SSD for PBP

[tophneal]

Ah. I thought the hardware fix had started shipping.

I understand entirely about the endorsement. I feel that since people have discussed trying different manufacturers a wiki section that specifically details the physical and power requirements, for those who want to find their own, and an explicitly noted confirmed working models list (without any store links) wouldn't necessarily be an endorsement. It would serve as good recommendations though.

Since the hardware fix does not seem to be in the hands of any of the public, though, I would certainly agree to only link this thread. I feel it would be more useful though, as we're able to explore that hardware, to remove the link and use section more like I described.

[zaius]

I understand entirely about the endorsement. I feel that since people have discussed trying different manufacturers a wiki section that specifically details the physical and power requirements, for those who want to find their own, and an explicitly noted confirmed working models list (without any store links) wouldn't necessarily be an endorsement. It would serve as good recommendations though.

I completely agree about having a Wiki section that specifically details the physical and power requirements.

[Arwen]

@tophneal & @zaius, I think this would be a good place for the power requirements section;

Wiki - Pinebook Pro - Expansion Ports

There is information already for the other details, like 4 lanes. We can simply add a line for amperage / wattage.

[zaius]

@tophneal & @zaius, I think this would be a good place for the power requirements section;

Wiki - Pinebook Pro - Expansion Ports

There is information already for the other details, like 4 lanes. We can simply add a line for amperage / wattage.

OK, thanks, I simply added a line with  the best information we have at this time.

Maximum height can also go there after we find out what it is.

Later, an installation guide should be added to another section.  (I'm thinking of removing "1.12.2 Pinebook Service Step-by-Step Guides", in favor of making 1.12 Battery Bypass Cables, 1.13 SSD Installation, etc.)  An SSD guide could also be added to Pinebook Pro Tutorials on this form.  There is nothing wrong with redundant information, as long as it's sourced properly, and not just referring to each other.

[Arwen]

@zaius, looks good. Both the current NVMe power requirements, and the Step-by-Step guide modifications. I don't have enough knowlege, (yet), to assist with the Step-by-Step guides... but, I can review when I do open up the back.

Your post also reminded me that 2 lane NVMe cards are supported. So I updated that line.
As usual, feel free to correct, improve or comment, (good or politely bad).

[User 11436]

Hi, I know the bandwidth is beyond the PBP's upper limit of around 1.5GB/s, but has anyone considered the Intel 760p NVMe SSDs?

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/...eries.html

Looking at the 512GB drive, power draw is stated as 25mW while Idle, and 50mW while active. Sounds almost perfect. Comes in 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1024GB and 2048GB variants, priced from $57--$399.

They look good. Wish they had specified the burst power draw.

It does appear that the use one of the NVME lower power settings. We, (us Pinebook Pro owners that use NVMEs), may have to investigate how to enable lower power settings at boot. May cost a little performance, but the benefits will likely outweigh the cost. (Reduced heat and increased battery life.)

Of course, now I have to re-visit my avoidance of Intel products, (due to the massive CPU security problems that they created in their need to produce faster CPUs than their competition).

Having read this and looked at this, I'm beginning to reconsider. I hadn't appreciated the low power states would be different from normal usage on the PBP. I think I need to do a bit more research before committing to buy anything.

---

Having read back through the forum posts I've decided to go for the Adata XPG SX8200 Pro. Someone previously posted this review:

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ada...955-2.html

It appears to offer very good performance at a low power draw.

• Max power draw = 4.05W
  
• Average power draw = 1.93W
  
• Idle power draw = 0.552W (ASPM/LPM disabled)
  

[zaius]

Another member is trying this:

MyDigitalSSD SBXe 80mm (2280-S2-M) M.2 PCIe 3.1 x4 NVMe SSD

https://mydigitalssd.com/pcie-m2-ngff-ssd.php

[tophneal]

Since many of us have received our PBPs already, I was wondering if we now have any confirmed working SSDs that met the requirements of the PBP. If anyone does, I think it'd be great information to add the the device wiki.

I was thinking about this again, and was wondering if we used a Google spreadsheet to catalogue ssds that have been tested and the results? (Just like we had for the Pinebook's Linux distros.) As it is, it's incredibly hard to keep track of the ssds that have been tested or confirmed working. Several different posts similar to this one exist, or people post their results in other, somewhat unrelated posts. I understand the want to avoid endorsement or dictating what a user can and can't do, but I think it will be a great service to the community if there's a single location that we can reference to determine what ssds work properly with the PBP.

[User 11436]

Since many of us have received our PBPs already, I was wondering if we now have any confirmed working SSDs that met the requirements of the PBP. If anyone does, I think it'd be great information to add the the device wiki.

I was thinking about this again, and was wondering if we used a Google spreadsheet to catalogue ssds that have been tested and the results? (Just like we had for the Pinebook's Linux distros.) As it is, it's incredibly hard to keep track of the ssds that have been tested or confirmed working. Several different posts similar to this one exist, or people post their results in other, somewhat unrelated posts. I understand the want to avoid endorsement or dictating what a user can and can't do, but I think it will be a great service to the community if there's a single location that we can reference to determine what ssds work properly with the PBP.

Don't we still need to wait for Pine64 to come up with a new design NVMe adaptor + ribbon cable? I tried fitting mine yesterday but:

- The ribbon cable was the wrong length with the bend in the wrong place.
- The NVMe adaptor seems too long and too thick.

[tophneal]

Since many of us have received our PBPs already, I was wondering if we now have any confirmed working SSDs that met the requirements of the PBP. If anyone does, I think it'd be great information to add the the device wiki.

I was thinking about this again, and was wondering if we used a Google spreadsheet to catalogue ssds that have been tested and the results? (Just like we had for the Pinebook's Linux distros.) As it is, it's incredibly hard to keep track of the ssds that have been tested or confirmed working. Several different posts similar to this one exist, or people post their results in other, somewhat unrelated posts. I understand the want to avoid endorsement or dictating what a user can and can't do, but I think it will be a great service to the community if there's a single location that we can reference to determine what ssds work properly with the PBP.

Don't we still need to wait for Pine64 to come up with a new design NVMe adaptor + ribbon cable? I tried fitting mine yesterday but:

- The ribbon cable was the wrong length with the bend in the wrong place.
- The NVMe adaptor seems too long and too thick.

Apparently not. There have been several people mounting theirs and finding their ssds to work or not. Some have already started using theirs to hold part of their chosen OS.

I was able to mount mine last night (no sdd yet  ) and folding the ribbon wasn't difficult. I was concerned about the case bulging from its installation, but I'm not noticing anything now that it's reassembled.

I think the spreadsheet would helpful, though, for once the final fix is released to us. There will likely be more people looking to utilize an ssd by that time. Or even by the time uboot evolves to allow nvme booting.