Force 90 GB totally unusable

I've had this drive for about a week now and it hangs and reboots on it's own. I've read extensively the forum here but there has not been a solution for me that works. I installed the latest BIOS 1.3.3 before I installed Windows 7 Ultimate. I've barely installed anything. Latest Gigabyte drivers.

 

Are these problems associated with SSDs in general? I need reliability. :[pouts:

AHCI set of course.

Don't think I can return for refund as I've mailed in the UPC from the box to Corsair. Also my shipping charge plus 15% restocking fee. :-)

In my experience, no, not all SSDs have issues like you have.

 

I cannot guarantee this will help you, but installing Win 7 needs to be done in a certain way. That is, only have the OS drive connected to the SATA interface, and connected to the first SATA port (0 or 1, depending how they are numbered.) Besides the DVD drive, no other drives should be connected during the installation. Otherwise, Windows seems to put a part of the OS on another drive. Regardless, the single drive OS installation procedure helps many people.

 

New boards like yours are defaulted to AHCI mode in the UEFI/BIOS, so that is not an issue, but worth checking, and also checking that the SSD is seen by the BIOS.

 

If a firmware update exists for your SSD, that might help you as well.

Latest firmware is 1.3.3.

Update to 1.3.3

 

After updating secure erase and reinstall Windows.

Woops sorry, I meant to say I updated to the lastest ver. 1.3.3.

 

The only drive I had connected on Windows installation was the SSD and the DVD; SSD on SATA 3 port 0, DVD on last SATA 2.

 

Do I really need to secure erase? If I have this right then every time one updates firmware the SSD needs to be securely erased and the OS and everything else reinstalled? WOW! It was factory fresh when I got it, updated the firmware, and only installed Windows7. Now it freezes every time when Windows is completely booted. It has gotten worse, making me believe the drive is bad.

 

Thanks.

You can Submit an RMA. Or you can contact your reseller and ask for a replacement.

You can Submit an RMA. Or you can contact your reseller and ask for a replacement.

 

Thank you.

Can I clone my SSD with the OS over to my mechanical hd by making a partition for it there? Then wait for a replacement SSD for it to be copied back to? Or can I make a folder on the hd and just make the clone there?

I think you can.

 

Follow this tutorial

 

http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85344

Thank you. Hope I can do it.

My new Force 3 90gb is being RMAed because of failure due to hangs, reboots, etc.. Yes ACHI, latest BIOS 1.3.3 before Win7, etc., etc.. First day worked pretty well but each day it continued to get worse until unusable after 4 days.

 

I see here there are many comments on these drive failures so what's really the problem? The technology has been out for some time

now and these drives are supposed to be more "reliable" than mechanical drives. Also SSD lifespan is questionable due to writes. I've had mechanical drives going back to my first 40 "MB" 386 PC and never a failure. I've read things about the SandForce controllers often

causing problems but there really has to be more to this. BIOS updates seem to work in correcting problems for some but not for others like me.

 

I prefer to return the SSD for a refund where I bought it but I used the UPC label for rebate which makes that not possible. To be honest I don't think I'm going to have much faith with the replacement from Corsair and will probably sell it. I know Corsair is a trusted name as I have used (and am using) many of their products (memory, power supplies, etc.) with zero

failures or complaints. It just seems to me SSDs in general from various manufactures have a lot of problems.

 

Any opinions are appreciated. Thanks.

Not everything in the world can be made 100% perfect. There will always be failures.

 

As of now, it would be better to wait for your replacement SSD.

Not everything in the world can be made 100% perfect. There will always be failures.

 

As of now, it would be better to wait for your replacement SSD.

 

Thank you. I have shipped and am now waiting for a replacement. I realize there will always be failures but it seems to me there is a high rate of SSD failures from the various manufacturers, much more than mechanical hard drives. I also just read here in a thread that SSDs need to be securely erased and Windows reinstalled every 3 months. If all of this is true than it appears to me this technology is not suitable for mainsteam computer users but for for tweakers and those who constantly like to fiddle with their machines.

Called Customer Service (that's who would handle this) about 10 min ago. It said it was an estimated 5 min wait, got to someone in 2 min 34 seconds. Which department did you select in their phone tree?

Called Customer Service (that's who would handle this) about 10 min ago. It said it was an estimated 5 min wait, got to someone in 2 min 34 seconds. Which department did you select in their phone tree?

 

Thanks. Just tried again and this time I got through in a few minutes. Turns out my Force 3 90GB is being shipped from overseas someplace as Corsair was out of them in the US hubs. It take a few more days. Weird if you ask me. This drive is a fairly recent model.:mad:

Replacement Force 3 90 GB arrived today. Only installed Windows 7 64-bit and the necessary drivers from Intel and Gigabyte. Frequent reboots. Reboots when checking Windows Experience Index every time or it hangs (drive stays at score 5.9). AHCI on, TRIM on. I think the firmware is 1.3.3 from Corsair as I checked with the firmware update utility.

 

I'm burned out on this. Do I RMA this one too?

-What SATA port did you connect the SSD to?

-WEI Scores don't really matter

 

By frequent restarts when does it happen?

 

-Try running ATTO.

SATA 3 port Intel 0 (white), mechanical drive on Intel 1. SATA cables good. Latest Intel driver.

 

My first Corsair started doing the hangs and reboots after a few days and got so bad I had to RMA it. This replacement had a serial number different from the box from Corsair. The original would allow a WEI score and it was 7.9. This one hangs (manual power off) or reboots near the end of the processes.

 

I haven't done much else as I've mentioned previously. The SSD is not usable. I could RMA this one and try and sell it unopened but I don't want to stick someone with another faulty drive.

 

ATTO jpeg results below.

 

Thanks.

SATA 3 port Intel 0 (white), mechanical drive on Intel 1.

 

Connect your mechanical drive to another SATA port and leave SATA3_1 port empty.

Connect your mechanical drive to another SATA port and leave SATA3_1 port empty.

 

Thank you. Moved mechanical drive down to blue SATA 2_3.

SSD still hangs during WEI. Also locked up with IE reading this forum.

Anybody with a solution? If not I'm going to have to RMA this one too. I can't install a third one. :mad:

-Any latest BIOS update?

-Try various Intel SATA ports.

 

 

I would recommend you test the SSD on another desktop system. it may be your motherboard that is causing the problem.

-Any latest BIOS update?

-Try various Intel SATA ports.

 

 

I would recommend you test the SSD on another desktop system. it may be your motherboard that is causing the problem.

 

Latest BIOS update on my Gigabyte GA-Z68X-UD3-B3 motherboard.

Tried other SATA ports.

Don't have another desktop.

Thanks.

You can give it a last chance:

 

SecureErase your drive and do a clean Win 7 installation.

 

If this will not work, then you will need to RMA it again.