nutshell Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 My first Corsair F120 had fw 1.0 and was plagued with BSOD about 50% of the time. I promptly returned that and later decided to give Corsair another try. The replacement F120 had fw 1.1 and I never had an issue with it on my HP Elitebook 8540w. Assuming Corsair had finally resolved the BSOD issue, I decided to replace the Samsung SSD in my Lenovo X200t with another Corsair F120. Apparently, Corsair still has not fixed this problem. I now get the BSOD 100% of the time when the Lenovo goes to sleep. What's worse... I assured people that Corsair/SF finally had things under control and highly recommended this drive :roll: I have updated my Lenovo X200t to the latest BIOS (3.15) The sleep BIOS issues exist, regardless of SATA drivers. I've tried MS AHCI and Intel RST 9.6. All other settings are identical to the ones on my HP 8540w, so the only variables are FW 1.1 vs FW 2.0 and different make laptops HP vs. Lenovo. Please let me know if there may be something I may have missed, because if there isn't a somewhat simple solution... and yes, I have disabled all sleep options for the time being... but that is not an acceptable "fix." I've had enough of this instability and will return and sell both of my Corsair drives and move on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corky8613 Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 Easy answer YES I did with no problems, I also had BSOD shutdowns after update, however the update was not the problem I also had installed some new hardward and had a driver conflict that was causing the problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutshell Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 oops, I forgot to clarify that I have 2 Corsair F120. The one in my Lenovo X200t is brand new and it shipped with FW 2.0. Can I still revert back to FW 1.1 if it shipped with 2.0? I would imagine the answer is yes... I guess I could always try throwing the F120 in my HP 8540w into the Lenovo X200t to see if it helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutshell Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 okay, I can confirm that FW 2.0 seems to be the problem. I swapped in my older F120 (FW 1.1 and Intel RST 9.6) into my Lenovo and tried putting it to sleep/waking up about 10 times and it worked without a hitch. So... how do I go about rolling back the firmware to 1.1 on my newer F120? edit: FAN-EFFING-TASTIC... so after a quick search, RAM GUY says you can't roll back or downgrade firmwares. I guess that's my "easy fix" right there, move on to a proven and reliable SSD. I'm sending this newest Corsair F120 back to Newegg and selling my older F120. I'm done. It's a shame Corsair decided to ship ANOTHER crop of Force SSDs with ANOTHER bad firmware. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corky8613 Posted December 4, 2010 Share Posted December 4, 2010 I just checked my firmware version and it is 1.1a, I downloaded the 1.1a tool and it changed mine back, maybe I just got lucky as every thing worked for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutshell Posted December 4, 2010 Author Share Posted December 4, 2010 hmmm... I figured since I'm returning the drive anyway, I'll give it a try to "downgrade" the firmware to 1.1a from 2.0. It looks like it is possible and the process was simple, just followed the 1.1a firmware sticky. Sleep issue no longer appears to be an issue. edit: NEVERMIND... spoke too soon. Still crashes after waking up every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 6, 2010 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 6, 2010 I would suggest just using suspend to disk instead for the time being. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutshell Posted December 7, 2010 Author Share Posted December 7, 2010 yeah, a bit inconvenient though on my tablet... My mistake for assuming that several months and 3 firmwares later... that Corsair would have figured it out by now. Who knows how much more time and how many more firmwares it will take... SF-2000 will probably be out by then and the SF-1200 will no longer be supported. Probably better to just return it and use my trusty old Samsung SSD in the meantime. RAM GUY, I don't mean for this to be directed at you. Just frustrated and need to vent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey.dijulio Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 I have a brand new X201 tablet and am curious what everyone's opinion might be on my situation. I just recieved my F160 drive, apparently with Firmware v1.1 (Per CrystalDiskInfo). The user that will be running around with this laptop will more than likely want to use some sort of suspend-type option (hibernate, suspend, etc.) First - With all things considered, I'm getting the vibe that for now I should stick with Firmware v1.1 for now (since, apparently, one cannot reliably "downgrade" to v1.1 after v2.0 is installed). Thoughts? Second - What should I expect to find when I do a fresh install of Windows 7 Pro x64? Will I be getting BSODs? How about what option to choose for quick power-down (hibernate vs. suspend, etc.)? Are there any other things I should take into account? I'm waiting on Lenovo to ship me my recovery discs, so I have a day or two to make up my mind. The other option, of course, would be to simply return this product and go with another Corsair SSD that is more "solid". That said, I really like the specs of this device. The only thing making me think twice are the issues I've seen people having. Lastly, any word on any future Firmware updates? Possible timeline? