Topic: M2 SSD not working anymore PS5

Hey guys I've recently purchased a 1200 model ps5 disc drive and after about a week I bought and installed a 2TB Sony 990 Pro with heatsink.

After 2 weeks of running smoothly with no issues my ps5 was unable to turn on. It eventually gave me a message saying the PS5 can't access the M2 SSD and I should try to remove it.

Upon removing and restarting the ps5 works fine, until I try and install the SSD again.
Does anyone else have this problem? I'm not sure what to do because the 825Gb of pre existing storage is already taken up by two games.....

Any advice or recommendations would be helpful thanks

Get a refund or replacement on the M.2 SSD and try another one? It is basically telling you that there is something wrong with it, and 2 weeks is well within warranty.

I've never had this issue, I installed a third party M2 in my digital PS5 and that was maybe 2 years or more ago. So it is definitely something resolvable with another SSD, you'd imagine.

Interested to know what two games have taken up all of your initial storage

@Anubiz3334L I'd recommend reformatting the drive and starting again before returning. Try installing it on a PC if this isn't possible on the PS5. Simply type in 'format' in the Start menu once installed, click on the first option listed (Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions) and find your drive. Right click it and format in ex-FAT. Choose the default option and select quick format. You'll probably need to re-format again when installed back into the PS5.

If you don't have an M.2 slot on your motherboard, you can buy an M.2 expansion card relatively cheaply online for under $30.00. It's a very useful tool if this were to ever happen again or you could even use it to add an M.2 to your PC for faster access to your data, assuming it's PCI-E 4.0 or above (It will still work if it's PCI-E 3.0 or less, just at less than the maximum speed advertised)

The above instructions should allow the console to recognise the M.2 SSD, giving you a chance to start afresh.

If you don't have access to a relatively modern PC or laptop with a spare M.2 slot then sure, you should probably try returning it to the retailer whilst the option's still available to you.

@Jalex_64 interested to know, just out of general curiosity (and for reference if I get a new M.2 with a Ps5 pro, for example) what has gone wrong if this is the solution for the user? Say, if it was working one day and not the next, what went wrong internally for it to need reformatting and formatting again? And is this a common thing, or an acceptable degree of failure with them, as that would annoy the hell out of me if I installed it, it worked fine, but then I had to take it out to reformat it because something went wrong with it 😅😅

@Ravix It could well be a firmware issue with this particular drive. See here: https://www.pcgamer.com/the-damage-has-been-done-to-samsungs-...

I'd advise updating the firmware via PC before installing in your PS5, as this particular M.2 drive was known to have issues upon release in 2023. However, these issues are incredibly rare and are usually blown out of all proportion on the internet, (surprise, surprise) so most users should be just fine 'setting and forgetting' with the majority of recommended drives out there.

However, it's probably wise to update the firmware before installation if it's convenient for you, particularly if it's an old drive. Hope this helps 👍

I know this might not be the ideal solution, but you may want to try resetting the PS5 completely.

Think of that as a last resort.