Planning to make an external nvme SSD my backup PC

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As the title notes, I am thinking to buy an inexpensive external nvme SSD enclosure, place a new 512 GB or 1 TB nvme SSD in it, install openSUSE-15.6 on it, and make this my ‘new backup laptop’ (sort of).

Let me step back a bit.

I use an old year 2021 Lenovo X1 Carbon generation-9 as my main laptop computer. My wife uses her even older year 2019 Lenovo X1 Carbon generation-7 as her main computer.

I have kept an old year 2012 Toshiba Z930 satellite ultrabook as my backup laptop. My wife keeps an old year 2016 Lenovo X1 carbon generation-4 as her backup computer.

A few days ago, my wife announced she wanted to give away my year 2012 Toshiba Z930 ultrabook !!! laptop to charity, before it was too old. This Toshiba Z930 ultrabook runs great !! even thou it is old. But my wife was not to be deterred. So I cleaned off Linux and restored the laptop to its old Windows-8 !!! state.

And I thus have no backup laptop. I want a backup laptop (in case in days before traveling, my main laptop should have an issue).

My wife volunteered to give her year 2016 Lenovo X1 carbon generation-4 to me to use as a backup. But that laptop (with 16 GB of RAM) runs Windows-10 and has only 256 GB on its nvme SSD. I disliked having only 256 GB to split into a dual Windows-10/openSUSE boot.

So I considered simply replacing the year 2016 Lenovo X1 carbon generation-4 laptop’s nvme SSD with a newer and faster 1 TB nvme SSD. Then clone windows-10 to the 1 TB nvme SSD, and in remaining space install openSUSE LEAP-15.6.

In the end thou, I came up with a different idea (but retaining above idea in case this different idea does not work out).

My new plan?

Buy an external nvme SSD enclosure, and buy a new 512 GB (or 1 TB) nvme SSD, put that in the SSD enclosure and install GNU/Linux on that nvme SSD in that external enclosure. And then AS A BACKUP, use my wife’s Lenovo X1 Carbon Generation 4 laptop (where it will keep MS-Windows-10 and her apps/data) and instead my backup will be the external nvme SSD enclosure with a 1 TB (or 512 GB) nvme SSD running LEAP-15.6.

ok, it will be a bit slow, as the Lenovo X1 Carbon Generation 4 laptop has only (quantity 3) version 3.1 Gen1 USB ports with speed 5 Gbps (and no Thunderbolt port), but I think it should be doable.

Hardware I am considering is

  • ORICO M2PV-C3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure (USB3.1 Gen2 10 Gbps)
  • Samsung 1TB 990 PRO M.2 NVMe SSD (where 1 TB is over kill, but this nvme SSD may have other uses)

Compatibility:

I did some checks. The nvme SSD should physically fit in the nvme SSD enclosure. The chipset of the nvme SSD enclosure is a Realtek RTL9210 which I read is moderately GNU/Linux compatible (better with newer kernels). And the Realtex RTL9210 supports UASP (USB Attached SCSI Protocol) which I hope means has a decent chance to be bootable from the Lenovo X1 Carbon generation-4 laptop.

The nvme enclosure is ‘dirt cheap’ and possibly in a couple of years I could buy a nvme SSD enclosure that has thunderbolt, and use it with one of my newer laptops.

Total costs (including tax, shipping) for the hardware should be at most (~$146 US$ or ~125-euros total) and possibly less.

Also, if the booting and running (as a backup) of openSUSE-15.6 off of the nvme SSD does not work out, I can always simply use the nvme SSD and its enclosure as a backup hard drive.

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@oldcpu Hi, I have a couple of M.2 NVMe and SSD enclosures, work fine here;

“SSK M.2 NVME SATA SSD Enclosure Adapter, USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) to NVME PCI-E SATA M-Key/(B+M) Key Solid State Drive External Enclosure Aluminum Support UASP Trim for SSDs 2242/2260/2280”

Edit Device shows as;

Bus 003 Device 003: ID 152d:0580 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. SSK Storage

Not a fan of Samsung devices… they have their issues more than generic devices.

