Fitting an M.2 2280 SSD in EZbook 3 Pro

[Ulric]

If you have got Ezb3 with M.2 extension slot, you probably already know, that offer of FF 2240 ssds is pretty limited (especially larger sizes) and that they are more expensive than their 2280 brothers.

Under the hood is enough space to accomodate 2280, and the tweaks can be done with little effort even by unskilled person like me.

When you remove the bottom cover, I advice you to unplug the battery (and the power cable too of course! 🙂 )

 

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[Ulric]

Remove the black plastic frame, that should support 2240, and make the right side thinner.

I decided not to remove the socket for screw for fixing 2240, if I ever wanted to go back to 2240 ssd, I just put tape over it, so the SSD chip doesn’t touch it directly.

 

 

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[Ulric]

Finally insert SSD chip, fix everything back with screws and I gently taped the end of chip to the bottom so it cannot move.

 

Last picture shows the disc detected in Lubuntu.

 

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[sportnok]

Thanks for pictures, nice to see the 80mm SSD in position, and that the screw mount for the 42mm does not cause any issues.

Did you have to do anything in the bios for the SSD to show in Windows?

[Ulric]

I think best would be to remove the screw mount completely or at least make it smaller with rasp or rasper, so it wouldn’t touch the chip at all. But I didn’t want to break anything and it fits this way, so I let it be.

Because unplugging the battery resets the “bios” to defaults, I don’t think so. The ssd immediately appeared in security tab of bios. Because it is not formatted , in win I had to “manage My computer” -> something with hardware -> something with storage and there is the fdisk like  utility.

[Chris G]

Great post, good to see the 2280’s fit!

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[sleinad]

<span id=”result_box” class=”” lang=”en”>Hello Friend,

<span class=””>I see that you have Arch linux installed.</span> Do all internal devices works? <span class=””>Camera, Battery, WiFi, Bluetooth, Audio/Mic, Card reader, Touchpad</span>.
</span>

<span id=”result_box” class=”” lang=”en”><span class=””>¿You compared the speed of the internal eMMC with the SSD M2?</span></span>

<span id=”result_box” class=”” lang=”en”>Is SSD <span class=””>M2 faster and therefore it would be better to install the operating system on it?</span></span>

<span id=”result_box” class=”” lang=”en”><span class=””>Greetings and thanks for sharing.</span></span>

[Ulric]

Hi sleinad,

it is not Arch, it is Lubuntu.

SSD is like 5 times faster, I moved the system to it.

All hardware works in Linux, but some need some work with drivers or settings.

Check my thread on Linux questions:

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-laptop-and-netbook-25/jumper-ezbook-3-pro-can%27t-boot-from-usb-most-of-common-linux-distros-4175605766/

[Igor]

Hi,

I have done same mod like Ulric, but with 250GB version of EVO 850. SSD is detected, formatted in Windows, but I have 2 problems. First, it is detected in Windows as SATA1 device so max. read and write that I get is ~140-150Mbps. When I install Samsung magician, it notifies me that drive runs at SATA1 speed (SATA3 available is notifying me) so I don’t know what to do to run on SATA3 speeds. In BIOS SATA controller is set to AHCI. Second problem is that I can’t select this drive in BIOS boot menu, it’s simply not present when I choose boot order (there are only built in UEFI shell and Windows boot manager options, there is nothing more even when I plug in bootable Windows 10 USB stick)?

 

Thanks

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[Wolf]

Great description.

Has anyone seen anything about the m.2 slot modell?

That must have a different layout for the second slot or / and backdoor I assume.

Hope the windows Sata 1 problem will be fixed until mine will be shipped end of month.

Thanks to all

Good luck - WOLF

[Thomas]

A 500Gb Samsung SSD most have cost more than the laptop, hehehe.  Nice pictures and thanks for confirming my thoughts

I am going to use a  TOSHIBA-THNSNJ128G8NU 128Gb SSD purchased for £30 from a local second hand shop and then use some thermal heatsink tape from fleeBay £1.45 to fit mine

http://ssd.userbenchmark.com/SpeedTest/14053/TOSHIBA-THNSNJ128G8NU

so that SSD will be perfect for me because I cannot pay the price for the 500Gb Samsung.

I will post the photos of my mod.

 

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[Gabriel]

I was able to install a Crucial 275GB 2280 ssd today. Was so much easier than I thought. Created a win010 boot USB. Installed the ssd and went into the Bios setting and selected the USB drive. Installed win 10 on the ssd and setup the pc as always. Then I proceeded to format the internal memory. I did hold the ssd down with tape and a bit of crazy glue since it was electrical tape and we all know electric tape has not grip lol. Very happy with the outcome.

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX300-275GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B01IAGSDJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500859178&sr=8-1&keywords=crucial+m.2

[Simon]

Gabriel wrote:

I was able to install a Crucial 275GB 2280 ssd today. Was so much easier than I thought. Created a win010 boot USB. Installed the ssd and went into the Bios setting and selected the USB drive. Installed win 10 on the ssd and setup the pc as always. Then I proceeded to format the internal memory. I did hold the ssd down with tape and a bit of crazy glue since it was electrical tape and we all know electric tape has not grip lol. Very happy with the outcome. https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX300-275GB-Internal-Solid/dp/B01IAGSDJ0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500859178&sr=8-1&keywords=crucial+m.2

I’m planning on doing this soon. Does it make the notebook feel much faster? How long goes it take to boot now?

 

[Gabriel]

@Simon- Lol I just noticed how fast it takes to boot. Took like 4-5 seconds compared to how long it took with the internal memory (I cant remember how long it took stock but it was ridiculously long more like a minute or so). Shut down is now instant where as before it took like 30 seconds to turn off and sometimes if I were to hit shutdown and close the lid without the pc actually turning off, it would go into standby and not shut down. Also I’m not sure if its a placebo effect but installing a fresh install of windows on the ssd made the trackpad way better. Maybe it hasn’t changed but it seem much more manageable without a wireless mouse now.

 

[Janko Hrasko]

Hi,

any idea if the slot would work with a new generation ssd with PCIe gen3x4 (NVMe 1.2)? I think it should, and pricewise a 2280 would cost me pretty much the same as an SATA III 2242. Just wanted to check before buying one, as I couldn’t find detailed specs anywhere.

Thanks.

[Author]

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