Solved Cloned SSD will not boot computer

Winuser said:

My understanding is that it's not the old drive with a problem It's the new drive that he thinks is defective so nothing to lose by formatting it and sending it back.

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Sending it back takes effort and time, and so does getting the replacement. Like I earlier tried to explain, those who have easier access to another working Windows PC with an available working SATA port in it (I know that I have) could always decide to use that to run some further testing on the drive before deciding on how to proceed next. Could be that the new drive is faulty, but there's still a good chance that it factually is not.

hdmi said:

Sending it back takes effort and time, and so does getting the replacement

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Sam is just try to upgrade his 256 GB drive to a 512 GB drive. From his posts there is nothing wrong with his old drive so I don't think he is worried about the time it will take to get another drive.

What's so difficult to understand? If you are going to return it for replacement under Warranty, DON'T upgrade the firmware. The store might claim the Warranty is Void because if improper upgrade (user tampering with the device). If it does work perfectly on another computer and you plan to keep it, THEN upgrade the firmware to improve security and compatibility. NEVER touch firmware on faulty parts you plan to replace under Warranty or you just want to return for a refund without any issue (customer change of mind at the first days of purchase). I know this stuff. I was working as an RMA Technician for some years.

Winuser said:

Sam is just try to upgrade his 256 GB drive to a 512 GB drive. From his posts there is nothing wrong with his old drive so I don't think he is worried about the time it will take to get another drive.

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I don't know how easy/difficult it would be to him, but... to me, personally, hooking the SSD up to my dad's desktop PC as a 2nd drive through SATA would take only just a couple of extra minutes. At least then I would have pretty solid indications that would help me finally decide on whether the new drive is likely to be faulty or not, and, if it would turn out that it almost certainly is not, then at least I would have learned something new about the old HP computer. If you don't care about whether this specific computer has compatibility problems with the Crucial MX500 or not, then that's perfectly fine. Me, I'll let the OP decidce on whether he cares enough about that particular subject. That's why I am only making the suggestion, that doing some additional testing to try to avoid jumping to early conclusions could be worth.

I'll only add that sending the Crucial MX500 back before you even tried to use the Device Self-Test in Storage Executive seems to me like it is probably just a typical knee-jerk reaction, and various posts are causing this whole forum thread to read like yet another typical-old Macrium advertisement, like, one that was at least 1,000 times more predictable than just about any SSD (again, IMNSHO...).

spapakons said:

What's so difficult to understand? If you are going to return it for replacement under Warranty, DON'T upgrade the firmware. The store might claim the Warranty is Void because if improper upgrade (user tampering with the device). If it does work perfectly on another computer and you plan to keep it, THEN upgrade the firmware to improve security and compatibility.

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What's so difficult to understand about "if the method you used to upgrade it was matching the manufacturer's official instructions"?

spapakons said:

NEVER touch firmware on faulty parts you plan to replace under Warranty or you just want to return for a refund without any issue (customer change of mind at the first days of purchase). I know this stuff. I was working as an RMA Technician for some years.

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Baloney. If a manufacturer publicly releases a firmware update, then, for reasons that should be completely obvious, it's because the previous version was faulty. They provide the new firmware to remedy it. This is just a fact.

The customer has the right to return a perfectly working device within a few days of purchase because he changed his mind. Since the Crucial is not compatible with his computer he doesn't have to prove it is faulty to return it. He can say he changed his mind and wants another brand. About firmware updates, yes the company officially released a new version to fix bugs or improve a feature and will say nothing if you upgrade yourself, PROVIDED the upgrade is successful. If anything goes wrong or even if the device is incompatible with your system, 99% they will blame it on the firmware and may refuse the replacement claiming it is perfectly OK (NFF, No Fault Found case). In case the device is faulty there are certain companies that would claim the firmware was improperly upgraded and Void the Warranty. Are you willing to take those risks? Never attempt to fix a faulty device under Warranty, including upgrading the firmware. Just return it to the shop and let them take responsibility of any firmware upgrade.

spapakons said:

The customer has the right to return a perfectly working device within a few days of purchase because he changed his mind. Since the Crucial is not compatible with his computer he doesn't have to prove it is faulty to return it. He can say he changed his mind and wants another brand. About firmware updates, yes the company officially released a new version to fix bugs or improve a feature and will say nothing if you upgrade yourself, PROVIDED the upgrade is successful. If anything goes wrong or even if the device is incompatible with your system, 99% they will blame it on the firmware and may refuse the replacement claiming it is perfectly OK (NFF, No Fault Found case). In case the device is faulty there are certain companies that would claim the firmware was improperly upgraded and Void the Warranty. Are you willing to take those risks? Never attempt to fix a faulty device under Warranty, including upgrading the firmware. Just return it to the shop and let them take responsibility of any firmware upgrade.

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Again, where's your proof that the drive is faulty? AFAIK the OP hasn't even looked at the S.M.A.R.T. information yet. Let alone used the Device Self-Test option in Storage Executive. Damage inflicted on a product due to improper use of the product is always covered by law. Again, nothing is wrong with choosing to upgrade the firmware per Crucial's official instructions after you saw no S.M.A.R.T. errors in Storage Executive and the Device Self-Test also went OK. It is determined by law that doing this does not meet the criteria of "improper use". Sure, any company can break the law. Until they get caught. And besides, today's social media will eat their reputation if they reject the RMA. For reasons that should be completely obvious, if the drive is reporting S.M.A.R.T. errors or if it fails the Device Self-Test, then deciding to upgrade the firmware gets you nowhere. Where did you see me claim the opposite?

