Alienware owners with Samsung PM800 SSD - TRIM now available!

poyntzj can you help!!!!

I tried to flash a samsung 128gb with vbm1ah1q, did option 2 worked but then requested reboot... so did and then the thinkpad R60 kept saying it had a password and wouldn't boot just like yours...

I've tried to other PC's but both come up with @@@ check ATA @@ messages and maindiag just wont work on those machines...

fancy upgrading my drive with your acer netbook?? send you some cash too!
?

 

I also have a 1.8" Samsung PB22-CS3 FDE 256GB Firmware version VBM9KD1Q. I have attempted to find a firmware upgrade but got no luck so far. I am also afraid to brick the SSD by cross-flashing.

 

As mentioned before, if you have a drive from Dell that does not support TRIM, and your drive is not performing call Dell and ask for a replacement drive. Several folks I know who have done so have recived drives with the firmware that supports TRIM.

Joker has also updated this thread and mentioned the latest Samsung drives are not the same and could result in bricking the drive if you try to force flash it.

 

@dave-p, so we have come to a conclusion not to flash the firmware. I have warned many of my friends about the drawback of getting a Samsung SSD -- user-side firmware upgrade is barely possible; whereas other manufacturers, such as Intel and OCZ, do a much better job on this.

No wonder why Samsung SSD is significantly cheaper than other brands on eBay.

 

I have to put the blame on Dell for this one, Samsung has said they gave the firmware (with TRIM Support) in late November and Dell still has not released it to us.

As you pointed out, Everyone else has done so, so what is Dell waiting for.

 

Hello, is it possible to upgrade the trim firmware to a MMCRE28G5MXP_OVB of HP OEM?

 

I have same problem. HP 5310m 174PA model has mmcre28g5mxp vbm1ah1q SSD. It's too crappy. Average transfer rate is only 100. And it always freeze for 10-30sec. And I can't upgrade the firmware of SSD.

 

Hi,

Great thread! I got a Dell Latitude E4200 with a Samsung SSD PB22-JS3 TM 64GB drive. Does anyone know if its firmware can be upgraded to support TRIM in Windows 7? Current firmware version is VBM19D1Q. Seems like the version that support TRIM is VBM19C1Q. Doesnt that seem like a downgrade? I've had my notebook since October 2009 so I dont think it has TRIM support from the factory.

Thanks,
HMR.

 

OCZ is not a manufacturer! The rebrand "standard" drives, like Corsair, Patriot etc. do too.
The Corsair P128 for instance is a Samsung drive too, its just they release their FW more frequently, since mostly demanding cocky hi end-users like you have the $$$ to pay for the premium of better service.

DELL, HP and all those companies have to test much more regarding compatibility. And of course they give a .

 

Have you read this whole thread?
VBM19D1Q has been discussed few posts back.

EDIT: Oops! My bad, was thinking the VBM9LD1Q.

UPDATE: Here is the answer to your question

 

Anyone heard anything about F/W VBM94D1Q? I've confirmed that TRIM is disabled with HWInfo32 and CrystalDiskInfo however I don't know which FW I should flash it with since Samsung's site says its flasher needs to have the 18 firmware originally.

 

Dear All

I have been reading this thread with a lot of time and gaining a lot of knowledge from all of you and wanted to share my experiences in the hope that it can help you all.

Firstly, I am based in the United Kingdom (London)

Recently I purchased a new Dell Latitude XT2 Tablet/Laptop from a refurbished laptop supplier (from ebay)

It came with the following specification:

Intel 1.6Ghz Core 2 Duo Processor
5GB Ram
Samsung 256Gb SSD Drive
Intel Wifi
Dell Bluetooth
and all the usual stuff you get.

Initially I was struggling with installing Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on it. It transpired that the download of the media from my Microsoft Partner programme was corrupt, but before I knew that I was googling about trying to find a solution and stumbled across this thread.

I had no idea what TRIM was before reading this thread and once I got Windows 7 x64 installed I wanted to see if my Drive was indeed TRIM enabled to make use of the functionality in Windows 7.

