Crucial M4 / Micron C400 SSD Series Thread

I dont have M4 yet. But as I read, everbody on Windows 7 solved BSOD and laging with LPM registry fix and who have pm55 or hm55 chipset solved problems following fix:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-intel-series-4-5-965-chipsets-jjb-tweak.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-series-4-5-965-chipsets-stamatisx-tweak.html

As I know, LPM fix worked and for pm55 or hm55 chipset worked LPM+ one of that tweak. You have M4? Any problem?

 

OK, I need someone to walk me through shutting down the LPM, I must be slower than everyone else! I did a clean install on my new M18X, was really buggy. I have unistalled IRST and that has helped.

 

I will order an M4 very soon. I wanted to know the result of your search... I have an Intel motherboard with hm67 chip and i7 6230qm sandy bridge processor...

You have changed your mind or are you going to buy an M4?

 

Here is the registery fix I have saved for when my M4 arrives... Here is the source I have got it from if needed.

Just copy what's below this paragraph on a notepad text file, save it (as "lpm.txt" for example) , then change the extension as "reg". So the final file should be "lpm.reg". Then double click it and approve if it asks you to. Please report back after applying it.



[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port0]

"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port1]

"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port2]

"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port3]

"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port4]

"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port5]

"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000

 

Download intel RST driver:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/
Select: Chipsets->Laptop chipsets->Mobile intel 6 (or some other) series chipset
10.​1.​0.​1008 version works sure.

Restart PC

Apply LPM fix:
http://www.overclock.net/attachment...zing-stuttering-problems-c300-disable-lpm.zip

Restart PC

DONE

As I know, problem with freezing is at other brands too sometimes. I would change my mind if someone cannot fix the problems. But as I know, everybody fixed laging by that LPM fix and SSD works well so I am going to buy M4 256GB soon.

 

Thanks, I will try these out!

 

All I had to do was the LPM fix. Didn't have to mess with RST. After that, stuttering issues were gone and I've had the drive since the day they came out. I wouldn't worry about disabling LPM anyways. It's meant for spinners, as they consume much more power than ssd's, and probably the reason why there is a conflict between RST and LPM with an ssd in the first place.

FYI, I've set my ssd to never turn off to possibly kick in TRIM as much as possible, so my power usage should be higher than normal, but I haven't noticed a difference in battery power yet. SSD's use so little power compared to the rest of the computer that only a benchmark may catch the difference.

 

OK, trying this again.... will report back. As soon as I downloaded RST it started locking, turned off LPM. Seems to be working.

 

There is new review btw:
Crucial m4 256GB SSD Review - TechSpot Reviews

 

Interesting. I'm getting slightly different results with 120GB versions.

Crucial M4 128GB boots a little faster than Vertex 3.

 

I purchased a M4 128GB for my x220 and had bluescreens if you didn't install the Intel RST driver from Lenovo or Intel (tried both) and used the default MS driver. After installing the RST driver it would work fine except for the 1-2 minute random "hard locks" that occured randomly (every 25-30 minutes I would guess).

I applied the reg patch and it has been working great since (only Port0 for that SSD).

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port0]

"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000

I get about 396MB/s read and 181MB/s write using AS SSD. I like it so far minus the workarounds we need to do to get it to work properly.

 

Well I'm out of ideas.

Intel is too expensive and too slow.
OCZ is not reliable enough.
Samsung doesn't even have SATA III drives.

Any suggestions?

Mr. Mysterious

 

Crucial runs fine as lons you apply the 5 lines to your registry. That's all.

Batterylife is beating the Vertex 3.

 

That's the problem...I did apply the registry fix, but it did nothing for my drive

Mr. Mysterious

 

I think you forgot to reboot.

Clean install, apply registry fix, reboot, install RST, reboot. Finished.

I have a hard time believing that wouldn't work for everyone.

 

All right, I'll give it one last try. (Lol, I know I said that earlier).

There should be no reason why my M4 shouldn't be working.

Mr. Mysterious

 

If I may suggest try it this way, it worked for me: Clean install, don't run updates, apply LPM registry fix, reboot, install intel RST, reboot, run all Windows updates.

For installing RST run iata_enu.exe from here:
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...ng&OSVersion=Windows 7, 64-bit*&DownloadType=

If the laptop freezes before you can apply the LPM fix, just power it off using the power button and reboot normally and try again.

