Samsung Magician failing to install properly on Windows 11 Pro Mele 4C mini PC

[LuLu52]

Hi 

I recently purchased a Mele quieter 4C mini PC with Windows 11 Pro preinstalled. The device has a 256GB eMMC drive and a generic 256GB ssd. I upgraded the ssd to a 1Tb Samsung 990 Evo with a view to cloning the Windows 11 Pro to it. I downloaded Samsung Magician 8.1.0 to the eMMC but it wouldn't complete the install saying it couldn't install some of the components. Magician 8.1.0 runs fine on my desktop. I'm stuck now unless I buy another brand of cloning software! Anyone know why the Magician installation fails and if there's a fix for it? Is it that there's a problem with an eMMC drive or with the 990 Evo in a Pcie 3 x 4 system? Presumably Magician would at least install even if no Samsung ssd is present?

Thanks for any help!

Louise

[Robin999]

Yes I've seen numerous posts on this issue unfortunately. It's a bit of a minefield and with no obvious solution. I too saw the post regarding the path - Have you tried that solution yet?
I updated to Windows 11 Home 23H2 from 21H2 as I hadn't received an update since last October. I don't have any problems using the latest version of Magician (8.1.0) however my setup is totally different to yours. I use an Acer laptop and only have the 860 EVO. I'm not actually familiar with any of the mini pc's or their architecture. In fact if it wasn't for this post I'd of still been in blissful ignorance!
I take it Windows (and other software) is running fine on the new SSD? Did you perform a clean install of Windows 11 Pro? The 990 EVO is backwards compatible with PCIe 3.0 so I don't see a problem there, unless it impacts transfer speeds? Ensure you have the latest drivers for the 990 EVO.
I don't know what else to suggest unfortunately. Is it a Samsung problem, is it a Microsoft problem?
Hope you eventually get it sorted and please post back here when you do. If I come across any more solutions I'll post here.

I see you've also reached out here. Hope you get a solution.

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/907833-need-some-computer-help-setting-up-minipc/

[LuLu52]

I tried the 'path' patch but I wasn't sure how the default path to windows apps impacted on it. In any case, it didn't work. Yes, it was a clean install from usb drive to the 990 Evo. It wasn't clear whether I needed to separately install drivers but the mini pc appears to be otherwise working as expected. I updated the Intel drivers though that was just wireless, bluetooth and graphics. The 990 evo seems to be working ok. The Samsung Magician was really so I could monitor the evo, and update the firmware. There have been some instances of failures in other systems of Samsung ssd firmware. I suppose, if I have to, I could remove the 990 evo and put it into another PC to check it out and update the firmware but that would be a pain to have to do and wouldn't be without some risk. The mini PC is for a specific purpose (astronomy related) so it doesn't affect anything else but it would be nice to have everything up and running as planned and expected. I suppose I can just leave it as is now (without the Magician) and finish configuring it with everything else. I'm wondering whether Magician leaves anything behind when you uninstall it and whether that might affect anything? I'll double-check to see if there are any drivers I need to update that are not covered by Windows update. Other than that, I'll keep an eye on the forum(s) and just move on.

Thanks for your time, efforts and patience - much appreciated!

[Robin999]

Where did you get your copy of Windows 11 pro from? Some suggested on that astronomy forum that the copy you can download from mele is not compatible with the 4c.

[LuLu52]

Hi

I contacted Mele and they gave me a download link which was different to that on their website. Why? I dunno, beats me! I came across another reference saying that Magician 8.1 requires file and printer sharing to be enabled in order to run. I tried it, didn't make any difference! Again, why? Life used to be so simple...

ps community emails are still going into my junk folder. Sigh.