Are My M.2 SSD Pins Broken?

Snecho

Snecho

New Member
This SSD has always given me problems. For two months it would lose connection for a split second and cause my laptop to Blue Screen of Death.

I think it may be the pins. I don't know much about M.2 so I don't know what the pins are supposed to look like. I think on the small part there may be a pin, maybe two, missing.20191230_193822.jpg20191230_194016.jpg 20191230_193835.jpg 20191230_193958.jpg There are definitely more pins on the other side of this small part.

On the big part there seems to be one missing on the leftmost.20191230_193907.jpg 20191230_194021.jpg 20191230_193915.jpg
This is just the one side. The other looks fine to me.

Anyone happen to know how many pins there should be on each side/part? Are these broken? I think I may just be an idiot. I appreciate any and all help.
 
I don't see any missing pins, it's hard to tell by looking at a picture but those pins look like they have had a rough time and have been somewhat gouged. I know pins suffer from scoring which causes discoloration and dulling of the suface, this usually happens over time or when they have been repeatedly connected and disconnected, but the ones on that ssd look pretty bad.

Are you sure the ssd is at fault and not something else, how did you deduce that the ssd was at fault?

Who installed the drive? M.2 connectors are a bit different from the other connectors that most people are used to seeing, instead of being pushed straight into a slot it's inserted in at an angle and then pushed down and screwed onto the pcb to hold it in place. Is it possible that someone has forced it straight in?
 
I would have to agree with Shlouski, those pins look in pretty bad shape and it doesn't look like any pins are missing, just damaged and thats why you are losing connection. Replace the drive and insert correctly and hopefully the m2 socket isn't damaged.
 
This is making more sense now. I didn't notice they were that bad. I thought some were missing because one side had one more than the other but I see not now.

To answer your questions Shiousky, It's my brother's original laptop but he is a computer builder and electrical engineer so I don't think he could have forced it in. I myself have taken it out and back a few times. But, I know how to install M.2 slots so I always put it in an angle correctly. I diagnosed that it was the SSD because the stop codes were completely random and only happened if you physically moved or nudged the laptop in the spot where the SSD resides.

It does look like the pins are just in rough shape. Is there a way to slightly restore rhem so I can get a M.2 to USB and try to recover the data off it? The M.2 to USB will help troubleshoot the issues here I'm sure.
 
You might be able to use a conductive pen or rear window defrost repair kit, something with a conductive element that binds to the surface, filling in the valleys.
 
beers said:
You might be able to use a conductive pen or rear window defrost repair kit, something with a conductive element that binds to the surface, filling in the valleys.
Click to expand...
Conductive pens, interesting. Which one do you think would be the best for this? There's a lot out there.
 
beers said:
You might be able to use a conductive pen or rear window defrost repair kit, something with a conductive element that binds to the surface, filling in the valleys.
Click to expand...

I was thinking along the same lines, but was unsure how to pull off such a fix.

If the drive is malfunctioning then I guess you have nothing to lose by trying to fix it, I'm sure it's worth a go for a few bucks.

I was thinking, get the finest grit sandpaper you can get your hands on, rubbing alcohol and a conductive pen. First, gently and carefully sand the rough edges back and clean with alcohol, then apply the pen over the pins making sure not to cross any, sand and clean again, repeat until flat. I think the idea is to replace what has seen removed and not build up over good areas. Disclaimer, I have no idea if this would work, just an idea, maybe others can make improve upon it or suggest a better plan
 
Would solder adhere to the pins? Even with the M.2 to USB I'm not making any progress unfortunately.
 
Snecho said:
Which one do you think would be the best for this?
Click to expand...
Not sure, whatever's cheap so if it doesn't work you aren't out additional dollars :p

There's a large likelihood of burning the board if trying to solder, also it'd be super easy to either get too much solder so it doesn't slide in the slot, or overflow and bridge pins.
 
Shlouski said:
I'm pretty sure solder would adhere, but getting it perfectly flat would be very difficult and you would be subjecting it to a lot of heat trying to do so, you would be better off trying a conductive pen.
Click to expand...
johnb35 said:
Yeah, I wouldn't take a chance on using solder.
Click to expand...
beers said:
Not sure, whatever's cheap so if it doesn't work you aren't out additional dollars :p

There's a large likelihood of burning the board if trying to solder, also it'd be super easy to either get too much solder so it doesn't slide in the slot, or overflow and bridge pins.
Click to expand...
Yeah. I asked about the soldering because I have the tools and skills necessary. I just didn't know if the solder would stick or not. It would be harder without a hot air rework station though.

I'm not getting any thing to pop up in file explorer through the USB so I think I'll have to try to find a conductive pen and figure something out.

Also, I just saw the pictures on PC. They do look pretty bad, sorry lol. They were much better on mobile.
 
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