My Drive spec was as follows:

F/W: VBM23D1Q
Model: MMDPE56GTDXP-MVBD1
Date of Manufacture: 2009.07.18
KR-0P058R-01851-97I-0004-A00
MicroSata Connector

As through this thread I found this was a Dell Specific firmware (Depicted by the "D" in the firmware name) and as such wouldnt be easily upgradeable.

I downloaded Crystal Disk Info 3.5.1 and fired it up. Lo and behold, my drive was not TRIM enabled.

Gutted initially as I paid a lot for the laptop and wanted the best (like all of us) and to get the most out of the hardware and software.

I kept reading this forum and thread as well as others and decided to try and get a replacement drive sent out. The reason for this was because I knew my firmware (VBM23D1Q) would struggle to get upgraded as it was Dell Specific, I also knew that my laptop had 3 years warranty on it and I have learnt over time to Deal with Dell and their technical departments.

I found a post by someone on this thread that said the easiest thing to do was to ring up Dell and tell them that the drive had failed (even though it hadn't, but they don't know that) and tell them a specific error code that tells them the drive has failed. The error code infact depicts that its a normal hard drive failure and not an SSD, but the Dell technical support don't know that so instantly will offer a replacement. This is what I told them:

"Say the pre-boot diagnotic utility tells you :

Hard Drive - DST Short Test
Error code 2000-0142
Msg : Unit 1 : Drive Self Test failed. Status byte = 79."

I spoke to a woman (based in India no doubt) and basically said "Hi there, my drive (I didnt say SSD) has failed and this is the error code I'm getting.

Error code 2000-0142"

She said "Ok, thats a drive failure, we will send out a replacement drive in exchange for the faulty one". I said fine and that I would need the new drive for a few days (not true) to get the data off the old failed drive.

Now, your probably thinking, surely she would pick up on that fact that drive is dead so how can you get the data off, but no. She said Ok, they would issue an authorisation code to leave me the NEW drive so I could "Get the data off" the old drive. Something I had NO intention of doing as it works fine. (Just no TRIM)

So I gave her my delivery details and the next day the man arrived. He was just a courier with zero technical knowledge. I checked the box and inside was a NEW Samsung SSD drive and the Firmware was are follows:

F/W VBM9LD1Q
Model: MMDPE56GTDXP-MVBD7
Date of Manufacture: 2009.11.23
KR-0J765R-74230-9BN-0088-A01
MicroSata Connector

*Side Note*: The SSD drives for the XT2 are very small and come with NO casing whatsoever. Its just a PCB board with a Micro SATA connector on the end. The pcb board sits inside a rubber case and that connects to the motherboard. Probably slightly different from the Alienware setups most of you are talking about.

Mine looks like this... Literally: http://media.bestofmicro.com/Samsung-MMDOE56G5MXP,K-7-193831-3.jpg

Anyhow, he left and I went back to my desk. I wrote down all the details on the label stuck to the PCB and matched them up with the OLD SSD drive. As you can see, the Firmware was different. The Date of Manufacture was later and the Model number was very slightly different.

So I have just installed the PCB SSD drive and chucked on a basic install of Windows 7 Ultimate x64 from the same DVD. I fired up Crystal Info again and what do you know, TRIM IS ENABLED!!!

I'm explaining all this because I firmly believe all of you could do the same with Dell if you follow the route I went. Also note I only waited a day (ok, I'm in the UK so it might be different to the USA) and the new drive arrived by courier.

They have left me to move the data off my old SSD and I will wait for them to call me to send it back. If they dont call me to send it back.. well.. tough cookie to them. They did state on the phone they would CALL me and I didnt have to CALL them to send the old drive back.

On from this I've noted the following regarding TRIM firmwares and found the following:

VBM19D1Q = No TRIM enabled
VBM23D1Q = No TRIM enabled
VBM15D1Q = No TRIM enabled

VBM19C1Q = TRIM enabled
VBM24D1Q = TRIM enabled
VBM9LD1Q = TRIM enabled

I have attached a couple of screen shots also of the Crystal Info of the OLD drive (VBM23D1Q) and the new Drive that I received (VBM9LD1Q). I just hope this can help all of you some more in your Quest to get this fixed.

