Turbo Memory - Disk Cache Location: -1

Greetings to all, I hope this is in the right section.

OK...

So I drank the kool-aid and nabbed a 4gb ITM to fill that unused spot in my Dell e6400. Long story short I was looking into MSI Whitebooks and experienced purchasing stupidity with a website and as such ended up on craigslist. Poking around I came across a brand new e6400 and settled on a $360 price. I was the first person to turn it on, and I updated the bios. I promptly dropped in 4gb DDR2 800mhz (2x2gb) along with a T9550 processor (replacing the P8700), the 4gb ITM, and a 320gb 5400rpm Fujitsu. I then installed Win7 Ultimate x64 w/SP1 (RC) (ACHI, not IRRT) and followed the Dell driver order guide to the letter. All drivers used are the absolute up to date drivers. Some had to be taken from the manu websites as they were not offered from dell for 7x64.

Everything was working flawlessly.

So I start to examine the ITM Dashboard and Console, pin lots of programs. Virgo thoroughness led me to the understanding that on the 4gb ITM ReadyBoost is greyed in favor of User Pinning, ReadyDrive is optioned. Console is static on that. Notice the HDD LED is hardly lighting up. Programs are flying.

Yay.

End up doing a restart for one thing or another.

Notice that the ITM Dashboard is sitting in my Tray, appearing completely normal. Everything is fine in Device Manager, zero flags.

Clean. Happy. Penguin. Slide.

Attempt to open the ITM Dashboard to pin a newly installed program and get the message [sic] "device is not functioning or not present." Strange because everything I can see points to it working fine.

Good feelings gone.

I open the Console and see that ReadyBoost along with ReadyDrive are greyed out.

Possible driver error on the restart.

Do some searching. Uninstall drivers. Follow guide about unpacking, overwriting, re-installing.

Working again, and even everything I pinned is still there (?). I pin the aforementioned prog.

Restart. Cigarette. Crossed fingers. Greyed out.

Frustration. Explicatives.

Searching.

Find thread about "Just let it sit there for a few weeks and it will magically start chugging."

Really? YGBSM.

Frustration. Cigarette. GF now suffering overflow wrath.

Not satisfied I continue searching. Find thread about installing with the -UP flag.

Blah blah blah, working. Rejoice. Fear looming of inevitable restart.

Doom. Despair. Stockholm syndrome.

Intelligence.

I poke around the ITM Console, 2 grey option boxes looming at me, while a happy, no ! tray symbol is giving me a Simpsons style "HA HAAAAA."

And all.

Being a good, smart guy I reinstall Win7. Perhaps a driver conflict, bug, dare I say mistake, user error, cat walking across the keyboard (or GF's ankle biter terrorist) when my back was turned, divine intervention, or prank has unfolded. Perhaps sitting on a dock caused some kind of error.

Remove from dock, AC power in.

Get Win all installed (20 min from USB Flash =) and get back to basics. NSS, Chipset drivers, PCMCIA/Smartcard drivers, Matrix/ITM. Dell's perscribed order.

Working. *For now.

On the ITM Console 1.10, under View tab, open System Information:

*********************************
System

Kit Installed: 8.9.0.1023
Shell Version: 8.9.0.1023

OS Name: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
OS Version: 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1, v.721 Build 7601
System Name: LABWERKS
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: 0U695R
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9550 @ 2.66GHz
BIOS Version/Date: Dell Inc. A27, 08/19/2010

Language: ENU

Intel(R) Turbo Memory

Cache Disk Location: 0
Model Name: FUJITSU MHZ2320BH
Capacity: 298 GB

Installation Status: Present
File: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\iaNvStor.sys
Version: 1.10.0.1012
Provider: Intel Corporation

OROM Version: 1.10.0.1012
OROM Status: Success
*********************************

Restart. Fury.

Discovery.

On the ITM Console 1.10, under View tab, open System Information:

*********************************
System

Kit Installed: 8.9.0.1023
Shell Version: 8.9.0.1023

OS Name: Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
OS Version: 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1, v.721 Build 7601
System Name: LABWERKS
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: 0U695R
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T9550 @ 2.66GHz
BIOS Version/Date: Dell Inc. A27, 08/19/2010

Language: ENU

Intel(R) Turbo Memory

Cache Disk Location: -1
Model Name: None
Capacity: 0 GB

Installation Status: Present
File: C:\Windows\system32\drivers\iaNvStor.sys
Version: 1.10.0.1012
Provider: Intel Corporation

OROM Version: 1.10.0.1012
OROM Status: Success
*********************************

So now I'm here with this great find. I've never come across this in the hours of scaling the cliffs of every search imaginable on the subject. Obliviously ITM can't cache a disk that does not exist.

This has got to be some kind of a simple fix, right? A bug of some sort? The issue that seems to be the bane of the ITM existence? How has this simple observation gone overlooked?

Rocket Scientist that can't tie shoelaces?

Apologies for the verbose description, internal POST set to through.

Collective genius conspire to solve. GO.

And thanks for your time.

Hardware Etc:

Dell e6400
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1
T9550 @ 2.8 (10.5x), 1066 FSB, 6MB, 1.050 VID (Thanks ThrottleStop!)
4GB (2x2gb) DDR2 800MHz
nVidia Quadro NVS 160m (8.17.12.6099)
GPU Clock: 800MHz Mem: 595 MHz Shader: 1700 MHz
320GB 5400RPM Fujitsu HDD
Backlit Keyboard
ITM 2.0 4gb
Dell 410 Bluetooth/UWB

 

I have no clue as to how to help with your problem, but I very much enjoyed reading how you put your thoughts together.

p.s. - Edit Signature does not appear until you've done either a few posts or a private message, which requires a few posts.

 

Thanks =)

I think I found the Holy Grail, sans the Knights who formerly say Nip.

And thanks for not saying ITM is a waste of time.

To those thinking that: It's too late. It's installed and staying. You want a tissue? Crybaby!

 

ITM is the most finicky piece of hardware I have ever played with. I have one in a slightly older laptop than yours and until I thoroughly cleaned out the old drivers and installed the newest ones, it was giving me BSOD's upon waking up from sleep (why sleep? I have no idea). I eventually defeated it, but it was an epic battle. Yours seems to be even more weird: it seems to be messing up its drivers upon restart, but how? Are you sure you have the latest and greatest from Intel? They appear to be the same as what I've got installed and mine are nearly a year old.

In any case, good luck.

 

I double posted, and since only the good die young (and I'm still around) save the flames and follow my progress on this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...-intel-turbo-memory-2-0-a-10.html#post6889710

Mod, please close this thread if you so desire.

Thanks =)