Series S Internal SSD Upgrade

peanutpckrupper

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I'm not sure if anyone else has done this yet, but I upgraded the internal SSD for my series S with one from a broken series X I purchased on ebay.
If you want to do this swap, you'll need to clone all of the partitions from the original 512gb ssd to the 1tb ssd with the exception of the user content partition. If you put the ssd in straight from the series x, it won't power on.
Also if you want to use your old 512gb ssd as an expansion card just buy one of the cfexpress to m.2 adapters, delete the partitions from the drive, and you should be good to go.
IMG_20220401_145644636_HDR.jpg
 

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We've got an entire thread dedicated to upgrading the storage drive of Xbox One's in the Xbox One section.
Multiple people upped to 2TB HDD or more, some upgraded to SSDs.
 

Foxi4

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Yup, this upgrade has been done before by TronicsFix, with limited success - it works “sometimes” due to an additional Microsoft lock-out chip on the internal SSD’s. There’s a more reliable storage expansion option - dedicated “CF Express-to-m.2” adapters which will happily take any SSD from select manufacturers as long as they feature a controller the Xbox recognises. It’s more cost-effective and allows you to break past the 1TB barrier, from what I can gather. The upgrade above can only be performed using a donor Xbox drive and isn’t guaranteed to work in all cases.
 

peanutpckrupper

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Yup, this upgrade has been done before by TronicsFix, with limited success - it works “sometimes” due to an additional Microsoft lock-out chip on the internal SSD’s. There’s a more reliable storage expansion option - dedicated “CF Express-to-m.2” adapters which will happily take any SSD from select manufacturers as long as they feature a controller the Xbox recognises. It’s more cost-effective and allows you to break past the 1TB barrier, from what I can gather. The upgrade above can only be performed using a donor Xbox drive and isn’t guaranteed to work in all cases.
Tronicsfix didn't do it on a series s. He put the drive in and it didn't boot up.
 

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Tronicsfix didn't do it on a series s. He put the drive in and it didn't boot up.
I’m pretty sure it worked on one of the attempts, he tried a couple of different combinations and consoles - I can’t quite recall, it was a while back. It is good to see that the lockout can be defeated or fooled, however - it adds to the longevity of the system, provided the user makes a backup of their drive and stores it safely.
 

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1.jpg

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Will solve my issue if I clone my storage expansion card to a standard 2TB SSD to use as a 2TB expansion card with my custom made enclosure?
 

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View attachment 366371
View attachment 366378

Will solve my issue if I clone my storage expansion card to a standard 2TB SSD to use as a 2TB expansion card with my custom made enclosure?
By the looks of things this error code signifies that the drive inside the enclosure is not supported.

EDIT: Most people recommend the WD Blue CH SN530, as found in the original expansion. The WD Blue PC SN530 will *not* work. If your drive matches that model number, it may need to be formatted to GPT, then connected to the Xbox via USB, formatted as an external, added to the enclosure and formatted again. There seems to be some voodoo involved in the initial installation.

 

PROTOBOY

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By the looks of things this error code signifies that the drive inside the enclosure is not supported.

EDIT: By the looks of things most people recommend the WD Blue CH SN530, as found in the original expansion. The WD Blue PC SN530 will *not* work. If your drive matches that model number, it may need to be formatted to GPT, then connected to the Xbox via USB, formatted as an external, added to the enclosure and formatted again. There seems to be some voodoo involved in the initial installation.


It doesn't
work, it seems microsoft software locked the console so to recognize only the internal ssd model, SN530 and the expansion card from Seagate.

I've tried to clone the expansion card to my brand new 2280 SSD from PNY but the console still blocks the use.


Formatting MBR or GBT also didn't work.
 

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It doesn't
work, it seems microsoft software locked the console so to recognize only the internal ssd model, SN530 and the expansion card from Seagate.

I've tried to clone the expansion card to my brand new 2280 SSD from PNY but the console still blocks the use.


