MyDigitalSSD mSATA SSD 64GB Very Bad Performance - Update: FIXED w/ FW 030

You want to buy my 128GB MyDigitalSSD? It is still in route from Amazon.com. Brand new and upopened.

I went with the Samsung 128GB mSATA SSD instead. Was cheaper too.

 

I think I stumbled across something that has helped with performance of my MyDigitalSS mSATA SSD 64GB. I ran a number of CrystalDiskMark tests and had awful performance. I could see stuttering where my x220 hung during writes. Here is a before example. About as good as my trusty 5400 RPM notebook drive on reads.



I then set AHCI power management from HIPM to HIPM+DIPM. Here is a link to instructions: AHCI Link Power Management - Enable HIPM and DIPM - Windows 7 Forums. The reg entry just changes one value. Another link is here: TIP: how to enable DIPM for SSDs on Windows 7 - ABXZone Computer Forums.

Here is my after performance. Much better and no more stuttering. I am on firmware 17.



hope this works for others.

 

Mike that is very promising info can some others give it a try and see what happens. We will also try to reproduce the slow down with this fix in place.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Changed nothing for me - Still takes me 5 minutes to even post this or start up programs on my E520. Only on FW15 though, was waiting for others to update if its better before I can be bothered updating it

My speeds with the above fix... Not sure what the problem can be on my end. Using Intel drivers, only 67% full, AHCI enabled
Props to MydigitalSSD for actually replying and trying to fix the problem though - Just I expect it to work out of the box :\
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 x64 (C) 2007-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
* MB/s = 1,000,000 byte/s [SATA/300 = 300,000,000 byte/s]

Sequential Read : 105.703 MB/s
Sequential Write : 44.863 MB/s
Random Read 512KB : 106.286 MB/s
Random Write 512KB : 3.251 MB/s
Random Read 4KB (QD=1) : 0.980 MB/s [ 239.3 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=1) : 0.282 MB/s [ 68.9 IOPS]
Random Read 4KB (QD=32) : 0.064 MB/s [ 15.5 IOPS]
Random Write 4KB (QD=32) : 0.086 MB/s [ 20.9 IOPS]

Test : 1000 MB [C: 67.0% (39.9/59.6 GB)] (x5)
Date : 2012/04/14 13:26:16
OS : Windows 7 SP1 [6.1 Build 7601] (x64)

 

Ok so I have some good news and bad news.

Bad news Phison does not plan to fix the problem with this controller until after the SATA III controller FW is finished and that may take up to 3 months.

Good news is the 64GB with 24nm flash and the Phison S7 controller rocks (benchmarks are nearly identical to MikeinOH). I will update everyone when we start shipping them (2weeks ish). They will be the same price so if anyone wants to do an even trade out of their current unit then it should not be an issue with any of our resellers.

MyDigitalSSD

 

sent this pos back and got a intel 310 today.



now im happy. cut my boot times in half and everything is lightning fast. performs just like a ssd should. good job intel.

still have a little tweaking to do. can still probably improve speeds a little. i suggest to any one reading this. spend a little extra money. its worth it.

 

s mooj, congrats on your upgrade. The problem with your 64GB MyDigitalSSD item was the controller firmware (FW) not playing nice with the new 24nm flash. Once that is fixed the product will be fine.

Like I said in the previous post we will be shipping another solution that has a different controller and FW that does play nice with the Toshiba 24nm flash at the same great price very soon.

Sorry about your poor experience with the product.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Don't forget to keep us informed

 

FYI for anyone that absolutely needs a 60GB mSATA at this time I just got done testing the A-Data 60GB XM13 and holy cow it is by far the fastest and best 60GB on the market right now. It has Synch/DDR2 flash on board and the SF-2141 controller. Absolutely destroys the Runcore and OCZ versions that come with regular Asynch flash.

Just make sure once we have ours back in stock and up to par you buy ours : )

MyDigitalSSD

 

I literally just bought this 64gb today and then saw this thread. Is it right to assume that I bought one from the bad batch? Unfortunately, they already shipped. When do the version with the new controllers come out?

