Guide On ExpressCache: "I Want My ExpressCache Back!" Edition

We have a forum devoted to SSDs. There's no need to post here about general SSD issues but read carefully what is there before posting anything - there are some people who think they know everything there is to know about SSDs.

One bit of SSD wisdom which I follow is to leave at least 10% unpartitioned. This unallocated space is thought to give the SSD firmware move space for wear levelling and garbage management and hence reduce any possible slow down.

John

 

Ah thanks John, I see a lot on SSD in that link you posted.
My main question was using ram disk on a SSD like that link I supplied in post #453.
BTW, you and I have been on this forum for 10 years now...

 

Going off topic here : It will soon be 11 years in my case. I started in the Asus forum with an argument with an Asus reseller(ProPortable) about the weight of the W3A notebook I had just bought and proved to be somewhat heavier than the specs indicated. Since then every new notebook got put on the scales as a matter of course. Samsung actually bucked the trend by being honest about the weight.

John

 

Cool... 10 years in April for me. I'm a veteran here.

 

Hi! Does anybody find a solution for dead iSSD that slows down BIOS checks on startup? Samsung 530U3C

 

Hi toxsedyshev, welcome to NBR.

As described in my response in the other thread where you posted (two posts above yours) there is unfortunately no solution to this -- at least not to my knowledge. It is a hardware issue, and since the dead iSSD is soldered to the motherboard, the only real solution is to replace the motherboard.

If the iSSD shows up in Device Manager (even if not in Disk Management) you may be able to speed up Windows loading by disabling it there. You should definitely do that.

 

OK, when I look at the "This PC" Doc, it only shows one Hard drive, but no issd?
When I check in device manager, it shows:
SanDisk SSDi100 24GB
and say "This device is working properly".
But when I click on the "Events" tab, it says:
5/23/2016 9:47:57 PM
Device SCSI\Disk&Ven_ATA&Prod_SanDisk_SSD_i100\4&fd11464&0&010000 was migrated.

What does this all mean?

 

Hi Jack, sorry it took awhile to respond to this.

The iSSD will only show up in This PC if it has a Windows compatible partition (typically NTFS or FAT32) and has been mounted in Windows Disk Management. That will assign a drive letter, at which point it shows up in This PC and elsewhere.

When used as ExpressCache, the iSSD will NOT show up in This PC. That's perfectly normal.

Assuming it is working correctly, the iSSD will always show up in Device Manager (as you found). You generally want to just leave it alone in there, except in cases when you specifically want to disable Windows' access to the iSSD (as in @toxsedyshev's situation described above) or if you're using it as a regular Windows drive.

 

OK, that answered my question. It is working. How can I test it to see if in fact it is working. Or just the fact is shows up in Device Manager and says "This Device is working properly" is all there is to go by? It seems my last laptop just like this one was faster...

 

When I wrote "assuming it is working correctly" I meant the physical iSSD, regardless of whether it's used for ExpressCache or as a regular drive.

The way to verify that ExpressCache is working is using the "ECCmd -INFO" command as described in this post earlier in the thread (also quoted in the OP). There is also some discussion about it in the more recent thread linked below:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...the-ssd-of-samsung-series-5-ultrabook.787662/

 

Can someone share the "EC.LMF" file from samsung expresscache. I formatted my notebook and forgot to backup it.

Thanks.

 

What do you need it for? Isn't it working just installing the EC software?

 

Unzip the attached. This is what I am using on my NP700Z5A-S0AUS running Windows 10.

 

Hey Hohum, saw a past post of yours asking for a battery compatible with your m17x r2. I am also looking for one and never got to see the answer since you resolved the issue in messages as opposed to the thread. Did you end up getting a working battery?

 

Hello,
I have just formated NP530U3C with clean Windows 10 1607 and install ExpressCache from SWupdate for Windows 8. I checked if it works and cmd line show me active Cache, but in Task Menager all the time I see 0% of using disk 1 (it's SSD drive), and what worst disk ) all time is 100% and PC works very slow. Here is screenshot:


Anyone know what's wrong?

 

Hi SkuterPL,

I am still on Win8.1 and haven't yet tried to get ExpressCache working on Win10. But based on reports from several other users here, my understanding is that current ExpressCache versions from SW Update are not compatible with Win10.

The solution is to find a newer ExpressCache version released by Lenovo which IS compatible with Win10. The version I've seen mentioned is 1.3.110, which you can locate with Google.

After installing it, you need to replace the EC.LMF file in the ExpressCache folder with the EC.LMF file from your Samsung provided ExpressCache. That file contains your license to run ExpressCache on your Samsung laptop.

So, to sum it up:

1) Backup the EC.LMF file from your current ExpressCache installation (assuming you got it from Samsung).

2) Uninstall ExpressCache completely and Restart Windows.

3) Install ExpressCache version 1.3.110 (or newer).

4) Restore your backed up EC.LMF file to enable this new version with your Samsung license.

5) Restart Windows.

Again, this is based on reports from others, I have not yet tried it myself. If samsung bothered to update SW Update for older laptops it sold (like Lenovo has done) this hassle would not be necessary.

Please let us know how this works for you.

 

I found newer version that you said, it's 1.3.2, do you think that is better than you version?

 

It's probably better - try it and see if it works. If not, use the older version.

John

 

I installed 1.3.110 , because 1.3.2 I coudn't install, because I got notification that instalation cound't find device, but generally even this older version fix my problem

Thanks for that.

 

Hi,

I have a NP700Z5AH running Windows 7, and I have recently decided to switch the 7200rpm HDD to a Samsung 500gb 850 Evo SSD. My laptop model comes with 8gb ExpressCache iSSD which I want to disable now that I will be installing an SSD.

Is it sufficient enough to simply reset and disable ExpressCache in easy settings, or should I format the iSSD using "eccmd -format" in command prompt and fully uninstall any ExpressCache software/drivers?

Thanks for your help!

 

Hi stuntman26, welcome to NBR!

You are right that you shouldn't continue using ExpressCache after replacing your HDD with an SSD. It will only show down your SSD and add unnecessary wear.

Just uninstall the ExpressCache software in Windows Programs and Features, then reboot. After that, the iSSD will be just another drive which you can initialize and format in Windows Disk Management. Or you can leave it alone to avoid wear on it.

 

Perfect. Thanks for the quick reply, Dannemand!