Resolved - Hardware? Software?

[Branem 1st MRB]

Don't know what to tell you guys, I installed a Intel SSD Hard drive last weekend, and now my computer freezes

from time to time. I don't know how to search for errors, so I don't know what more to tell you..

Its been fine before I installed the hard drive. Now it usually crashes when I play DoDs for some reason, but my computer

should have no problem with this game. Didn't before anyway..

Got any idea of what I should do to figure out what the problem might be?

Thank you.

[Cutts]

Hmm...

I cannot be certain but it may well be because of the SSD controller inside the drive.

There are a variety of controllers out there, and some of the "Sandforce" models have

had firmware issues which can make them a bit unstable.

If you know how, I would advise upgrading the firmware on the drive. This can be a bit

fiddly, but should be as simple as following some instructions. If you're not confident with

doing it, find a friendly tech wizard to do it for you.

I have a similar issue - just after boot my PC pauses for about a minute, then continues.

Every now and then it might do it again (indeed, during a game) which doesn't normally

crash the game exactly, but does usually make me time-out and disconnect from any

server.

I haven't actually bothered fixing mine yet (because I have discovered that my mainboard

doesn't support the technology required to flash the firmware on the drive, and also the

OCZ one I have is a bit of a bitch, even though it has really high performance).

Let us know what model of Intel drive you have, and maybe we can find some more specific

information about any issues it has.

[Branem 1st MRB]

Thank you.

I have this hard drive.

[Cutts]

OK, looking at the specs of that it does seem to have a Sandforce based controller,

so it is possible your problem could be solved with a firmware upgrade.

Looking at Intels website, I found this

I *think* this tool will get the latest firmware and install it for you, but I haven't ever used it so I cannot be sure.

Again, it should be relatively straight forward, but be careful so you don't accidentally brick the drive.

Best of luck, and let us know if you have any problems.

[Branem 1st MRB]

Hello again!

So it seems that the Toolbox I installed upon installing the hard drive is the latest version..

No firmware update for me in other words..

[Cutts]

Well fuck, I had really hoped new firmware might solve it.

It seems this is a common problem with Intel SSD 330s, but there is no general consensus on how to solve it.

Transfered System:

Question.... did you:

1) install the SSD as your primary system drive, and do a complete re-install?

2) install the SSD as a secondary drive to an existing installed system?

3) install the SSD as your primary system drive, and transfer your existing windows installation from your HDD to it?

If you did 1, then ignore this section.

If you did 2, and ESPECIALLY if you did 3, you might have to try re-installing everything from scratch.

SSDs, and in particular these 330 models from Intel, can apparently have these freezing issues when added

to an existing machine. Some people with such issues have tried a full clean re-install and found their issues

have gone away.

I'm really sorry for suggesting this though, as its a massive pain in the ass, and I can't be sure that it will

make a difference. I'm just throwing it out there, as a possible fix.

AHCI:

One possibility is a technology called AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) which is a reasonably new thing

invented by Intel to make storage discs work a little bit faster, but in a non-standard way. For it to work properly,

you have to have a motherboard, an SSD, and an operating system that all support it, and Jupiter must be in

alignment with Saturn. If it doesn't work properly, you're liable to get freezes.

If you go into your BIOS settings, you might be able to disable AHCI somehow:

My guess is it can either just toggle it from enabled to disabled in some BIOS menu somewhere, possibly within

an SATA-controller menu.

OR

You might have to specify that your controller operates in some sort of mode. Common modes are:

PATA / Legacy mode (AHCI will be disabled),

Standard AHCI (AHCI will be enabled),

RAID (AHCI may be enabled, but you probably don't want this mode)

I'd try the AHCI thing first - if only because it should take only a few minutes, compared to the hours of reinstalling.

[Branem 1st MRB]

AHCI:

One possibility is a technology called AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface) which is a reasonably new thing

invented by Intel to make storage discs work a little bit faster, but in a non-standard way. For it to work properly,

you have to have a motherboard, an SSD, and an operating system that all support it, and Jupiter must be in

alignment with Saturn. If it doesn't work properly, you're liable to get freezes.

If you go into your BIOS settings, you might be able to disable AHCI somehow:

My guess is it can either just toggle it from enabled to disabled in some BIOS menu somewhere, possibly within

an SATA-controller menu.

So after checking my BIOS it looks like the AHCI is in fact disabled.. I enabled it and my computer wouldn't boot, it

started going in circles, barely starting windows before flashing a blue screen and starting over ..

When I chose the option that included disabling AHCI it all of a sudden booted from my old hard drive (No I have not

deleted my old windows yet), so I had to manually tell it to boot from the SSD.

Now I must say I'm scared to go near this damn thing on my own again, I will probably fuck something up if I keep

pressing things

[Cutts]

So AHCI is already disabled, and you did a clean install already. Hmm...

It seems like Intel have had a lot of complaints from customers about their SSDs, in particular the 330s.

As far as I can tell, they're actually pretty good drives when they work properly, but unfortunately these

freezing issues are quite common.

If none of this advice has helped, the best advice remaining (I think) is to see if your SSD vendor is prepared

to exchange the drive for similar from another manufacturer... a massive pain in the ass I know, but I don't

have any other ideas, I'm afraid... I throw the question open to anyone else who might have the knowledge.

I can't really make any recommendations on other stable SSDs though, as the only one I've ever had is

a total fucker that I still haven't managed to fix myself (or bothered to replace yet).

Really sorry I haven't been more help than this.

[Branem 1st MRB]

So AHCI is already disabled, and you did a clean install already. Hmm...

It seems like Intel have had a lot of complaints from customers about their SSDs, in particular the 330s.

As far as I can tell, they're actually pretty good drives when they work properly, but unfortunately these

freezing issues are quite common.

If none of this advice has helped, the best advice remaining (I think) is to see if your SSD vendor is prepared

to exchange the drive for similar from another manufacturer... a massive pain in the ass I know, but I don't

have any other ideas, I'm afraid... I throw the question open to anyone else who might have the knowledge.

I can't really make any recommendations on other stable SSDs though, as the only one I've ever had is

a total fucker that I still haven't managed to fix myself (or bothered to replace yet).

Really sorry I haven't been more help than this.

Thank you anyway Cutts. I have been running my computer this evening without it freezing, so who knows what this is..

I will have a friend over to look at it, and to see if it might in fact be a heat issue (?). That's what he said anyway, I have

no clue..

Again, thank you for your feedback!

[Holland 1st MRB]

What did your friend have to say? Is there any further assistance required with this ticket?

[Branem 1st MRB]

I think you can just close this topic, not much more you can do to help, but I do appreciate you guys taking the time to look in to it.

The freezing does not happen as much as it did, but I have not done anything, so I have no idea why it's been better..

I haven't checked if it is a heat issue yet.

[Murbley]

If you still get freezes, try physically removing the drive from the computer and starting it up again. It's always good to just double check and make sure this problem is contained to the drive itself. Remove all the firmware or software, turn off your computer, then remove it and restart.

[Branem 1st MRB]

If you still get freezes, try physically removing the drive from the computer and starting it up again. It's always good to just double check and make sure this problem is contained to the drive itself. Remove all the firmware or software, turn off your computer, then remove it and restart.

Alright. Thanks!

[Murbley]

I should have specified, you'd need to have some form of OS to boot into. It's easy enough to copy a version of Puppy Linux (puppylinux.org) and boot it from a USB drive.