 

In a few month. That's not really acceptable, but we have no other choice than waiting for phison.

 

*

Hope they will not forget about our drives.

 

Thanks for the advice on the XM13, I am a happy customer!



Uploaded with ImageShack.us

 

I won't let it go like that.

The topic is not about how quick are your new disk, but how mad the drive with phison sata 2 firmware are crawling.

I am not happy with a silly firmware. And I won't let that thread end on a good note unless fully satisfied with a correct firmware.

 

Lol , i am with you !

 

Gull, Phison told us that they will fix this FW to work well with the 24nm flash within the next 2 months. I know you don't have a MyDigitalSSD product but I understand your frustration and I assure you that we are definitely not letting it go.

MyDigitalDiscount

 

Thanks for the answer. It's somewhat pleasant to see that you keep looking and posting in the thread.

Can't wait to test that new firmware thought ^^

 

A friend with a Lenovo W520 and MyDigitalSSD mSATA 64GB is reporting the same problem.

I looked over the laptop today and it is sloowwwwww. Opening anything takes a while.

On a good note my MyDigitalSSD 128GB mSATA is working perfect. (also in a W520)

 

mSATA SSD | Solid State Drives | MyDigitalSSD.com
MyDigitalSSD 512GB 2.5 Inch BP3 Bullet Proof 3 SATA 6G SSD | My Digital Discount

I see that the new BP3 with Phison s8 controller is almost out and taking preorders.
Does this mean that Phison finished the SATA 3 controller firmware we were waiting for them to look onto our troubled drive ?

And also i am wondering if it could be possible to get a rma trade with one of our bugged S5 SSD with one of the new with s8 when available.

 

Owner of 64gb, purchased September 2011, and pretty happy with it all the time i had it. Have not had FW update since fw12 came out, so yesterday updated to fw17.
1st attachment is with only wifi installed, and kaspersky, skype, etc.
2nd one is with drivers installed that i think i only need, like intel srt, and 8-10 others. pretty decent speeds. boot time according lenovo boot manager ~29 sec.

 

I too have a 1.8" 64 gb Bulletproof MyDigitalSSD which has poor performance. Seems to freeze the computer all the time.

Hope it is really curable with a firmware change.

 

Any updates on this drive, it is unusable the way it is, I think I should have spent the extra money on the Intel.

 

MYDigitalSSD now has SATA III mSATA SSDs

MyDigitalSSD Releases BP3 and Smart mSATA SSDs - High Performance Low Price and Both SATA 3 - The SSD Review

 

So, where is the new firmware for sata2 ? MyDigitalSSD, any news from phison ?

 

Still no word on a new S7 FW as they are still working on the IOPS FW for the S8 (BP3). They said they would not be working on the S7 FW until after that is done.

Anyone that got their 64GB MyDigitalSSD after the new year when we changed over to 24nm flash who is also having major performance issues may opt to return them or exchange them for a BP3 if you want. If you are not experiencing any issues then I do not suggest changing as the BP3 64GB is no faster for running your OS than a normally operating BP.

Everyone buying Phison controlled SSD should buy ours because we have proven we support you guys. Others have not addressed this problem you guys are having or given out one FW upgrade.

MyDigitalSSD

What AHCI driver are you using?

 

Hi mydigitalssd, I am interested in getting one of the following product "MyDigitalSSD 64GB Smart Series SATA III (6G) SandForce mSATA SSD - MDMS-SFIII-064". But before I make a purchase, I was wondering is this SSD plague by the problems that have been mentioned in this thread.

 

We sold thousands of these original 64GB Drives and although this thread looks like a huge # of people having this problem it isn't as bad as it looks considering how many were sold.

We are unsure if this problem will occur or not as we do not have enough data from end users. What I do know is we have shipped around 30pcs of the 64GB BP3 without a peep from anyone.

