Did I kill my SSD?

Hi guys,


Does anybody know if it's possible to kill an SSD by plugging it into a potentially faulty SATA/IDE to USB 2.0 adapter?: one of these things:

- I wanted to plug the SSD externally to my laptop to transfer all my files but I just get a flashing light on the power supply and nothing appears on my laptop.

I ask because I bought 2 used SSD's on eBay recently and both were DOA after I plugged them in, they're private sellers but one has good feedback. One of the sellers didn't package it in anti-static bag though, so could it have been caused during delivery?

The SATA/IDE to USB adapter was working fine before.

Did I manage to do the impossible and kill a couple SSD's or were they more likely dead when they got to me?

Hello rapt0r!

It's not impossible to kill a SSD, they're fast and reliable but also still hardware.
Faulty adapters can always cause problems, the smallest – preventing external hardware to work. Rarely can they cause storage drives to stop working; in such a case it would be most likely that the PC/laptop would also suffer from some sort of damage as a result.
Also, good feedback doesn't always mean perfect products. Not packaging the drive in an anti-static bag is not good at all, but doesn't mean that the hardware would definitely get damaged because of this. It's just most likely that you really received the SSDs dead.
Another possibility is that your SATA to USB adapter is just not working properly. Have you tried with a different one?
Also, you should Initialize the drive from Disk Management like any other hard drive when you plug it in for the first time. What does Disk Management show you when you plug the SSDs in?

Best of luck!

CK_WD

CKWD said:

Hello rapt0r!

It's not impossible to kill a SSD, they're fast and reliable but also still hardware.
Faulty adapters can always cause problems, the smallest – preventing external hardware to work. Rarely can they cause storage drives to stop working; in such a case it would be most likely that the PC/laptop would also suffer from some sort of damage as a result.
Also, good feedback doesn't always mean perfect products. Not packaging the drive in an anti-static bag is not good at all, but doesn't mean that the hardware would definitely get damaged because of this. It's just most likely that you really received the SSDs dead.
Another possibility is that your SATA to USB adapter is just not working properly. Have you tried with a different one?
Also, you should Initialize the drive from Disk Management like any other hard drive when you plug it in for the first time. What does Disk Management show you when you plug the SSDs in?

Best of luck!

CK_WD

Hi CK_WD, thanks for your response.

I wasn't able to initialize the drive from Disk Management as it doesn't appear there at all.

I tried connecting the SSD with two different adapters to no avail. It's definitely a dead SSD because I found that after replacing my laptop's old SSD with it, it wouldn't turn on.

It's probably just a coincidence then that the two drives arrived faulty.

kbrady1979 said:

When you plug them directly up via SATA data/power connectors does anything happen? Does Windows recognize them, etc?

Hi. No, nothing happens.

The first SSD did actually cause a windows I/O noise and my laptop was installing drivers for it but it was taking forever, so I decided to unplug it and reconnect it with the SATA/IDE adapter (instead of the External SATA SSD enclosure case I was using) and after that nothing happened which makes me think that perhaps the SATA/IDE adapter killed it.

Hi again rapt0r!

I am sorry for the late response, I now see the replies.
I'm sorry your SSDs really happen to be faulty!
Though, I suppose you could still try and connect them internally with a SATA power cable, just in case. Let the drive install all of it's drivers and see how and if it's working then, just like @kbrady1979 suggested.

Cheers and best of luck! :)

CK_WD

kbrady1979 said:

What I meant was, in a desktop environment, where it's not the main drive and not plugged up via USB adapter. SSD's don't usually work well hooked up with a USB adapter.

CKWD said:

Hi again rapt0r!

I am sorry for the late response, I now see the replies.
I'm sorry your SSDs really happen to be faulty!
Though, I suppose you could still try and connect them internally with a SATA power cable, just in case. Let the drive install all of it's drivers and see how and if it's working then, just like @kbrady1979 suggested.

Cheers and best of luck! :)

CK_WD

It seems the SSD is indeed faulty (in answer to kbrady's question, indeed it was inserted into a laptop and the laptop wouldnt turn on - weird!) so I have sent it back to the manufacturer for a warranty replacement rather than to the eBay seller because I have my suspicions that the SATA/IDE adapter I plugged them into might have caused them to malfunction somehow. The USB external HDD aluminium enclosures was also one of those cheap £5 ones from ebay, I have my suspicions about those as well. So please bare this in mind for those who encounter this problem.


Thank you for the replies CK_WD and Kbrady1979. I hope this thread will be useful for others who might encounter this problem in the future.

Hi rapt0r!

You're welcome and I'm glad if we were able to help to some extend.
It's too bad you got the faulty package, but I am happy to hear you went for a RMA, a very smart move.
I hope you won't be having any problems with SSDs again.

Best of luck and cheers! :)

CK_WD

I would like to know what drives they were.
I just had a Kingston 240 U400 SSD die.
It was in my pc for 9 months. Then I switched it to an Acer laptop and it died right away.
I think it was the Acer that did it.
Some pc's or boards that you hook them up to just don't have the right configuration for running an ssd.
One forum stated attaching sata power cable turn on pc and then pull the cable to reset the ssd.
I tried that and at least I saw my data. But when I slaved to my HP work pc it shows it reads imminent failure save data and replace drive. So I will always keep a cloned drive ready just in case.