M17xR3 - OCZ Vertex 2 SSD & Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver Issue - *READ*

As requested by BatBoy, I made a new thread for the problems with the OCZ SSD drive and Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver.

All started when I made a clean install of windows and after starting installing each driver in the system, I got an issue with Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver. The issue is that, as soon as the windows and everything on the screen loads you will notice that everything is frozen within seconds and you will have to make a hard reset.

However, this does not solve your problem, even if you start in safe mode, your system will freeze as well. Guess what? The only solution is to make another clean install and DO NOT install Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver. I confirm that you will have the same problem even if you make a clean install in Raid support or ACHI.

System will function normal without the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver, unfortunately you will notice low performance for the OCZ SSD drive.

The firmware 1.33 of the OCZ SSD has a problem with the latest drivers of intel:

OCZ Toolbox version 2.36
------------------------
- Firmware update is allowed on Windows XP OS
- Firmware update is not allowed on Vertex 3 drives containing firmware version prior to 2.02
- Secure erase is not allowed on primary drive

Known Issues:
- Update Firmware feature prohibited for primary drives with 1500 & 2000 controller
- Secure Erase is not working on LSI driver SCSI drives
- Intel Driver 10.1.0.1008 prohibits SSD detection

I do not know if you can 'downgrade' the firmware for the SSD and if downgrading of the firmware will solve the problem with OCZ SSD drive and Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver.

So, my advice is, at the moment stay away from installing Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver and everything will be ok.

Good luck!

 

I'm guessing this was the probable cause of the BSOD issue others were running into when trying to perform a clean install with their Vertex Drives.

Thanks for the info juliant!

Do we know if this is just with v.1008 of IRST or .1008 and up?

 

Ahhh... looks like we did have info on this before. Reference here -
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/552728-fresh-os-install-ocz-ssd-r3.html

Lets post follow-up in that thread. I'll leave this sticky up for now so newcomers will see it.

Thanks!

 

Yes, I knew about that thread, but there is no proper solution and everything is unfinished.

kunekaden post 6 is related to the current issue:

"6.RST versions before 10.x do not work with HM67 chipset. RST 10.x will cause your r3 to crash whenever the drive on port 1 (2nd slot) is accessed. This means NO RAID via RST. See my post @OCZ for details. Issue currently outstanding with no intent to fix in the near future. OCZ says intel is re-writing RST for rev b3 anyway, so they won't even look at it until then."

He mentioned in other forums that the issue is with the firmware 1.28 & 1.29. But it looks that the problem goes on with the current firmware as well (1.33). It has to be fixed by OCZ.

The problem is with all the drivers 10.x.

So, for everyone who is using OCZ Vertex SSD || do not install Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver and you are good to go.

 

It clearly states on ocz website about the new firmware:

OCZ Technology

New v1.33 Firmware
Please backup all data on the SSD as a precaution. This OCZ Toolbox does not work with Intel RST 10 series drivers . But it is not only the toolbox that it doesn't work, firmware as well

 

Matter solved.

Have the operating system along with your SSD drive installed on HDD module 1 and you will be able to install the Intel RST 10 series.

 

If this is true, that's yet another issue with port 0, which would in turn deserve it's own thread and report to Dell engineers.

 

Yes, it is true. Unfortunately, I cannot use both the SSD in Raid 0. I had to remove one of the SSD and use as a second drive, an 750 GB 7200 RPM. Kept back in the box the OCZ Vertex 2, as a spare SSD ...

Edit: Please note that this issue with the port 0 is only with the OCZ Vertex 2 SSD (Maybe other SSD will have problems as well, not aware); tried with hdd and works just fine.

If this problem is only with the OCZ Vertex 2, then OCZ team should work on another firmware and fix this problem... Hopefully!!!

 

But then the question is, why does it work on the port 1 and it doesn't on the port 0?! Is there a hardware problem with the mobo???

 

It's a hardware problem. This also explains why the OCZ support team were unable to find a solution when I presented the problem ~3 months ago (somewhere in the dell laptop issues thread).

The fact that similar issues happen with all sata3 6gb/s ssd also points to a hardware issue, which is why I suggest this issue being brought to the engineering team.

 

What about the Corsair F90? Anyone using the corsair force ones? Any chance of incompatibility due to the common sandforce controller with the vertex??

 

Unfortunately, myself I do not have the 'Corsair F90' to check / confirm if there are any issues.

However, if you have to purchase the above mentioned drive, you always have a return policy on your invoice .

And also, if you have only one SSD, so you can always keep it on the bay 1 without no issues. The main problem is for those who want to use 2 SSD in Raid 0 / Raid 1...

