New x256 SSD drive disappears

[septone]

For the record, I believe I am now seeing data corruption on the drive as well.

 

I was waiting until the end of my work week to RMA the drive, and when attempting to open a packet capture with wireshark (installed via macports), I kept getting errors. I tried with tcpdump, and got similar errors. I was able to open the capture successfully with the newer version of wireshark installed as an app (not via macports). At first I thought maybe it was a version mismatch. To be sure my builds were ok, I removed and rebuilt wireshark, tcpdump, nmap, and libpcap. After rebuilding, I was able to read the capture (and several others that were failing before) with tcpdump. hmmmm.

 

What's even more odd, is that copying the pcap from this box to another mac, I was able to read the capture with no problems in the same version wireshark (macports).

 

I think what is happening is that even on rebuild of wireshark, something is corrupted on the SSD (probably a wireshark dissector), and that's causing the capture parse to fail. If it was a build problem, I would expect to see failure during the rebuild. I rebuilt the dependencies too. All were successful, but wireshark still fails.

 

While I am not going to say this is 100% proof of corruption on the drive, my increased frequency of the symptoms I described in my earlier post, plus the strange issues I am having with wireshark, despite rebuilding say to me that this drive is continuing to die slowly.

 

If Corsair had stood behind their product when I reported the issue initially, maybe I would have a working drive. I've already started the RMA with my retailer, so this post is more for FYI/consumer beware purposes.

 

Thanks for nothing Corsair. :evil:

[septone]

Quick update - after removing and reinstalling the entire ports tree (which completed with an exit code of 0), I still see the same issue. I do not think its a coincidence that the same versions of software work correctly on a different drive. If the error were related to the build, removing and reinstalling the ports tree should have exited non-zero.

 

For me, this is another sign that my drive is likely bad. Could it be the file system? Sure. But that doesn't explain the drive dropping off the bus. I also have only been running this drive for a week or two, so I find it hard to believe that the filesystem is damaged, unless the drive or something else is faulty. MY other mac has been running for a year with the same filesystem, and journaled hfs is pretty robust. I haven't seen any fsck or repair during reboot, which would automatically happen if the filesystem was flagged as damaged/dirty.

 

There's lots of other things each symptom could be, but the one thing they have in common, is the SSD. I am a big fan of Occam's razor (the simplest solution is usually the correct one), and I think that applies here too.

 

Ramguy didn't want to reply to me or help because Corsair does not want to admit fault. I watched Ramguy post to a LOT of other users before replying to me in the time between each of my posts (find all posts by this user). I know that I am not the only person on here asking for help, but it seems like I was usually the last to get a reply until I bumped the thread (gotta maintain the appearance that we are not ignoring you). It seems to me that they were hoping I would go away or that they could doubletalk and confuse me with acronyms (sorry guy, I actually know what OEM means, and I have been at this a long time). In the end, I got "it's your fault for not doing research, even though we admit there is no warning on our site".

 

Way to blame your customer for your faulty product and poor support.

 

BUYER BEWARE.

[Wired]

septone, you're seeing things that aren't there. They don't check threads like you think they do. They're human.

 

Apply for an RMA here:

http://www.corsair.com/helpdesk/

[RAM GUY]

septone,

You are putting more into what is there and I have been out of the office since last Wednesday that was why no one answered you and we do not work over the weekends or holidays. In addition, I suggest the solution was to replace the drive with a P-Series, I would suggest you get the RMA then please contact our customer service and see if they can help you get that resolved.

[Trond_NEO]

I have the same problems that have been described earlier in this thread: my X256 (i have 4 of them in RAID) are not always detected. If i manage to get all of them detected by disconnecting and connecting the power again they will stay connected until i disconnect the power cable from the power supply, then a new disk (or two) might not be detected again. I am puttiung togeter 8 new computers during the next days, so i was planning on buying 32 x x256 SSDs, and 8 x x64 SSDs today, but due to this problem i can not buy the Extreme series. Are the Performance series reliable? What is the status on fixing this problem from Corsair?

[RAM GUY]

We are looking into the problem that had been reported but there at this time it has not been identified. I would suggest using the performance series drives in that configuration and you should have no problems.

[pfile]

i've kind of lost track of this... one of my two x256s has failed and i'm sending it in for RMA. it was manufactured sometime in the 2nd half of 2009. is there actually a firmware update that addresses the "dropping off the bus" problem? i'm just trying to get a handle on whether or not a replacement x256 will eventually meet the same fate. thanks.

