Intel SSD starting to die??

C

cicatriz63

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 9, 2009
Messages
118
So i was doing some cleaning on my 80gb x-25m and deleted a whole bunch of files. After i deleted everything i went to run the Intel SSD tool and it will not run, just says it fails. Then i ran the intel diagnostics and it just says Failed and to contact my local Intel rep. I have tried 2 different sata ports and the same thing happens. The strange thing is that the drive appears to be working completely fine, the speeds are still just as fast and I don't get any errors or anything like that in event viewer or anything. The only thing i have not done is run chkdsk. Anyone have any ideas?
 
Make a backup of your SSD right now while it is readable. I recommend imaging the whole disk if you do not want to reinstall your OS.
 
I second the above recommendation, backup all your important data.

Personally i would reformat and see if that fixes it, a clean install. Also you could try Secure Erasing it, but i never was able to do it with Intel SSD Toolkit, the unplugging and replugging of the ssd always blue screen. But there are linux alternatives that work well.

Btw just a reference, intel released a new firmware when Sandy Bridge was released for the X25m, i think has something related to the sata III ports, so i would also upgrade the firmware in case you haven't, this one is really easy.
 
Abula said:
Btw just a reference, intel released a new firmware when Sandy Bridge was released for the X25m, i think has something related to the sata III ports, so i would also upgrade the firmware in case you haven't, this one is really easy.
Click to expand...

Hmmm, I have my X25-M G2 connected to the SATA3 (6Gbps) port without an issue. I didn't do the firmware update because, at this point, I didn't want to reset the "wear factors" visible in SMART (which I was told would happen) and it seemed like unnecessary risk.

I haven't noticed any issues since going Sandy Bridge, but maybe I'll have to revisit this.
 
Surly73 said:
Hmmm, I have my X25-M G2 connected to the SATA3 (6Gbps) port without an issue. I didn't do the firmware update because, at this point, I didn't want to reset the "wear factors" visible in SMART (which I was told would happen) and it seemed like unnecessary risk.

I haven't noticed any issues since going Sandy Bridge, but maybe I'll have to revisit this.
Click to expand...

I always share the thought of "if aint broken dont fix it", so if everthing is working fine for you, i would skip the update. I own 2 x25m (120gb and 160gb), i updated the 160gb because the firmware allowed trim to work under win7, and i waited a couple of months to see if there was no issues first (i bought mine pre win7 release), but the flash was really easy, took maybe 5mins, no issues at all, and i did it when i moved from vista to win7, so i already backup all my files etc. On my second drive, already came with the 02M3 firmware so i didnt do anything there. I havent updated the 160gb yet (i mean for the second time), out of still on sata II on my laptop, when i move it to sandy/ivy bridge laptop i will do the update.

Here what i manage to still find on the new firmware, link.

Intel has released a new firmware for its X18-M, X25-M and X25-V solid state drives (SSD) with 34nm NAND flash.

The new 02M3 firmware (full revision number 2CV102M3) fixes the following:
enumeration and slow-boot issues on SATA 6Gb/s controllers, and possible drive hangs when reading S.M.A.R.T. self-test log.

Improvements have also been made to:
S.M.A.R.T. attributes for more accurate reporting of drive health, and NCQ capability
Click to expand...
 
Abula said:
I always share the thought of "if aint broken dont fix it", so if everthing is working fine for you, i would skip the update. I own 2 x25m (120gb and 160gb), i updated the 160gb because the firmware allowed trim to work under win7, and i waited a couple of months to see if there was no issues first (i bought mine pre win7 release), but the flash was really easy, took maybe 5mins, no issues at all, and i did it when i moved from vista to win7, so i already backup all my files etc. On my second drive, already came with the 02M3 firmware so i didnt do anything there. I havent updated the 160gb yet (i mean for the second time), out of still on sata II on my laptop, when i move it to sandy/ivy bridge laptop i will do the update.

Here what i manage to still find on the new firmware, link.
Click to expand...

I flashed by G2 when I bought it, which was the same time I upgraded from Vista to 7. I was running the latest, until this SB-timed release was published.... TRIM etc... has been functional since day one for me. (Exact revisions elude me since I'm not at home right now). I am curious to find out if all of the wear indicators and other SMART information is definitely cleared when the SSD is reflashed like someone told me it was.
 
I didnt know there was an updated firmware, ill give that a shot first. I just find it odd that the drive otherwise appears to be working completely fine. On the bright side i was looking to upgrade the drive anyways lookin for a bigger capacity. Maybe this is a sign....Ill give the firmware a shot and possibly a reload...otherwise i guess the 320 it is
 
OK so this is really weird...when i went to check for the firmware update i noticed my ssd toolbox was out of date too...i downloaded the latest one and now everything runs perfectly fine...
 
cicatriz63 said:
OK so this is really weird...when i went to check for the firmware update i noticed my ssd toolbox was out of date too...i downloaded the latest one and now everything runs perfectly fine...
Click to expand...

Grab an image, watch and pray. If you don't see any other problems, you might want to just leave the firmware alone...
 
Well, I am more of the make sure it is working perfectly as drives tend to fail suddenly and catastrophically.

I would go ahead and do the firmware update after backing up my files. That way if there is a problem you can deal with it with the least amount of fuss. If you let it go, it will die suddenly at the least convenient time. Funny how they engineer that into computers.

Don
 
Abula said:
Btw just a reference, intel released a new firmware when Sandy Bridge was released for the X25m, i think has something related to the sata III ports, so i would also upgrade the firmware in case you haven't, this one is really easy.
Click to expand...

