The Xbox Series X’s internal PCIe 4.0 SSD can technically be replaced, but only with a cloned drive from the same console…The Series X SSD will not work on an Xbox Series S console.
Two Xbox Series X SSDs were used in the test: the original WD CH SN530 SSD (left) and the donor XA1-31512 SSD (right).
to me YouTube TronixThe Xbox Series X’s internal SSD appears to be replaceable, but there’s a catch: the replacement drive must be a copy of the console’s original drive.
Tests by YouTuber TronixFix confirm that the Series X’s internal SSD has custom features essential to booting the console, and the system won’t boot unless the original drive—or a copy of the original drive—is installed. You can’t just buy an M.2 2230 SSD, plug it into the internal socket of your Xbox Series X, and expect it to turn on. This is most likely because: Enable Custom ASIC PCIe 4.0 (Gen4 x2) on the Xbox WD SN530 Internal Drive.
On top of the ASIC, this is to be expected, as all Xbox consoles require a special partition and operating system software to be installed on the drive to boot. For example, years ago when I replaced my Xbox One’s 2.5-inch hard drive, I had to use Linux to create private partitions on the new drive and download the latest console firmware to boot it.
Tests were conducted using two Xbox Series X SSDs from two separate consoles. SSD hard drives are actually different models, one of them is WD CH SN530 SSD and the other is XA1-31512 SSD from Solid State Technology Group. The third-party drive was a 1TB Sabrent M.2 2242 (SB-1342-1TB) SSD that delivers speeds of up to 2.5GB/s and meets the X/S series speed limit.
The results show that the Xbox Series X will not boot with the transplanted donor SSD installed. The console’s original M.2 2230 SSD was cloned onto the donor SSD and the console was already booted with the clone donor SSD installed.
Interestingly, the Xbox Series X SSD cannot be transferred to another separate Xbox Series X. Like the PS4, players cannot switch Xbox Series internal drives between two systems. The internal SSD only works with devices running Windows 10 OEM.
Gamers will also not be able to switch the SSD from the Xbox Series X (1 TB) to the Xbox Series S, which only comes with a 512 GB SSD storage.
However, someone was able to take the original internal solid state drive from an Xbox Series X SSD, Connect it to a CFExpress card readerand insert it into the Xbox Series S expansion card slot. The console recognized it as external storage as if it were one of Seagate storage capacity 1 TB.