I’ve been using Silicon Power devices every where here without any problems. I recently got a couple of Patriot P300 M.2 PCIe Gen 3 x4 128GB Low-Power Consumption SSD for using in my RISCV64 Star VisionFive V2 device and works fine. The other is running Leap 16.0 Beta on a Dell Micro device.

I would suggest an NVMe device with DRAM, I’m looking at a Predator M.2 SSD 2TB GM7000 with DRAM Cache NVMe 1.4 2280 PCIe Gen4×4 Ultra high Speed to try out.

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Appreciate you posting this. It’s always great to read all the different ways folks are solving various computer challenges.

I’ve contemplated how to “add another computer” with minimal expense and ease of build. This is a great option.

The last time I was in the similar situation wasn’t long ago, and I strongly considered a mini-PC. I found one from a PCWorld article titled “I switched my $1,000 desktop for a $300 mini PC. I regret nothing”.

It’s a $300 Beelink SER5 Mini, powering an ultrawide 1440p 100Hz monitor.

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It can be tricky purchasing computer accessories (and other electronics) in Asia as there are often many fakes on the web sites. So one needs to go by price and the quantity of reviews of the sellers to assess if a fake or not. If few to no reviews, and a price that looks to good to be true, … it probably is not true (and a fake). Lol!

So I tentatively selected the Samsung due to it having a reputable supplier and a realistic price.

I looked for the ‘Predator M.2 SSD 2TB GM7000’ but I could not find such.

I did find a "SSD Predator GM7 PCIe 4.0x4 M.2 (I may have found a reputable supplier for that) . I compared it to the Samsung 1 TB 990 Pro M.2 and the Samsung is marginally faster overall, and in particular its random read/writes are much faster the the Predator GM7 (which is not the GM7000 you noted). The GM7 is ~30% cheaper than the Samsung 990 , but in truth at the low price levels of these nvme SSDs, price is not a big issue.

And again, I could not find on the Thailand mail order sites the GM7000.

As for the performance aspects, for the 1st year of ownership I likely won’t be able to take advantage of the nvme SSDs full speed (due to USB-3.1 limitations of the laptop I plan to connect to, and due to the USB-3.1 limitations of the inexpensive nvme SSD enclosure that I am looking at). … but in a years time, I may then procure a nvme SSD enclosure that supports thunderbolt, and speed may be of more interest them.

As for reliability/issues of different nvme SSD devices (based on manufacturer) I have no experience there. I am not even certain this is something one can find statistics on. Its something for me to ponder the next couple of days before ordering.

Thankyou for the comments.

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With regard to the Samsung nvme I am considering, I read this on the internet:

Firmware Issue (The “Bad” Part, Largely Resolved):

  • The Problem: When the 990 PRO was first released, many users reported an alarming issue where the drive’s health, as reported by SMART (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) attributes (specifically “Percentage Used”), would degrade unusually quickly, sometimes showing significant health loss (e.g., 10% in weeks or months) with minimal data written. This caused considerable concern and uncertainty about the drive’s longevity.

  • Samsung’s Response: Samsung acknowledged this “anomaly” and quickly released firmware updates (e.g., versions like 1B2QJXD7 and later).

  • The Fix: These firmware updates fixed the underlying bug that caused the incorrect reporting and rapid degradation. Reviews and user reports largely confirm that drives with the updated firmware no longer experience this accelerated health loss.

  • Important Caveat: The firmware update does not reset the SMART “Percentage Used” value to what it should have been if the bug hadn’t existed. So, if a drive experienced degradation before the update, that degraded percentage remains. However, the critical part is that the degradation stops behaving abnormally after the update.

  • Maintenance Action: It is absolutely crucial to update the firmware on your Samsung 990 PRO as soon as you get it. This is the single most important maintenance step for this specific drive. Samsung Magician software (Windows-only) is the easiest way, or you can use Samsung’s bootable firmware update utility

Having to use a Samsung Magician software (Windows only) to update the firmware utility does not read to be fun to do. I am also unclear how one would update the firmware unless one first used the nvme as an external drive, connected to a Windows PC (that would make my wife happy) , updated the firmware, and only then installed openSUSE on the nvme.

