Confusion, Options & Head Scratching!!!

Hey Guys!

VERY glad to say the past wee I've owned a shiny new 17 R1! And ill be honest, the thing is stunning! Very cool too despite what I've heard!

So to all the confusion and head scratching.....

All was going well for the past few days until, after a driver update on the Geforce 770 Windows 8 decided to go all peete tong and crash every time i went to the desktop!

Tried everything to restore it and also reset the OS but the end result was to format all disks and re-start from scrath installing the OS from the drisk provided.

Now... when i re-booted and went to install OS again it said it couldn't recognise any drivers for the drives (No drives showed up at all) - I have 64gb mSata and 700GB HDD with the 64GB mSata originally being used for Caching.

I eventually disabled UEFI and Ran the HDD's in ACHI mode which let the OS detect the drived but cant quite decide how i want the system...


My Options:

- Run the system in RAID or ACHI Bios mode and install OS on the mSata for SSD like performance

- Run the system in RAID Bios mode and install OS on HDD and use the mSata for Caching

Any other better options?

Also, I installed the OS in RAID bios (installed intels RST drivers when OS install said it couldnt find drivers, letting it find them) and installed the OS on the HDD Drive, when i booted to windows and the PC couldn't find the mSata but intels RST software showed the mSata as being there but didnt have any specific options to let it be used as a chaching drive for the OS?
So how specifically do i set the Rapid Storage Technology Software to allow the 64GB mSata or will it automatically do so when i installed the RST drivers at the OS instal menu??

Sorry the explinations go on a bit, ive got a few options and am a little confused at my options,

Am i able to use the original set up from factory (64GB mSata Caching) and if so, how do i do so from 2 empty HDD's
Or am i better off using the 64GB mSata to run the OS from and use the 700GB HDD to store larger files on?

Many Thanks Guys!
Curtis

 

Simple words:

1. Leave your system in raid mode and install your operating system on the hdd. After you install intel rst, you can choose your 64gb msata as catch;

2. Buy a bigger size msata drive (atleast 128gb) and replace the old one (they are not that expensive anymore); install your operating system in raid mode. While doing the installation in raid mode, you need to have a usb disk with the raid drivers on it, so that you can have your drives recognized in order to be able to install your operating system. But install your windows, drivers and programs on the new mSATA drive.

The second option is a better one, you will notice a lot of improvement in the system response and speed. You can always have you second drive for your stuff ex. games, programs, pictures, music etc. etc. I do not advice you to install windows on a 64gb drive, within no time you will end up with less space and you will regret it unnecessarily...

Best of luck with your installation and enjoy your rig.

 

Hi, hope this clears up any confusion

The caching is done through the RAID bios and usng AHCI mode disables this so the msata drive will show up as a separate drive. When the cache is working you do not see it in windows. The RAID system intercepts calls to the HD and looks for (and saves on) the SSD cache. Speed difference between this system and a dedicated SSD is quite small and barely noticeable.

So you do not install to the SSD to get the SSD like speed of the cache, it all happens in hardware once it is turned on, either using the hot-key sequence on the boot screen or the IRST software in windows.

I'd say go with Juliant's option 1:thumbsup:

Basically, have the RAID bios active. Install windows to the HD and make sure it is using the intel raid disk driver when the disk options come up. This is the bit mentioned above about putting the drivers on a USB stick. If you miss this bit windows may well install using a generic disk driver but will BSOD on first startup. If you are using a dell windows disk then it may well use the correct disk driver automatically but best to check. I would hope this is be a non-problem in win 8 but I had it happen with win 7.

Once installed, go into IRST and turn on the cache ( Chipset Software — Intel® Smart Response Technology User Guide) if it is not already active. Job done.

The missing drives when you tried to install is something to do with UEFI and I've seen others having this problem. Best to just disable it and set legacy mode. It does not offer anything I am aware of except a higher level of data security with secure boot and a hibrid shutdown reducing cold boot times by a couple of seconds. It's a new technology as well and the hardware manufactures are only just catching up with what they need to do to make this work.

