Is it possible to plug M.2 SATA on M.2 NVME sockets or vice versa? [Asus Q405UA Laptop]

[milesuy]

I am planning to upgrade a friend's laptop and I saw that it has an M.2 slot from YouTube disassembly videos and some articles, but I can't find any official documentation that says which M.2 SSD is compatible with the laptop.

The laptop is an Asus Q405UA. Can anyone determine what SSD is compatible with the laptop from the photo below?

Photo from https://www.insidemylaptop.com/how-to-disassemble-asus-q405u-q405ua-bi5t5/

 

I was able to check a forum, but I'm not sure if I could trust it, since some says there is and some says there's none.

Quote

The Q405UA comes with a SATA slot or connector, no PCIE or M.2 slot available. -ASUS Answers

 

Yes but only m.2 SATA No PCIe / NvME. -NapervilleIT

 

ASUS's answer is NOT TRUE. The Q405UA has a 2280 m.2 socket, as well as an open SO-DIMM socket. -Andrew

 

Is it possible to plug a M.2 SATA on a M.2 NVME socket or vice versa? Will it break the laptop or SSD if I was able to plug the wrong SSD in?

 

Edit: I am also planning to disassemble the laptop, since I am also planning to replace the thermal paste on the CPU. Is it possible to visually inspect which type of SSD the laptop can accept aside from checking the keying of the M.2 slot (B-key or M-key)?

[da na]

No, that won't work - it won't physically fit AFAIK. 

[GuiltySpark_]

M.2 drives come in two flavors, NVMe and SATA. What matters is if the slot itself accepts both SATA and NVMe as not all do. The only information I can find as laptop documentation for this sort of thing is notoriously atrocious is this page which seems to indicate that its a SATA only M.2 slot.

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/questions/asus-2-in-1-14-touch-screen-laptop-intel-core-i5-8gb-memory-128gb-solid-state-drive-light-gray/6292312/question/d9101b2e-872e-3f80-9813-d94e251fbded

 

There seems to be someone in the comments there who has one installed in the very tiny pictures, though I cannot give any guarantees that the slot actually functions or really, that any of this information is true.

[Fasauceome]

2 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

No, that won't work - it won't physically fit AFAIK. 

M.2 NVMe slots can accommodate SATA SSDs, but the motherboard my only support one or the other through firmware.

 

@milesuythe answer above seems to suggest a SATA SSD will work in the M.2 slot of this board, so a B+M key

[milesuy]

15 minutes ago, Fasauceome said:

M.2 NVMe slots can accommodate SATA SSDs, but the motherboard my only support one or the other through firmware.

Since M.2 NVMe slots can accommodate SATA SSDs, will the SSD or laptop break if I mistakenly plugged an incorrect type of M.2 SSD on any laptop or desktop?

[Fasauceome]

31 minutes ago, milesuy said:

Since M.2 NVMe slots can accommodate SATA SSDs, will the SSD or laptop break if I mistakenly plugged an incorrect type of M.2 SSD on any laptop or desktop?

No it won't break

[kokosnh]

On 2/25/2022 at 2:00 AM, milesuy said:

Is it possible to visually inspect which type of SSD the laptop can accept aside from checking the keying of the M.2 slot (B-key or M-key)?

it's not possible, 

The B-key and M-key only limit the max SATA or PCIe lanes that can be connected to the M.2 slot.  
You can't visually check if it's wired for PCIe/NVME or SATA/AHCI, or both

On 2/25/2022 at 2:00 AM, milesuy said:

Is it possible to plug a M.2 SATA on a M.2 NVME socket or vice versa?

if the key are compatible, then yes, it is possible (but if it's not wired for it (ACHI/NVME), it will not work )

On 2/25/2022 at 2:00 AM, milesuy said:

Will it break the laptop or SSD if I was able to plug the wrong SSD in?

if the key are compatible, then nothing will happen.  If the key is not compatible, and you try to force it, then well yes (you can do stupid things, if you try hard enough, like plugging the ESP power to GPU :D) 

Ps. I will omit the SATA Express M.2 SSD, because it will just confuse you. Don't think about them. They are the edge case, are are absolutely hard to come by. Just don't. The deeper we go, the worse it gets.    

[milesuy]

Update: I tried to test fit some M.2 SSDs that I have right now (from my desktop) and the SSDs fits the slot. The keys of the SSDs are the B+M key, and an M key, both are PCIe NVME. Although I haven't tried to turn the laptop on with the SSDs installed, and I don't have an SSD that's a B key or an M.2 SATA.

 

Does this mean the M.2 slot is for NVME SSDs since the M.2 slot is M key?

[milesuy]

17 hours ago, milesuy said:

Update: I tried to test fit some M.2 SSDs that I have right now (from my desktop) and the SSDs fits the slot. The keys of the SSDs are the B+M key, and an M key, both are PCIe NVME. Although I haven't tried to turn the laptop on with the SSDs installed, and I don't have an SSD that's a B key or an M.2 SATA.

 

Does this mean the M.2 slot is for NVME SSDs since the M.2 slot is M key?

Answer: No

 

Quote

I bought two of this model (ASUS Q405UA) specifically because they can be upgraded. The motherboard is a TP410UA that's flashed with a different firmware.

 

-Source

As mentioned in the quote the Q405UA shares the same motherboard as the TP410UA.

 

Digging further, I found out that the laptop accepts M.2 SATA SSDs only. I found an upgrade video for the Asus TP410UA, and it has a similar design / layout as the Q405UA.

Note: The voice over says M.2 NVMe, but it was wrong. In the comments, the uploader says it should be SATA, not NVMe.

 

This website also shows that the TP410UA is compatible with SATA M.2 SSDs.

[milesuy]

16 hours ago, milesuy said:

Digging further, I found out that the laptop accepts M.2 SATA SSDs only. I found an upgrade video for the Asus TP410UA, and it has a similar design / layout as the Q405UA.

Note: The voice over says M.2 NVMe, but it was wrong. In the comments, the uploader says it should be SATA, not NVMe.

If an NVMe SSD is plugged into a SATA M.2 slot (if it fits) or vice versa, the PC won't see it. As mentioned on the comments section of the video, someone tried to plug an NVMe SSD on the laptop's M.2 SATA slot.

 

Update: I just installed a TeamGroup MS30 M.2 SATA SSD on the laptop. It works perfectly and I was able to install Windows 11 on it.

To summarize, for those upgrading the storage of their Asus Q405UA:

• There is an M.2 slot for M.2 SATA SSDs only, not M.2 NVMe or PCIe.
• There is a 2.5" SATA Drive slot for 2.5" SATA HDDs and 2.5" SATA SSDs.