T8-S Plus not recognising SSD

[dchhui]

Hi folks.

I've tried to install a 250GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD inside my T8-S Plus to increase the storage. It doesn't seem to be recognising the SSD in either Android or OpenELEC? I've checked the cables and they seem to be secure. The SSD itself is formatted and working when connected to a PC. Should it be NTFS or exFAT? Is there a problem with the cabling inside the T8-S Plus itself? Anyone had any problems or am I just an idiot? Many thanks in advance.

 

[Hans]

Had the same problem, I fixed this by plugging in a SD card and plugging in USB Sticks to all usb slots, the SSD then appeared weird I know but it works for me

 

[Hans]

Should also mention that I formatted the drive in openelec first this needs to be done before Android will see it

 

[dchhui]

Is it a problem with the cabling? I noticed the sticky post at the top of this forum and if the SSD is lying outside of the T8-S Plus with the cables straight, it recognises the SSD just fine.

 

[Hans]

I did contact support and they sent me a new cable which I installed and still had problems until I did the fix above and it has been working ever since so I just left the SD and USB sticks in for now, If I remove them the SSD disappears, it always stays in openelec

 

[dchhui]

I'll give putting cards and flash drives a try as well.

 

[dchhui]

Little update. Plugging in SD Cards and USB flash drives in at the same time doesn't work for me.

 

[Hans]

Have you formatted the drive in openelec first

 

[Hans]

mine did not show up until I went into open elec and then settings openly settings and then format drive from general tab I think, then switch to android and then take a look in ES file explorer and make sure you allow es explorer root permissions
this worked for me

 

[Hans]

Here is a good tutorial for formatting the drive in openelec https://droidbox.co.uk/how-to/t8-s-plus-formatting-an-internal-hard-drive/ make sure you remove any sd and usb cards before formatting and then once the format has completed reboot to android, then shut down and insert your sd card and sub sticks and power up and go into ES file Explorer and see what happens, it does sometimes take a while for the drives to appear, mine sometimes takes around 3 to five minutes to recognise all drives not ideal I know but it is a fix I am using at the moment until new firmware comes out which I am hoping will address this hope this helps

 

[dchhui]

Already formatted it in OpenELEC. It seems to be purely the cabling. When they are straightened and outside the T8-S Plus, the SSD is recognised OK. Once I bend the cables to tuck everything neatly away, it doesn't get recognised.

 

[Hans]

I would suggest going to the droidbox website and chatting to support by opening the contact form at the bottom corner of the page and advising them they will send you out a new hard drive cable like they did me only takes a couple of days once fitted the drive should be fine sorry I couldn't help further

 

[David Savage]

Working for me to.....new cable that is.

 

[dchhui]

I would suggest going to the droidbox website and chatting to support by opening the contact form at the bottom corner of the page and advising them they will send you out a new hard drive cable like they did me only takes a couple of days once fitted the drive should be fine sorry I couldn't help further

Don't worry about it. I'm more annoyed at Droidbox that this wasn't noticed before especially given the pinned topic at the top of this very sub-forum seems to indicate that trouble may have been brewing.

 

[smoggy333]

I have a 500GB SSD in my T8-S Plus, it did used to drop connection occasionally but since I fitted the new cable its been solid. New cable has been in for around 6 weeks now.

 

[dchhui]

OK guys. I've emailed Droidbox support. They are mailing out a new SATA cable to me. I'll keep you guys updated on what happens.

 

[ChrisM]

Quick check, you mentioned it could be seen on your PC. If it is a Windows PC and you've not installed any 3rd party tools/drivers, then the drive hasn't been formatted with an EXT4 partition, as they aren't (last I checked) accessible within Windows using a physical connection.

 

[dchhui]

Quick check, you mentioned it could be seen on your PC. If it is a Windows PC and you've not installed any 3rd party tools/drivers, then the drive hasn't been formatted with an EXT4 partition, as they aren't (last I checked) accessible within Windows using a physical connection.

I do have quite a few third party drivers on my PC, so I can't discount that. But what I do know for certain is that the SSD is not detected the moment the cables connecting it to the T8-S Plus are tucked away. Once the drive is pulled out and the cables straightened but still connected, the T8-S Plus picks up the drive fine and allows me to do the usual formatting within Android.

 

[ChrisM]

Ah, OK, sounds like a physical issue there. When the new cable is in place, if you encounter problems, definitely give the hard drive another format from within OpenELEC.
Just in case you've not seen it before,

 

[dchhui]

I received the new SATA cable yesterday (Thursday at time of writing). It was slightly stiffer than the old cable but after installing it, I followed the instructions to format it in OpenELEC and now Android sees the SSD fine. Thanks for the help.