[RAM GUY]

I am sorry but no the latest firmware only adds TRIM support for Windows 7, I would suggest getting the drive replaced.

[leekey]

Hi Ram Guy,

 

I bought 2 x256 from ebuyer in the UK and seem to be experiencing problem(s) similair to the above

 

First drive I tried is CMFSSD-256D1 10030196-13112134

 

I am trying to use it in the follwoing system

 

M/B gigabyte GAG31M-ES2L

core 2 duo 2.8

4 gig ram

 

The motherboard has bios F8. Their is no AHCI setting for sata ports on motherboard so have tried all the settings of Auto/Enhanced/combined and non-combined. I did initially get the bios to see the drive and installed windows server 2008 r2 standard. powered it off. turned it back on and drive now not seen in bios. I have tried various cables and power leads and occasionally the bios will see the drive but more often and not the drive is not seen by the bios.

 

Are there any issues with these drives with the gigabyte boards?

 

Second drive is unused and I hooked that up. second drive is 10030196-13112063 and bios sees it first time but the drive system will not boot from sata CD to install windows server 2008 r2 standard.

 

Help please I am pulling my hair out after spending over £500 on each drive having these problems to enhance our server is giving me big headache.

[leekey]

Hi Ram Guy,

 

I bought 2 x256 from ebuyer in the UK and seem to be experiencing problem(s) similair to the above

 

First drive I tried is CMFSSD-256D1 10030196-13112134

 

I am trying to use it in the follwoing system

 

M/B gigabyte GAG31M-ES2L

core 2 duo 2.8

4 gig ram

 

The motherboard has bios F8. Their is no AHCI setting for sata ports on motherboard so have tried all the settings of Auto/Enhanced/combined and non-combined. I did initially get the bios to see the drive and installed windows server 2008 r2 standard. powered it off. turned it back on and drive now not seen in bios. I have tried various cables and power leads and occasionally the bios will see the drive but more often and not the drive is not seen by the bios.

 

Are there any issues with these drives with the gigabyte boards?

 

Second drive is unused and I hooked that up. second drive is 10030196-13112063 and bios sees it first time but the drive system will not boot from sata CD to install windows server 2008 r2 standard.

 

Help please I am pulling my hair out after spending over £500 on each drive having these problems to enhance our server is giving me big headache.

 

Just an update to my first post, I have flashed the motherboard bios to latest F10 and still having the same problem with the first drive not beening seen in the bios and now the second drive was seen for a while, started to install windows server 2008 r2 standard and halfway through installation it stopped with corrupt errors on new drive and now bios will not see the second x256 drive now. :mad:

[pfile]

I am sorry but no the latest firmware only adds TRIM support for Windows 7, I would suggest getting the drive replaced.

 

okay, thanks. i did a will-call RMA and have the new drive in hand. i'll be trying it out tonight. the last time, the drive ran for 3 days (boot disk) and then failed. i hope this one does better.

[Bodhisattva]

Hi Ram Guy!

 

Have just installed my 1000$ drive (price in Denmark) in my MacBook Pro 13" 2.53 GHz yesterday and have had huge problems with it. Seems to be exactly the same as anybody else. Freezing of the system and spinning beach ball.

 

Is there a fix on its way or should I opt for another drive? How do I get an RMA in Denmark?

 

Can I get it exchanged for the Force (CSSD-F200GB2-BRKT ) or ?

 

Is the Force 200 GB recommendable for my MacBook?

 

Regards

Claus Andersen

[RAM GUY]

Claus I am sorry but I have posted many times on this forum that we would not suggest using X series drives in OEM systems especially Mac or Apple systems. I would suggest talking to the reseller and see if they will let you return it and only use our P-Series SSD on Apple systems.

[leekey]

Ram Guy

 

Any problems with the X256 in my set up I posted in this thread post numbers 134 & 135 on page 9 of this thread ??

[Bodhisattva]

Claus I am sorry but I have posted many times on this forum that we would not suggest using X series drives in OEM systems especially Mac or Apple systems. I would suggest talking to the reseller and see if they will let you return it and only use our P-Series SSD on Apple systems.

 

Is it possible to get an RMA number?

We have to Macbooks and two disks.

