Alienware owners with Samsung PM800 SSD - TRIM now available!

Update 2/12/10:fr0x has sent along this warning for people using the new PM800 drives w/the VBM24D1Q firmware:

So if you've got the new drive w/the aforementioned P/N and firmware, do not try a retrograde flash or else you may end up with a nice paper weight.

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UPDATE 1/23/10: Samsung has released the TRIM enabled firmware update. You can grab it by clicking here.

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Credit: fr0x for doing the initial work in discovering this.

Not officially from Dell or Samsung (yet) but you can still get TRIM working on your PM800 drive. Here's how:

NOTE: This is a destructive flash! Backup all your data before flashing!

UPDATE:fr0x has graciously created a .rar file with everything needed to flash the Samsung SSD: Get it here

NOTE: You need ACPI 2.0 and s1 for this FW to work correctly on your machines.If you see performance degrade after enabling TRIM, it could be because the function is not working as it should. Sgilmore62 discovered that disabling TRIM and letting GC work at pre-login helped restore performance. Click here for more info.

1. Download the Mushkin firmware update. You will be using the MainDiag.exe tool to update to the VBM19C1Q (TRIM support) firmware.

2. Download the OCZ VBM19C1Q firmware

3. Download the HP USB Key utility to format it to a FAT partition with Dos 6.22 (credit: zfactor for the download link).

4. Put the maindiag.exe file on the USB key along with the VBM19C1Q files (if.bin and mf.bin).

5. Take out your SSD, attach it to a compatible desktop system that has SATA II support. Make sure it can support IDE mode

6. Boot into your desktop (so far only Intel chipset based systems have been confirmed to work) and make sure you set the bios to boot from the USB key.

7. Once the key boots with Dos 6.22, run maindiag.exe and select option 2. This will clear the existing firmware. After that, run opton 1 to install the new firmware. Finally, run option 4 to clear the nand and you're done!

If everything went well, you will see this:

 

Is that the same VBM19C1Q that was coming with the new Dell SSDs?

 

The one with the Dell SSD's is VBM19D1Q and it doesn't support TRIM.

 

Got it, so it has a C instead of D. D must be for Dell.

 

I have Samsung SSD PB22-JS 2.5" 128GB ATA Device. Can I flash this firmware to this drive?

 

The instructions I posted are for the PM800/PB-22J drive.

 

Very nice find.... will this work if I have them on a Raid 0?

 

Yep.

Thanks joker! Appreciate it

 

Works with all PM800/PB22J drive

 

You have to take them out of RAID to flash them in another system.

TRIM doesn't work under RAID, but the GC should.

 

this is good news after i sell my samsung for $380

 

LOL sorry Witcher.

 

no problem man i like the patriot more

 

Yeah I would still take Indilinx over Samsung but this is a good solution if you're "stuck" with the Samsung.

 

How do you know, where is your proof?

I have been informed that these Dell drives have the latest firmware (There is no confirmation that it supports TRIM yet, but I am working on getting it from dell or Samsung)

for all we know, the firmware VBM19C1Q may well be the same as VBM19D1Q on The drives Dell are shipping now! until we get confirmation, I wouldn't go flashing another companies Firmware to your drive!

As soon as I get confirmation on this issue, I will post it here for all to see. I have no issues with my drives as yet, they seem to be performing really well! I will be monitoring them over time though.

here is a screenshot of my benchmark just after a reformat:

 

I had the same theory, but SleepyO (I know, it's SleeyO, but sleepy is better) seems to think different.

I posted my Theory here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=440467&page=3

I am still waiting on confirmation either from Dell or Samsung as to Whether TRIM is supported or Not; Nobody seems to have any Concrete evidence to suggest it isn't!

 

Check out the SSD thread in the hardware section. I'm sure they're doing a bunch of testing over there. They usually do.

 

I know because my drive shipped with VBM19D1Q and it did not support TRIM. Run CrystalDiskInfo and it will tell you right away. Better yet, let your drive run for a week with a lot of file usage and watch your performance plummet.

 

First post updated. DO NOT run Tony Trim after you have flashed the new firmware.

 

VBM19D1Q dosen't support TRIM AND GC (confirmed too in CrystalDiskInfo). And the letter "D" in firmware VBM19D1Q means that the firmware is specifically for Dell OEM. But I've seen on the Corsair Forum one person with this firmware...

Samsung Semiconductors Support confirmed it to me by email.

BTW : Samsung said that it is not certain that Dell released an update tool. And if so, it will be longer than normal and we must wait for an updater.

 

You can run Tony-TRIM as one of the ocz genuine drive owner members discovered Samsungs TRIM is not working as it should. Switch it off if you have issues, then run Tony-TRIM and the drive will recover just fine.