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@oldcpu things like that and other Samsung issues with respect to trim, btrfs, kernel blacklisting (libata) etc…

You might need to find out if a USB enclosure can facilitate firmware upgrades, or a system with an M.2 slot is required?

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I read the ORICO M2PV-C3 nvme SSD enclosure uses the Realtek RTL9210 and it works well with MS-Windows. Based on what I read, the easiest approach for me is to use MS-Windows to update the firmware, and not GNU/Linux (although purportedly there are GNU/Linux methods, but they are not as well tested nor as easy to use).

From what I read, nominally at the start of using the device, one is to place the Samsung 1TB 990 PRO M.2 NVMe SSD into the ORICO M2PV-C3 USB NVMe enclosure. And also install a Samsung MS-Windows app called Samsung Magic on one’s MS-Windows PC. When one then plugs in the ORICO nvme enclosure into one’s PC, I think it should be recognized by MS-Windows (even thou there is possibly no partitioning nor pre-format). One then launches Windows ‘Disk Management’, locates the Samsung 990 PRO SSD, right clicks on the disk number, and selects “initialize disk”. At a popup dialog box, one selects “GPT (GUID Partion Table)” (and not the MBR option if offered).

Once that is done the Samsung Magician software is run for the firmware update.

I don’t have an MS-Windows PC to speak of … .but my wife does. lol !

With regard to the GNU/Linux possibilities to update the firmware, I read Samsung used to provide (and still does for some older drives) a “bootable firmware update utility” as an ISO image. This is a mini-Linux environment designed specifically to update Samsung SSD firmware without needing a full Windows installation. However, for modern NVMe drives like the 990 PRO, purportedly this method may be problematic for a few reasons:

(1) Linux Compatibility of the ISO: Samsung’s bootable ISOs have a history of being based on older Linux kernels that sometimes do not properly recognize newer NVMe controllers or USB-to-NVMe bridge chips, especially those in external enclosures. Users often report the utility failing to find the SSD or crashing.

(2) CSM Requirement: Some of Samsung’s older bootable utilities require Legacy BIOS (CSM) mode to boot, which can conflict with modern UEFI-only systems or prevent the NVMe drive from being properly detected.

(3) “Official” Linux Tool (Less Common for Consumer NVMe): While Samsung does have a Linux-based firmware update utility (often named fumagician) which can be extracted from their ISOs, it’s typically intended for internal, directly connected NVMe drives, often in datacenter environments. Getting it to work with an external USB enclosure can be hit or miss due to the USB bridge chip.

I also read there is an “Unofficial Linux CLI Method (advanced)” where one hacks the Samsung ISO file, extracts the “fumagician” utility and firmware binary also from the Samsung ISO, and run it directly from one’s GNU/Linux environment. I am not particularly keen on adopting that approach.

I have also read that for some GNU/Linux installs, one might have to insert some custom Linux Kernel Parameters, and that I should bee prepared to potentially add kernel parameters like:

nvme_core.default_ps_max_latency_us=0 pcie_aspm=off

to the GRUB2 configuration if one experiences issues with the NVMe drive disappearing or being inconsistently recognized, especially after resume from suspend. Purportedly this may be a common fix for NVMe drives in USB enclosures on Linux.

Of course - I have no such nvme SSD nor enclosure device yet !!

I am just researching and assessing what I might face before I dive into all of this. Lol !

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@oldcpu You would only need nvme_core.default_ps_max_latency_us=0 if the device has a funky NVMe controller, I did have to do that with an earlier WD NVMe I purchased, since then not been an issue. I don’t expect you will have an issue with newer devices.

I’ve only used mine for preparing (pre-partition) NVMe and SSD’s prior to installation or using dd or zcat for images…

Don’t forget improvements with fwupd to install firmware updates on hardware as more manufacturers add these updates.

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(personal opinion: we only choose long-established reliable products)

My experience (retired software engineer with 35+ years, published author of a Linux book and 3 software books) … we still run a desktop machine that I built in 2018. Initially built with a Samsung 960 EVO 500gb drive. Later, I added a Samsung 970 EVO 500gb as a second drive (not a replacement). (we were running TW originally, but switched to Leap a while ago)

The 960 was introduced in 2016, the 970 in 2018. They are both still running flawlessly to this day, 6-7 years now, and no conflicts with any Linux operating system. Also have a laptop with a 980 drive - no probs.

