Corsair Force GT 240GB (5.03) not recognized on AHCI

[rivera]

I got a PC with ASUS P5K Premium motherboard (P35 chipset, only SATA-2) & 4 HDD working in "AHCI" mode (controlled Intel Rapid Storage, i.e. iaStor) in Win7x64.

 

Once I decided to add SSD as a new system drive.

 

I setup SSD Corsair Force GT 240GB into my PC.

Disconected all other HDD - just in case.

Turned on "IDE compatible" mode in BIOS.

 

While installing Win7x64, I experienced lots of freezes.

I tried to turn on "AHCI" mode in BIOS - but the Windows Setup could not see this SSD (but BIOS was able to recognize the SSD).

 

So I turn on "IDE compatible" mode again and tried to install Windows again - and finally did it, but it took a a very long time.

Even when Windows was installed, the system were stucking sometimes.

 

So I did the following things:

- installed this SSD into another PC (with Z68 chipset motherboard) and changed firmware from 5.02 to 5.03;

- tested the SSD on that another PC and confirmed that it works well;

- then installed the SSD back into my PC;

- installed motherboard drivers;

- installed all Windows updates.

 

After that the system worked very smooth.

 

So, then I decided to turn on "AHCI" mode in BIOS.

Now I cannot even enter BIOS - PC freezes while getting info about this SSD (i.e. even before loading Windows).

 

On another PC (Z68 chipset supporting SATA-3) this SSD still works fine.

 

It seems that after changing firmware my P35 motheboard cannot see the SSD (because it could BEFORE).

 

Now, I can see 2 options:

1) Change my firmware back to 5.02.

2) Try something else....

 

Regarding #1 - where can I find the previous firmware?

Regarding #2 - what else can I do?

[Toasted]

Do you have the latest BIOS?

Have you tried a different SATA data cable and SATA motherboard port?

[rivera]

Do you have the latest BIOS?

Have you tried a different SATA data cable and SATA motherboard port?

1. Yes

2. Yes

[Toasted]

Reset the BIOS to defaults. See if the BIOS can detect the SSD faster.

 

If it doesn't help. There is probably a compatibility issue with the drive and motherboard.

 

Corsair Force GT 5.02

[Yellowbeard]

Do I understand correctly that:

 

1. You did your OS install in IDE mode and then.....

 

2: Switched the controller to AHCI mode?

[rivera]

Reset the BIOS to defaults. See if the BIOS can detect the SSD faster.

Done. Did not help.

 

If it doesn't help. There is probably a compatibility issue with the drive and motherboard.

I see...

Two another SSDs - Crucial m4 256GB (Marvel) & Corsair Neutrox GTX 240GB - work fine on the same PC.

[rea1high]

yeah, as yellowbeard alluded to, i'm pretty sure you can't just swap ide to ahci after os install without problems.

i believe it can be done, but it's not straight forward.

 

if you've only just installed the os, i'd suggest you follow the proper erase procedure and reinstall the os under ide/ahci/raid, whichever you were intending to do. or am i missing what you're saying?

[rivera]

Do I understand correctly that:

 

1. You did your OS install in IDE mode and then.....

 

2: Switched the controller to AHCI mode?

In details:

 

1. Setup SSD into PC.

Turned on IDE mode in BIOS.

Turned off floppy support in BIOS (anyway it is not present in PC).

Launched Windows Setup (Win7x64).

Freezes and stucks observed during Setup.

I decided to cancel Setup.

 

2. Turned on AHCI mode in BIOS - just in case.

Started Windows Setup again.

Now Windows Setup cannot see this SSD (not present in a list of drives).

But BIOS can see & recognize the SSD.

Well, turned on IDE again.

 

3. Just in case - removed all other HDD from the PC (now only SSD & DVD-CDRW present).

 

4. Started Windows Setup again.

Slowly came to the end - again with freezes & stucks.

In Windows again stuck & frezes observed.

During these freezes a drive light indicator on the PC case does not blink.

Event Viewer does not contain any error messages regarding hardware.

I suspected that it happens because of IDE mode.

 

5. Checked SSD firmware.

It was 5.02.

I decided to change to 5.03.

Then I installed the SSSd into another PC (motherboard with Z68 chipset & SATA-3 support, AHCI is on) and changed the firmware to 5.03.

Also I ran some test with the SSD (before & after changing firmware) including ASSD Benchmark. Everything looked fine.

Next installed the SSD back into my PC.

 

6. Just in case - updated my motheboard (ASUS P5K Premium, P35 chipset) with the latest firmware. When it was done I realized that it was the same firmware that was before ))).

OK, restored default BIOS settings.

 

7. Switched on PC again.

In Windows again the same freezes.

 

8. Then I installed all Windows updates + motherboard drives.

Now I cannot see freezes at all )))).

 

9. Turned on AHCI in BIOS.

Now the SSD cannot be recognized by BIOS - so I even cannot login BIOS.

The system halts during recognizing drives - it can recognize DVD-CDRW but cannot SSD.

By the way, earlier it was recognized by BIOS...

 

10. Installed this SSD again into another PC - it worked fine.

Just in case - rewrote firmware (5.02, found in the Internet).

 

11. Installed this SSD into my PC again.

Again it cannot be recognized by BIOS with AHCI.

 

12. Checked my motherboard with other SSD - Crucial m4 256GB, Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB - both are recognized by BIOS.

 

--------------------------------------------------

What I did finally:

1. Changed the firmware back to 5.03.

2. Installed this SSD into another PC (which I mentioned above, Z68) insted of Crucial m4.

3. Installed Crucial m4 into my PC and performed Windows Setup (AHCI is on) with no problem.

 

So - Corsair Force GT 240GB cannot work properly with ASUS P5K Premum.

[rivera]

yeah, as yellowbeard alluded to, i'm pretty sure you can't just swap ide to ahci after os install without problems.

i believe it can be done, but it's not straight forward.

 

if you've only just installed the os, i'd suggest you follow the proper erase procedure and reinstall the os under ide/ahci/raid, whichever you were intending to do. or am i missing what you're saying?

As I wrote before - first I could not install Windows in AHCI because Windows Seyp could no see the SSD.

Later the SSD was not recognized by BIOS in AHCI.

[Toasted]

If Windows setup cannot find the drive you can try install the F6 drivers for your chipset during the install process.

 

If the drive works fine on the Z68 motherboard, it is probably a compatibility issue with the drive and motherboard.

[rivera]

If Windows setup cannot find the drive you can try install the F6 drivers for your chipset during the install process.

well, here it was different case

[rea1high]

i'm sure i have one of those mobo's somewhere. isn't it really old?

i'm inclined to agree with Toasted and think it's perhaps a compatibility issue.

 

edit - yeah quick google search has shown a few similar issues with that mobo and ssd's.

[RAM GUY]

I would suggest running Parted Magic and secure erase the drive then do the install again with the controller set to AHCI Mode.

 

If you went far enough along in the install when in AHCI Mode it may have created the partition and Windows will ignore it because it is not available during the install.

[foonus]

I suggest that you look for a user Modded version of BIOS for your system with an updated Intel Option ROM. I have these drives running on both a ICH9R and ICH10R controller after doing this. You should be able to find one goggling for it, or compile yourself. Post back if you have any issues.

[murf334]

you do know that you must set the registry first for "AHCI" then set the bios for ahci and make sure your boot priority is set to your boot drive then reboot !!

sorry if im repeating any info given