HELP! X230T mSATA SSD Failure??

My boot disc is my mSATA SSD. it was working fine earlier today. Later I turn it on and it boots from the HDD. Went to Computer Management and the SSD is listed as an unknown disc and says "not initialized." It all happened the day before a schedule backup.

First, how do I get it to work like before?

If I initialize it, will I lose any data that was on it?

I'm dead in the water, guys. I need help before I try doing something I know nothing about.

 

Wait, did you just install it and reboot for the first time after a clean install? Or did this happen out of the blue after using your system in this configuration for a while? What mSATA SSD do you have?

 

It happened out the the blue! I've been booting up from the mSATA SSD for several month now. I have a mydigitalSSD BF 2 or something. I'm furiously looking online for an answer.

 

Uhh not initialized means just that, not initialized. There is no partition, no filesystem. You had a logical failure of your SSD, and it'll be tough trying to recover data from an SSD..

 

okay, so maybe I can't recover the data, does that mean the SSD is no good at all?

 

You could try and boot off a Linux LiveCD and see if the drive's mountable in there, but I wouldn't hold my breath. If you're still under warranty, definitely contact MyDigitalSSD, since it sounds like the SSD failed.

 

This is similar to my problem Disk status suddenly 'not initialised' - Can i fix/repair this? | Hardware Forums | Tech Support | Computer Support Forum I'm downloading Easeus Partition Recovery now. Checking the drives from Computer Management, I see the SSD but it's not initialized and has only on partition of 2mg. Don't know what caused it. I double checked mydigitialdiscount's webpage and they have a 3 year warrant on the mSATA SSD, however, they're out of stock.

Well, that Partition Recovery was a waste of time. Time to let Windows initialize the SSD and see what happens.

 

That was a waste. Complete utter waste. Looks like I'm dead in the water until I can recreate my data.

 

ARGH! I don't get it! Last night, it only booted from the HDD and NOT the mSATA SSD. I re-initialized the SSD (all of 2mb that was available to me) and it still didn't work. I also ran a free partition recovery tool (PTDD) and still nothing. I thought the mSATA SSD died. I shut it down and it started to install updates (where the screen goes blank and it installs updates prior to it finally shutting down).

This morning it boots up fine from the SSD as if nothing happened. Full access to all my data. (Time to backup!) So what the hell happened? Last night, I did notice in the system tray an icon that said downloading updates and it was running really slow (or just had a lot to download).

I called Mydigital tech support and they pretty much said "huh, that's weird. If it happens again, send it back." I called the local computer shop and they said "that's pretty weird, maybe your computer was updating a driver since the SSD is a secondary drive so your computer couldn't access it. If it's working now, don't worry about it."

That was a rough scare!

 

I would still get the SSD replaced, it happened once already it could happen out of the blue again.

 

I agree with hmmwv. Get it replaced while you have the warranty. Don't risk anything, and make sure the SSD's firmware and also the BIOS is up to date if any.

Just curious, why didn't you go for Crucial M4 mSATA as Sandforce controller SSDs has kind of bad reputation? I have a 128GB M4 in my X230T, and have no problems with it.

 

Well, the mSATA version of the Crucial M4 was available only relatively recently, so if he's been using his SSD for several months now, chances are it wasn't even on market when he had to buy it. Generally I would recommend the M4 for an mSATA SSD, though.

 

It may not have failed. If it is GPT and your boot system is not, then it may not be recognised. Change the boot order in the bios back to the msata ssd. If it then still boots from the HD and not msata, then I would say it has failed.


EDIT: I see you let windows re-initialize the SSD... That was a bad idea... If there was any chance of recovering data it is now lost.

 

He also mentioned that the drive just magically worked again like nothing had happened, with all his data intact. That's after reinitializing the drive.

 

Yeah that is even more weird.