We have two Samsung T7 Shield and two T9 Shield portable SSD drives used for backups … absolutely flawless - no issues. Personally (yes, an opinion), we will only use Samsung drives … big company with a lot of backing and good customer support.

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@oldcpu @myswtest always worth a peruse https://github.com/torvalds/linux/blob/master/drivers/ata/libata-core.c of devices, controllers etc that have issues, quirks etc…

@myswtest I think the 9xx series are better than previous iterations, no real world experience with the devices, just research…

No books either, probably could write a few after 20+ years with openSUSE/SUSE/S.u.S.E… first, I guess “real” computer was a VIC-20 :wink:

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There is healthy competition among NVMe SSD vendors. I recently purchased a Western Digital Black SN770 NVMe 1TB. It is currently available for a total price of €70.95.

Offers vary rapidly, so it is always advisable to use a market overview, e.g. https://www.idealo.de/preisvergleich/ProductCategory/14613.html?q=1tb%20ssd%20nvme&qd=1tb%20ssd%20nvme

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I am ‘having’ fun/learning in regards to what I will need to do for this ‘project’ (of putting openSUSE on an external nvme SSD), although I am still 2 to 3 weeks away before I start the installation process of configuring a backup USB nvme SSD external enclosure w/SSD with openSUSE-LEAP-15.6 installed to use on a Lenovo X1 Carbon generation-4 laptop. First I need to buy the hardware !!

Last night and today my focus was on some of the details to consider in terms of what might go wrong and also in doing my best to ensure nothing in my wife’s old Lenovo X1 Carbon generation-4 laptop will block this process.

The very first thing I did today, was plug in an openSUSE-LEAP-15.6 KDE Live USB and boot the Lenovo X1 Carbon generation-4 laptop to LEAP-15.6. This was successful. I tested wifi and sound and a few other things with LEAP-15.6.

My previous research suggested the ORICO M2PV-C3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure (USB3.1 Gen2 10Gbps) Harddisk Enclosure with its Realtek RTL9210 chipset should work with openSUSE LEAP-15.6 with an external SSD enclosure, if all else is nominal. So I am looking to see if there are any ‘blocking’ considerations that could cause this idea to fail, before I buy the necessary hardware.

I read it best that the Lenovo X1 Carbon generation-4 laptop have a BIOS version newer than v.1.5 for better external nvme SSD enclosure support. So on this Lenovo laptop I sent the command:

sudo dmidecode -t system

which gave me my laptop’s Product Name, Serial Number and Family (ie Thinkpad X1 Carbon 4th). That information was useful for going to the Lenovo support website where I noted v.1.56 is the latest BIOS for this laptop (year-2022 BIOS). I also observed later v.1.56 is the BIOS version on this laptop (via that command and also when I booted into the BIOS to change some setting on this old laptop)).

I also ran a command (out of curiousity, but not so relevant to this thread) to see what the existing nvme SSD was in this old laptop:

fwupdmgr get devices

Its an old Toshiba SSD. Interesting, a Toshiba SSD on a Lenovo laptop.

Then I rebooted the laptop to its BIOS and checked BIOS Settings:

In terms of the BIOS settings, on this Lenovo X1 Carbon generation-4 laptop, I set:

  • SECURE BOOT to DISABLED
  • USB UEFI BOOT to ENABLED
  • UEFI/LEGACY BOOT to BOTH

So while research suggested the laptop should have no issues recognizing and booting to the nvme SSD in the ORICO M2PV-C3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure (due to the enclosure having a Realtek RTL9210 chipset), I also discovered if it does not work there are some workarounds, albeit not so pleasant. Hopefully workarounds are not needed.

