Problem with M4 crucial SSD 256 gb

Yo.. so this may seem like a stupid thread, but for the sake of double checking everything I'd like to collect a couple opinions:

The Problem:
Yesterday, my computer started to act up. It would just crash nothing could save it (that I know) tried alt tab, ctrl alt del, alt f4 etc... I could move the mouse, but nothing would be clickable eventually. Only way to make a change would be to power off the computer (as described in signature).

Soooo problem mainly happened in desktop, while using skype, doing a bitdefender scan stuff like that. Also while installing Starcraft 2.
During one of the crashes intel rapid storage window poped and said device in port 1 (C drive, aka M4 crucial) was disconnected... lost all my icons on desktop save for computer and recycle bin (all softwares are on C drive, D drive really is for data). tried double clicking my computer icon, C drive was not shown (How was windows running ?!?!?!) then crash, need to power off...

Another one. Was skyping a friend... then skype window just froze.. icons all there... but then screen goes black eventually, I can still move the mouse around but nothing clickable. The funny thing was, I was still talking fine on skype while this was happening until I decided the only thing left to do was to power off (same day as previous crash)

Then I went to go bitdefender... crashed during system scan. restart, then the test proceeded normally no virus found. (so random crash times nothing is for certain)

What I've Tried:

So just to be safe I reinstalled windows 7 pro... I formatted the disk during installation. (Important to note here that I have bought this SSD seperately and I have my own windows 7 pro DVDs for install. there is NO RECOVERY PARTITION)
-Win7 Install went fine.
-Drivers install went fine.
-I get blue screens while windows is downloading/installing updates. Yes windows update would update itself first. Yes I tried to go repair windows update to be sure.
-I changed the port that the C drive was in to go instead of D drive(port 1 to port zero. It's a m17x thing). Left the D drive out of the computer. Proceeded for fresh install again, computer gets blue screens during windows update (Screen flickers while windows update is active yet all drivers are up to date prior windows update... so it's not installing graphics drivers)

It's like the SSD randomly disconnects

So what now?!:

I took all the hard drives out and put the factory HDD back in for now. back in original SSD port to make sure the ports aren't at fault here.
-Launched windows update (never used it, so it was almost a clean win install case here xD)
-Successfully scanned the computer and D drive (d drive connected externally not internally) for virus with same antivirus.
-Successfully installed 2 very large games.

==> so far computer is performing admirably (well... it feels like a snail -_- .... I m used to sata III speeds here !! Not out of the box non-optmized HDD laptop windows xD!!!)


My question to you guys:

-Well it does seem like the SSD broke right ??
-What are the symptoms of a malfunctioning SSD ?
-Can it be a very persistant virus? (really wouldn't think virus survive formating xD but I'm no expert)

Came to this forum for help in the past, and it always paid off hopefully you guys will enlighten me xD!!

PS: Oh and happy new year guys !!!

 

Happy New Year to you too!

My first question would be if you have the latest Firmware for your M4?

See:
Crucial.com Product Downloads - Firmware Updates


Make sure you choose the appropriate Firmware for the model of SSD you have.


Good luck.

 

That exactly is happening to me too and started 20 days ago.
I have the latest firmware.

 

I highly doubt any viruses would survive the format. The only ways to do so would be if the Virus has infected your backups or it somehow was in your BIOS, the latter is almost unheard of on Laptops due to the infrequency of BIOS updates. Have you run Memtest? Memtest86.com - Memory Diagnostic
I know its a long shot but it could be an issue with the RAM also as the symptoms are very similar to what you have described. Just run the test for 2-3 passes.
If the RAM is good then I guess you RMA the SSD, only takes a couple of bad cells to destroy the device.

 

g47 when you say 'exactly' does that mean that you also have the M4 and M17x combo too?

If so - one or more of the latest M17x drivers are not the best drivers for use with an SSD it seems...

If not - then we need more info... I agree that a virus is not a high probability here...

 

I have an Acer 5942g.
I used exactly referring to the description of the problem.
No viruses of course.
I tried most possible solutions and no luck.
That includes rolling back in previous Acronis restore image, flashing the same firmware again, rolling back to the previous one, checkdisk, ram checks, putting ssd on an external case to see if the problem persists (it did not, no disconnections when plugging the usb) and unistalling the intel rapid (no change, there are still freezes, just the message from the software for a disconnected drive does not appear) .

@ Stampy

Do you by any chance use CCleaner?

 

Tilleroftheearth, i updated firmware once some time ago. the name of the file was: C400-0001-or-0002-to-0009-Crucial_00.iso
Not sure that'ss the latest.

I forgot to mention, this SSD worked great for a year.

@Marksman30k, I m not paying $ to do a check xD on ram, which is working with factory HDD. I guess I shoul look for free tests?

@g47 yes I use CCleaner.

Are there any tests one can do to check SSDs?

 

Check here if you have the latest:
Crucial.com Product Downloads - Firmware Updates

Is there any possibility this happened when you used CCleaner?
Because I did and nothing else changed.

 

Yeah no. wasn't using it directly before. I was just on the phone with crucial, they say after 5100hrs if you don't have the latest firmware your m4 is gonna do that pretty much every hrs till you upgrade it. so im gonna give that a shot and get back to you guys when SSD fails again, or when I am confident problem was solved

 

The 5000 h bug was fixed with FW309, anything below that will suffer from it. 309 was like 3 firmware updates ago though.

 

Yeah but when I got the SSD I tried upgrading to latest firmware, so back then it was still 0009. Which was actually the firmeware version of my SSD.
Now I stayed 1hrs and 42min with crucial tech support on the phone xD cause I m not able to install the latest firmware with the win 7 upgrade tool... he went on to explain how to make a manual one with iso file and usb flush drive... that didn't work either... then he gave me an earlier one that had the 5k hrs fix... but it all leads to a page where it just hangs... I tried leaving the computer 10 min on that page in case it just hanged and then went after some time, which it didn't...

Eventually they said they were sending me a refurbished SSD with latest firmware as the only solution, or the only thing they could do... the guy had no clue why it just wouldn't install.

We went to change the sata operation in bios too: tried AHCI and ATA...Tried each ports in the laptop with only the SSD...
Nothing worked.
Well at least they're sending me an updated one then I send old one back... So I'm glad they really try and help you out as best as they can xD!!

 

Hmm, strange, I had the Windows updater fail on me before, but never the .iso with either a disc or USB. Well since you're sneding it back, I won't offer to give you FW309, but I still have the .iso lying around on my desktop if anyone wants it for some reason.

 

I'm sending it back one I receive the new one. But they already tried giving me a previous version. Although I m definately up to try yours If you find it back that is!!!

 

Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

 

Mysteriously after a restart and almost a day now my ssd seems stable.

 

Sorry my bad, James has the right link, my one was a commervial ripoff

 

I have the Crucial 256GB m4. I hope it doesnt happen to me! Works fine for about 1 week +now.

 

I've heard some good things about firmware 000F. It's not the newest but seems to be stable for a lot of people.

 

Why did my SSD "disappear" from my system? - Crucial Community

I believe this worked for many Crucial M4 users, its a strange fix but I remember many people with similar issues like your had it solved with this.

(If you're using a firmware without 5k hr BSOD issues.)

 

If your replacement drive ever got that same issue, I'd advise you to run it through the "power cycling" instructions. Its still a good reference for now.