All the best

Andy

 

great news and + Rep

Cheers

 

in case anyone else with a m11x is wondering, i just got mine with the samsung ssd and crystal disk info says trim is enabled. VBM24D1Q

 

kungfu same here, same firmware as well. But I saw on the first page someone tried to upgrade firmware and bricked it. Is this firmware the best for the PM800 drive? That's what I got in my M11x, just want to make sure I'm getting best speeds I can get. I thought I read something about how Intel Matrix Storage manager should be uninstalled? B/c it's installed currently.

okay, I do not have the standard windows driver installed like on pg 11. Here's what I have. That's the only thing showing in my IDE/ATAPI device manager as well. What should I do? Uninstall it?

 

You should see the Intel driver somewhere in device manager. You can keep it and use the Intel SSD Toolbox for garbage collection maintenance or use the MS controller driver for TRIM.

 

I uninstalled the Intel(R) driver under IDE and also uninstalled intel matrix. Let Win7 do it's thing and it installed the MS controller. here is my CDM benchmark for my SSD 256 PM800 attached.

BTW, the firmware I mentioned above is fine right? For TRIM etc? Thanks for the response

 

What performance were you getting the the Intel driver?

 

some info your guys / girls out there....

I have a samsung MMCRE28G5MXP-OVBH1 with VBM1AH1Q firmware, which as you will know by reading this thread that its a tweaked firmware for HP.

I have now managed to flash this drive with VBM19C1Q firmware. I have been using the 'maindiag samsung tool' as listed on here... the problem I got was I managed to do the initial 'initialize firmware' but then every laptop and desktop PC I used would not see the drive to be able to do stage 2, the main firmware upgrade...

I thought I'd never get this drive going again and then I was able to borrow a all-in-one PC with sata and re-tried the main firmware flash as I have many times before on other machines and this one did it..!! wow pleased!

the drive is now working fine with VBM19C1Q, used crystaldiskinfo and drive now as TRIM... cool...

I guess it really is a case of trying as many PC's / laptops as prossible!!

thanks to poyntzj for his postings and giving me the faith to continue... as I thought the drive was bricked.... !

 

I'm sorry I didn't even bother running CDM. Now that I look back at a couple people's benchmarks, I feel like I'm still on the slower side..

now I'm curious of what the Intel driver + tool speeds. Anyway I can find that Intel driver again lol =(

*edit*
k, re-running CDM with the Intel Drivers, and it doesn't look to be any faster.. the toolbox is for use with manual TRIM am I correct? Here are the results with DCI info. I'm going to uninstall all Intel stuff again and use the standard MS drivers again..and run CDM.. maybe I just have a slow drive.

*edit2*

okay reran CDM with standard MS drivers again, here are ersults.. seq write speed dropped some, but most others are fine and above Intel drivers.

 

I also have VBM94D1Q and i couldn't flash VBM19C1Q. The drive was
recognized and everything worked fine, but then an error message like
'wrong OEM version' occured. Don't know what to do now....

 

Hi.
I also have that samsung ssd with the same firmware on my M11x.

However speeds are not as good as yours, and they are continuing to degraded.
As far as I understand some degradation is normal.. however how can I make sure mine is normal?


The rates where higher when I first ran the tool - seqential read about 203 mb/s.

You mentioned you installed intel drivers under ide and intel matrix.
Is it necessary to install both to get trim to work automatically?
How to uninstall intel drivers (already installed intel matrix drivers from installed programs)?

Is there any way to verify trim is working (in an understandable way)?
How much does trim help limit degradation
What degradation rate is normal (assuming trim is working), and what is not?

 

TRIM is important in preventing degredation. If you are using Intel drivers for your SSD, then you need the toolbox and from what I've read online - you have to manually do garbage collection (trim). I recommend uninstalling Matrix storage manager from apps. Then go to your device manager and right click the Intel(R) driver under the IDE tab and uninstall that and remove driver profile from system. Then it will have you reboot and automatically install the standard MS drivers. These drivers automatically run TRIM for you and for me, give better speeds. Try that out and run CDM and let me know.

