it call). if i'm going to do it again, after deleting all, i should still picking the same setting -- the most simple one, without any Raid, and should be exactly the same ...

am i missing anything here? thanks SkyNetRising !

 

[SkyNetRising]

I'm talking about Windows storage spaces. You should not have used it.

This one

 

[SkyNetRising]

Connect external SSD to laptop, where you formatted it (Asus UX330UA );
Open windows storage spaces;
Remove external SSD from storage pool;
Delete storage pool;
Open Disk Management;
Create single primary partition on external SSD;
Format it/assign drive letter.
Done.

 

[myip2004]

I'm talking about Windows storage spaces. You should not have used it.

This one

Connect external SSD to laptop, where you formatted it (Asus UX330UA );
Open windows storage spaces;
Remove external SSD from storage pool;
Delete storage pool;
Open Disk Management;
Create single primary partition on external SSD;
Format it/assign drive letter.
Done.

Thanks alot!
I'm sorry if i've confused you, in below capture, the blue color circled is only the 2nd SSD, which installed inside the laptop in the HDD compartment. it's belong to the 1TB disk. i also selected the most simple one without Raid, but it also got some space used.

I'll try again with your above suggestion later today. thanks!

 

[SkyNetRising]

That image is not from correct laptop. It is from Asus FX95GT.
Connect external SSD to Asus UX330UA, where you initially formatted it.

 

[myip2004]

That image is not from correct laptop. It is from Asus FX95GT.
Connect external SSD to Asus UX330UA, where you initially formatted it.

Understood, will try it later today, thank you!

 

[myip2004]

That image is not from correct laptop. It is from Asus FX95GT.
Connect external SSD to Asus UX330UA, where you initially formatted it.

Hi SkyNetRising,

I've the problem fixed according to the steps you provided! Thanks again for your help!

 

[SkyNetRising]

Great. Glad it worked.

 

[Saga Lout]

I'm glad you did it, SkyNetRising - I certainly couldn't get my head around it!