How to tell empty m.2 ssd slot type?

Hello. I have a Thinkpad Edge E531 and want to get an m.2 SSD for it, but I read that this model can have either type (SATA or PCIe). is there a way to tell which type mine needs with the slot empty? I will post what I think might contain something relevant, but if there's another way, please share. I just don't know what to look for. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I've been reading for days and still I'm not sure. I even checked the crucial.com site and it only listed 2.5" SATA SSDs.

╭─user@karuda in ~/.work took 13ms
 ╰─λ inxi -Faz
System:
  Kernel: 5.16.9-zen1-1-zen x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 11.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
    root=UUID=6d00cdea-07f2-4376-822a-554629a103bf rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0 loglevel=3
  Desktop: KDE Plasma 5.24.0 tk: Qt 5.15.2 info: latte-dock wm: kwin_x11
    vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Laptop System: LENOVO product: 688528U v: ThinkPad Edge E531
    serial: <superuser required> Chassis: type: 10 serial: <superuser required>
  Mobo: LENOVO model: 688528U v: 0B98401 PRO serial: <superuser required>
    UEFI: LENOVO v: HEET52WW (1.33 ) date: 06/21/2018
Battery:
  ID-1: BAT0 charge: 14.4 Wh (50.9%) condition: 28.3/40.4 Wh (70.0%)
    volts: 10.9 min: 10.8 model: LGC 45N1049 type: Li-ion serial: <filter>
    status: Discharging
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-3632QM bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge
    family: 6 model-id: 0x3A (58) stepping: 9 microcode: 0x21
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
    L3: 6 MiB desc: 1x6 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1248 high: 1342 min/max: 1200/3200 scaling:
    driver: intel_cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 1208 2: 1336 3: 1226
    4: 1342 5: 1197 6: 1214 7: 1252 8: 1209 bogomips: 35119
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: itlb_multihit status: KVM: VMX disabled
  Type: l1tf
    mitigation: PTE Inversion; VMX: conditional cache flushes, SMT vulnerable
  Type: mds mitigation: Clear CPU buffers; SMT vulnerable
  Type: meltdown mitigation: PTI
  Type: spec_store_bypass
    mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via prctl
  Type: spectre_v1
    mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Full generic retpoline, IBPB: conditional,
    IBRS_FW, STIBP: conditional, RSB filling
  Type: srbds status: Vulnerable: No microcode
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
Graphics:
  Device-1: Intel 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics vendor: Lenovo driver: i915
    v: kernel bus-ID: 00:02.0 chip-ID: 8086:0166 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Acer Integrated Camera type: USB driver: uvcvideo
    bus-ID: 1-1.6:6 chip-ID: 5986:0397 class-ID: 0e02
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.21.1.3 compositor: kwin_x11 driver:
    loaded: intel unloaded: modesetting alternate: fbdev,vesa display-ID: :0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1366x768 s-dpi: 96 s-size: 361x203mm (14.2x8.0")
    s-diag: 414mm (16.3")
  Monitor-1: LVDS1 res: 1366x768 hz: 60 dpi: 102
    size: 340x190mm (13.4x7.5") diag: 389mm (15.3")
  OpenGL: renderer: Mesa DRI Intel HD Graphics 4000 (IVB GT2)
    v: 4.2 Mesa 21.3.5 compat-v: 3.0 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio vendor: Lenovo
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0 chip-ID: 8086:1e20
    class-ID: 0403
  Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k5.16.9-zen1-1-zen running: yes
  Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.0 running: no
  Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.45 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230 driver: iwlwifi v: kernel
    bus-ID: 04:00.0 chip-ID: 8086:0888 class-ID: 0280
  IF: wlp4s0 state: up mac: <filter>
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: Lenovo driver: r8169 v: kernel port: 2000 bus-ID: 05:00.0
    chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp5s0 state: down mac: <filter>
  Device-3: Qualcomm Atheros AR9271 802.11n type: USB driver: ath9k_htc
    bus-ID: 1-1.2:3 chip-ID: 0cf3:9271 class-ID: ff00 serial: <filter>
  IF: wlp0s26u1u2 state: down mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Centrino Bluetooth Wireless Transceiver type: USB
    driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 1-1.3:4 chip-ID: 8087:07da class-ID: e001
  Report: bt-adapter ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: up address: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 931.52 GiB used: 142.84 GiB (15.3%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD5000LPCX-75VHAT1 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter>
    rev: 1A05 scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: HGST (Hitachi)