 

Thanx, but i'm still dumb enough (and thats saying something as i'm professional programmer) not being able to follow your instructions.
I assume with IDE Tab you mean "IDE ATA/ATAPI-Controller" under the device manager you get when you right click computer in the startup menu, select properties and then click on the device manager link on the left side (along with Remote preferences - those may not be the exact names as my OS is german)?

Unter that point I have
- ATA Channel 0
- Standard AHCI1.0 Serialler-ATA-Controller

There is no intel driver directly under "IDE ATA/ATAPI-Controller" nor did I find any intel drivers on one of the two above listed devices. It says the driver source is Microsoft.

Can you tell me if/what I am doing wrong?

Also, assuming I managed to remove the intel drivers, what do I have to do to remote the profile of those drivers from the system (I assume this is to prevent windows from installing them agian automatically-because you do not want this to happen)?

Thanx in Advance

 

You're good then. You didn't have the Intel drivers installed so nothing to worry about. You want the standard ones as you have shown. So you're set.

 

Ok. I just wordered because my performance is deteriorating (i'm even limiting my benchmark tests to reduce that) and it seemes a but much.
Is yours deteriorating?

I had to reinstall windows 7 from the recovery partition because some setting back the state in the old install to a previous date got things messed up (some error on startup with the dell data safe). Maybe that caused another drop because then the intel drivers were re-instated.
Should the performance catch up again with TRIM working or will trim just slow down a deterioration that is not stoppable?

Maybe you can check if you have performance deterioration and how much it is?

 

sure I can bench again when I get home but yeah I'm keeping a conscious effort of not using the SSD as a medium of transferring large files to and from things, but to keep it more stagnant for what I want to keep on there.

Have you made sure TRIM is enabled via a tool a few pages back?

 

I'm not completely sure which tool you mean. However, I have checked this:
- make sure TRIM is enabled in windows and correct driver is used with DriveControllerInfo tool
- checked that SSD supports trim with CrystalDiskInfo

Well, I will try to not use the SSD extensively but I will not limit myself what I want to do...

 

yup the drive controller info was what I was talking about. But yeah I'm not limiting myself, but I am now conscious of what I'm doing with my drive moreso than I ever was with a platter drive.

 

Well, those tools just make sure all things necessary for TRIM to work are there, but it does not verify if trim itself really does happen.
I may check to see if I can figure if TRIM works according to this method: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/f...ew-FW-Flashing&p=470564&viewfull=1#post470564

I saw in another forum that some guy who had really bad ratings (below 100 mb/s read) got to much higher ones again once he fixed TRIM to work. However I'm not sure what he did.
So it is possible to recover to good degree.

However concerning degradation I am sure there is still much to be optimized - they are working on that already and some new technology has already been reported on I think that works better.

 

Same here. My SSD performance has dropped just a week after it came

......... Fresh Installed ......... 50% filled
...........Read......Write..........Read......Write
Seq .... 217.9 .... 172.9 ....... 204.1 .... 120.1
512 .... 176.1 .... 123.9 ....... 164.9 .... 100.1
4k ...... 22.11 .... 7.542 ....... 21.99 .... 6.958
4k Q4 .. 26.51 ... 6.561 ....... 27.11 .... 6.224

Anybody else experiencing SSD degradation with TRIM enabled?

 

This is very interesting, because:

1: I'm using WinXP SP3
2: old type SAMSUNG 64GB SLC SSD
3: 95% filled

NO ANY SIGNIFICANT DROP OF PERFORMANCE COMPARING THE FRESH (EMPTY) STATE...

WHY SO UNSTABLE THE NEWER TECHNOLOGY ?

(no W7, no trim, almost full filled)

 

Thanks for asking the question which pushed me for another try

Got this result few minutes ago:

 

Hello all,

Thought I'd post my question in this forum as it relates to my SSD and TRIM even though I have an XPS 1647. I have the Samsung 256GB SSD xand it has trim enabled out of the bod.

I am getting conflicting opinions on what to do about the driver -- i.e. use the Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller that came with the system and install Matrix Storage manager. OR delete the Intel AHCI controller and have the MS driver load???

