R3 with SSD startup problem

I did a clean install with an SSD several weeks ago and it has been going well except one minor issue. Sometimes when I boot up, my programs take a really long time to load while other times I boot up it is instant. Specifically the programs in my Start menu. If I try to launch anything like Foobar 2000 it won't play any music. Then I look in My Computer, none of my Hard Drives are recognized. This lasts for about 30 seconds after logging in. Here is a screen of what my Start menu looks like.



Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Here is a screen of my Hard drive not being recognized.

 

got the newest version of intel RST?

 

Oh, maybe not. I don't remember if I used the Dell website or resourced CD. I have 10.0.0.1046?

 

Check what firmware your SSD is using and whether anything has been fixed in any updates etc.

 

Firmware is up to date I have been running the Intel SSD Toolbox.

Edit: It looks like I have the latest RST driver from Dell, should I see if Intel has released a new one not on the Dell website yet?

Edit 2: The RST driver from Intel is very new, will there be any problems if I use it, or should I stick to the ones released by Dell?

 

the dell ones were crap for me, i have the newest rst with my agility 3 and its fine

 

Great, I will give them a try. Thanks.

I tried it after I uninstalled RST and it still did the same thing, even now with the new version the same thing is happening.

 

Honestly it sounds like your drive might be failing or you need to disable link state power management.

 

How do I disable that? The drive performs very well in crystal disk mark and boot up is usually 20-24 seconds. I hope it isn't failing, that would be a real pain in the butt. Intel SSD toolbox says my drive is in good shape, so I am thinking it may be some minor issue/setting I need to change.

 

I removed my WD Scorpio and my R3 was booting up in 12 seconds with no problems, I put the Scorpio back in and the same problem was occurring and boot time went up to 30 seconds. What could be wrong with my Scorpio that is is giving my Primary SSD problems?

 

Looks like its trying to boot from the WD, set the SSD as the first boot device in the bios.

 

I already tried switching between the two in the BIOS and no difference really.

 

Is the SSD in port 1 or 0?

 

It's in port 1. I just tried with the SSD alone again and a perfect 12 second boot.

 

Very strange, is the scorpio the original Dell drive?

 

No, it's not. I tried reformatting the drive, the first time I chose "Quick Format" but now I did the full format. I also removed and put back the drive and that seems to have helped, it went from a 25-30 second boot to about a 17-18 second boot. I can live with that, but it's strange to me why it adds any time to the boot. I would love if I could get it back down to 12 seconds.

 

Do you have the original drive? Put that in if you have it and see what it does.

 

Yea, I am going to try that tomorrow or the day after, I have to format the it first and I don't have the time tonight or tomorrow. Will get back to you with the results. Thanks for your help!

 

i have the exact same SSD as you, i have not experience this problem. maybe try swapping the SSD from port 0 to port 1 ? Also try AHCI mode in Bios.

 

My crucial m4 boots 20-25 seconds. I have not tried booting without the secondary HDD though.

 

You want the SSD (probably described as secondary disk drive if in Port 1) listed first in the BIOS boot order. Otherwise, boot time will be slowed while your computer looks for bootable media in the higher ranked drives. Also, go to Start>Computer>System Properties>Advanced System Settings>Advanced (tab)>Startup and Recovery section- Settings and uncheck Time to display list of operating systems (unless using a dual boot setup).

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It's already in port 1 and in AHCI.

Maybe you should give it a try?

I already have it set like that.

 

LOL. Sorry to bother you.

 

Are you being sarcastic?

 

Did you try putting your stock drive as your data hdd?

 

Not yet, I will try that as soon as I can find the time.

It is still starting slow even with a newly formatted stock HDD as a data drive. It adds about 6 seconds to the boot time, but I am only counting time after BIOS screen so locating the correct drive with Windows on it is not the issue here. It would be nice if I could have this minor issue resolved but it is definitely something I can live with, at least the data drive is not taking an extra minute to be recognized in Windows anymore. Thanks to everyone for all the help, I really appreciated it.

UPDATE:
I think I figured out the problem. I moved my SSD to Port 0 and when I booted up it failed and would not boot. It looks like Port 0 is faulty. Motherboard replacement here I come. Thanks to everyone for their help.

 

Did you set it to primairy?

 

It was in the R3 by itself.

 

I know..I mean when you placed it back into port 0 did you set the boot order back to primary? It didnt boot in port 0 so maybe it was on secondairy?

 

No, I didn't need to set it back to the primary port. There was nothing in the second port so it wasn't even recognized in the BIOS. Only the primary port showed up in the BIOS. I think my primary port is just running very slow, my HDD will work but it takes an extra minute after I boot up for it to be recognized in windows.

 

Did you ever resolve this? I think I am having the same issues; I bought a new SSD and placed it in port 0, thinking that is the first "port" (I bought this laptop used) and I occasionally get a boot error when firing up the laptop.

I am going to try swapping drives and put my primary in port 1.

 

You are correct. Port 0 should be the first port. What boot error message are you getting?
You may need to manually set the SSD to have boot priority (over any other HDD's you have installed).

 

The error I got said "Boot device not found Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to reboot"

When I do reboot, everything is typically fine. Its almost like the SSD does not power on as quick as the system, so once it becomes "powered on" it works fine.

So this morning I swapped the bays and now I am booting from my secondary drive. Will post with more info as I continue to test.

How do you set the SSD to have boot priority manually?

 

You do it under the POWER tab in the BIOS. Under "Hard Drives" you give your SSD boot priority over your HDD by moving your SSD higher in the tree than your HDD.

 

Ok, yeah that is what I do already.