MyDigitalSSD

 

Unfortunately these drives are very unreliable. I was a happy customer since I bought it and have noticed better performance with each firmware update. I relize now it has been working good because I wasn't using my laptop more than 1hr a day. Now that I'm unemployed I use it much more and subsequently I am also receiving very poor performance.. As of yesterday my laptop has become completely unstable and freezes when I try to just load a simple website. If I try running a program and surfing it freezes up to a halt. I am about to take out the msata and run my OS on my internal 7200rpm hdd that came with my notebook because this is getting ridiculous. I have tried to stay positive and wait for the next firmware but don't think this drive will ever be reliable. The only positive is there is a representative presence on this forum that shows commitment. I would only recommend spending the extra bucks and get the 128gb drive because it doesn't suffer from these issues.

MyDigitalSSD Do you refund defective chips? How about trade-in or credit for this? I really just want the msata out of my laptop and go back to stock.

 

J we could swap yours for a BP3 and see if that fix's the issue you are having. Just give the reseller you bought yours from a call and set it up. Let us know if it works.

I really wish we could figure out what all of your computers have in common that is causing these extreme slowdowns.

MyDigitalSSD

 

I have a lenovo y470 i7 2630qm 8gb ram, the weakest link is this..

 

Well... This is utter BS! This company phison pushes out more cr@p and leaves us S5 owners high and dry waiting for a firmware update! It would be more reputable and responsible for both MydigitalSSD and phison to address the current customer base! My tablet litterally dies every month and requires this drive to be wiped and reinstalled! I wouldn't mind replacing it but my tablet literally has to be "cracked" opened to access the drive. So unless MydigitalSSD is going to provide a new case, I'm stuck and screwed. The star rating on amazon is going down again until this is fixed

 

I just wanted to share my experiences here, i am using a VERBATIM Black EDITION 120GB which is the same like the MyDigitalSSD mSATA SSD 64GB / MyDigitalSSD mSATA SSD 120GB.

There seems to be a driver problem. This driver works like a charm (no freezes, ok speed): iata_enu_10.8.0.1003.exe (using the filename here, not the version because it makes it easier for you to find it with google).

But unfortunatly the driver gets updated to a newer version whenever Windows (7 Pro in my case) updates.

I found no better solution than just reinstalling this driver everytime Windows updates, but i guess you could just disable the driver update for a specific device.

I am using the lates firmware from April 3th (S5FAM017_FW.zip).

 

The 10.8.0.1003 is an older version of Intel's RST.

If you prefer to keep 10.8.0.1003 from being updated change the way you allow Windows to update from Automatic to Download and Let Me Choose.

Then if the RST update is in the downloaded but not installed updates right click on it and choose Hide.

I never allow Automatic windows Updates.

In Control Panel>Program and Features you can see which version is currently installed.

 

If you read all 14 pages it seems this issue affects the 64gb with the s5 controller. Their 128gb and 64gb with BP3(s7?) and new s8(?) seems to be stable with good performance. As is the sanforce product.

 

"it seems this issue affects the 64gb with the s5 controller. "

Wrong.

The 120GB with S5 controller suffers the same problem.

I just opened my own 120GB and it's the same product as MyDigitalSSD one, except the black plastic cover.

We're not shouting after MyDigitalSSD. We're just using the only entry point we have for updating these fscking S5 series firmware.

I would gracefully validate any new S5 > 17 firmware they would give.

 

I think i wasnt clear enough, with the above mentioned driver, the ssd runs stable, which i asume is true for all s5 controller devices, you might want to try it.

 

I personally can't deny or confirm. But this thread is all about the 64gb. I didn't see any complaints for the 128gb except for your post #80. According to posts 52, 66, 68, 71, 79, 82, 86, 118 and 128 the MyDigitalSSD 128GB is supposedly stable and being recommended by MyDigitalSSD and a couple of others over the 64GB. Of course they are not offering it at the same price so they make more $$ recommending it.

My installation of windows has that version. I wasn't running the windows update. I have a "preinstalled" version from the software vendor and get the updates from them.

 

The preinstalled one from Windows caused freezing for me, was the same as the one i posted above.

