What to do if the ssd drive does not see. Windows does not see SSD - problem solution

Epigraph

“Never trust a computer that you can’t throw out the window.”
Steve Wozniak

Description of the environment

• User: Web developer. That is, such things as virtual machines, eclipse, and frequent updates of repositories are in use.
• OS: Gentoo. That is, the world is often “reassembled.”
• FS: ext4. That is, a journal is being written.

So, the story begins in April, when I finally got around to copying the partitions to a 64GB SSD broom, purchased back in September. I deliberately do not tell the manufacturer and model, because I haven’t really figured out what happened yet, and it doesn’t really matter.

What did I do to make it work longer?

• Put noatime for partitions, so that when accessing a file, the record of the last access time is not updated.
• I increased the RAM to maximum and disabled swap.

S.M.A.R.T.

Chronicle of the Fall

Note: In SSD hard drives, a cell is considered broken if new information cannot be written there. Reading from such a cell will still be possible. Using this, run the utility badblocks in read-only mode, it is unlikely to find anything.

What happened

What to do if you have an SSD

Windows

MacOs

FreeBSD

Linux

• Install kernel 2.6.33, which has optimization for such disks in the form of the TRIM command.
• Increase memory so you can safely disable swap.
• Set for mounted partitions noatime.
• Used a copy-on-write file system or an unjournaled file system (such as ext2).

  At the moment, copy-on-write FS is quite difficult to use. ZFS currently only works through FUSE. And nilfs and btrfs swear when mounting that their format has not yet been finalized.

• Turn on NOOP IO Scheduler it will allow you not to perform unnecessary useless actions for the SSD.
• Conceptually correct, but it will not help the disk much - transferring temporary files to tmpfs.
• For systems that intensively write to the log, it should be stored in a different location. This is mainly true for servers for which the log server can be raised without any problems.
• Get S.M.A.R.T. utilities that correctly display the state of the SSD disk, so that you can periodically monitor the disk.
• Just spare the disk. And for the gentushniks, this additionally means not “reassembling the world.”

Questions for the habra community

• Is it really possible to kill MLC cells in 2 months? Of course, I understand that I didn’t spare the disk, but I didn’t do anything supernatural, I just worked as usual.
• Is this a warranty case?

UPD: The disk I had was Transcend TS64GSSD25S-M.
UPD2: There are very good reviews in the comments about Intel and SAMSUNG SSDs. In addition, people are surprised how you can kill an SSD with a broom so quickly. Believe me, I was perplexed in exactly the same way. However, it is possible that this is a hastily tailored SSD series and can be killed quickly.
UPD3: In the comments and the adjacent article they suggest that my disk is on a JMicron controller, that is, there is no cache and “if they needed to change 4kb of data in a random place, they had to erase the whole block of 64-512kb each time.” I can add that I saw my own disc on sale in Germany in March. So everyone has a chance to get into trouble.

P.S. In the meantime, I put down the old broom and look towards the Hitachi SSD or Intel X25-M.

UPD4: The manufacturer admitted that there was a problem with the controller and returned the money.
UPD5: I moved to Intel X25-M 80G, I’m happy as an elephant.

Imagine a moment: you just purchased a brand new SSD drive, but when you connect it to a computer, it is not detected, or you have been using it for quite a long time, but at one fine moment, it is no longer recognized. Of course, here you might think that it broke down, burned out, in general, went out of order. And the right decision would be to take it to a service center.

However, often the problem lies in ordinary system errors that can occur after various failures or if you connect a new SSD. In this case, fixing this is quite simple, we will talk about this below.

Causes of SSD connection problems

Despite the fact that solid-state drives have a completely different principle of storing information, they often use the same interfaces and form factors as conventional HDDs. To connect an SSD to a computer today, the SATA interface is used. Based on this, the conclusion suggests itself that these hard drives are subject to the same problems when connected as SATA hard drives. Moreover, solid-state drives designed to connect to mSATA, M.2 connectors or a PCI-Express slot have become widespread.

There are many reasons why an SSD drive is not detected by the computer and does not want to work properly. It is important to say that they apply not only to a new device connected to a PC for the first time. It also happens that a previously used hard drive suddenly stops working.

A user without the appropriate knowledge and skills will likely have serious difficulties diagnosing and subsequently solving the problem. Therefore, we will try to understand the manifestation and solution of each of them.

We carry out initialization

The first thing you need to consider is the situation when the computer does not see the new SSD drive the first time it is connected. That is, the drive cannot initialize on its own, and this must be done manually; I will use Windows 7 as an example, but in other versions, Windows 8 and 10, all steps will be similar:

1. Press the key combination “Win+R” and enter “compmgmt.msc”, then click “OK”.
   
2. We look for the “Disk Management” item in the left column and click on it.
   
3. Select the one you need, right-click and click “Initialize disk”.
4. In the new window, put a checkmark on it, select “MBR” or “GBT” and click “OK”. It is recommended to select "MBR"
   
5. At the bottom of the main window, click on the disk and then select “Create a simple volume.”
6. A new window will open, click “Next”.
7. Now you need to specify the volume size. It is not recommended to change the default setting. Click “Next”.
8. Next, select any letter and click “Next” again.
   