You can get a larger SSD and set it up to have it as a boot drive, and even set aside some of the space as a cache for the HD (as long as RAID is active) but the benefits are negligible IMO.

Good luck

Edit: Only use the dell video drivers (hey released a new one two days ago ) initally. Your problem that started this sounds like a known issue with a LOT of machines with all the NV releases after 314.22. They (NV) are struggling with problems and have released two WHQL versions in the last two weeks

 

Thabks for the quick responses guys! they have really helped, but!

I have installed tge OS again jn Bios RAID mode, UEFI and secure boot on, and when the install disl says it cant recognise the Drives i instal the drivers from Intels site and all loads fine, then j go to the next step and chooseto install on HDD (Although i have the option to instal on mSta here) when it all completes installing, and i go to my desktop, after installing the Rapid Storage Technology Software from Intels site, the program opens but where in other images of the program ive seen people have the option for 'Accelerate' mine shows 'Performance' ad dont have any options to allocate 'x' amount of space for caching, does this mean ita not enabled/being used for caching because the RST software doesnt show anything that suggests it is? Any ideas guys?

Thanks again!

 

Sounds strange. It does show the msata SSD in IRST, and it shows as a second drive in explorer? What about looking in the RAID bios settings? On power up you get a screen for a hot key access, Ctrl-K if I remember right (and see what that screen describes the drives as).

Good luck.

Edit: I'd also be inclined to follow the advice of one of our resident experts Mr Fox. Turn off UEFI and secure boot. It offers nothing on a gaming rig and just adds a level of complexity that can cause issues

 

Hey Guys, So after spending a lot of my weekend trying to get this sorted I've still had NO luck!!!

I've attached some images of the options I receive on the RST Software, and will also explain the whole process I'm going through...

So my Bios are in RAID mode, with Legacy boot mode and secure boot off, when I start the laptop up I get the option to create a raid volume by clicking 'CTRL+I' however haven't made a raid volume as I can only create one at a max of 120GB.

I installed the OS with the disc in the packaging and when the set up gives me the option to install I do custom install, then using the USB with the RST drivers on I browse to the driver folder, instal the drivers and then formatted both HDD's when the drivers were installed and the Install disc asked me to select a HDD to install the OS on, once both were formatted I install the OS on the HDD and the OS boots.

When on the OS I install the RST software and it shows as the imaged bellow with fairly useless options.... but when I open file explorer the HDD I installed the OS on shows fine and I can explore it, But when I try and open the 64GB mSata it just shows as 'Drive E' and cant be opened or explored. In the Hard Disk Manager on windows its showing as GB-RAW partition... Which is confusing me even more...

Does anyone have any idea or have the steps from start to finish in which I can take in order to actually get the mSata usable as a caching drive again?!?

I need some help on this as I cant think of what it is im doing wrong that's causing problems here!

All help is appreciated guys!
Thanks!

IMAGES:

 

Well, since you are missing the accelerate button it is not detecting the SSD as available. I do not have a second SSD and there is no accelerate button in mine.

What I would try is go into disk manager and delete the partition on the SSD and create a new one. Then restart and see if it is then available. For people I have worked with that added an msata SSD it just appeared and worked so something is weird. maybe because it was a cache drive that broke it is not in a state to be used in this way - just guessing really.

 

Gave that a good but with no luck... :/ not sure what this could be at all it's seriously confusing me!! Anyone got anything else I could try?

 

Do you have it on RAID or AHCI at the moment?

 

It's set in RAID mode on the bios but hadn't created any raid volumes

 

As MickyD1234 wrote above, go to computer management / disk management / select the msata disk and delete it completely. Restart your system and then open intel rst. That is when you will be able to create your catch disk... Hopefully you will have it sort out...

 

That got it, i can't thank you enough! :') such a simple thing aswell, got it all run as it shiuld now, thank you so much!

 

I thought that was the problem - glad you got it fixed (with better instruction from juliant!)

 

Pleasure is all mine. Glad to be of help. Enjoy your beast!