Intel® Matrix Storage Manager1: May be Bad ?

I downloaded the Intel® Matrix Storage Manager1......

IT MAY BE BAD?

I went and put in an SD card to download pictures... Usually i would get a pop-up that asks me what program do i want to open it with. I would always use Picasa 3. I don't get that pop up anymore nor can i access anything to open it up with a 3rd party. I have to go in and click on Computer and right click on drive F to open File from there manually.. Any Ideas?

This also pops up in the task bar, after i put the SD card in the reader. I have to double click on it to see it.

 

I also just threw in a Crysis Cd...that normally loads and brings up the title screen. It DID NOT...

Did it disable the plug and play? for the SD Card reader and Cd ?

Anyone have an idea? thanks

 

Here is the Link for the New Storage Manager...

http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/CS-025753.htm

And here is the File...



What went wrong...?

 

Can i revert back to the old one?

 

Does anyone have an opinion?

 

AHCI drivers have nothing to do with that.
You probably disabled autoplay (look under control panel) and make sure Shell Hardware Detection service is automatic and running.

 

If you want higher PC Mark scores, uninstall Intel Matrix Storage manager. It is not needed.

 

Chrysaor,

Shell hardware is automatic and running. i went into control panel and autoplay is checked... still no auto play on my discs or card reader...im stumped...?

Forte,

I deleted the Storage manager as well...

 

And lastly, it all started when i download the INF file... Number 2. as shown below... (From INTEL's website)

 

To my knowledge Intel Inf drivers are not needed for Santa Rosa+ chipsets, e.g. GM965 variants and above. They are needed only for notebooks with 945 chipsets and older ones, it is even in driver description itself (you can't find 965 chipset as supported there)...

you don't need to uninstall storage manager, just disable it via Autoruns from sysinternals, storage manager usually installs latest AHCI driver which is needed at least for Vista (it fixes couple of problems...)

 

It's advised to install the INF drivers for the PM/GM965 chipset based notebooks. It contains specific support for these. E.g check
. 965m.inf : PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2A{00|01|10|11}
. ich8ahci.inf : PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2829
of the above mentioned 9.0.0.1008 inf update driver.

However the intel Matrix Storage Manager software (this is something different than the inf update above) applies to the ICH8M (VEN_8086&DEV_2829) and its SATA interface in AHCI mode. It doesn't have anything to do with the PCI (not even PCIe) attached Ricoh SD card reader (VEN_1180&DEV_0822). Therefore it shouldn't affect my memory card reader related behavior. Instead check you autorun configuration as stated in this thread already.

 

go here:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2800&lang=eng

select Vista (32bit), there's no inf driver listed

select 945 chipset, again Vista, and it is there...
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Product_Filter.aspx?ProductID=2300&lang=eng

here is a list of chipsets supported - 965 mobile is obviously missing:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...0&DwnldID=16026&strOSs=164&OSFullName=Windows Vista* 32&lang=eng

when you choose exe file instead of zip:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...0&DwnldID=16023&strOSs=164&OSFullName=Windows Vista* 32&lang=eng

the chipsets supported are the same with 965Mobile missing, but more recent ones (like 4 series) are present. Then I've read somewhere why it is not needed for 965 mobile chipsets when running Vista SP1, don't remember where.
I never actually unzipped the content to look for particular inf, it might be there and the error is on Intel site, but I have never needed it.

strange is DELL lists one (though old from 2007) on its site as a chipset driver, but that is a time before SP1 of Vista came out...
so care to elaborate? "it is advised..."
Yesterday new version came out, but again is hard to find on Intel site...

btw Intel INF drivers do not contain AHCI driver at all. You can find it in a FLOPPY/Matrix Storage package.

 

If you check the release notes of the v9.0.0.1008 driver, you'll find that PM/GM965 is explicitly mentioned as supported:
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/16026/ENG/relnotes.htm
Besides the install files, which contain the PM/GM965 vendor and device ids that I previously mentioned.

This is what intel says to the inf driver:

What it basically does is assign the appropriate identification strings to hardware, which can be displayed in the device manager. It also assigns microsoft drivers to these hardware components. I didn't check each and every inf file whether it also parametrizes some drivers for specific features of the intel hardware by adding registry entries.

