Pironman 5 mini not detecting Crucial P3 Plus NMVe drive

General
1

I recently purchased a PM 5 mini to and Raspberry Pi5 to use as a NAS at home.

I really like the format of the box and easy set up. I initially set up the mini booting from an SD card and all went well. I then placed the SSD in an enclosure, attached to my PC and flashed the OS onto the SSD with no troubles. I then installed the SSD and enabled NVMe in /boot/firmware/config.txt dtparam=pciex1. All software updates were applied.

I booted the Pi from the SD card to confirm that the HAT+ would recognize the drive prior to trying to boot from it. It did not recognize the drive. Power light on but status light never lights up nor flashes.

Error messages: Failed to open device:’nvme’

I have reviewed and followed the installation and assembly videos, tried all the trouble shooting steps of reseating the ribbon cable several times and also replacing it with the supplied spare and repeated again. I have also tried shorting the J2 contact on boot up with no result. The SSD works outside the mini no problem.

SSD - Crucial P3 Plus 4.0 M.2 2280 1TB

I also tried changing the boot sequence so the SSD would be first but no change.

I have includes two videos: ( nope forum won’t let me upload)

A short one showing boot from SD card, the longer on trying to boot from NVMe. Also some pictures of the boot messages.

boot2
boot2640×480 53.1 KB

Any help would be appreciated.

K

2

Have you try to update the firmware? sudo rpi-update

3

Yes, all recommended updates were applied.
Here is the boot video….

Ken

(attachments)

4

Did you try with a different nvme? Did LEDs are ON on nvme module? Ribbon is well connected? Did the RGB LEDs works?

Screenshot_20251106_191525_Chrome
Screenshot_20251106_191525_Chrome720×1455 138 KB

5

I did not try another NVMe as I don’t have one. The PWR led is on but the STA light never comes on. The RBG lights all work.

6

Everything works great except the nvme. PCIe ribbon is connected in the right side?

Screenshot_20251106_193553_Chrome
Screenshot_20251106_193553_Chrome720×1455 246 KB

Or did you try with the other FPC ribbon?

7

yes the ribbon is connected correctly as per installation instructions. I have also tried reseating the ribbon and also using the supplied spare ribbon without success.

NVMe is on compatibility list and has been user tested. It also works just fine in another PC.

8

Ok and there’s no flashing LED on nvme module, even when it’s booting? In terminal, if you type that. sudo fdisk -l. What does it shown?

9

correct no flashing light on HAT+

fdiskoutput…

Disk /dev/ram0: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram1: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram2: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram3: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram4: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram5: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram6: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram7: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram8: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram9: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram10: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram11: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram12: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram13: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram14: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/ram15: 4 MiB, 4194304 bytes, 8192 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

Disk /dev/loop0: 2 GiB, 2147483648 bytes, 4194304 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 58.94 GiB, 63281561600 bytes, 123596800 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x7b82bde5

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/mmcblk0p1 16384 1064959 1048576 512M c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/mmcblk0p2 1064960 123596799 122531840 58.4G 83 Linux

Disk /dev/zram0: 2 GiB, 2147483648 bytes, 524288 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 4096 = 4096 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 4096 bytes / 16384 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 16384 bytes / 16384 bytes

10

Thank you so much, Weirdyguy, for your help.

Ringo, if you’ve confirmed the FPC cable is connected correctly, please insert the SD card to boot the system. Then, run the sudo raspi-config command and follow the steps to configure the system to boot from the SSD.

Configuration guide:
https://docs.sunfounder.com/projects/pironman5/zh-cn/latest/pironman5_mini/install/copy_sd_to_nvme_rpi.html#configure-boot-ssd-mini

After successful configuration, restart the system. (Please note that the SSD must have the operating system installed.)

If the issue persists, the expansion board might be faulty, and we can arrange a replacement for you.

Here is an animated guide for connecting the FPC cable:
https://docs.sunfounder.com/projects/pironman5/zh-cn/latest/_static/video/mini_fpc_connect.mp4

11

Thanks to WeirdyGuy as well.

Moderator:

I have confirmed that the FPC cable has been connected correctly.

I have used the Pi Imager to install the OS on the SSD using my PC as the SSD is not recognized on the Pi. I followed the instructions for using raspi-config to set the boot order to tru SSD first and rebooted the Pi. It took longer to boot up as it was waiting for the SSD to be recognized - it did not.

I tried but as a new user the forum is not allowing me to attached a video of the boot up.

Pretty boring anyway, the power light on the Pi and HAT are steady on. Nothing happens until the failover time expires then the power light on the Pi blinks as it boots up. The power light on the HAT remains steady on and the STA light in off the entire time.

12

At this point, there’s not a lot of possibility, faulty nvme hat, bad connection between raspberry pi and hat or nvme drive compatibility. You can buy a low-cost nvme on Amazon to test it, after you can return it before 30 days. If nothing works after that, contact sunfounder for a replacement part at service@sunfounder.com .

Can you take a photo of cable between RPI and hat? And maybe take a look if there’s damages or bad soldering on nvme module, close to PCIe socket, …

13

Here is the photo requested.
The nvme works and is on the compatibility list so unlikely the issue.

Ken

14

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image1480×640 141 KB

15

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image0480×640 125 KB

16

So let’s supposed there’s issue with nvme module, contact them to get a replacement part.

17

Please contact our sales team at service@sunfounder.com to arrange a replacement mini expansion board for you.