Also remember you need ACPI 2.0 and s1 for this FW to work correctly on your machines. http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=470838&postcount=128

make sure you have 100% correct info, things are moving fast with Samsung drive FW flashing

 

If you are having performance issues with 19C you can disable TRIM command using the fsutil behavior set disabledeletenotify 1 elevated command prompt.

 

Someone please tell me what the name string is of the drive after using our FW.


Thank you.

 

If by name string you mean device id, mine shows as: Samsung SSD PM800 Series 2.5" 256GB VBM19C1Q.

Nice find! I haven't seen my performance go down since I reinstalled everything last night (drive is about 35% full). I'll add this + Tony's post above to the first post.

 

+1, same device id & name.

 

hey guys, I did everything as instructed, the maindiag utility recognized my drive fine but when I select option 2, or option 1, I get dots and cursor like this . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _ and then tells me erase failed please check device, it sees my drive fine, any help would be appreciated. thanks.

 

Your bios is config in IDE MODE ? What's your southbridge ?

 

yes it is configured as IDE in bios and connected to the first port becuase that is the only port the maindiag utility will see the drive in, I have the evga p55 ftw motherboard, I believe the southbrige is ICH10R

 

I received my 17X on 12/21 with the Samsung 256gb SSD. The Firmware is VBM24D1Q and it has Trim as per Crystaldiskinfo 3.2.1

 

Do you know if it's TRIM only or is it TRIM/GC or just GC? I have been searching all over and I can't find out the answer. I have the same drive with the same firmware.

 

I don't know. Contact the support of Samsung Semicondutor for more information on this firmware.

 

I tested on Dell with PM55 and Gigabyte P55 and I couldn't flash the drive

 

Can anyone confirm that all Dell 256gb SSDs purchased from now on will support TRIM?

 

I was getting that error -- had to take out the mechanical drive and switched the SSd to the slot the mechanical drive was in and it flashed.

 

Hey guys, having some problems with this. Does the USB drive have to be flashed to dos 6.22 or will a newer version of dos work as well? The smallest flash drive I have lying around is a 4 gb, and the HP utility will only let me format to FAT32 which isn't compatible with dos 6.22

I tried using win98 boot files, but maindiag.exe doesn't see the SSD

 

is there any reason this version, that comes with the updater wouldnt be better?

VBM1901Q

form what i can gather, it supports GC and not TRIM. so wouldn't that be a bit easier than flashing for TRIM, then disabling TRIM?

 

Based on my usage, the VBM19C1Q has better functioning GC, at least it does on my machine.

 

Interesting.

I saw a screenshot of crystaldisk with the same fw and TRIM was greyed out.

 

well I only had the ssd plugged in, no mechanical drive, it didn't work, only one sata device was plugged in the system and that was the ssd, nothing else. so I don't think this is the way to go for me, it certainly has issues with p55 chipset I believe, for the life of me I couldn't get it to flash, plus I really don't care I have intel 80gb ssd as the OS drive, and I have stored all my steam games on this and I just use it for that purpose, so I really don't care that much about trim any more.

 

On my Crystadisk it has everything except APM, that was the only thing grayed out.

 

Tried this on a Dell Latitude E4300 with a Dell 256GB Samsung SSD that had VBM19D1Q on it, the utility couldn't recognize the drive. Tried a few different versions of DOS, even tried to boot from flooppy, utility just does not see the drive. and yes its set to ATA mode in bios.

 

You can't flash the drive with this laptop.

Try to flash your drive in desktop computer or other laptop.

 

VBM24D1Q has trim function according to the crystaldiskinfo;

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=447405

 

That firmware is not available for download anywhere right now.

 

FWIW, I have the same error. Tried mine in a new Dell Optiplex 780 desktop with SATA mode set to LEGACY (that's the only setting that would see the drive when I ran maindiag.exe). I was a bit scared at first, thinking that it partially trashed the firmware and failed, but everything was OK and the SSD was still functional and my data intact.

I have the older VBM15D1Q version. Hopefully, there will be a method to updating this SSD!

 

I was able to get it to flash using a Dell Latitude D620 laptop.

 

I've had no luck as well. I've tried on about half a dozen different desktops (all intel based from p4 to core2duo, though not sure about the chipsets). I can get the loading....fail error or just no detection of my drive. I'm also stuck with the older 15 firmware and would really like to update it. Anyone who has had success, please indicate the machine model you used, or if custom built, the chipset on the mb. thanks.

 

Did you have the "15" firmware or something else??

 

only thing I have been wondering is would this have any warranties issues with Dell if you flash the drive with a Non Dell Firmware ?

 

My question is if the firmware is available and working, when will Dell ship with it pre-flashed?