  1. One workaround, if installation/boot to nvme SSD (in the enclosure) does not work is to use “Plop Boot Manager” (for Legacy BIOS). Purportedly that forces the system to boot from a USB even if the BIOS doesn’t support it ( https://www.plop.at/en/bootmanager/download.html ). This is not ideal thou, as it works only in "Legacy BIOS mode (not UEFI) and it is slower than a native boot.
    .
  2. Another workaround, if installation/boot to nvme SSD (in the enclosure) does not work is to use GRUB chainloading (for UEFI/Linux). I had never heard of this before ! < gulp > … It basically uses a small GRUB bootloader on a USB flash drive to ‘redirect’ the boot process to one’s nvme SSD. There are detailed GRUB settings to configure to make this work, and I won’t space this thread with those (I did make a note of them thou). This means the USB flash drive will act as a ‘middleman’ to load the nvme SSD’s kernel.

But its not ideal. It means it bypasses the BIOS limitations by letting GRUB handle the nvme boot, and once setup one must always use the GRUB USB flash drive to boot the NVME SSD. Which means one ties up 3 of the 3 USB ports when booting to GNU/Linux from the nvme (because I use (a) USB with a USB mouse and (b) one USB then needed for the Boot flash drive, and (c) one USB for the nvme enclosure). Possibly I could use Bluetooth for the mouse, but needs more investigation.

My hope is that these work arounds will not be needed, but it gives confidence that they are available to try, if worst comes to worst.

WHATS NEXT?

Next for me is to order hardware (nvme SSD, enclosure and longer cable). I may sit and ponder this for a few days before ordering, or I may act tomorrow to order the hardware (I am going out to dinner tonight with friends).

I am happy with the nvme enclosure selection that I plan (ORICO M2PV-C3 M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure), and I am still pondering the nvme SSD drive selection. I did discover where to download the ‘Samsung Magician’ application (for MS Windows) to upgrade a Samsung nvme’s firmware if I go the Samsung nvme SSD route ( Samsung Magician Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global ). Its too bad Samsung does not provide and maintain a GNU/Linux version, but sadly such has always been the GNU/Linux lack of support by many companies.

I know they say: “one can not teach an old dog new tricks” , but this has been a learning experience for me. Probably thou, after completion, I will forget everything, and then have to rely on my notes (where I try to keep good notes). … lol !!

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USB 3.2 (Gen2, 10Gb/s) type-C with M.2 (PCI-e 2.0 x2)

PCI-e 2.0 x2 means 1 GB/s.

I would try to get another with PCIe 3/4 and more lanes at if the NVME card that you purchase supports that.

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I do not follow your math - although I concede myself being ‘the old dog is attempting to learn new tricks’ here. My understand is the ORICO enclosure uses PCIe-3.0

My understanding for the ORICO M2PV-C2 M2 is as follows:

The USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps): The “10 Gbps” for USB 3.1 Gen 2 refers to the signaling rate of the USB interface. It uses a more efficient encoding scheme (128b/132b encoding, which is about 3% overhead) compared to PCIe 2.0’s 8b/10b encoding (20% overhead).

The Realtek RTL9210 Chip: The RTL9210 chip is used in the ORICO M2PV-C3 10Gbps NVMe enclosure and it supports:

  • USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps) on the external side.
  • PCIe Gen 3 x2 on the internal side.
  • PCIe Gen 3 x2:

Where PCIe 3.0 has a raw speed of ~985 MB/s per lane. (ie Mega bytes)

So does not PCIe 3.0 x2 give: 2 lanes×985 MB/s/lane≈1970 MB/s (approximately 2 GB/s) of theoretical raw bandwidth. ie 2 Giga bytes per second !! This is about 16 Gbps. (Giga bits per second) - where ORICO claim 10 Gbps.

That is massively quicker than the Lenovo X1 Carbon Generation-4’s USB-3.1 speed of 5 Gbps per second, so the USB-3.1 interface is the bottleneck. Not the ORICO M2PV-C2 M2 PCIe-3.0.

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On the topic of speed of how the USB-3.1 interface on the Lenovo X1 carbon generation-4 laptop is a limiting factor, I also have this in mind when considering the nvme SSD to procure.

I have not yet decided on which nvme I procure, and I am still in the research mode, which by no small amount is driven by what is actually available with the local mail order shops. That restricts the selection.