People on the XPS forum have suggested keeping the Intel driver (plus Matrix) but I know most here have used the MS driver per Mandrake's suggestion. I'd like to just use the option that requires least manual intervention and have TRIM "happen" everytime files are deleted automatically. Heard that the Intel Matrix Storage Manager is a "manual" process...

Any advice/help is GREATLY appreciated! THanks!

 

Hi rbats, why not use MS driver instead like I did on my XPS 1340?

MS drive controller driver = TRIM + GC working with no problem

 

I benchmarked both drivers and the MS standard drivers got faster results.. Check a page or two back.

 

Thanks for the responses. I don't have the Intel Matrix Storage Manager installed. So, is it just a matter of deleting the Intel(R) 5 Series/3400 Series Chipset Family 6 Port SATA AHCI Controller and the MS standard driver will load on reboot automatically? Thanks.

 

yup, and say yes on the remove the driver software or else it will just reinstall the intel drivers again

 

Hello everyone,

I just got the ssd shown in the picture below.



The drive has the firmware VBM94D1Q, which has no trim. Could anyone of you update this one to the newest firmware from samsung? If yes - how?

I tried the steps from post#1, but had no success. Point 2 in Maindiag was working well, but when pushing the 1 an error appeard, saying something like "wrong oem version of the firmware", or so.

Any suggestions, what to do else?

Is there maybe a possibility to just change the version of the firmware, that is shown up in programs like crystaldiskinfo - to outwit the samsung-flashtool (or maindiag) and make it think, having an ssd with the correct firmware to update!?

I'm very pleased for any hints or tricks!


p.s. For people having gigabyte p55 mainboards: Plug the ssd at port 0 of the intel ports. Switch to ide mode in bios and change from native to legacy mode, otherwise maindiag will not find the ssd!

p.s.s. sorry for my english, but I'm not native speaking

 

Hi Guys,

just I need a quick clarification:

As I know the VBM9LD1Q and the VBM24D1Q are supports TRIM, the difference is the FDE only (Full Disk Encryption)

Am I right?

If so, if I don't like to use any encryption software (BitLocker or etc), the FDE feature itself could cause slower bandwidth?

So the VBM24D1Q could be faster than VBM9LD1Q theoretically ???

Please advice!

Thx!

 

Not 100% sure on this, are the M11x's shipping with the Samsung PM800 SSDs TRIM enabled?

 

aggmang - my M11x came with Samsung PM800 and yeah it was TRIM enabled. Forget the firmware version, think it has a 24 in it.

 

aznguy, What is your boot time? I'm considering putting in my Samsung SSD this friday if I quit being lazy. The 7200RPM drive is fast enough I never felt pushed to install it. Been sitting around for a week.

 

I've got both kinds (w/FDE and no FDE), and I choose to NOT use any encryption software, and have not noticed any differences in performance between the two. If you are not using encryption, the drive with the FDE firmware I think defaults to non-FDE mode, which should be the same as the non-FDE drive.

 

Thanks lancorp !

 

I don't have it timed although I guess you can time it via my video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRfTZ9R4vlc

I watched the clock, from pushing the start button @ 0:26 and gets into desktop around the :58 mark, so like 32seconds? Some people time it after the post screen, which mine would be starting around like :33 mark so 7 seconds for it to get into post and starting to load windows so like 25seconds.. hope that helps. What are your boot times?

 

Same boot up time here

 

My boot times are pretty similiar


On another note.

This morning I received my second Samsung SSD 256GB. It is the Black SSD with P/N : MMDPE56G5DXP. It is the one mentioned in the original post . It also has F/W VBM9LD1Q. My question is will TRIM be supported in Windows Vista? I plan to use it with Windows Vista. Probably in my 1720 until I order the next M17x. Any advice on enabling trim in vista on this drive would be appreciated. While installing onto the SSD on the M11x I just removed the intel driver. Is there anything else I need to do? Is Vista somehow not compatible with TRIM? Any infor would help. Thanks

 

I believe only windows 7 natively supports TRIM, but that's all the info I know.. anyone care to help?

 

VBM9LD1Q = TRIM enabled