Like many people, I bought an Argon NEO 5 case for the Pi 5 after watching the explaining computers video (this one) and assumed it would be a straightforward install.
Attempt #1 - WD SN580 nvme 1tb. Completely failed to recognise, searches indicate this is a drive that appears to simply not work with this case for unknown reasons, and apparently I should have checked this before purchase.
Attempt #2 - Samsung 980 1tb. On the comparability list, but similarly fails to recognise either alone or when booting on the SD card in Pi OS.
With no other cards in the machine, the network installer will show no options to install, and a screenshot of the boot sequence shows no recognition of the SSD when installed. Additionally, neither SSD will boot when paired into the Orico M.2 enclosure I also purchased, suggesting a potential issue with the drives themselves. I would really like this case to work, but honestly this has taken many hours of frustratingly tedious bug-fixingāeven by Linux standardsāalong with money on defunct M.2 storage exceeding either the Pi or the case.
I have upgraded the bootloader to the current version, I have tried disassembling multiple times, changing the cable, changing the boot order to nvme priority: nothing works. Other forum posts seem to show similar levels of frustration, followed by some kind of miraculous fix (usually by replacing the SSD). Other than the nvme drives, the Pi boots well on either the internal SD or via USB.
Is it normal for these cases to have such apparently huge incompatibility issues?
Am I just really unlucky to have purchased two faulty SSDs in a row?
As far as I understand the issues are with the Pi5 and specific drives, rather than the interface boards.
There is an updated eeprom which is meant to fix a lot of the problems have you applied that.
Thanks for the link, I was able to work my way down the list (I hadnāt yet manually added the command to config.txt) but still no dice.
Iāve done: scripts, latest eeprom, triple checked and swapped the nvme ribbon, official power supply. The only thing I can think is drive compatibility.
Can anyone confirm if they have ever successfully connected either a Samsung 980 1tb, or WD SN580 1tb with the Argon Neo 5?
The Samsung is apparently on the Argon compatibility list, but I have just had no luck with this no matter what Iāve done.
I donāt have the Argon NEO 5 M.2 case but I do have an Argon ONE V3 M.2 case and the Samsung 980 1Tb that I have in that works just fine. I wouldnāt have thought that the NVME hardware will be very different between the two casesā¦
Can you confirm the version of the bootloader you have?
Also when you list PCI devices lspci Iām assuming youāre not seeing the nvme drive, itās not that it sees the drive but itās not formatted and mounted yet?
Iāve got the latest eeprom (the 5 June one), swapped out the SSDs again tried network installing as well as viewing in terminal. Still nothing. The only ambiguity is the usb_max_current_enable=1 line in the config, does this replace the last line in the config or go after it?
See a screenshot of my eeprom output and drives. This in this pic Iām using the Samsung 980 1tb (Thanks CPN for confirming this works in other Argon devices), but I get the same result trying the ** WD SN580 1tb.
Sorry if this seems patronizing, but I found it is possible to put the SSD in the socket and tighten the screw without it making contact with the connector. You might try giving it a firm push into the connector. The screw end should spring away from the case and need to be pushed down before inserting the screw.
I also donāt have the NEO (just the ONE V3), but either way, if thereās an interfacing with the NVMe, youāre using the PCIe port and the thin flexible cable.
While I have not experienced unresolvable drive issues, when I have experienced issues, it has been due to a faulty cable, or not plugged in all the way (if youāre new to them, it can take a bit to figure out what fully inserted is), or: the cable is upside down.
Usually there are arrows and you want to match them up.
If not, and youāre getting absolutely nothing (like what your current situation seems to be), try flipping the PCIe flexible cable over, then give things another shot.
Also, depending on which drive you are using, when detected, should make some noise in ādmesgā, so if the ālsblkā asd ālspciā continue not to change, also try things like: ādmesg | grep -i Samsungā and see if you get anything (and that it is relevant to the drive)
Or, study the full ādmesgā output- it will tell you a whole lot. You donāt have to go over it with a fine-tooth comb, but do look for any obvious error or failure messages, and see if they relate to PCIe or NVMe.
The fragility of the nvme cable makes it highly likely to be a common point of failure, but I feel like I have tried every possible which way (both cables in the pack, followed the instructions to the letter) and still no success.
That fact that itās just ādeadā - I canāt see anything about nvme running ādmesgā still makes the cable a prime candidate for problems.
Iām attaching a close-up picture of my latest (non-working) setup. If the cable is upside down or anything obvious Iāll wear it if it means this can be fixedā¦
Special thanks to the trouble shooting and informed suggestions. I will have to eat humble pie on this one: the issue was indeed a poor connector (not plugging the M.2 drive in firmly enough). This has taken far too much time for me to work out, but I am very grateful to the patience and constructive support from this forum.
In this process I was able to confirm that the WD Blue SN580 1TB nvme is very much compatible with the Argon NEO 5 nvme case (see picture).
Is there a way to have this added to the āofficialā compatibility list?
I was thinking about buying a new drive since it wasnāt working. What did you do that it worked? I assume you also ran the argon scripts
I reimaged rpi os on a micro sd, (update/upgrade), then ran the two argon scripts, and nothing. I gave the nvme āsimple volumeā from win11 hoping it might recognize it then but still nothing. I tried reinserting both cables and the nvme multiple times and nothing.
Also how do you make a new thread on here? Or is that disabled since I made my account today
Hello, sorry for posting here, but I have similar problem.
I have wd black sn740 500gb with heat sink.
Worked perfectly with pimoroni case and nvme base.
But i travel a lot and the case is not stable leaving the pcie cable exposed.
I got neo v5 nvme and bang - first problem the ssd slot is too tight. So I removed the alu bracket holding the ssd & the heat sink - barely fitting into the neo v5.
After assembing, bang - second issue, forgot to add nofail in fstab and pi just donāt boot. Ok fixed that.
Another assembly, and the ssd isnāt found. After reading here, I decided to retry and check all connectors.
I opened the box and it start working - great. So I close and Bang ssd not found.
After several attempts I figure out, if the screws are too tight - ssd is not found :(((
So before throwing out ssd or case, just try all connectors and LOOSEN the bottom screws.
I really doubt so many ssd arenāt compatible with the case. Problem lies in connectors and assembly, try booting on each step to figure out how to fix. Sorry for long post - cheers!
Hey @royleith, i just signed up to say thanks for the exhortation on this. I just got a neo5 and a samsung 990, and was having the same trouble that @Zyprexa was seeing, and for the same cause