In considering the Samsung 990 nvme SSD drives, from what I have read there are two variants. The higher performance Samsung 990 nvme Pro (which is the variant I mentioned and that I note has(?)/had(?) issues addressed by a firmware update) and the Samsung 990 nvme Plus, which has good performance but not as fast as the nvme pro (where the “plus” had and has no firmware issues).

The slower “plus” SSD version is about 25% less expensive (if ordered in Thailand) than the “pro” SSD version.

Given the big bottle neck will definitely be the USB-3.1 (and later Thunderbolt-3 and Thunderbolt-4 will also be the bottleneck) of the external enclosure and my laptop, I do not believe I will notice a speed difference between the two Samsung SSDs.

Hence I may elect to go for the less expensive ‘plus’ version (and not the “pro”) if I go for the Samsung 990.

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Even if it was PCIe-2.0 (where my research suggests PCIe-3.0), a speed of 1 GB/s is about 8 Gbps which is faster than the USB-3.1 speed of 5 Gbps.

So even if the enclosure only had PCIe-2.0 (where I have read it actually has PCIe-3.0), but regardless, even with PCIe-2.0, a speed of 1 GBs (or 8 Gbps) is faster than the old Lenovo laptop’s USB-3.1 gen1 speed of 5 Gbs.

Again - I am learning about this now, so I can make mistakes, but that is my calculation at present.

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As the owner of a ThinkBook I would never consider to run Leap on an external drive. Dual Boot of Windows 11 / Tumbleweed works like a charm with this partitioning:

thinkbook:~ # fdl
Disk /dev/nvme0n1: 476.94 GiB, 512110190592 bytes, 1000215216 sectors
Disk model: SAMSUNG MZAL4512HBLU-00BL2              
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 7DBBDC49-D9D4-495E-B5FD-53CAC1F4ED46

Device           Size Type
/dev/nvme0n1p1   260M EFI System
/dev/nvme0n1p2    16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/nvme0n1p3  97.7G Microsoft basic data
/dev/nvme0n1p4     2G Windows recovery environment
/dev/nvme0n1p5 377.1G Linux filesystem

Partition table entries are not in disk order.
thinkbook:~ #

If I needed more space I would always replace the built-in SSD by a larger model.

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You are right I did misread 1 GB for 1 Gbit/s but indeed it is 8 Gbit/s and that is close enough to the max speed of the USB interface.

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Those are all VERY good points, and on my Toshiba Z930 laptop, that my wife has just given away to charity, that is close to the partitioning setup I had.

What I found thou, was in the Toshiba, only ~100 GB for MS-Windows was not enough space for me. I think in addition to Adobe Acrobat reader (?) under Windoze, and some utility apps, there was no other Windows apps. Which on more than one occasion meant trying to update a virus check or Windows would fail. For my very rare use of Windoze, 100 GB is not enough.

But perhaps more important, knowing my wife, she will change her mind and want to use the MS-Windows partition on this Lenovo X1 Carbon generation 4 , that she said I could 100% use. She will change her mind, boot the X1 Carbon, and she will be very upset with me for so little space on MS-Windows.

Reference putting the nvme SSD into the Lenovo X1 Carbon generation 4 directly ? YES YES YES. That had been my original plan. But my wife grumbled about putting new hardware in a old laptop that could fail any day.

However she could not dispute that if I create an external nvme SSD that can be used as a hard drive for storage, or as a boot operating system (like I plan) that there are multiple uses for this. Given the SSD enclosure was only ~$18.50 US$ (or ~15.90 euros) equivalent, that still means at any time I can change my mind and put the new nvme SSD into the Lenovo X1 Carbon generation 4 (like you suggest), and I will still have the SSD enclosure to place the Toshiba’s old 256 GB SSD.

The approach I adopted provides a lot of options, primarily because the USB-3.1 nvme SSD enclosure is so inexpensive.

I guess the comment that I could have mentioned in my initial post - is there are family considerations as well, where a degree of flexibility can be useful.

Best wishes!

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@oldcpu the only thing I would suggest is the efi partition being 2~4GB (I use 4GB) for the move to grub-bls or systemd-boot (my default these days). Likewise, no swap partition, use zram.