 

I've just downgraded to iata_enu_10.8.0.1003.exe.

i'm testing a 650 MB zip to extract, that was running at 1.7 MB/s before ....

Yeah it's running slightly better now, near the double ( around 3 MB/s).

Still too much queuing on the drive thought.

 

Yes i noticed that too, the speed is not overwhelming but i dont suffer any freezes anymore. I can use that piece of c... now at least at hdd speed.
This was the last time i saved a couple of bucks.

@MyDigitalSSD: dont get me wrong, its not your fault (or Verbatims in my case). But how could Phison release this piece of bricked hardware without proper testing, i dont get it.

 

What dakdroid said. I second and thanks MyDigitalSSD for the few updates we couldn't even have with Verbatim.

 

Keep your eye on it. Not sure how heavily used your drive/computer is. Mine is downloading weather and charts daily! Updating about 15-20gb/day. Total free space was always just a little over 30gb as the data was updating and replacing.
After about a week or two the tablet became VERY slugish and files starting taking longer and longer to update. After about a month the whole system would come to a halt. The daily update that took a couple of hours took days IF it completed. I was usually re-installing after 4-6 weeks.

 

The S5FAM017 is still utter crap. I agree that too.

For not keeping reinstalling I just keep it's usage at half the full size ...

Everything that can make that drive a little more usable is welcome.

 

I took the plunge this weekend and "broke" the case again on my Acer to remove this junk. I called MyDigitalSSD monday and they are suppose to be cross shipping me a replacement. Spoke with Dorothy, very nice customer service person. We discussed replacing with a sanforce. I'm not wild about this phison products of any kind right now and don't want to financially support their business. It's the least the can do with all this aggrevation! I hope my tablet still works after all this as two more tabs broke. And if the back cover isn't installed tight enough to make contact it doesn't work!

Hmmm... Interesting about "half the full size". Logistically the 64GB gives me formated about 59GB. Free space is at 30gb, close but still more then half. BUT during the updates with the temp and everything it does drop to about 27-28GB. I can't control that as it's part of the software.

 

The SSD effected by this in my opinion is only the S5 with 24nm flash. 32GB 64GB or 128GB. We only built the 64GB S5 product with 24NM flash while other vendors like Verbatim shipped 128GB with 24nm flash and the S5 and that is why Gull has joined this party.

I am just starting to read what you guys have been talking about with the drivers.

MyDigitalSSD

IDK but again like I have said before the participants in this thread are a very small minority of owners of this particular drive configuration so it would be very hard for them to test for this issue. I put another word into Phison lets see what they have to say.

Also the new S8 FW may be ready soon. Very Soon. So maybe they will get a minute to look at these issues you guys are having.

MyDigitalSSD

 

MyDigitalSSD,can you tell me the NAND maker and memory specifics on the new Smart series.

I can't find this info on the net and I don't buy without without knowing it.

 

Id gladly send them my whole hardware to test it, if i get a replacement beforehand...

 

Great news guys, they gave me an eta of 3rd week in July for the new S5 FW.

They have recognized your issues and are addressing them in the FW revision.

Fingers crossed this will help all of you guys.

MyDigitalSSD

It is Toshiba Original 24nm. Highest grade MLC flash available anywhere except for toggle but pricing is much higher for that.

FYI, we use toggle flash on our 32GB Super Cache mSATA Drive.

Hope that helps you out.

MyDigitalSSD

 

On the Bulletproof 3(Right) it's clearly shown as Toshiba NAND but on the SMART(Left) it's not shown as Toshiba.

 

Well campers, MyDigitalSsd screwed the pooch again. The replacement was suppose to be cross shipped with payment to save time and arrive in two or three days this past week. After three days I emailed Dorothy and apparently she forgot and processed the order which shows to have shipped this past Thursday. I just left for the holiday week so the replacement will be sitting in my mailbox in the Texas summer weather for the week. I post back when I return and let you know if and what I got.

Beginning to wish I just paid a little extra up front for and intel or other name brand instead of the extra costs and hassles now