 

Here's the recap of the situation: late night, booted up and noticed it was starting up slow. Desktop came on and I knew it wasn't my SSD, but my HDD. By the way, I'm running Win 7. Computer management revealed one 2mb partition on the SSD and it said it wasn't initialized. I downloaded some free partition recovery tools (I forget the name) and it didn't do anything. The whole time, Abode was updating automatically and I was updating my Norton since everything on my HDD was out-of-date. Windows explorer said I only had two drives; the system drive on the HDD and the recovery partition on the HDD. Did some hot and cold restarts and it didn't fix it. I noticed in the system tray, windows was doing some updating, it was creeping and seemed stuck at 15%. I ignored it. I gave in and initialized the SSD, hoping that it would at least make the drive usable and still nothing happened. I checked the BIOS and the SSD was still listed above the HDD in the boot order. When I checked Device Manager, the disc wasn't listed by its default name of "mata ssd." I shut it down for the night and before it would shut down on its own, it was installing updates (about 20 or so of them). In the morning, I booted up and voila! The SSD was working like nothing happened. I immediately backed up the entire SSD. I called Mydigital tech support and they said it was wierd for a SSD to switch like that. The tech actually said "you got what we call an anomaly." And they said if it happens again, to send it back since it's still under warranty (3 year warranty and I bought it in June. It's mydigital SSD mSATA 128Gb BP-3). I called the local computer tech and he said it was wierd and thinks maybe there was a power surge or the driver or some software for the SSD port received an update. I checked "Viewed Installed Updates" and there were no listings dated yesterday. Maybe I accidently hit a button that caused my laptop to boot automatically from the HDD? Did BIOS run some update? I have no idea what caused it and I'm a bit freaked out that it happened. Today I restarted it so many times to see if it would boot from the HDD and nothing. It's behaving like how it should. i even called Lenovo support and they told me to run their Hardware Scan and the SSD passed the scan. Maybe the situation was caused by some interference from a passing satellite, solar flare or asteroid.

 

Sounds like the SSD is on it's way out. I would get it replaced asap.

 

You might want to try some paragraphs. They make your post much easier to read.

 

Sorry about that. For some reason, the notebookreview forum doesn't work, i.e., won't let me type replies when I'm on Internet Explorer so I did a "quick reply." Seems to work on Chrome, but I'm not a Chrome user.

Is the SSD on it's way out? I figure if the SSD is on its way out, then wouldn't I experience problems when I'm using it? Or for SSD's, either they work or they're dead? So far, it's been working as it should (knock on wood). If it happens again, then I'll send it back for a replacement or refund, but I'm hoping it won't come to that. If it is the SSD, then what's a good 128gb replacement?

The SSD's speed spoiled me. When it booted from the HDD, it seemed so slow! I know I shouldn't complain because at least I have the HDD to fall back on. But, to keep that fast speed I could replace the HDD with a 2.5 SSD, who's to say that SSD won't have a hiccup just like my mSATA SSD and possibly have a total failure? That's assuming that the mSATA SSD was the source of the problem. If it's the source of the problem, it's still difficult to test it (can't really just swap it out with another drive).

All that I can think of is that the cause was either the mSATA SSD itself, the motherboard or a component thereof or the software that enables the motherboard to run the SSD. I'd like to believe that something rare (like a passing AWAC plane with experimental equipment) interfered with the link between the SSD and the motherboard. I don't know what could have caused it and I really don't want or know how to recreate the SSD failure.

So far, it ain't broke, so I'm not going to fix it. But i'm still freaked out that it could happen again (I'm sure that feeling will pass over time). If i can figure out how to save a file to both the SSD and the HDD at the same time, that would at least give me some comfort in event that the SSD dies unexpectedly.

 

If you want to get a new one for a replacement, then look at the Crucial M4 mSata, I have one in my system, it works very well.

 

I'm pretty sure it is broken, so I suggest get it replaced before you lose any important files. You can set up the main HDD as the backup destination of the SSD so any incremental changes to the SSD will be copied to the HDD.

 

yup, x2
10char

 

If it happens one more time, then I'll replace it. Daddy always said, if it aint broke... It has a 3 year warranty. Who knows? Maybe when it craps out, something better than the Crucial M4 will roll out. I got everything backed up on an external drive, so I'm covered if the SSD craps out. If it does crap out, I just won't have that quick boot up speed, but isn't that the main reason for even getting one?

 

I don't know if anyone is following this thread, but here's an update: so far, so good. The mSATA SSD is working as it should, booting up fine despite that I still get butterflies in my gut when I boot it up. Couple of days ago, I don't remember if I was booting up or shutting down but it automatically went to some sort of disk consistency check. Black screen with white text, almost DOS-like. I think it ran a check of the D drive which is what I labeled my HDD in Windows. But I doubt that the consistency check was Windows based, so maybe the motherboard was checking the SSD. Anyway, whatever it was checking seemed to pass.

 

Yeah that was a microsoft chkdsk, it was a test from windows.