SSD Failing?

1Wolf

1Wolf

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 10, 2007
Messages
433
I was hoping maybe I could get some pointers on where to look to start troubleshooting a problem I've run into.

About 2 weeks ago I added a 2nd Crucial M4 512GB SSD to my system. My OS Drive is a separate SSD. This new SSD was just for Programs.

The new SSD worked just fine for the past couple weeks but then today, when I booted my machine, it took a long time to load into windows and the new SSD had disappeared. I rebooted and went into the BIOS and it was no longer listed there either. I popped my case and made sure the SATA Data and power cables were tight then rebooted into the BIOS and it appeared just fine once again. It rebooted into Windows fine.

A few hours later I shut my PC down, and then later booted it back up again. Once again that SSD disappeared again and the BIOS couldn't see it. This time, instead of opening the case, I simply shut it down and booted it up again. The SSD reappeared in the BIOS on a reboot. I rebooted into Windows and it loaded fine.

Any idea what might be going on? Do you think the SSD is a "bad" SSD or something? Where and how would you recommend I start troubleshooting this? I REALLY hope this isn't the motherboard itself :(

I can't really switch SATA ports because my motherboard (ASUS P8Z77 Deluxe) has 2 "Gray" 6GB/s SATA ports and the rest are "Blue" 3GB/s SATA ports. My OS SSD is in the first gray 6GB/s SATA port so that means I only have one left...the one that the 2nd SSD is plugged into now. If I were to plug it into one of the "Blue" ports it would only be 3GB/s.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
 
I've had the same issue as you several times. What is happenening is the sata cable is bad. This is seems to be pretty common. Go out and get yourself a pack of sata cables and I can guarantee you that will fix it!!
 
I have the same issue with my 64gb m4. It has to be the drives. My computer also shuts down randomly and when it goes to boot back up the ssd is gone from the bios and I need to pull the power for 30 seconds, rebooting doesnt always fix it. I plan on upgrading after the holidays so I dont have this problem anymore.
 
Thanks guys. Bad cable...good idea. The next time it does it to me I'll try another cable. I wouldn't have thought of the cable. Thanks! I'll let you know if that was it. Its an easy thing for me to check before freaking out and thinking its the drive itself or the port on the motherboard.

With regards to the search function being my friend. I checked your link and I didn't realize there was a firmware update that was just released. Thats always worth a shot so thankyou for letting me know. That might do the trick. However, the rest of that information seemed to be about folks that had a drive that worked fine but just disappeared when they went into the UEFI. Just to clarify, thats not quite my issue. My issue is that WITHOUT going into the UEFI, just plain powering up the system like I do every other day....the drive vanished from windows. After rebooting and checking the UEFI...it was gone there too. It was gone from everything. It wasn't booting into the UEFI that was causing the loss. Also, I did not experience any kind of power failure. I've had this SSD for a couple weeks now and I just booted my system into Windows 7 like I always do....but Windows could no longer find that SSD.
 
Update -

I tried a different cable. Unfortunately, no dice.

One thing I noticed is that it ONLY fails to be "seen" when there is no power running to the motherboard. Usually, when I'm done with my PC for the day I cut power completely at the UPS. There is no power going to the motherboard at all when I'm not using the PC. When I first turn the power on from the UPS and then boot up, the new SSD has "disappeared" and does not show up in Windows. If I reboot and go into the BIOS, the SSD no longer exists there either. No matter how many times I reboot, same thing.

However, if while I'm in the BIOS I simply hold down the power button and shut the machine down but do NOT turn off the UPS, then wait a few seconds, and hit the power button again to boot the machine up....it then DOES find the SSD everytime without fail.

Its as if it ONLY can't see the SSD after the power has been completely shut off to the motherboard (thus turned off at the UPS). As long as the motherboard has power, when the PC boots up it will see that new SSD.

Its odd because the SSD worked fine for the past week and a half...it just started doing this yesterday when I turned on my PC after getting home from work.

Next thing I'll try is the firmware update for the SSD. I'll post back with the results.

I'm guessing that if the firmware update doesn't help then it must be a 'bad' SSD or something and maybe I need to start the RMA process.
 
1Wolf said:
I'm guessing that if the firmware update doesn't help then it must be a 'bad' SSD or something and maybe I need to start the RMA process.
Click to expand...

Or even the newest firmware still doesn't fix it, because there are a zillion reports of this problem for this particular model.
 
boot it into bios (uefi), leave it there for a good 20 minutes or so, restart. should work no problem after that. It's a firmware issue, and specifically a problem of the newest and second newest bios. by downgrading the firmware, you won't have that problem anymore.
 
Thanks guys. You guys called it. The new firmware worked and it "seems" to be working fine now (fingers crossed).

I've shut it down completely and shut off the power at the UPS, then rebooted and it seems to see it every time.

Just wanted to say thankyou for the help :) Greatly appreciated.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and Happy Holidays to all of you :)
 
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