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Comment by ocdtrekkie | Hacker News Reader

I can definitely see the perks of the form factor here, and totally see SSD cooling hardware as being the next big thing, and it sounds like they're prepared for that here.

But I mourn how fast the interface format is changing now, because I don't have the hardware to support all of these formats. I've got a handy USB to SATA adapter that did the job for, I don't know, a decade and a half, and now there's eight different types of SSD sockets out there.

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I think this new format is nice because it requires no tools to install, like most other components e.g. RAM.

In contrast, current M2 NVMe have this annoying screw that requires a fairly specialized screwdriver and tends to get stuck in some motherboards. Not a good design. So Toshiba's new form factor looks like a step forward.

I refuse to replace my NVMe for this reason alone. That screw is going to get stuck somewhere and I'm going to have to take the motherboard out completely to get it, hoping the whole time I didn't fry anything.

Why. Why make a screw that small. It's torture.

It sucks. Lots of NUCs come with a very small capacity Optane drive already installed. Many users want to replace it with a regular SSD. The nasty surprise is that the screw is overtightened. So when they try to unscrew it, a common outcome is to ruin the motherboard.

Some laptop modding anecdotes: Thinkpad X61's mini-PCIe Wi-Fi adapter has the same problem and is well-known among hardware modding users - the screw is tightened and glued in place. When someone tries to unscrew it, one must carefully apply a torque with a high-quality screwdriver, otherwise the consequence is ruining the screw. I made the mistake and killed that screw when I first encountered that screw.

Fortunately there was a simple fix: just use a Dremel tool to cut the screw through the circuit board of the Wi-Fi adapter. The PCB of the Wi-Fi adapter is ruined, but you can now replace it and install a new screw without a problem. (and I think the ground plane is under the screw, just copper without other traces, so the original card may even be fully working, but if you've spent so much trouble to remove it for your upgrade, it's definitely not something you'd like to continue using...)

Since then I went to get a set of high-quality screwdrivers and never had the same problem on other similar machines.

They're M2 x 3mm? That's small but not ridiculous.

Place a magnet on the screwdriver blade.

I find it a bit odd how most motherboards seem to use M2 screws, but most of the add-in card M.2 adapters I've dealt with use M3 screws, and the M.2 spec only talks about M3 screws.

In the end the size of the screw doesn't matter as long as it fits in the hole. Your M.2 isn't going to just pop out because the screw is half a millimeter smaller in radius!

Half a Millimeter is huge! Just finished replacing a part of my truck that required a 5.5mm socket. I had a 5mm, 6mm, 1/4, and 3/16, none of them worked.

The M.2 slot requires downward pressure.

on most motherboards you could probably leave the screw off and it would be fine forever. not that I've done that. yet.

The connector requires a small amount of downward force to slot the nvme device. Without a screw, the device can easily pop out of the slot.

If only engineers working on that sort of product had some kind of way of using a plastic tab or something to hold things into place. Like have lunch with the memory socket or PCIe people and talk shop.

I was shopping for an Apple 2013 SSD to PCIe or SATA converter yesterday, and I've found that some adapters have a configurable clip on the PCB instead of a screw. You insert the clip on the PCB according to the size of the SSD and viola.

Someone buy that engineer a beer.

What kind of ram requires tools to install? (apart from the stuff that's soldered on..)

I think they mean that, like RAM (and other components like CPU, SATA drives, etc.), this drive doesn't require any tools to install.

I just built a new computer and didn't seem to have an issue that I can remember installing the M.2 NVMe storage. Now I'm slightly worried I might have missed something, lol.

Granted, I've had a set of tiny screw screw drivers for a while now, so maybe that's what you're referring to? These screw drivers aren't that specialized, are they? They're still just Phillips-head, right? Just smaller?

I constantly see adapters (big old metal trays with a relatively dump circuit for connection) for adapting M2 drives to fit in PCI slots.

On one hand, I'm inclined to agree with you; but on the other, we've seen huge growth in disk speeds, density, and affordability. All though, I think we've hit a slow-down in improvement if the garbage that is QLC is any evidence. Seriously, I can't believe that manufacturers are trying to force that down our throat.

Its crazy my 2.5" SSD died last week and I opted to go from 2 different SSDs to 1 2 tb nvme SSD. I too have a USB to Sata adapter but now I can't use it on my personal computer.

I do have a thunderbolt external nvme adapter they have got a lot cheaper.

Is the Thunderbolt adaptor you're using the same as my Transcend JetDrive 855? I successfully tested it with an Intel 660P 2 TB into an M.2 to Mac adaptor.

Just get a new USB 3 adapter. Here's one for M.2 for 5 bucks https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/bq4e19rS

SATA, M2, now this. What other interfaces are there?

Less common and I might be mangling terminology , but there's also PCIe, PCIe-Mini, mSATA, SATA Express (same connector as SATA). There's also a variety of m.2 form factors

Don't forget U.2 - NVMe in a (usually) 2.5" form factor.

There's also M.2 "M key" and M.2 "B key" because why not have two different types of connector in your brand new standard. There's also "M+B" which reminds me of the days of CD-RW and CD+RW with CD+/-RW thrown in to try and unify things.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M.2

This is annoying because some dual M.2 adapter cards have one of each, so you can't use two M-type cards in it.

Because this fixes the issue of "i plugged it in but it doesnt work" issue, as you already know it wont work because it doesnt fit. Kinda like DDR slots

If DDR memory had screws I'm not sure we'd be happier. We'd be bitching all the time about the freaking tiny screws that kept getting lost in the case.

I can't think of another standard made so deliberately difficult to install. A distant second is the 6/8 conductor PCIe power connectors that are a giant pain to use. Why couldn't they just force 8 for everyone and be done with it? Instead we have these crappy split connectors.

I think it was made due to laptops. Everything has to be flat. Using clips like on DDR wouldnt really "fit" as then youd have a waste of space, and DDR is a generic component nowdays. The other option is to use PCI-E cards, of course.

Make a screw-sized clip. Done.

I’m rooting for SCSI to make a comeback - I have a box full of cables ready to go!

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