 

Wish I could have read about the "OEM exception" on your web (other than in the forums). It just states "Extreme Series solid-state drives deliver exceptionally high performance and are ideal for desktop PCs and high-end notebooks."

 

Regards

Claus Andersen

[gagetfreaky]

Claus I am sorry but I have posted many times on this forum that we would not suggest using X series drives in OEM systems especially Mac or Apple systems. I would suggest talking to the reseller and see if they will let you return it and only use our P-Series SSD on Apple systems.

 

So the p256 will work with Macbook pros? I just got my new MBP 17 inch and read about all these EFI issues on the forums.

i'd rather not open the packaging if there are going to be problems.

[RAM GUY]

Claus there is no mention of anything about Apple or MAC on the products page for our SSD drives especially the X-Series and I am sorry Apple would not fall into that definition from our point of View. I would suggest talking to your reseller and see if they will let you return the drive or use it in a Desktop system using a Retail Channel MB with Windows.

As noted on the Apple forum and here many many times.

 

 

Yes gagetfreaky you should use our P-256 or P128 with that system, but if its NVidia Based I would suggest making sure that you have the latest updates from Apple before you setup the SSD.

[Bodhisattva]

Claus there is no mention of anything about Apple or MAC on the products page for our SSD drives especially the X-Series and I am sorry Apple would not fall into that definition from our point of View. I would suggest talking to your reseller and see if they will let you return the drive or use it in a Desktop system using a Retail Channel MB with Windows. As noted on the Apple forum and here many many times.

 

Yes gagetfreaky you should use our P-256 or P128 with that system, but if its NVidia Based I would suggest making sure that you have the latest updates from Apple before you setup the SSD.

 

Hi again RAM GUY

 

Again: Why dont you post this warning on the product page for extreme ssd, you have known about it for more than 6-9 months according to the forums.

 

Corsair just states "Replacing your hard disk drive with a Corsair Extreme Series SSD will revolutionize your computing experience. Games load more quickly, your computer starts faster, and multiple applications run more smoothly, all while running cool and silent"

 

Do you really mean that I should dive in to several forums and read countless post to figure out if the disk has any problem before buying it...?

It should be up to the manufacturer to advice on compatibility.

 

I might just have a 1000 USD (Price in Denmark) harddrive which I can not use for my MacBook Pro, because I cant see anything on your web saying I shouldnt use it in a Mac. Thats disapointing for a large company like Corsair. Im going to make damn sure I never buy any Corsair again.

 

You never answered: Is it possible to get an RMA number?

 

Best regards

Claus

[RAM GUY]

W can issue you an RMA but that will not solve the issue, have you spoke to your reseller? If they will not or cannot help you I would suggest you get the RMA# then contact our customer service and see if they can help you. You can request an RMA from the link on the left side of the forum.

 

And Apple does not officially support upgrading their systems, if you do that it is at your own peril. Like with any modifications out side of the normal scope.

[Wired]

Guys, please do not double post.

[Bodhisattva]

W can issue you an RMA but that will not solve the issue, have you spoke to your reseller? If they will not or cannot help you I would suggest you get the RMA# then contact our customer service and see if they can help you. You can request an RMA from the link on the left side of the forum.

 

And Apple does not officially support upgrading their systems, if you do that it is at your own peril. Like with any modifications out side of the normal scope.

 

Hi RAM GUY

 

I filled out the RMA form online tuesday. How long does it take and do I need to do anything else?

 

Case no.: 1461776

 

Regards

Claus

[RAM GUY]

RMA request approved it will take about 30 Min to get the RMA number but once you have it please call our customer service by phone and see if they can help you. 510-657-8747 Ext "3" 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific time Monday Through Friday, excluding holidays. Or send them an email at RMAservice@corsairmemory.com.

[pfile]

guess what? the x256 that had been working fine for several months in my 13" macbook pro just died. disappeared from the bus. machine won't boot.

 

ramguy, what happens to these disks when they are RMAd? all of my personal information is on this disk, and i can't erase it since i can not mount it anymore.

[RAM GUY]

Try it on another system and see if you can see the drive to run Parted Magic and I would not suggest using an Apple or Mac system. If you cannot get it to detect then please talk to our customer service.

[pfile]

Try it on another system and see if you can see the drive to run Parted Magic and I would not suggest using an Apple or Mac system. If you cannot get it to detect then please talk to our customer service.

 

i just removed the disk and i will try it against a PC with an intel ICH10 controller tonight.