Maximum SSD size (Inspiron 14 5485)

Question

I have an open, ongoing support ticket for this issue, but the technicians haven't abandoned the standard playbook after two failed actions yet. Since community members have solved the same issue on other systems, I'm hoping for some insight to help speed the process up.

This laptop has an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, and came with a 128GB M.2 Hynix SSD. Interestingly, Version A00 of the setup and specifications document (dated February 2019) lists a maximum size of 512GB for M.2 2230/2280 NVME SSDs, but Version A02 of the document (dated October 2019 and currently available at https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/inspiron-14-5485-laptop/docs) lists 1TB as the maximum size. I installed a WD Black 1TB M.2 2280, model WDS100T2X0C, and used the Windows Backup and Recovery tool to transfer the factory image from the original SSD to it. I installed the Win10 November 2019 update after the migration; all hardware and drivers were also successfully recognized and updated.

The system boots up and runs very well for a seemingly random amount of time, but usually one to four hours; then, without warning, it will either freeze (all inputs, including the mouse, keyboard and touchscreen instantly become unresponsive, requiring a long press of the power button) or restart without warning. There is no blue screen, and the Windows event log does not record anything whatsoever around the time of the incident (although after the restart, it does log a critical error with Event ID 41, Source: Kernel-Power, text: "The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.")

One of the first things the support technician told me was that the system only supports M.2 SSDs up to 512GB, and that if they were unable to resolve the issue, then my only recourse is to replace the SSD. I asked them to research the reason that the setup and specifications document was changed, since the SSD I installed does meet the new specification.

Has anyone needed to do anything special to solve instability problems with large M.2 SSDs? Also, what else should I look into as a potential cause of this problem?

JOcean · Answer

At the Crucial site here, they offer an M.2 SSD 1 TB drive that they guarantee is compatible. If the drive were the root of the problem it seems that it would give you trouble right from the start and not after a matter of hours. Run diagnostics, but I suspect this is more of a heat issue and after a period of time the system is going into thermal shutdown which would give no warning at all. For diagnostics restart the system and at the Dell splash screen start tapping F12. Run full diagnostics, though I suspect all the hardware will pass if it is a thermal issue. You could try a cooling pad if indeed heat may be an issue on the CPU.

And this link and this one for more info on heat.

bandarbalu · Answer

Thanks for your help on this and on my previous thread when I was having trouble migrating to the new SSD, JOcean. The thermal issue idea makes sense, but I'm thinking it's not the problem. I started monitoring the temperatures being reported by the system after your post, and the maximum it reached over a couple hours of mixed use was 66 C, well below the 105 C reported to be the limit for the Ryzen 5 3500U. I decided to reinstall the original SSD and see how the temperatures compared, and also to see if the system would continue to suffer the same instability. In short, the temperatures seem to be the same, and the system hasn't frozen or rebooted after about twelve hours.

Since there's no direct measurement of the SSD temperature, I'm not sure if that could still be the root cause. I wish I had another system with an M.2 slot so I could see if the WD SSD itself is an issue, but I don't. It has passed all diagnostics that the Dell techs and I have run on it. I'm still wondering if there could be an underlying driver incompatibility.

bandarbalu · Answer

Update: The underlying issue does not seem to be related to SSD size. The system has been unstable with the OEM 128GB SSD reinstalled. The symptoms are exactly the same. Temperature values do not seem to be any different with either SSD installed, and there is no correlation between the cooling fan's action or the amount of ventilation available to the case vents. Some other hardware or incompatibility with the Windows 10 November 2019 update now seem more likely. Still no new ideas from Dell tech support, although the ticket is still open.

bandarbalu · Answer

PM replied to.

DELL-Cares · Answer

Hi,   We have responded to you via Private note. Please review and get back to us.   Del-Prashanth

Inspiron

Maximum SSD size (Inspiron 14 5485)

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