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 7, 2010 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 7, 2010 My mistake for assuming that several months and 3 firmwares later... that Corsair would have figured it out by now. Who knows how much more time and how many more firmwares it will take... SF-2000 will probably be out by then and the SF-1200 will no longer be supported. Please don't miss-understand my reply in that while I understand your frustration and feel your pain; it has not been proven that is totally 100% a drive issue, there have been a few MB manufacturers that have released BIOS updates to solve some of these issues, so if you have the latest firmware and still have these issues it may be a BIOS or driver issue. However, we are working with Sandforce and most of the Top MB manufacturers so if it something that we can address with a newer firmware we will release one. ;): joey.dijulio There are 2 or three users reporting issues with that series of Tablet both with Firmware 1.1 and 2.0 so the above answer applies, But if you have the option I would suggest using our Performance Series SSD with any OEM system like this as they have proven to be more compatible with OEM systems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutshell Posted December 8, 2010 Author Share Posted December 8, 2010 I have a brand new X201 tablet and am curious what everyone's opinion might be on my situation. I just recieved my F160 drive, apparently with Firmware v1.1 (Per CrystalDiskInfo). The user that will be running around with this laptop will more than likely want to use some sort of suspend-type option (hibernate, suspend, etc.) First - With all things considered, I'm getting the vibe that for now I should stick with Firmware v1.1 for now (since, apparently, one cannot reliably "downgrade" to v1.1 after v2.0 is installed). Thoughts? Second - What should I expect to find when I do a fresh install of Windows 7 Pro x64? Will I be getting BSODs? How about what option to choose for quick power-down (hibernate vs. suspend, etc.)? Are there any other things I should take into account? I'm waiting on Lenovo to ship me my recovery discs, so I have a day or two to make up my mind. The other option, of course, would be to simply return this product and go with another Corsair SSD that is more "solid". That said, I really like the specs of this device. The only thing making me think twice are the issues I've seen people having. Lastly, any word on any future Firmware updates? Possible timeline? My thoughts... since you already have a Corsair Force, stick with firmware 1.1 and don't upgrade to 2.0. With 2.0, I got BSOD 100% time it suspends to sleep. With 1.1, it seems to be purely random, but not 100% of the time. It's your call if you want to return the Force or try another brand or model SSD. I love the Corsair Force (when it's actually working) because it has among the best power consumption rates and uncompromising performance. But the price you pay is the questionable reliability... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey.dijulio Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 Hmmm... So now I'm not sure which way I want to go. Truth be told we were originally going to go with a "large chip makers" SSD, but prefered the Corsair Force series because, well, it basically squeaks out every last drop of performance the SATA 3Gb/s bus can deliver. That made a lot of sense, until I'm starting to read all of these horror stories. Sure, I can move to the Performance series, but the speeds there are significantly lower. Plus, it looks like it's only a 2-year warrenty (verses 3-year with the Force series). Then there is an option of cost/GB. The price we paid for the 180GB was stiff, but within our budget. In the Performance series, it looks like there is no 160GB - 180GB option; just 128GB then 256GB. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't complain about 256GB of space, but the price for that space is much higher than for the 160 (180) GB Force series drive. To top it off, this is for a system to be used by our IT director - you can bet your butt he's going to notice a few BSODs / odd issues here and there. If they happen, he'll wonder why we ever did this in the first place. I'm sorry. I realize this is starting to turn into a whine-fest, but I guess I'm kind of left feeling like I don't like any of the options, even though there are a few to choose from. Just to make sure I'm weighing them properly, it sounds like they are: - Deal with the current v1.1 firmware, and "occassional / random" BSODs. - Upgrade the firmware to v2.0 and deal with it's own share of problems on the x201 Tablet it'd be going in (and loose the ability to revert to firmware v1.1, if it's even worse). - Return the Force 160 for a signficanlty slower, smaller capacity Performance series (*slightly* less expensive) drive. - Return the Force 160 for a signficantly slower, larger capacity Performance series (*significantly* more expensive) drive. - Wait for an (unknown) amount of time; hoping for a "be all end all" Firmware upgrade that solves everything (which may or may not come, due to the somewhat uncertain nature of the root cause of the problems). Is it just me, or do pretty much all of these options, unfortuntatly, suck? Anyone have any other thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nutshell Posted December 8, 2010 Author Share Posted December 