Formatting MBR or GBT also didn't work.
This has been the case from Day 1, only select drives are supported, it’s dependent on the on-board controller.
 
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PROTOBOY

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This has been the case from Day 1, only select drives are supported, it’s dependent on the on-board controller.
It might be just on the on-board controller but also can be a "software lock" like an intentional lock to block any other SSD even if the hardware supports.

I agree with you, I guess they tried to make easier or more convenient for non technical users to expand memory but in contrast turned out to be even more complicated.
 

Hayato213

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It might be just on the on-board controller but also can be a "software lock" like an intentional lock to block any other SSD even if the hardware supports.

I agree with you, I guess they tried to make easier or more convenient for non technical users to expand memory but in contrast turned out to be even more complicated.

Foxi4 is correct on this, only select drive actually work.
 

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It might be just on the on-board controller but also can be a "software lock" like an intentional lock to block any other SSD even if the hardware supports.

I agree with you, I guess they tried to make easier or more convenient for non technical users to expand memory but in contrast turned out to be even more complicated.
Well, there’s no reason for Microsoft to support any drives besides their own, so the limitation makes perfect sense. Anyone looking to expand their storage using an adapter should think ahead and make sure they grab a compatible stick.
 

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Well, there’s no reason for Microsoft to support any drives besides their own, so the limitation makes perfect sense. Anyone looking to expand their storage using an adapter should think ahead and make sure they grab a compatible stick.
Actually there is a reason, they should enable users to use the console expansion just like the PS5, in other words let each user decides if wans the more "convenient" way or the more technical DIY cheaper and broader option.
 

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It's been like this since the xbox 360. They don't want end users replacing the internal or external drives/memory. That's why in order to replace the 360 hdd we had to clone the security sectors to specific wd drives of the same size. It won't change any time soon. Even the original xbox had a locked hard drive and until the system was modded the drive couldn't be replaced by the end user.

The xbox one I think was the only system from MS that didn't have a drive locked to the system.
 

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Just wanted to pop in and say the XA1-31512 I’ve been able to find cheaper than the WD drive and also works as an expansion.
 

effbaz84

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View attachment 304327
I'm not sure if anyone else has done this yet, but I upgraded the internal SSD for my series S with one from a broken series X I purchased on ebay.
If you want to do this swap, you'll need to clone all of the partitions from the original 512gb ssd to the 1tb ssd with the exception of the user content partition. If you put the ssd in straight from the series x, it won't power on.
Also if you want to use your old 512gb ssd as an expansion card just buy one of the cfexpress to m.2 adapters, delete the partitions from the drive, and you should be good to go.
View attachment 304328
Can you send me a copy of the drive partition. I know it's already outdated once you updated I just wanna see if I can do anything with it
 

Codename_Falcon

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View attachment 304327
I'm not sure if anyone else has done this yet, but I upgraded the internal SSD for my series S with one from a broken series X I purchased on ebay.
If you want to do this swap, you'll need to clone all of the partitions from the original 512gb ssd to the 1tb ssd with the exception of the user content partition. If you put the ssd in straight from the series x, it won't power on.
Also if you want to use your old 512gb ssd as an expansion card just buy one of the cfexpress to m.2 adapters, delete the partitions from the drive, and you should be good to go.
View attachment 304328
Does this still work? Can you provide a step by step on how to accomplish this?
 

G33ksquad

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Does this still work? Can you provide a step by step on how to accomplish this?
Still works, you need a drive with the correct chip, Phison E19 and it’s not a chip available on consumer drives so that’s why it easiest from a dead console,

1.) mount it on a windows machine
2.) use disk part to change to GPT
3.) format as NTFS sector size 4096
4.) stick back in your Xbox, should now be asked to format as a new expansion you’ll need an adapter for this I bought the cablecc one from Amazon they work great, bad reviews primarily from an incorrect drive being used

Let me know if you run into issues I can try to help troubleshoot.
 

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