Trihex Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 I updated my Force 3 120 GB from firmware v1.2 to v1.3 but still my system freezes from time to time. There is no BSOD but I have to reset my system to get it working again. I updated my bios to the latest revision and installed the latest Intel Matrix Storage driver. Last thing I could do is to clear erase my ssd and reinstall my OS. But before I spend hours on this I would like to know how this is going to solve the problem I discribed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havoc_ Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 Those are excellent speeds for an AMD controller and appear to be spot on. And, your results are like most that have updated to the 1.3 firmware. It is solving issues for a majority of the people that apply it. On my Force Series GT 120Gb i only get at max 450 Mb/s Write and 550 Mb/s Read, And still, i have firmware 1.2, can't update, keep getting that FATAL ERROR CODE: 00000057. And it's running in AHCI mode, AMD SATA Controller and yes, i have read the .PDF thoroughly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diari Posted August 23, 2011 Share Posted August 23, 2011 On my Force Series GT 120Gb i only get at max 450 Mb/s Write and 550 Mb/s Read, And still, i have firmware 1.2, can't update, keep getting that FATAL ERROR CODE: 00000057. And it's running in AHCI mode, AMD SATA Controller and yes, i have read the .PDF thoroughly. You need to run firmaware tool with microsoft sata drivers, it won't work with AMD drivers. At least didn't for me. And my own ssd is still giving some bsod's after firmware update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havoc_ Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 You need to run firmaware tool with microsoft sata drivers, it won't work with AMD drivers. At least didn't for me. And my own ssd is still giving some bsod's after firmware update. Will try that when i have a change to get to it, Yellowbeard, is Sandforce still working on a complete fix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 Will try that when i have a change to get to it, Yellowbeard, is Sandforce still working on a complete fix? A complete fix for what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havoc_ Posted August 24, 2011 Share Posted August 24, 2011 A complete fix for what? Oh i don't know, maybe the freezes and the BSOD's, just had my first BSOD today, and i'm certain it's the SSD's fault. Surely they can't just be sitting around now and waiting for MORE complains when people say that the firmware 1.3 update isn't solving ALL problems. I didn't spend a ****load of money to get freezing nor BSOD's and i bet other people would strongly agree with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted August 24, 2011 Author Share Posted August 24, 2011 You are looking at this incorrectly. Most users have in fact benefitted from the 1.3 firmware so they have a "complete fix". This is certainly not to say that some users do not still have issues but, the firmware is not in need of a "complete fix". Have you taken the other steps listed in the .PDF file? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavaliant Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I'm new, but thought it might help to share my experience. I have a newly purchased Force 3 120GB drive. I've updated the firmware to 1.3, secure erased the drive using Parted Magic, newly installed Windows 7 x64. I've installed the latest available drivers for my MSI P67A-G43 motherboard. SATA is in AHCI mode. I am experiencing frequent freezes during boot with a solid HDD LED as well as during normal system usage. I have tried multiple new SATA3 cables. The only fix for me is to move the drive to a SATA2 port, negating most of the performance benefits of my new SATA3 SSD drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted August 25, 2011 Author Share Posted August 25, 2011 Try fully clearing your BIOS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havoc_ Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 You are looking at this incorrectly. Most users have in fact benefitted from the 1.3 firmware so they have a "complete fix". This is certainly not to say that some users do not still have issues but, the firmware is not in need of a "complete fix". Have you taken the other steps listed in the .PDF file? I have read, and understood everything there, but i have absolutely NO CLUE how i am supposed to update with MS AHCI driver when i don't know what it is... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giobien Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 any idea if this update would fix the problem of the Force 3 240 with the MBP 17 2011, guys? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havoc_ Posted August 25, 2011 Share Posted August 25, 2011 I have read, and understood everything there, but i have absolutely NO CLUE how i am supposed to update with MS AHCI driver when i don't know what it is... Scratch that, i managed to get it working, i've flashed to 1.3 now, let's so if i have any improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavaliant Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Hi Yellowbeard, I tried your suggestion of clearing the BIOS. I removed power, removed the CMOS battery, used the shunt to clear the CMOS memory. After rebooting, I made the minimal changes needed, such as AHCI mode, and still have the same problem when the drive is connected to a SATA3 port. When connected to a SATA2 port, it works fine. Do you have any other suggestions? FYI, the freeze with a solid HDD LED happens at the Loading Windows screen with no animated logo. Thanks... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavaliant Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Correction, 'Starting Windows' screen in Windows 7. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 Hi Yellowbeard, I tried your suggestion of clearing the BIOS. I removed power, removed the CMOS battery, used the shunt to clear the CMOS memory. After rebooting, I made the minimal changes needed, such as AHCI mode, and still have the same problem when the drive is connected to a SATA3 port. When connected to a SATA2 port, it works fine. Do you have any other suggestions? FYI, the freeze with a solid HDD LED happens at the Loading Windows screen with no animated logo. Thanks... Did you also do a secure erase and then a clean install of the OS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