8, 2010 Sounds like reliability is especially important in your case... and power consumption, not as much. Any reason you haven't considered intel 160gb? From what I've read... only drawbacks are power consumption and write speeds. Solid as a rock though with reliability. Or I've seen samsung 256gb go for less than$ 400 on ebay, oem parts pulled from various notebooks. After reassessing my situation... im reconsidering keeping the force and sticking it out for a real fix... everything but the bsod simply can't be beat, even the price. My 120 was only$ 165 AR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey.dijulio Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 That's what he originally asked for, until I made the mistake of showing my boss this: http://www.fastestssd.com/reviews/corsair-force-f120-review/ When he saw the writes were nearly 3x faster on the Corsair, it was an easy sell. *Sigh*, I dunno... I'm going to sleep on it I guess. Thanks for the thoughts! PS: Is there a difference between the x200 and x201 tablet that might make a difference (good, or bad)? Haven't looked that closely into the Lenovo line to see the difference. But since you have an x200, just thought you might know off the top of your head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 8, 2010 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 8, 2010 The other option would be to use the drive that came with your NB while its slower its is whats certified with that system. SSD technology is not new but its new in a HDD configuration and until OEM manufacturers adopt the technology there are bound to be some compatibility issues, doing a quick search I see many users complaining of issues when trying to use another HDD both spinning and SSD with these systems not only our SSD. In addition, the Performance Series SSD's are based on Samsung Controllers and Samsung Flash and have proven to be compatible in most OEM systems in fact most OEM's that offer SSD's only offer Intel or Samsung drives. At any rate I do understand your frustration but it may take some time for this get worked out and we will keep working with system manufactures to resolve issues that may crop up is the best I can tell you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey.dijulio Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 The other option would be to use the drive that came with your NB while its slower its is whats certified with that system. SSD technology is not new but its new in a HDD configuration and until OEM manufacturers adopt the technology there are bound to be some compatibility issues, doing a quick search I see many users complaining of issues when trying to use another HDD both spinning and SSD with these systems not only our SSD. In addition, the Performance Series SSD's are based on Samsung Controllers and Samsung Flash and have proven to be compatible in most OEM systems in fact most OEM's that offer SSD's only offer Intel or Samsung drives. At any rate I do understand your frustration but it may take some time for this get worked out and we will keep working with system manufactures to resolve issues that may crop up is the best I can tell you. That would be an option, right up until my boss asks: "Now this has that screaming fast ~$400 Corsair SSD we just ordered to replace the stock HDD, right?" :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 8, 2010 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 8, 2010 I would suggest that you speak with your BOSS then and discuss the issue with him and let him decide what is best for him. But that is your choice how you proceed. Good luck with this by the way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey.dijulio Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 Boss wants to give it a whirl for now, see how it goes. I explained the entire situation (actually, had him check out this forum thread and others) and he said he's willing to tinker a bit. We're going to keep tabs on the status of the firmware releases. Hopefully between that, newer OEM BIOSes, and a little luck - we'll have a good solution. Thanks for all your thoughts! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 9, 2010 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 9, 2010 NP and please feel free to contact me if you or your boss have any questions, you can get the phone number from the contact link on the main web site. Also I would strongly suggest you disable hybrid suspend and suspend to ram and just use suspend to disk instead and if you still have trouble disable TRIM as well. Some who have had this issue have reported being able to use suspend to RMA with TRIM disabled. But you might test it and see what works for you. If that works for you and you are an IT professional you may have a copy of Diskeeper Professional and if so get the latest version with Hyperfast technology and that will maintain the drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joey.dijulio Posted December 9, 2010 Share Posted December 9, 2010 So, would you suggest using Diskeeper *if* we disable TRIM support? Or is it something you think is beneficial with TRIM either on, or off? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsair Employees RAM GUY Posted December 10, 2010 Corsair Employees Share Posted December 10, 2010 Yes if you have to disable TRIM; Diskeeper with Hyper fast Technolgy will maintain the drives performance for you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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