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Help me understand M.2

Albert F
By Albert F
in Storage Devices
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Go to solution Solved by kokosnh,
On 10/25/2022 at 6:39 PM, mike_seps said:

This is the physical difference between NVMe and SATA. SATA has the extra cutout for the key, preventing an NVMe drive from going into a SATA port. But, a SATA drive can slot into an NVMe port, it just runs at the SATA speed.

image.jpeg


This is wrong on several levels.  
The key only specify a max number of PCIe/SATA lanes that can be hooked up to the M.2. (only the max count, the manufacturer can use few lines like x2, or older standards like PCIe 2.0)
The key does not specify the protocol that the SSD is using, and they are two main protocols. 
1) NVMe
- uses the PCIe lanes to communicate
2) AHCI
- uses the SATA lanes to communicate, usually can disable some SATA functionality, if they share the same lanes.
- uses the PCIe lanes to communicate, usually can disable some SATA express functionality, if they share the same lanes.

You can never tell 100% a drive protocol, just looking at the M.2 key. Usually the :
NVMe uses M key 
AHCI SATA uses B+M key 
AHCI PCIe (SATA express) uses M key
But they can use whatever they like (only the max count of SATA/ PCIe lanes that is restricted by the key )
There are B+M key NVMe drives (with max x2 PCIe lanes, as it restrained by the B+M key), and there are M key AHCI drives (that actually uses x4 PCIe lanes). 

The same is with the M.2 socket on laptop, you can never tell what type of protocol is it using, just by looking at the key  (and if you are looking at the key, you have to count the pins in both sides, as you can flip the M.2 socket, there are laptops with flipped M.2 socket). 

@Albert F

Just look in the instruction, or contact the acer support. 
What you are interested is:
- size, usually 2280 (as 22mm width, and 80mm long), it they can be shorter 2260, 2242, 2230, or longer 22110. 
- protocol (NVMe/AHCI)
- max speed of the M.2 (to get the protocol version, and lines count)
- max height, and single sided/double sided (S1, S2, S3 / D1, D2, D3, D4, D5)
- and the key type (just to be safe) it can be named (socket 2 for key B, and socket 3 for key M) 

But from what I found, its generic 2280, NVMe/AHCI, single sided port (but don't know the max speed)
Do note it's for single sided SSD. 
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/540531/acer-nitro-5-an515-31-non-nvme-support

Posted

Ok so... I supposedly have an M.2 slot for expansion in my laptop but upon researching the types of M.2 SSDs there are 2 types SATA and NVME. Now here comes the question.

 

If you have an NVME slot can you use a SATA based SSD in it? And what is up with all the "key" types?

 

I'm just really confused....

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M.2 Sata has less read and write speed than M.2 Nvme ssd's. All slots supports M.2 sata ssd  , but not all slots support nvme ssd. 

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23 minutes ago, STELDR said:

M.2 Sata has less read and write speed than M.2 Nvme ssd's. All slots supports M.2 sata ssd  , but not all slots support nvme ssd. 

Many slots only support PCIe and not SATA, never make assumptions.

 

1 hour ago, Albert F said:

Ok so... I supposedly have an M.2 slot for expansion in my laptop but upon researching the types of M.2 SSDs there are 2 types SATA and NVME. Now here comes the question.

 

If you have an NVME slot can you use a SATA based SSD in it? And what is up with all the "key" types?

 

I'm just really confused....

Key types are to indicate what type of device the slot is wired for.

A slot wired for WiFi cards will usually only have a single PCIe lane and include a USB port in there too for Bluetooth.
A slot wired for SSDs will usually have 4xPCIe lanes and not support USB, but may support SATA.
They key type is intended to stop you inserting a card in a slot that is wired in a incompatible way for the card you have, though its not perfect as you can put a SATA card in a PCIe only slot, it just wont get damaged from doing so.

Router:  Intel N100 (pfSense) WiFi6: Zyxel NWA210AX (1.7Gbit peak at 160Mhz)
WiFi5: Ubiquiti NanoHD OpenWRT (~500Mbit at 80Mhz) Switches: Netgear MS510TXUP, MS510TXPP, GS110EMX
ISPs: Zen Full Fibre 900 (~930Mbit down, 115Mbit up) + Three 5G (~800Mbit down, 115Mbit up)
Upgrading Laptop/Desktop CNVIo WiFi 5 cards to PCIe WiFi6e/7

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Posted

It will be easier if you can give me the laptop model. I then can help you with this issue. 

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Posted

This is the physical difference between NVMe and SATA. SATA has the extra cutout for the key, preventing an NVMe drive from going into a SATA port. But, a SATA drive can slot into an NVMe port, it just runs at the SATA speed.

image.jpeg

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5 hours ago, STELDR said:

It will be easier if you can give me the laptop model. I then can help you with this issue. 

I know that supposedly my laptop has a M.2 NVME port but in the bios I saw references to a secondary sata port. (Acer AN515 31)

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On 10/25/2022 at 6:39 PM, mike_seps said:

This is the physical difference between NVMe and SATA. SATA has the extra cutout for the key, preventing an NVMe drive from going into a SATA port. But, a SATA drive can slot into an NVMe port, it just runs at the SATA speed.

image.jpeg


This is wrong on several levels.  
The key only specify a max number of PCIe/SATA lanes that can be hooked up to the M.2. (only the max count, the manufacturer can use few lines like x2, or older standards like PCIe 2.0)
The key does not specify the protocol that the SSD is using, and they are two main protocols. 
1) NVMe
- uses the PCIe lanes to communicate
2) AHCI
- uses the SATA lanes to communicate, usually can disable some SATA functionality, if they share the same lanes.
- uses the PCIe lanes to communicate, usually can disable some SATA express functionality, if they share the same lanes.

You can never tell 100% a drive protocol, just looking at the M.2 key. Usually the :
NVMe uses M key 
AHCI SATA uses B+M key 
AHCI PCIe (SATA express) uses M key
But they can use whatever they like (only the max count of SATA/ PCIe lanes that is restricted by the key )
There are B+M key NVMe drives (with max x2 PCIe lanes, as it restrained by the B+M key), and there are M key AHCI drives (that actually uses x4 PCIe lanes). 

The same is with the M.2 socket on laptop, you can never tell what type of protocol is it using, just by looking at the key  (and if you are looking at the key, you have to count the pins in both sides, as you can flip the M.2 socket, there are laptops with flipped M.2 socket). 

@Albert F

Just look in the instruction, or contact the acer support. 
What you are interested is:
- size, usually 2280 (as 22mm width, and 80mm long), it they can be shorter 2260, 2242, 2230, or longer 22110. 
- protocol (NVMe/AHCI)
- max speed of the M.2 (to get the protocol version, and lines count)
- max height, and single sided/double sided (S1, S2, S3 / D1, D2, D3, D4, D5)
- and the key type (just to be safe) it can be named (socket 2 for key B, and socket 3 for key M) 

But from what I found, its generic 2280, NVMe/AHCI, single sided port (but don't know the max speed)
Do note it's for single sided SSD. 
https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/540531/acer-nitro-5-an515-31-non-nvme-support

   
 
 
 
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  • 2 weeks later...
Posted
On 10/26/2022 at 12:03 AM, Albert F said:

Acer AN515 31

brother just send me the link of the laptop. 

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