magickbuddha Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 My experiences so far: I updated to 1.3 and then did a secure erase and install of Windows 7. I cannot clear the BIOS because I have a laptop and cannot figure out how to clear it. For about the first 10 restarts it worked great, but then it slowly started developing problems. Most of the time my laptop won't start unless I switch SATA modes a couple times in BIOS. About once a day it will permanently freeze while in windows. Yellowbeard, if a new firmware update is not on the horizon, is there a way to get a refund for my drive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamus Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Yeah, I read it as I wrote it. There are steps other than a clean install of the OS listed. And, the statement I quoted that I asked about actually makes no sense at all in the context of this thread. Allow the person to whom I posed the question to clarify his own statement. I am talking about the fact that, a clean OS install will not help if the BIOS can't see the hard drive in the first place. It's clear the firmware 1.3 is an improvement. Just as it's clear that it didn't actually fix the problem, it's still there. I get way fewer crashes than i did with 1.2, but i still get crashes at least once a day. (and the BIOS will not detect my drive after the crash, at least not untill i turn it off instead of reset it) Basically, i'm trying to get you to acknowledge the fact that there are still series issues with your product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted August 26, 2011 Author Share Posted August 26, 2011 You can add me to the "small number of people". i upgraded to 1.3 and it actually helped. I'm trying to figure out how a clean install of windows 7 is going to help the BIOS to recognize the hard drive... I am talking about the fact that, a clean OS install will not help if the BIOS can't see the hard drive in the first place. This clearly is not the case with your system which is why I inquired as to what point you were trying to make or what you needed assistance with. The 1.3 firmware has not solved 100% of users issues. However, a vast majority have been resolved as you can easily see by monitoring the forum traffic over the past 2 + months like I have. We are still here assisting those users that have issues. And yes, SandForce is aware that there are still users with issues. It's plainly obvious to anyone that has a drive that is not showing up in the BIOS that they can neither udpate the firmware or do a clean install of the OS. Those users should RMA their drive as has been stated here repeatedly. So again, what does your statement have to do with your situation and how can we help you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavaliant Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I'm new, but thought it might help to share my experience. I have a newly purchased Force 3 120GB drive. I've updated the firmware to 1.3, secure erased the drive using Parted Magic, newly installed Windows 7 x64. I've installed the latest available drivers for my MSI P67A-G43 motherboard. SATA is in AHCI mode. I am experiencing frequent freezes during boot with a solid HDD LED as well as during normal system usage. I have tried multiple new SATA3 cables. The only fix for me is to move the drive to a SATA2 port, negating most of the performance benefits of my new SATA3 SSD drive. Hi Yellowbeard, I tried your suggestion of clearing the BIOS. I removed power, removed the CMOS battery, used the shunt to clear the CMOS memory. After rebooting, I made the minimal changes needed, such as AHCI mode, and still have the same problem when the drive is connected to a SATA3 port. When connected to a SATA2 port, it works fine. Do you have any other suggestions? FYI, the freeze with a solid HDD LED happens at the Loading Windows screen with no animated logo. Thanks... Correction, 'Starting Windows' screen in Windows 7. Did you also do a secure erase and then a clean install of the OS? As I mentioned in my earlier post, I already performed a secure erase and fresh install. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yellowbeard Posted August 27, 2011 Author Share Posted August 27, 2011 As I mentioned in my earlier post, I already performed a secure erase and fresh install. It's a long thread. Have you also followed the other tips on the .PDF? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavaliant Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I think I've tried all the tips, including raising the PCH voltage to 1.15v, with little effect. I have tried several different SATA3 cables, but have now dug out another that came with my motherboard. I will report back after some testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turin Turambar Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 The 1.3 firmware seems to have improved a lot my problem (BSOD because the ssd would dissapear from the entire system), but i just noticed that my read access time (seen in as ssd) is much much worse. Ten times worse. From 0,067 ms to 0,200 ms. Should i try secure erase? Any other hint? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Pedro Kid Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I seem to be having a very similar issue as the above poster. I just barely received my FGT120 last week from Amazon. A simple way to put it is, the machine never boots the same way twice. Most often it will not recognize the drive immediately and the BIOS has to be restarted a few times to get it to show up. After a successful F10 save with it as the primary boot drive, it will usually make it to the 'Starting Windows' screen; however, it will freeze with the HD light stuck on. Sometimes, it will do the black with white bar screen with an assortment of Windows errors that require either restart, repair (which never works), or whatever else. It also sometimes won't make it that far and instead simply put a disk error message in the top left corner and say 'Please press ctrl-alt-delete' to restart with no options. Once it makes it into Windows 7 it seems to work great until... You try to look at it's properties where it won't 'populate' the volume. Also, the Corsair Firmware utility will not recognize the drive. It simply does not show up on the list so I, frankly, have no clue what Firmware version is on it. I was hoping 1.3 since Amazon barely got it back in stock the day I ordered it. But, who knows. All of that said, when it works, it is fast and awesome. Played Witcher 2 for many hours last night just fine and load times are basically non-existent. Impressive. Given all of this and what I've read here so far, it seems many share the same issues. It seems that at this point from what I've read it simply must be RMA'd. Correct? There is no way to save it and avoid that? (On a personal level an RMA is a nightmare for me right now as I built this box ASAP to get it done before my life goes chaos again on Monday when I start traveling, etc., again). Thanks. Edit: Yes, I've set AHCI and have all the latest Intel drivers, etc., going. I've even turned indexing off and some of the other recommended solutions for SSD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wired Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Turin: secure erase it. Pedro Kid: Run the update tool as admin (may have to try a different port as well). If it doesn't work, RMA it. May want to ask about an advanced RMA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lavaliant Posted August 28, 2011 Share Posted August 28, 2011 After trying many different SATA3 cables, even opening a new one, I've found that the one that came with my MSI motherboard works much better. I have rebooted many times now with the drive connected to a SATA3 port with no freeze. Just FYI, my original cables were from monoprice, okgear brand. While they clearly say SATA3 6Gbps, I had nothing but trouble with freezes at boot with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.