Vista SP1 will configure most if not all components working even without installing the INF drivers. However I can't tell in this case whether besides missing device manager identification strings somethings else isn't working to the full extend. But since it also doesn't harm to install those drivers (read: inf files) I have chosen the word "It is advised ..." (besides Dell installing this driver in their default configuration as well).

As with many drivers of intel they sometimes show up in the desktop board section first or with different version numbers. In this case, you'll find the updated INF file by browsing the intel motherboards (e.g. DG45FC):

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...OSs=164&OSFullName=Windows Vista* 32&lang=eng

Its version is 9.1.0.1012, but is explicitly called "Chipset: INF Update Utility for Intel® Desktop Boards". Therefore it seems to be sufficient to stick with v9.0.0.1008 or the older Dell one.

I remarked "intel Matrix Storage Manager software (this is something different than the inf update above)" in the first place, so this question actually never popped up.

However the INF files do something to your SATA Controller, even if the Storage Matrix Manager driver is not installed: Depending on whether your SATA ICH8M Southbridge is configured to IDE or AHCI mode by the BIOS, it assigns different Microsoft default drivers to the device:

ICH8M IDE mode : pciide.sys
ICH8M AHCI mode : msahci.sys

It also configures the Ultra IDE port of the ICH8M southbridge to use the according microsoft driver. In this sense the inf file contains the SATA driver (even if it binary code comes shipped with the Vista DVD).

I'm pretty sure however Vista also uses the correct drivers by default.

 

@7oby: thanks

as to newer version of inf files from Intel (and for Intel boards), I've compared them year ago and they were a bit different, really meaning that it is meant ONLY for intel boards. That doesn't mean it won't function on other Desktop boards but I don't think I would try installing it on notebook when I found them in 1. Intel only 2. Desktop department

 

HEY GUYS...All that info is great....but what should i do to get my Sd card reader and CD auto play to work again? Since i downloaded the INF.. i lost both. Auto play is checked in control panel. Shell service is running. SO i can't figure it out..

Also, i amhaving a wireless issue now.. Where i have to manually go in and click repair wireless service.. The top one... here is a snip...

 

Don't know, but this is what I would do:

. uncheck auto play, reboot, check auto play in the control panel
. reinstall the Ricoh drivers, which are responsible for SD cards and such:
http://support.dell.com/support/dow...1&impid=-1&formatcnt=1&libid=27&fileid=188377

intel released new wireless drivers 1/5/2009 v12.2.0.11. I suggest installing those instead of the ones dell ships:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...ndows Vista Business, 32-bit-Version&lang=eng

 

7oby,

Thanks for the advice! You saved my wireless!

BUT....i tried your reinstall on Ricoh and the uncheck/check of auto play on reboot. Still not a go..

I am dumbfounded...

I've created that problem since i downloaded this... (No#2)

 

Yeah. After i installed the matrix manager my transfer rate decreased significantly. I reformatted and omitted the driver after

 

Is it just me? Coz i cant find any noticeable difference with these new drivers. :S

 

7oby,

Do you know what INF file i should download? I may have downloaded the wrong one thus my Card reader, and Cd autoplay malfunction...

I uninstalled the Matrix storage manager... so i don't know what other options i have to restore it without doing a clean install of Windows Vista... I would like to avoid that at all costs..

 

The inf chipset driver 9.0.0.1008 is fine, since it mentions Intel® PM/GM965 Chipset compatibility in its release notes and is a production version. I'm using it as well and SD card autoplay works fine.

I really can't think of the chipset software being responsible for your missing autoplay. It is not directly related to this. My first thought was that it may be some sideeffect due to new PCI-Bridge drivers. Therefore I suggested to reinstall the Ricoh drivers, such that they would attach to the "new" PCI-Bridges or whatsoever. You did check your autoplay options as well.

If you think it is due to the chipset drivers, then roll back to the driver state prior to installing driver updates by using the system restore.

If you can't do that, you might consider switching system restore to on again from now on. There's nothing else that comes to my mind which might help you to get it back working.

You did check this one in system control center:

 

Yes............ ...............