 

I applied the LPM fix on mine, which if I had RST installed and active I was frozen in a matter of seconds. Once the LPM fix was in, I have not frozen since. Which is fine and all, but why, when I spend a decent amount of cash for a high end product should I have to do anything to get it to work correctly?

 

Just in case, since I want to make sure, what is the registry fix? Is it the one with 1 line or 5 lines?

Could someone repost it once more please?

Mr. Mysterious

 

I use this one, as posted by Honzik1:
Just copy paste the following in a text file renamed with .reg extension and execute it :

 

Clean install, apply registry fix, reboot, install Intel RST, reboot, install clevo drivers, reboot, install windows updates.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Does anyone know how to enable LPM again?

It's not for the Crucial but for other SSDs.

 

This fix is bigger:
Overclock.net - Overclocking.net

 

You put the values back to what they were?

 

I don't think that link works for non-members.

Update: Hey, what do you know? Almost 4 hours later, and there have been no BSOD's so far.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Considering I just fixed 5 of my friends computers who bought the M4, I have a feeling I know what may be wrong with your registry patch you're doing.

If you open your Registry to the location of the fix "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters" and click on Parameters does it show "Port0" located under that setting? In all 5 of the systems I tested when they applied that general registry tweak it did not actually add the "Port0" in the Parameters folder, thus making it unreliable to the tweak. If you do not show that Port0 you simply need to manually add it in.

Open Regedit.exe and navigate to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters" When you click on Parameters you should see a folder named "Port0" or a sequence of them up to Port0 Port1 Port2 etc etc. If you do not see the mentioned folders you need to add in the Port# for the one that the M4 is installed on. For example, on my M18X I have installed my 512GB drive to my 0 Port on the machine. I had to Add a "Port0" folder to my Parameters and you need to add the following to that folder to fix it.

1. Right Click on "Parameters" and highlight "New" and select "Key".
2. You will need to name the folder "Port#" and the number sign will be replaced by the Port that your M4 is plugged into. (I'm going to assume it is Port0 for example purposes)
3. Now that you have created the folder named "Port0" you need to add the Dword commands. Highlight Port0 and right click, highlight new, and click on DWORD 32 Bit.
3a. name the first DWORD entry and type "LPM" without the quotes.
3b. do Step 3 again, name the new entry "DIPM" again no quotes.
3c. do Step 3 again, name the last entry "LPMDSTATE" no quotes
4. Leave all of these entries as the default sum of "0" and do not change the values.
5. Make sure you exit out of RegEdit.exe and restart your system.

If you do the above steps fully you will not encounter the freezing and stuttering problems that others have encountered with the drive. This is not something that Crucial did, it is simply a problem that is buried in the Intel RST drivers.

Maybe I can get a MOD to add this to the original post so others dont have to look far for it

 

Or better yet, write a program that does all of that for you!

Mr. Mysterious

 

I did not change any values. I only ran the 5 line .reg file.

I don't understand why you are saying this. Mr. Mysterious just said the 5 line text file was successful.

This fix seems much more easy:
Just copy paste the following in a text file renamed with .reg extension and execute it :

 

I hope this link works:
Solution: C300 Disk Freeze-ups in Windows 7 solved... - Crucial Community

This tutorial worked for everybody with M4 on Windows 7

Phil, there you can see also how to enable LPM

 

Thanks. Maynard told me I can just manually delete the Port 0 folder to enable LPM.

 

I have a question about the M4 drive. Reviews show that garbage collection handling in the M4 is not that great, it kicks in very late and this hurts the performance of the drive as it fills up. Do you think this is true concern for the drive? This seems to stem from the fact that the M4 has more usable space and hence does not have enough room for bookkeeping functions in the drive whereas the Intel drive leave some room for this and hence are 120 gb as opposed to 128 on the M4.
What do you guys think?

 

As far as I know it is only a concern when you fill the drive over 90%.

In my testing I didn't see any performance degradation even after writing 100GB in a short time frame, much unlike the Vertex 3.

 

Are there any disadvantages of doing the LPM fix? like will it have any effect on processor and such? I understand that LPM controls power management to SATA interface, but just asking to make sure it does not affect anything else adversely. Do you suggest waiting for any official word from crucial itself?