9. Then select “Format this volume”, in the “File system” item select NTFS. Click “Next”.
   
10. A new window will display the main parameters. If they match, click “Done”.
    

Following the algorithm exactly, you can initialize the disk without any problems, and it will be completely ready for use.

If there is an unallocated area, then it’s quite simple, you should start from point 5.

Changing a letter

When you connect the solid-state drive for the first time, the OS may simply not see it. That is, physically it can be fully functional, but it will not be displayed among other local disks.

Fixing this problem is quite simple as follows:

This way, you can quickly change the letter and solve the problem when a computer or laptop does not see the SSD device.

File system type

This option is possible when the “Change drive letter” option is missing. This indicates a mismatch in the file system, which is why the computer does not see the SSD. For the drive to work properly in Windows, it must be in NTFS format.

That is, in order for it to become available for full-fledged work, it needs to be formatted. This method is only suitable for those hard drives that do not contain important data, because during the formatting process all existing information will be deleted.

You need to do the following:

Once the drive is formatted, the problem will be fixed.

Doesn't show up in BIOS

In some cases, it happens that the SSD is not displayed even in the BIOS. There are two reasons why this happens, and just as many solutions. The first of them is a disabled SATA controller, to enable it you need to:

It should be noted that the operating system may not be installed due to the selected “AHCI” mode; in this case, change it to “IDE” and after installation, change it back to “AHCI”.

If this does not help, then you should reset the BIOS settings. If you have the appropriate knowledge, it is recommended to update the BIOS itself to a new version.

Another reason that it is not detected could be faulty SSD firmware at the production stage. Of course, you can try to reflash it yourself, but there is a risk that due to incorrect actions it may completely fail. Therefore, it is better to return it under warranty or take it for repairs.

Damaged cable or cable

Special attention should be paid to cables and cables; they may have been damaged and out of order. In addition, in many cases, the SSD drive does not work precisely because of inaccurate or incorrect connections inside the computer.

Typically, connecting a solid-state hard drive uses exactly the same cables as for SATA hard drives, so the potential problems are similar to problems when connecting hard drives. We discussed them in a separate article about the reasons when.

Drive failure

Finally, it is necessary to say about the likelihood of the drive failing, which is why it is no longer detected. Even though there are no moving parts in an SSD, this does not mean that it cannot break.

For example, the drive controller may be faulty. In this case, repairs can be extremely difficult or completely impossible, since the memory modules, which are responsible for storing information, are located on the same chip along with the controller.

Power supply failure

If your computer or laptop does not see the SSD drive, then you should check the power supply. Often, due to its defects, many devices fail, and it becomes extremely difficult to repair them.

For example, the following situation may arise. You purchased a new SSD, connected it, but it shows no signs of life, it simply does not work. The right decision would be to return it under warranty and exchange it for another one. But if the same problem arises with the next one, then most likely either the batch is defective, which happens very rarely, or the problem is in the power supply.

Without understanding electronics, it is not possible to repair the power supply yourself, so it is best to take it to a trusted service center for diagnostics.

Built-in storage

It should also be said about one more feature that is unique to SSD drives. Sometimes it happens that a solid-state hard drive does not act as a connector connected to SATA, but is present as an integrated disk on the motherboard. In this case, the SSD is detected by the OS tools, but is not visible in the BIOS.

Based on the fact that these drives are needed for use as service hard drives for the needs of the operating system, the situation when the SSD is not detected in the BIOS is quite normal, since this drive is integral to the motherboard.

Now you know what to do if various malfunctions occur and you can fix them yourself. But if none of the options helped solve your problem, then you should contact a specialized service center. Experienced employees will certainly find the cause of the breakdown and help you solve it.

If after reinstalling Windows 7 or 8.1, as well as after upgrading them to Windows 10, your computer does not see the second hard drive or the second logical partition on the drive (disk D, conditionally), in these instructions you will find two simple solutions to the problem, as well as a video guide to eliminate it. Also, the described methods should help if you installed a second hard drive or SSD; it is visible in the BIOS (UEFI), but not visible in Windows Explorer.

If the second hard drive is not shown in the BIOS, and this happened after some actions inside the computer or simply after installing a second hard drive, then I recommend first checking whether everything is connected correctly: .

Below is a small video guide, where all the steps to add a second disk to the system (turn it on in Explorer), described above, are shown clearly and with some additional explanations.

Making the second disk visible using the command line

Please note: The following method to fix a missing second disk using the command line is for informational purposes only. If the methods described above did not help you, and you do not understand the essence of the commands below, it is better not to use them.

I also note that these steps apply without changes to basic (not dynamic or RAID disks) without extended partitions.

Run Command Prompt as an administrator, then enter the following commands in order:

1. diskpart
2. list disk

Remember the number of the disk that is not visible, or the number of the disk (hereinafter referred to as N), the partition on which is not displayed in Explorer. Enter the command select disk N and press Enter.