My point is also that you don't know that the firmware upgrade mechanism of the drive is faulty until you tried to use that mechanism to upgrade the firmware. Personally, I, prefer to find out that it is faulty before the warranty runs out so, I always test it, as I also prefer not to use a drive that I haven't tested to some degree to store the kind of data that, were it to be lost, would likely present a bit of an inconvenience. Similarly, I also prefer not to put such data on a drive when I already know that the drive's firmware has an elevated risk of it being unstable in such a way that I can likely avoid being unstable. (Even, if this means that it takes some affort to avoid, as I will be the first to admit that upgrading the firmware of the Crucial MX500 is a bit of a royal pain, but then, that also is part why I never decided to get a Crucial MX500, anyway in the first place, so... lol )

Since the drive is incompatible with his computer, just return it for a refund or replacing with another brand. Upgrading the firmware has a very little chance to make it compatible and the shop may use it as an excuse to refuse replacement. They can claim that it WAS compatible until he upgraded the firmware. Yes, I have seen that on iPhones that you install new version of iOS and many bugs appear. He can even give them his computer, and ask them to install Windows on the SSD. If they do succeed, he keeps the drive, otherwise they are obliged to replace it.

PS: If they install Windows 10, don't worry, just upgrade it to Windows 11 bypassing compatibility check.

spapakons said:

Since the drive is incompatible with his computer,

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Thing is, Crucial claims that the opposite is true. HP - Compaq HP Slimline 260-p026 | Memory RAM & SSD Upgrades | Crucial.com

As it turns out, in Storage Executive, Device Self-Test is not available for Crucial MX-series SSDs.
An Overview of Crucial Storage Executive
Also note:

• Often reviewing your S.M.A.R.T. data will provide more insight into any abnormalities.
• USB connections may allow partial functionality of Storage Executive, but full support for all Storage Executive features [that are available for the MX500 SSD] requires a direct SATA connection.

Crucial nay claim whatever they like. They cannot possibly test all their models with every single HP model. As far as the user discovers the SSD doesn't work on his computer, he replaces it with another model or brand. As simple as it gets. I would too be doubtful if it was a rare case, but I have seen many old laptops that don't detect some SSDs while having no issues with other brands.

spapakons said:

As far as the user discovers the SSD doesn't work on his computer, he replaces it with another model or brand.

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Wrong again. If it doesn't work on his computer, then usually, the first logical step would be to at least try to figure out why that might be.

The OP has already arranged to return the disk. No point to argue. And the first logical step (and many others) has already done. From the symptoms he described and from my experience, the disk is OK but not working on his computer. The next logical step is to return it which he did. End of story.

spapakons said:

The OP has already arranged to return the disk. No point to argue.

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What makes you think that I am trying to ague against his decision to send it back? It's a free world, everyone can do with his/her computer what he/she wants.

spapakons said:

And the first logical step (and many others) has already done. From the symptoms he described and from my experience, the disk is OK but not working on his computer.

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Again, I guess we'll probably never know that now.

spapakons said:

The next logical step is to return it which he did. End of story.

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See above... I guess we'll never find out what the root cause of the problem was.

There is nothing to discover. It is some incompatibility that the storage controller doesn't interpret properly the AHCI commands sent by the SSD or vice versa. Probably some newer set of the commands or mode of operation the controller is not aware of. That explains why it might work if you change from AHCI to IDE, provided there is such setting in BIOS. But then you can use only Legacy BIOS (MBR) installations. GPT is not supported in IDE mode.

SIW2 said:

Re: SSD Samsung 860QVO 1Tb not recognized on HP Desktop Slimline 260-a102nf

, This has been a plague for the HP 260 series. I can tell you that Kingston branded SSD will work.

h30434.www3.hp.com

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My point exactly. Some old HP (and Acer and other) don't like brands like Crucial. They have no issues with Patriot, WD and others. Been there done that. The SSD is perfectly fine but incompatible, just replace it with another model or brand if you come across this issue.

If you read the link, it says the hp 260 do not work with with samsung QVO ssd. Then tried 860 evo and finally the crucial mx300

Try with a 500Gb samsung ssd 860evo, and same thing,
hp logo, black screen with bios, ram, cpu specs...
no access to boot menu, press F9 or F10 key make message appears "boot menu" but nothing happens
I can't boot on a usb key to make a new windows 10 installation
HP always make special firmware for the disk they put in their PCs
It works with an old 64Gb sandisk SSD (too old and too small for use)

Edit 2 : It seems also working with Crucial SSDs, it works with a Crucial MX300 250Gb

May be it will work with MX500 series but I have not try (Crucial site says it)

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I am using an mx300 at the moment. Had it for a few years but they are expensive still.

Crucial-MX300-CT1050MX300SSD1

hdmi said:

Wrong again. If it doesn't work on his computer, then usually, the first logical step would be to at least try to figure out why that might be.

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That's not the first logical step unless the person wants to take the time to find out if the drive is the problem. My first step would be the same as what Sam is doing.

SUCCESS! I ordered a Kingston 480 GB SSD and cloned it with MR, then put it into my computer. It works perfectly! Something about the
Crucial just wasn't compatible with my system. I'm going to put the old Kingston 256 GB SSD in the ODD bay with the cradle and use it for any mass storage needs I may have.

Thanks for all the help, folks!!