    model: HTS725050A7E630 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter>
    rev: B550 scheme: GPT
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 64 GiB size: 64 GiB (100.00%) used: 8.15 GiB (12.7%)
    fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 100 MiB size: 98.4 MiB (98.42%)
    used: 562 KiB (0.6%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 401.66 GiB size: 401.66 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 134.68 GiB (33.5%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 64 GiB size: 64 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 8.15 GiB (12.7%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 64 GiB size: 64 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 8.15 GiB (12.7%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 7.58 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 29.8 C mobo: N/A
  Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 0
Info:
  Processes: 255 Uptime: 47m wakeups: 1 Memory: 7.59 GiB
  used: 2.39 GiB (31.5%) Init: systemd v: 250 tool: systemctl Compilers:
  gcc: 11.2.0 clang: 13.0.1 Packages: pacman: 1234 lib: 305 Shell: fish
  v: 3.3.1 running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.12
╭─user@karuda in ~/.work took 1s
 ╰─λ lspci
00:00.0 Host bridge: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor DRAM Controller (rev 09)
00:02.0 VGA compatible controller: Intel Corporation 3rd Gen Core processor Graphics Controller (rev 09)
00:14.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family USB xHCI Host Controller (rev 04)
00:16.0 Communication controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family MEI Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1a.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #2 (rev 04)
00:1b.0 Audio device: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family High Definition Audio Controller (rev 04)
00:1c.0 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 1 (rev c4)
00:1c.1 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C210 Series Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 2 (rev c4)
00:1c.3 PCI bridge: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family PCI Express Root Port 4 (rev c4)
00:1d.0 USB controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Controller #1 (rev 04)
00:1f.0 ISA bridge: Intel Corporation HM77 Express Chipset LPC Controller (rev 04)
00:1f.2 SATA controller: Intel Corporation 7 Series Chipset Family 6-port SATA Controller [AHCI mode] (rev 04)
00:1f.3 SMBus: Intel Corporation 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family SMBus Controller (rev 04)
03:00.0 Unassigned class [ff00]: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTS5229 PCI Express Card Reader (rev 01)
04:00.0 Network controller: Intel Corporation Centrino Wireless-N 2230 (rev c4)
05:00.0 Ethernet controller: Realtek Semiconductor Co., Ltd. RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller (rev 07)
╭─user@karuda in ~/.work took 17ms
 ╰─λ lsusb
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 006: ID 5986:0397 Acer, Inc Integrated Camera
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 138a:0011 Validity Sensors, Inc. VFS5011 Fingerprint Reader
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 8087:07da Intel Corp. Centrino Bluetooth Wireless Transceiver
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 0cf3:9271 Qualcomm Atheros Communications AR9271 802.11n
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 8087:0024 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
1 Like

ThinkPad Edge E531 SSD Upgrade : Lenovo (reddit.com)

According to the poster they are using this:

Amazon.com: Transcend 128GB SATA III 6Gb/s MTS400 42 mm M.2 SSD Solid State Drive (TS128GMTS400) : Electronics

Not cheap by any means though.

1 Like

All I did for mine was to visit the Lenovo site and add the model number.

https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/ThinkBook/ThinkBook_15_G2_ITL?M=20VE007GUS

2 Likes

Thank you very much! I read one very similar to that Reddit thread, I think it was in the Lenovo Forum, and someone who seemed to know a lot about it said that some were using NVMe and some were using SATA, whatever slot they had. When I first started reading the Reddit link, for a second I thought it was that same thread I already read. I bet that's how I overlooked that Reddit one. Thanks to you both and I will check that link as well, @sammiev .

I like the way the page for yours has a Storage Support section…mine doesn’t. For mine it only tells what kind of hard drive it came with. Lol.

Wish I could have been more help.

1 Like

Wow!! $160 for 256GB!! You’re sure right!! Blah!! But ebay has much better deals. Look at this one, and there are better deals than this too.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/174534245446?epid=21029095133&hash=item28a30d3c46:g:qokAAOSwaJ9fvwk1

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