M.2 · B+M key · SATA underneath

M.2 SATA SSD data recovery. It looks like NVMe. It is not, and it matters.

An M.2 SATA drive has two notches in its edge connector, the B and M keys, and speaks plain SATA. That is why it tops out around 550MB/s, and why a desktop slot that supports only NVMe will ignore it entirely. Inside, it is a 2.5-inch SATA SSD folded onto a stick: the same Silicon Motion, Phison and Marvell controllers and the same failures, including the ROM-mode names and the 0GB capacities. People send one in believing an NVMe fault, when the drive was never supported by the slot. One drive is £300 + VAT after the free look, fixed in writing, 3–5 days at the bench.

Free first lookOne fixed figure in writingNo data, no bill on most jobsReturn postage paid

Rather talk it through? An engineer answers the bench line
0800 6890668

M.2 SATA symptoms, and how long each gives you.

Not listed? Describe it on the form →

Not detected in a new PCCheck the slot supports SATA first. Many boards list an M.2 slot as PCIe only, and an M.2 SATA drive will never appear in one.Everyday job

Shows 0GB, or a controller's name instead of the modelFirmware in ROM mode; the map is not loaded. Bench work.Do not delay

Detected, but slow and throwing errorsWeak pages being retried. Image it while it still answers.Everyday job

Deleted, or formattedTRIM is at work. Shut down and leave it off.Do not delay

Cracked, or snapped at the connectorUsually leaves the controller and flash intact. Do not straighten it.Everyday job

Packing it and posting it: a bare SSD travels in an anti-static bag inside a small padded box, with nothing able to move. Insure it for what the files are worth rather than the price of the drive, and use a tracked service. The posting address is not printed anywhere on this site; it arrives by email in reply to the form, with a booking sheet to print; the sheet inside the parcel is what matches it to your enquiry when it is opened. Or hand the sealed parcel in at the nearest of ten drop-off points, your name on the outside and the sheet inside; say where you are on the form and it comes by email. We pay the postage home either way. The whole of it is written up on the guide to packing and posting.

Brand by brand, and what tends to go wrong.

Crucial MX500 M.2 and BX-seriesSilicon Motion controllers on Micron flash, with the same reporting quirks as the 2.5-inch MX500.

WD Blue 3D M.2 SATA and SanDisk X600Marvell and in-house controllers; the same drive as the 2.5-inch Blue, on a stick.

Samsung 860 EVO M.2 and PM871/PM881 OEMSamsung's own controller and flash, hardware-encrypted, so recovery runs through the original controller.

Transcend, Kingston and the OEM parts in Dell and HP machinesA mix of Silicon Motion and Phison silicon, sold under whichever badge was on the laptop.

What the message actually means.

Describe yours to us →

What is going on	The usual reason for it	Where that leaves you
The BIOS never lists it in this machine	The slot is keyed for NVMe only	Compatibility, not failure; try a SATA-capable slot before posting
Shown at 0GB or with a controller name	Firmware fallen back on ROM	Bench work; do not initialise it
Windows asks to initialise it	The partition table is unreadable, or the drive is presenting a blank map	Say no, and send it
Copies stall and error	Weak flash pages	Image now
Read-only	Spare blocks exhausted	Usually fully readable

From the box arriving to your files going back.

Work we have closed →

Logged the day it lands, and the first look costs nothing Free

A case number goes on it the day the parcel is opened, and an engineer settles what has actually failed before anything else happens. The drive is read on our own equipment, never in a computer that might send it a TRIM command. Back to you come two things together: a straight note of what is liftable and what is not, plus one figure, fixed and written down. Accept it, or decline and owe us nothing.

Nothing to pay for lookingA single figure, put in writingNo TRIM, no writes

Powered on our terms

Every power-on gives a failing SSD another chance to run its own housekeeping. Here the drive is brought up in the controller's diagnostic state instead, which lets the bench speak to the flash directly and keeps damaged firmware out of the conversation.

Vendor diagnostic modeNo hopeful reboots

Past the fault, to the map

Working code is loaded into the controller's memory rather than onto the flash, the service area is read, and the translation table is rebuilt from what is there. Where the controller itself is dead, the chips are read one by one and the controller's scrambling and error correction are undone in software.

Loader in RAM, never on the flashMapping tables put back together

A full image, then the volume

Nothing is worked on live. The whole drive is imaged once, weak pages retried in their own passes, and the file system is put back together on the image. Encrypted volumes are unlocked there too, with the key you supply, and never on the original.

One careful imageThe volume verified end to end

You see the file list before you pay

What was recovered is listed for you first, and only then does a bill exist. Approve the list and it is invoiced; turn it down and it is not — and where nothing has come back, most jobs carry no charge at all. Recovered data travels home on fresh media bought in for your job, with the postage at our end. Your case is not closed until you have opened the files on a machine of your own.

No charge until you accept the figureFresh media, supplied with the job3–5 days at the bench

What arrives most often

Two notches usually means SATA. A single M-key notch means NVMe. The label often says which, and the rated speed gives it away: about 550MB/s is SATA, anything over a thousand is NVMe.
If the motherboard manual lists the slot as PCIe only, the drive was never going to show. That is the commonest M.2 SATA job we are sent, and it is not a job at all. We tell you so at the free look and send it back.
Recovery is exactly the 2.5-inch method, through the SATA port, controller by controller. The stick shape changes nothing at the flash.
OEM drives from laptops carry OEM firmware. A Samsung PM881 or a Kioxia part from a business laptop cannot always be updated or read by the retail tools, and it does not need to be.

One job, followed all the way through.

UK · SDR-2026-0388JOB LOGGED ✓

A WD Blue M.2 SATA from a small-form-factor PC, showing 0GB

A one-litre office PC lost its drive overnight: present in the BIOS, but at 0GB. The owner had, sensibly, not let Windows initialise it. The Marvell controller went into its diagnostic state through the SATA port, the service area read back with one damaged module, and the map was rebuilt around it. The accounts database and eight years of correspondence came back complete.

100% of it recovered3 days here, and back by post

Illustrative example — replace with a genuine case

What helps, and what harms.

Do this much first

Check the slot supports SATA before anything else
Write down the model number
Send the bare stick in an anti-static bag
Tell us whether it was the boot drive

What sets us back

Bending it back if the connector has snapped
Initialising it when Windows asks
Flashing firmware at it
Assuming it is NVMe because it is M.2

Questions answered before you commit.

How do I tell M.2 SATA from NVMe?

Two notches in the connector usually means SATA; one notch on the right means NVMe. The label will say SATA or show a speed of about 550MB/s. If in doubt, photograph the label and send it with the form.

Is recovery the same as a 2.5-inch SATA drive?

Yes. The controllers are the same and so are the routines. The stick shape changes nothing at the flash.

Can I read it with a USB M.2 adapter?

Only if the drive is healthy, and only with an adapter that supports SATA M.2 rather than NVMe. A failing drive should not be tried through a bridge at all.

What does it cost?

£300 + VAT for one drive after the free look, fixed in writing before any chargeable work.

Begin here if yours is doing the same thing.

NVMe M.2, the one with one notch →SATA 2.5-inch →Not detected →Snapped or cracked →Crucial →Western Digital →

Nothing gets worse while the power is off.

Looking at it is free. Back comes a list of what opened and what did not, together with a single price to finish, set down in writing while you are still free to say no. On most jobs an invoice only follows the data. Until that list reaches you, leave the drive switched off.

0800 6890668

Price my job Packing and posting

Every kind of SSD

Manufacturers

Whatever it is doing now

What it costs, and what follows