 

Good post, i had the same issue put my V2 on port 0 and kept freezing till i worked out thats the RS driver doing the damage , now my r3 is running with no RS driver and runs fine , still a lot faster than a normal HDD

 

You can switch to AHCI and you will have them much much much more faster (specially if you have 2 SSD). Trust me, this is what I did and the performance is much better then the RAID...

Unfortunately, you will have to install everything all over again, including windows and ofcourse without RS driver...

 

I have my Vertex 2 on Port 1 instead of Port 0 with the newest RST 10 M18x drivers installed. Am I still going to have problems?

 

No, as long as you do not have it installed on the port 0 and / or 2 SSD Vertex 2 in Raid 0 / Raid 1, you should not have any issues.

I have 2 installed in AHCI mode and run like butter...

 

Have you guys disabled LPM? Had the Vertex 3 and it frooze randomly, exchanged that for a Crucial M4 and still had freezes.

Read about the LPM, disabled it and everything runs as it should be, fast and without freezes.

 

Can you please be more specific? Some people may not know what you are talking about?! Please give complete explanation of what happened and how you solved the issue... Thx

 

Going off of his tip, this is what I found:

Re: C300 Disk Thrashing in Windows 7 ? - Page 4 - Crucial Community

Found it at the bottom of that page. Apparently it fixes the hang but decreases battery life.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/583942-raid-ssd-problem.html

Discribed how to properly install your SSD. Did the same 2 days ago.

We own gaming laptops, who care about battery life. It probably wont have a big impact. SSD's do not use that much power at all.

 

Have you measured battery life before/after LPM? Battery life is a pretty big concern, especially for a laptop. Would be curious to see if LPM really does destroy battery life.

 

No I didnt meassure it. But given the fact SSD's use so little power it probably wont have a big impact.

I'd rather have a working 200-300 dollar SSD then 10 min. more battery power.

 

SSD's aren't exactly energy efficient right now. And disabling LPM increases power consumption for the SATA ports as well.

But I know what you mean.

 

I got my r3 from hid with a vertex 2, wondering how could I check whether my SSD is in port 0 or 1 without disassembling the laptop? Thanks

 

I guess you can do that from Bios. You can see if it is hdd/ssd 1 or 2 and secondly, if it was in the bay/port 0 you would had problems already (if your computer is setup in RAID function).

If it shows as the second hard/ssd in the list, you are good to go...

 

Removing the battery, unscrewing two screws and sliding the bottom Case back a bit before lifting it off really isnt disassembling the laptop. It takes all of 30 seconds if you have a small Phillips screwdriver handy.

Cheers,

 

Long time reader, first time poster. Sorry for my bad english, but I'm not a native speaker. Anyway...

My current setup:

m17x R3
6970
8GB
pre-installed Win 7 (configured the way I need / like it)
stock 320GB 7.200 HDD

What I want:
OCZ Vertex 3 120GB for Windows
WD 750GB 7.200 for files, games and whatnot.

I would like to preserve my current windows installation, aka I want to clone my stock 320GB to the new 120GB SSD. In case that theres no way arround a new installation I would do it - but only when theres really other no option for me, because I'm really (REALLY!) lazy

Well, I read a lot of stuff concerning installing / cloning win 7. LPM here, AHCI/RAID there, and so on. I get the basic idea what to do when doing a fresh install on a SSD in my alienware, and I also know what to do when cloning win 7 from a HDD to a SSD (activating TRIM afterwards and whatnot) - but I dont know if all this works combined, aka cloning windows from a HDD to a SSD on an alienware.

Here are my questions (finally ):

Did anybody clone windows the way I want to do it successfully? If so, which problems to you had to solve (if any)?
Do I miss something in my short summary? Does stuff from "how to do a fresh win install to a SSD in an alienware" like changing AHCI/RAID and so an also apply when I want to clone my windows? Thanks in advance!

 

I jsut did the exact same thing but with teh ocz agility 3 120gb drive. there are guides on this forum that are very specific but this is what i did.
1. bought the ssd
2. updated its firmware on a system with windows 7 already on it.
3. Put ONLY the new SSD in my alienware (in port 1. there are stickers as labels.)
4. Set the bios to AHCI and changed boot order.
5. Installed Windows as normal (the install handles trim for you).
6. installed my 750gb drive in port 0
7. went into the bios again to change the boot order.
8. install drivers and apps.

This worked perfect for me and i have a 16sec boot time now

 

On my g73 I cloned my install to an SSD and then ran a utility I found on the net (SSD tweak I think) to activate TRIM. It worked fine but I was reading about alignment issues so I just did a fresh install and reinstalled everything.

So yes the clone works. I don't understand the alignment issue so you may be just fine.

Cheers,

 

Hey guys, thanks for the answers!