I just got looking into this seriously. I've been googling and reading all over and I can't find anything which states that 02M3's release for the X25-M G2 has anything to do with SB compatibility or will improve anything in any way. I did find various threads with 100 pic posts of Atto readouts and people lamenting over 0.5% changes in performance, however. The following text was found:

This firmware revision fixes enumeration and slow-boot issues on SATA 6Gb/s controllers,
Click to expand...

AFAIK, I'm not having any enumeration or slow boot issues. Some people seem to show an improvement in performance, others see no change. No one commented on whether their SMART data (like wearout indicator) was reset during the process or not.

I have a single X25-M G2 80GB connected to a P8P67Pro Intel 6Gbps port. It's in AHCI mode as a single disk running RST 10.1 under Win7 x64. "Hotswap" is enabled on all ports in UEFI. Should I upgrade from 02HD to 02M3? I usually upgrade things like this but for whatever reason I'm a little leery of my SSD.

To the OP: how did things turn out?
 
Everything still seems to be working perfectly fine. It looks like there was just a glitch in the older version of the Intel toolkit I was using. I was looking for an excuse to upgrade too!
 
My 80GB G2 is still going strong for almost 2 years, 24/7.
 
Surly73 said:
I just got looking into this seriously. I've been googling and reading all over and I can't find anything which states that 02M3's release for the X25-M G2 has anything to do with SB compatibility or will improve anything in any way. I did find various threads with 100 pic posts of Atto readouts and people lamenting over 0.5% changes in performance, however. The following text was found:



AFAIK, I'm not having any enumeration or slow boot issues. Some people seem to show an improvement in performance, others see no change. No one commented on whether their SMART data (like wearout indicator) was reset during the process or not.

I have a single X25-M G2 80GB connected to a P8P67Pro Intel 6Gbps port. It's in AHCI mode as a single disk running RST 10.1 under Win7 x64. "Hotswap" is enabled on all ports in UEFI. Should I upgrade from 02HD to 02M3? I usually upgrade things like this but for whatever reason I'm a little leery of my SSD.

To the OP: how did things turn out?
Click to expand...

Not OP but this thread reminded me that I hadn't checked for firmware updates in a while on my Intel g2. I was using 02HD and had noticed that boot times weren't quite what I expected them to be after upgrading to this sandy rig. Burned the 02M3 ISO to a cd, rebooted, set sata to IDE mode + compatibility, booted from the cd, went through a bunch of y/n prompts and let it flash. Shut down for 10 seconds, booted back into bios, set everything back to AHCI + hotplug enabled (ssd is on the sata3 ports). Cut my boot times by a few seconds and my desktop pops up before the "welcome" screen can appear, where it used to be visible for 2-3 seconds before.

That's just my experience with this update, my drive is about 2 years old with ~2.8TB written to it.

vD4Zx.png
 
That's just my experience with this update, my drive is about 2 years old with ~2.8TB written to it.
Click to expand...

You should try the Intel drivers.

They're much better than the MS drivers that you're using. ;)
 
Old Hippie said:
You should try the Intel drivers.

They're much better than the MS drivers that you're using. ;)
Click to expand...

I'll give it a whirl and report back. Just snatched a 2nd g2 from microcenter for $108, i'll run some benches in raid0 for comparison after I pick it up later tonight.
 
Just snatched a 2nd g2 from microcenter for $108, i'll run some benches in raid0 for comparison after I pick it up later tonight.
Click to expand...

I ran two 80GB G2s in RAID0 for quite awhile.

Believe me, those are great drives and absolutely excellent in RAID0.

I only replaced mine because two 256GB Crucials are a little better but not by alot.

The G2s will stand the test of time and not lose any performance.

I'd put them up against any of the newer Vertex "What Ever" drives and in the long run will out-perform them all.

You made a wise decision my friend. ;)
 
My G2 died on me last week. Got a new mobo and wanted to overclock. When stress testing the overclock, my computer had locked up and my intel G2 was no longer detected in bios. Unplugged it and plugged in another hdd in the same connection and bios recognized it. Plugged the SSD into another computer and still didn't recognize it. Is there a warranty on these things? Had it for about a year and a half. Ended up going with a Vertex 3 instead.
 
Microsoft Drivers:
vD4Zx.png


Intel Drivers:
MQ1TO.png


Eh, faster is faster... not as big of a difference as I thought they would make though. More excited to see how the raid0 compares later tonight :)
 
Eh, faster is faster... not as big of a difference as I thought they would make though.
Click to expand...
I'm rather disappointed myself.

Don't forget to enable write caching on your RAID0 array.
 
Just to add to the warranty question, I had a drive die completely at work (not the same drive in the OP) and I simply called Intel, told them the issue and they sent me a shipping label and I had a new drive in about 4 days. The drive in the OP is still running strong I will post some benches later today.

Im also considering looking for another cheap 80gb x-25m and putting them in a raid0 instead of just buying a single new 120gb drive.
 
cre3d said:
Eh, faster is faster... not as big of a difference as I thought they would make though. More excited to see how the raid0 compares later tonight :)
Click to expand...

Most reports I've seen seem to indicate that Intel RST is quite a bit faster than MS AHCI, particularly during boot. I'm really surprised to see that you found them test out as identical. hmmph
 
Surly73 said:
Most reports I've seen seem to indicate that Intel RST is quite a bit faster than MS AHCI, particularly during boot. I'm really surprised to see that you found them test out as identical. hmmph
Click to expand...
Personally i didn't feel any difference, but i still prefer to run Intels RST over old MS ACHI, but there are some ssds like Crucial C300/M4 that dont like newer RST and in some cases they have freezing because of this, that can be sorted by hacking registries.
 
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