Which SSD is compatible with VGN-Z21WN?

I have already tried to install an OCZ Vertex but this resulted in the system hanging for around 10 seconds every few minutes. I believe this is was related to ACHI. Reading around I saw that it isn't possible to disable ACHI in the officially supported BIOS.

I didn't fancy running a custom / modified BIOS as this is a business laptop and it wouldn't be the correct thing to do for security.

I then tried to run a Kingston V Series, this ran ok (no hangs) but kept reporting a corrupted filesystem on reboot. After about two days it died completely.

Are any SSDs compatible with the latest BIOS? Was I just unlucky with the Kingston SSD and happened to have a faulty one rather than it being related to the laptop?

Things to note:

1) I usually run Windows 7 32 bit
2) I am running the latest Sony provided BIOS
3) I run Truecrypt on the whole system partition for security

In short, is there an off the shelf SSD that I can replace the 5400RPM hard drive with, that will work out the box without any custom BIOS required.

Thanks

 

No, all SSD 2.5" works very well with your Z. Your issue is not related to AHCI.
I don't know what it is though. Btw, tell us your BIOS version instead of "lastest Sony provided BIOS" because it doesn't mean much.
Have you ever tried without TtrueCrypt?

 

That's indeed two rather odd occurances. As NHT says, any 2.5' SSD should work, period.

The most frequently used SSDs here (as an aftermarket mod by us users) are the Intel X25-M. I do recall a few OCZ Vertex SSDs working in the VGN-Z as well (though can't seem to find those posts anymore). I've heard of the Kingston V variants, but have never seen anyone load their VGN-Z with one.

That said, yes, I think you may have been unfortunate enough to come across 2x faulty SSDs in a row. It all comes down to where you buy them from. For SSDs (or anything that holds data long-term mind you), I'd strongly discourage eBay.

Though if that's your only choice, make sure that the seller is a TOP-RATED rank, and confirm with the fellow that the part is FACTORY sealed / brand new. And on your own of course, make sure the part is compatible. Though the latter has already been ticked for you in this case.

And I also ditto NHT; tried running WITHOUT TrueCrypt? If it is a business machine, then maybe try investing in W7 Ultimate with BitLocker? You could use that with the TPM chip for the security. Though that's assuming TrueCrypt is not required by your workplace.

 

They were both bought from a big name UK retailer. The OCZ is working fine in another laptop, just wouldn't work with the Z Series. I Googled the issue and at the time it looked like other people were complaining about the same issue, and in the end I found this:

http://www.ocztechnology.com/res_old/images/Configuring-and-Setting-Up-SSDs.pdf

In particular:

AHCI
AHCI is not official supported on OCZ SSDs and may under some circumstances affect performance,
specifically during windows installation. Enabling AHCI can result in higher performance in synthetic
benchmarks for SSDs and HDDs alike, but can cause hang-ups and intermittent freezes in SSDs since it
allows multiple access requests to compete for a drive that is not made to address re-ordering of
commands in the queue. We recommend AHCI is set to disabled in both Windows and in the BIOS.
Native Command Queuing greatly increases the performance of standard rotational drives but it has no
bearing on SSDs.

From what I understand AHCI is enabled on the Sony BIOS (I am running R2170M3 from the UK Sony Support website) with no way to disable it.

My Z21 is about 18 months old now if that makes any difference.

Thanks

 

Can I bump this please, I am about to buy a new SSD but want to make sure what I buy is compatible.

Are there any other Z21 owners running an SSD, if so, which make / model?

Did you have to do anything special with the BIOS to get it working.

Did you do a fresh windows install?

Thanks

 

I own a Z31WN (which is not much different to Z21), and all SSD work well in my Z: Intel X25-M, Crucial C300, Vertex 2, Samsung ...
I don't do anything special with the BIOS to get it working. I just update the BIOS to R5031M3 to have the slic 2.1.
I did a fresh Windows installation on every SSD