@ Steve: Did you use a normal copy of win 7 or your alienware-CDs? I'm asking because I have only those... I'm wondering if the alien-CDs do some sort of recovering (I didnt burn any, I'm talking about the CDs in the package) or do they "really install" (otherwise the system wont reconize the SSD for TRIM and such, would it?)

@ panzer: I read a lot about alignment and whatnot. I wanted to pre-format my SSD with my running win 7 system, so the alignment would be right, wouldnt it? Or does this only apply for systeminstalls and not only formatting as an additional drive? On top of this, is it possible that my clone-software overwrites the alignment? Wanted to use O&O DiskImage or Acronis.

 

Acronis overwrites the entire disk if you do a full clone. I did not try a partition copy.

Cheers,

 

Ya just use your alienware win 7 disk...it is the plain-jane OS with a few oem logos and you dont need to activate. it is NOT a recovery, so if you want all the bells and whistles, follow the thread on how to restore the 'look and feel". I put it off for so long due to cost, but i will never leave SSD ever again.

 

I've read a lot of tutorials regarding SSD in general, alignment, TRIM, LPM and of course cloning - and I think I'm (almost) ready to go!

I just bought the 750GB HDD to move files onto it so my system-partition gets smaller. I've checked if AHCI is on (BIOS + Windows/registry), LPM deactivated and whatnot - so I'm prepared to clone everything in the next few days (dont know when I'll have spare time...)

BTW, I'm gonna do a partition copy instead of a full clone (I found a really good tutorial about the whole topic, but its in german...) which should preserve the alignment. Just in case: It seems to be fairly easy to correct the alignment afterwards with gparted

Well, I'm gonna post a small tutorial here after successfully cloning my win 7

 

i hope it works, but if all else fails, going with a clean install is pretty straightforward and ez....and you wont have lingering doubts if anything goes wrong.....good luck

 

Thanks again steve, but the "little IT-kid" in me wants to clone the system no matter what (but good to know anyway that the restore cd is an actual [oem branded] system-cd)

I ran into a little problem here (still preparing for tomorrow to clone...), I wanted to change the SATA mode within the BIOS from RAID to AHCI - but then my win 7 will BSOD while booting. Tried to change the registry keys (msahci/iastor) from X to 0 (the start-thing) - didnt work. My controller / HDDs still run with the intel driver (iastorv) - how can I change to msahci?

Edit: Uninstall RST and messing around with the device mananger, changing drivers and such didnt work as well

 

you cant change this on an existing install...however its set at the install, you are pretty much living with it....another reason for a clean install

 

This is strange. I've read a few tutorials about this topic, and they are always about the same way to change iastor back to msahci. Theres also a KB article from microsoft!

Error message when you start a Windows 7 or Windows Vista-based computer after you change the SATA mode of the boot drive: "STOP 0x0000007B INACCESSABLE_BOOT_DEVICE"

Code:

    Exit all Windows-based programs.
    Click Start, type regedit in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
    If you receive the User Account Control dialog box, click Continue.
    Locate and then click one of the following registry subkeys:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Msahci
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\IastorV
    In the right pane, right-click Start in the Name column, and then click Modify.
    In the Value data box, type 0, and then click OK.
    On the File menu, click Exit to close Registry Editor.

I did exactly that, but it didnt do anything - when I changed my SATA from RAID to AHCI my system BSOD while booting, when I left it on RAID my controller / HDDs still use iastor. I wouldnt be so sure that it is possible to change back to msahci if there werent so many tutorials about that...

Is it possible that this is alienware specific?

 

Well, its done. I did a clean install without much hassle. I just preformated my SSD to be sure that the alignment is correct, set SATA to AHCI in the BIOS and did a clean install from the Alienware DVD. I installed everything except the RST and didnt get any freezes or BSODs so far - and its fast as hell (10 sec boot, 2 sec shutdown). Installing drivers which need to reboot the system was never that fun

Aaaaaanyway, I got still one question (by the way, I've the OCZ Agility 3 120GB):

Crystal Disk Mark says that my SSD can write ~200MB/sec and read 146MB/sec - but ATTO Disk Mark says its over 500. When I test my WD750 HDD, crystal and atto get the same numbers (did it on several PCs at work, but only with normal HDDs).

Well, what could cause crystal disk mark to get the low numbers?!

 

I have the exact same drive and i have the same issue...up in one of the top menus, if you chage the test from random to sequnetial, you will get the speeds you expect....dont know why, something about how OCZ handles stuff....it was bugging me untill i realized its jsut a test.....and my 17 second boot time more tham makes up for it

 

Oh jeez, thanks!

465MB/sec read, 470MB/sec write. And I was like: "Thats what I'm talking about!"