In the first case, when the second physical disk is not visible, use the following commands (attention: the data will be deleted. If the disk is no longer visible, but there was data on it, do not do this, it may be enough to simply assign a drive letter or use programs to recover lost partitions ):

1. clean(cleanses the disk. Data will be lost.)
2. create partition primary(here you can also set the size=S parameter, specifying the partition size in megabytes, if you need to make several partitions).
3. format fs=ntfs quick
4. assign letter=D(we assign the letter D).
5. exit

In the second case (there is an unallocated area on one hard drive that is not visible in Explorer), we use all the same commands, with the exception of clean (disk cleanup), as a result, the operation to create a partition will be performed on the unallocated space of the selected physical disk.

When connecting an SSD drive, the computer may not only work incorrectly with it, but may not even detect it in the BIOS. To resolve this issue, you need to configure some of its parameters.

The main reason why the computer does not see the SSD drive is an incompatible file system with the installed version of Windows. In addition, the reason may be the absence of a disk name, an error in starting its initialization process, hidden partitions, and others.

If, when connected, the SSD disk is not perceived by the computer, you must manually carry out the initialization process itself. To do this, the user needs to open the command line through the “Start” menu or press the “Win ​​+ R” key combination. Next, enter the command “compmgmt.msc” and apply the operation.

In the list of drives, you need to select the SSD drive and call the context menu. In the list of operations you need to select “Initialize disk”.

The user will be presented with an initialization menu where parameters can be changed if necessary. In all other cases, all values ​​should be left at default.

Once the procedure is successful, you can begin creating volumes. To do this, select the disk again, call up the context menu by clicking the second mouse button and select “Create a simple volume”.

After applying this operation, the “Create a New Volume Wizard” will open. Click on the next button and indicate the size that will be used for the file system. The operating system assigns the maximum allowed size by default, but you can change it if necessary.

For correct operation of the system and the SSD disk, you must assign a letter to it, but keep in mind that this letter must be different from the name of existing disks. By default, the system automatically assigns an available letter, but the user can always change it.

After setting the disk name, it should be formatted. To do this, in the partition formatting menu, you need to select the file system, cluster size, volume label and check the box next to the “Quick format” function. Then we move on to the next step.

Once the formatting procedure is successfully completed, you can complete the process of creating a new volume and click on the “Finish” button.

If the disk is connected correctly, but the system does not display it, the reason may be that the disk name is missing. To correct this situation, you need to go to the “Disk Management” tab, as already described above.”

Then you need to select the connected drive, call up the context menu using the second mouse button and select “Change drive letter or drive path.”

As soon as the procedure is applied, the disk will begin to be displayed correctly in the system and will become available to the user.

If the disk was previously used on another computer, it may not appear in “My Computer” when connected to another. The reason for this may be physical damage, errors in system files, tables, viruses, and so on.

Also, the disk may appear in the “Disk Management” menu, but be “Unallocated Area” in the system. Formatting and creating new volumes can lead to complete loss of data on the disk memory.

To avoid this, you should use special software to restore partitions and restore the functionality of the SSD drive itself. For example, you can use "

A new SSD was installed in the computer, but Windows 7 does not see it. Let us immediately clarify that it is detected correctly in the BIOS, i.e. The problem is related only to the operating system.

Just a few words about the SSD - this is the Kingston UV400 SUV400S37 480 GB. It is supposed to be used to install programs.

If you go to the “My Computer” folder, the list displays four drives - system drive “C” (128 GB Kingmax solid-state drive) and three local drives physically located on a Toshiba HDD with a capacity of 2 TB.

The system disk and three local disks (outlined in red) are displayed. There is no new SSD in the list

Step 1. Click on the Start button and paste into the search field diskmgmt.msc- after the program is found, click on its link.

Step 2. After launching the Disk Management program, it immediately shows that a new disk has appeared and offers to initialize it. It is possible to choose a section style from two options:

• Master Boot Record (MBR)
• Table with GUID partitions (GPT - GUID Partition Table)

Let's not get into technical details - the default is Master Boot Record (MBR) and we just click OK.

We don’t change anything - just click OK

Step 3. The utility shows that all free disk space is not allocated. Right-click on the disk name and select the command from the context menu Create a simple volume.

Select the command “Create a simple volume”

After this, the Create Simple Volumes Wizard will start.

Step 4. The wizard allows you to specify the size of the volume to be created. In this particular case, the SSD will only have one logical drive, so the volume will use all available space.

Since the SSD was not intended to be divided into logical disks, the size of a simple volume is equal to the maximum size

Step 5. Assign a drive letter. You can use any option available in the drop-down list.

To immediately set a certain semantic load, you can select the letters S - the first letter of the SSD

Step 6. Before formatting a disk using NTFS, you can specify the volume label. In a specific case, we register an SSD so that it is immediately clear what kind of drive it is.

Step 7 That's all, actually. You can view information about the created disks and click Finish.

All you have to do is click “Finish”

Now all that remains is to go to My Computer and make sure that Windows sees the installed SSD.

Still have questions? Ask them in the comments.