Whereas expanding the Xbox storage with a certified Seagate drive is the only way that’s guaranteed to work, however, what if I were to tell you that there is now an unofficial workaround for this space issue? What if now you can actively transform an internal SSD into an expansion card for your X/S Series Xbox? Well, this exciting news comes after a user named ‘Huashan Lunjian’ on the Chinese website Bilibili released a detailed how-to guide on using an SSD in the Xbox X/S expansion card slot. The modder, in their article, talks about how you can use the standard NVMe SSDs to potentially increase the storage space of your Xbox Series X/S. The Chinese blog was first spotted and brought to attention by VGC. To get a better idea of what’s being covered in the blog, read along as we disclose how the modder thought of this workaround along with all the important and necessary stuff related to the news.
Use of a Standard SSD in Xbox Series X/S Expansion Card Slot
The author of the blog recalls that they came across this idea while watching a teardown video of the next-gen console systems. In the video, they discovered that the console uses two PCIe 4.0 x2 storage connections. The two slots on the Xbox X/S series, including the internal NVMe SSD storage slot and the Seagate expansion card slot (at the back of the console), use the same latest gaming PC standard that connects SSDs and a graphics card to the PC system. While the Xbox expansion slot is officially supposed to operate and support Seagate cards, the mod guide’s author has found a way that suggests the theory of using other non-proprietary SSDs in the same slot. In addition to the uniform rapid storage access NVMe protocols across both Xbox and PC, the expansion slot used in the said Xbox was a CFExpress card based on the same NVMe protocols. So, the author of the Chinese blog theorized a way to use a standard SSD in place of the proprietary Seagate card slot by compiling all of the facts as mentioned above and coming up with an unofficial switch around for the same. The Chinese website user suggested in their theory that utilizing the right type of PCIe 4.0 SSD and connecting it to a CFe to NVMe adapter should do the trick of getting your Xbox X/S series console into recognizing it as a valid Storage Expansion Card. The user opted for a 1TB Western Digital SN530 m.2 2230 SSD to carry out their theory. The reason behind this selection is that the same SSD is used in the hardware of the Xbox X series. After fitting the SSD into the expansion card slot via the connected adapter, the modder was able to get this trick to work after the Xbox console read the card as a valid one resulting in increased storage of about 867GB. The question of using Solid State Drives other than the Xbox internal storage ones persists as the user did not guarantee the efficiency and workability of such SSDs. While the guide’s author mentioned the incompatibility notification that popped up when someone tried inserting a CFexpress camera card with PCIe 3.0 x2 into the Xbox, they further urged experts to try out other NVMe PCI 4.0 SSDs and post the feedback to make this discovery more valuable.
Wrapping Up
With this, it’s time to wrap up the article on this discovery of using a standard SSD in the Xbox X/S series expansion slot. While there are still a lot of unanswered questions regarding a lot of things, including the use of other solid state drives and the minimum speed requirements for consoles, further tests, and trials by the curious expert faction of the internet will more than likely deliver on the same in the coming time. If you found this article somewhat knowledgeable and informative, share it with your technology enthused friends. We’d love to hear from you! So, let us know your thoughts about this new discovery in the comment section below. For more interesting and latest updates regarding technology, entertainment, and Lifestyle, keep visiting Path of EX – Your Spot For Trending Stuff! Feature Image Credit: Video Games Chronicle
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