Thanks a lot

 

Disabling LPM will result in the link between the controller on the motherboard and the SSD to always draw power. Usually the LPM is on, meaning the link shuts itself off with no or low activity to save power. The reason why the drives "freezes" is because there is something wrong with the LPM function where the drive cannot reestablish communication with the host. The motherboard does a hard reset, and the freeze goes away. Until the next time the same thing happens.

This "fix" should result in more power consumption. How much I don`t know.

 

I tested it. I couldn't find any significant effect.

 

Thanks for this clarification.

I think the amount of power consumed due to LPM being disabled is dependent on the drive draw specs. On m4 one can try and guesstimate it from the Storagereview measurements:

Crucial m4 SSD Review (256GB) | StorageReview.com

I'm assuming 0.6W at idle and much less when LPM like it should.

 

This PDF describes LPM in great detail:
http://www.intel.com/technology/mobility/powermanagement/Designing_energy_efficient_SATA_devices.pdf

And given the fact that this has been an issue since version 10 of RST and the solution is marked as "Solved" on Crucial's own forums. This is probably as close to an "official word" as you are going to get. Not only that, but it's also an issue with the C300/M3 as well and didn't get fixed when going up to the C400/M4.

 

Hmmm it is strange that Crucial has not announced an official fix via firmware if this issue has been present fir over a year. They seem to think that LPM is not necessary and their drive consumes very less power even without it. Or they really ARE working hard at fixing this issue, what do I know !

 

Maybe it's not their issue? I've seen Vertex 3 owners have benefits from disabling LPM too.

In my battery life measurement runs I did not find bad effects of disabling LPM. I will verify today.

 

You are right, it might not be their problem. Maybe its Intel's problem. But then again, with Intel being in the SSD business themselves, do you think they will update LPM to work flawlessly with competitors' drives? I think not. Then that job again falls into hands of the other manufacturers to fix this issue since Intel chips are always going to be widespread and its these drives that have to play nice with Intel. But if disabling LPM is a harmless solution then I don't see why not. It just sucks that after spending considerably to get one of these things, the customer still has to optimize and fix stuff.

Please let us know how the battery tests go. Thanks again, you do a great job helping us folks!

 

Batterylife surfing the web, 30 second page refresh.

LPM on: 348 minutes
LPM off: 330 minutes

So yes it makes a difference. ~ 5% in this case.

It's a 15" notebook set to low brightness, with about 8 watt power draw during this scenario.

PS. I don't know when the review will be online.

 

when will be review online?

 

I personally don't think an ~ 5% difference during web browsing is enough to warrant a concern over waiting for LPM and RST to get their crap together. It's not Crucial's fault, as mentioned before, so I don't expect them to do Intel's and Microsoft's jobs to fix the issue. Didn't know about the issue when I purchased my C400 ~ 2 months ago, but soon found out. Did the reg fix, and I haven't worried about it, nor have I seen any adverse effects including battery usage in day to day usage since. I even have my ssd to never turn off to let trim work as much as possible. With all that, no real noticable difference in battery life to an average multi-tasker.

 

Hi Phil.

I didn't have the will power to wait for your review on the M4, so I've just ordered one

 

Actually I think this is something that Crucial needs to figure out. Vertex 3 and Intel 510 have no freezes and they use LPM.

Yeah sounds right. Don`t think a link use that much power

 

Vertex 3 and Corsair Force 3 also have freezes.

The LPM fix worked for my Force 3. I know one V3 owner that successfully applied the LPM fix.

 

They do? Ok I thought that this was only for Crucial. LOL bet Intel designed some flaw that allowed their SSDs to work perfectly while the other brands struggles. Very sneaky

BTW, which SSD is your favourite now that you tested some?

 

Is the performance poor on the F3?

 

I was just thinking the same. Would Intel purposely not let the other vendors fix this issue perhaps? Crucial C300 has had it for a long time now.

On SATA III I prefer M4. Sandforce is unreliable, one of my Vertex 3s arrived dead. Intel charges a premium here for the 510.

Kingston V+ 100 is nice budget drive. I haven't calculatd all the averages but I think it boots slightly faster than the SATA III drives. Not the lowest power consumption though.

Not poor. But it's slower than Vertex 3 and Crucial M4 I think.

 

Ok. Yeah that M4 is very tempting. Is Kingston a reliable brand?

About that LPM issue. It is Intel that writes the firmware for the 510 although it is Marvell controller. Intel knows everything about the chipsets, so yeah, maybe they know something the competition doesn`t and writes it in the firmware. Worth some extra money imo.