Caching Drive Problem....NEED HELP

Hi everyone, my laptop is but a day old and I'm already having issues.

I ordered my laptop with a 500gb HDD and a 64 GB caching SSD. However, right out of the box, I knew that the caching drive wasn't set up properly because I could see it in the "computer" menu. Also, in the Intel Smart Reponse menu, the accelerate tab simply wasn't there. Sata was indeed set up as raid so I don't know what's wrong

I thought I could try and solve it by uninstalling Intel smart response and installing again however after uninstalling, I realized that the driver isn't available on Dell's site or on the resource DVD. So now I don't even have the program...

Please help. Where can I redownload it and does anyone know why my caching ssd wasn't set up from the start?

 

Hi there, Did you get this machine from dell? You should see a disk config screen before the alienhead. If you don't then the bios has not been set to RAID - which is needed for the caching to work.

If this is the case then you will need to reinstall windows AFTER setting the bios to raid. Otherwise it will BSOD. I did see some workaround involving copying the correct disk drivers and making a registry change but that was some time ago.

I've seen this mistake before from 3rd party suppliers, they reinstall windows in AHCI (?) mode and then the 'cache' drive becomes just another drive available.

The correct disk driver is part of the IRST software download, if you re-install windows in RAID you might need to add the driver at the disk config screen, sometimes the wrong one is used - more BSOD

HTH

HTH

Edit: Jus had a thought, if you do see the disk config bios screen, press the key combination (Ctrl-A?) to enter the config there. See if you can activate it. I'm wondering if the fact that you can see it (cache drive) a partition has been activated on it and maybe the windows IRST software will not allow it to be used. If this is the case use disk manager to delete the partition. It will then disappear from windows and maybe IRST will alow you to use it??

 

Yes, I do see that screen. However, the problem is that I uninstalled IRST

So, to get it back, I'm going to have to do a clean windows 7 install?

And yes, I did it get it from Dell which is why I'm extremely surprised that it wasn't properly set up from the start.

In the disk management screen, I get this:

So I assume, they did indeed create a partition on it. Sorry for the noob questions, but how do I delete it?

 

You should be OK if you only uninstalled the IRST software. You only need a reinstall if windows was installed in non-raid but your was (the boot screen being the giveaway). IRST is only for configuring it in windows, it operates outside of any OS.

First thing to try is going into the boot screen and seeing it it allows you to set up disk 1 as a cache. If not, reinstall IRST, then right click on the drive in the window you opened up in disk manager and select to delete the volume. Then check if it becomes available as an option to 'accelerate' your HD in IRST.

Strange you got this from Dell and it's not working. I'm wondering if there was some hardware issue that the 'pre-delivery' testing identified so they turned it off and created a new partition. If you plug in a brand new drive it will not appear in windows until it is partitioned/formatted. This does not apply to a fresh windows install as the installer takes care of locating a drive letter. Or it simply is broke and somehow windows automatically placed a volume on it???. If none of the above work then I'd place a call into dell - it's their problem to fix

Good luck

 

Oh, okay thank you!

The other problem I'm experiencing is I can't seem to find a working download link for the IRST software. It's not available on Dell's driver web page and it's not on my resource DVD as well.

I tried downloading it from Intel's download center but it was a zip file...and I have no idea how to install that.

 

That is frustrating. I just checked and indeed it is not found. That is where I got it, I'd call dell first thing monday and ask for a working link!

Send me the link you have for the zip file and I'll see what you need to do to use it

 

Yes, very frustrating indeed! And I still need to get my keyboard bump fixed up too

Here's the download link from intel : http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=21730

However, I'm not sure if that's the correct software for Dell laptops.

 

Not sure either I'm afraid. It only talks about the driver, you want the complete package. I checked out this link ( http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?ProductID=2101&DwnldID=22343&lang=eng&iid=dc_rss) as it says the full package, but it wanted me to create an account to download

If you wanted to check it out all you'd need to do is expand the zip file to somewhere on your HD and run it. Intel are pretty good about checking your config before installing anything so you should be safe if it's incompatible with your dell.

 

Update on caching drive problems.

Everything is now fixed! The driver on Dell's site miraculously appeared again. I believe it was server issues, much like how the new bios updates always seem to appear, disappear and then appear again.

All I had to do was re-install the driver and the accelerate tab was there. Caching drive is now set up perfectly. I didn't have to delete any partitions whatsoever. Just a simple re-install

 

I think the server might be under maintenance and it's very annoying..

I've already spread the word about this hoping they'll fix it for good, in the meantime I guess the best choice is to have a backup folder with all your updated drivers in case you need to do an OSRI (Not fun being stuck without drivers after an OSRI).

However I'm glad you were able to find and install the driver

 

So, if the drive is indeed set up as a cache, it should not show up under "My Computer?" If so, the system I just received a few days ago also has that issue. Also, I was curious why, when I ran the Intel software, the Accelerate tab was not there. I do know the system is set up for raid, I get the brief glimpse of that on bootup plus I've entered the F2 setup and saw it is set up for RAID.

Hmmm - away from home, back tomorrow, so what is the easiest way to check and see if my 64GB cache drive is really set up as a cache drive?

 

Wow, I thought I was just an isolated case. There might actually be a problem along the software installation in the factory line then.

On topic though, if your mSATA SSD shows up under "My Computer", it's definitely not set up correctly as a caching drive. You seem to have the exact problem I had. To fix it:
1. Go to control panel and uninstall "Intel Smart Response Technology" or "Intel Rapid Storage Technology"; whichever one you see.
2. Follow-through the uninstall process and restart your computer.
3. Go on Dell's driver support webpage and download the "Intel Rapid Response Technology".
4. Install the driver and follow through with any required restarts.
5. Open up the program and the accelerate tab should be there. Just click "enable acceleration" or something like that pick your SSD as the caching drive. Restart computer.
6. Enjoy noticeably faster response from your M17x.

 

Thanks, looks like their shipping these to those of us who recently purchased, with this option, without actually setting them up. What is really sad is 95% of the people who get these machines probably don't come here or to similar sites and don't realize they aren't set up correctly, and must just think "Well, that cache drive really doesn't seem to help a lot" and then tell people not to bother setting up a cache drive.

It would be really nice if a Dell rep here were to check with whomever they need to check with and find out what's going on and get it corrected. I doubt it is coincidence we both get our machines in the same couple of weeks and have the exact same "random" problem like this.

 

Well, sure enough my system also came without the cache drive set up as a cache drive. Really ticks me off to pay this much for a "boutique" high end system and they can't even set up the cache drive I purchased as a cache drive. And since someone else who got their machine around the same time I did also didn't have it set up, I suspect someone is just skipping that step. And most people will never know.

Thanks - the guide you have me worked perfectly, it is now set up correctly.