Force Series 3 120 GB 0x000000F4 BSOD

Hello everyone,

 

At the end of last summer I purchased the Force series 3 120gb ssd and I have been getting the same bsod for a while now. I have done many different things I have read across the internet but after getting a bsod two days ago once again I have had it. I need to talk to the experts. I don't put my comp to sleep its on or off. I know ssd's are fussy like that. I have some power option set to S3 in my bios (I can't think right now I don't remember what it is called). I have my voltages set for my memory, im not overclocking anything. The bsod will occur randomly when I am using my computer and sometimes it will also lock up on a cold boot. It boots normal and just sits at starting windows for forever and the hdd light is solid on so the ssd has froze. I have some pics of the bsod I have been quick enough to grab my phone and catch it some of the time so here they are. This has been occuring for the last two months now. My specs are posted thanks for all your help I can tell you what ever ya need I just posted this quickly.

 

Thank you I know one of you geniuses will have the answer :p:

Is your drive on Firmware 1.3.2?

 

To check use the firmware update tool.

 

http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99366

I know I updated the firmware on it once I'm not sure if its 1.3.2 though... I downloaded the update tool but it doesn't show which firmware version I have, actually it doesn't detect the drive but I think that's because I am running off of it. So how do I know what ver I have? :p

 

Thanks.

Built a completely new system about 8 days ago, with the same drive (Force series 3 120GB) as my OS boot drive (Win 7 64). Single SSD (no RAID on my system at all) - and is a SandyBridge system, which seems to have a lot of issues with certain ranges of SSD's (I only learned this while googling my errors!) - Intel Core i7-2600k @ stock 3.4ghz, 16GB DDR 1600 RAM, and an Asus P8Z68-V PRO Z68 mobo. In AHCI mode (always has been since setup), and TRIM has always been enabled in Windows.

 

Like yourself, I've had these bluescreens - 000000F4 stopcode ones. And when they happen, the SSD isn't visible to the system (even in the bios). First time it happened I panicced my new PC had died already and went swapping all the sata cables around. 2nd time I stumbled on these forums. The F4 stopcode is Windows spazzing out because it suddenly can't access it's own drive (and your "Minidumps" for crashes are probably set to save to the same SSD that's DC'ing and causing the problem, so you'll find no error log or memory dumps available either).

 

Seems certain SSD drives have a problem of "dropping out" - they just turn off/DC, and with the Corsair ones when this happens, you need to fully turn the PC power off and power it back up again for the SSD to come back on (simply hitting the reset switch on your tower won't do it).

 

I have a very new version of this SSD (checked the label, was quite a way over the supposed "old batch" that needed replacing back in July), and firmware was 1.3.0 already on it.

 

Since the last BSOD, I've updated the firmware to 1.3.2, set the BIOS setting for the port the SSD is in to "hot plug enabled" (supposedly helps), and installed latest IRST (Intel Rapid Storage Technology) from the Asus page for my mobo under the sata section. These seemed to be the three biggest points to focus on (other points are to ensure you have a Sata 3 cable, a good quality one, and one that's not too long, as it needs to be able to handle the bandwidth, but I know mine's a good one).

 

I can't say whether or not these things have fixed the issue yet as the BSOD's are random and I only did all of this a few days ago, but fingers crossed. Just thought I'd reply so you/others know you aren't alone with the "F4" stop code BSOD.

 

As for you saying your firmware software isn't detecting the drive - I'd say double-check you downloaded the correct firmware updater - there's a version for every size of SSD, and the two different ranges of SSD. You want the THIRD one down from the list of 9 downloads at the bottom of the 1st post in this thread;

http://forum.corsair.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99366

 

It will update fine even though you are running Windows from it, and it doesn't even need a reboot after updating! Just be SURE to read the instructions for updating carefully - they explain that you need to match up two digital serial numbers as part of the firmware update process. Don't go in blindly!

 

My process was; updated firmware. Downloaded and installed IRST. Rebooted. During this 1st reboot set the BIOS to "hot plug" for the SSD port. Booted into Windows. 20 seconds after loading Windows tells me I need to restart again (the Intel update had kicked in and so my sata drives got "re-detected"). Rebooted a 2nd time and all done. I'll post back about whether this fixed the problem or not in a week or so (the last two BSOD's happened 3 days apart...).

 

I updated the BIOS to the latest one on the ASUS download page after the 1st BSOD, which is version 0801, but that didn't fix the issue (just for reference/others finding this page with the same mobo).

Hey guys, So I installed the Intel RST program and my SSD doesn't even show up on it... Something weird because it didn't show up on the firmware update either. But funny thing, a few reboots after I installed it my computer seemed to hang on starting windows, just as I was about to restart it did on its own rebooted and when it did the screen was like 600x800 it was ****ed, so I guess the graphics card driver must have failed loading?? What's up guys I see I am not the only one :p

Try the new 1.3.3 firmware located in our firmware update section.

Just as a semi-update to my first post above... The 1.3.2 update completed fixed all issues for me. Have just updated to 1.3.3 too though, for the sake of keeping it all up-to-date. The SSD drive is wonderful now, and I don't feel paranoid about using it anymore since the firmware update. Not to mention, using other computers/laptops that don't run off SSD's feel so slow now, it's completely spoiled me :P

 

Love the fact the firmware update is so quick/simple, doesn't require even closing any running programs let alone a reboot.

Alright so, downloaded the update and it still doesn't see my drive -_-. I checked in the bios under local machine>blahblahblah>msahci and I am in fact in ahci not IDE. For some reason my drive just won't show up even in intel RST.

What SATA port are you connected to? Try different SATA ports (Intel, not 3rd party) and a different SATA cable.

I have the sabertooth x58, and I run off the Marvell port 6gb/s, is that no good??? I bought a sata 3 drive because I wanted to use the full power ... otherwise i would have bought sata2.

Please read the .PDF file and the information on the download page carefully as we have suggested. This SSD update cannot be done with the drive connected to a Marvell controller. You need to understand the instructions clearly before you try to update your drive so that you do not damage it.

Alright I will put it on the sata2 port and update the firmware ASAP i don't have anytime though with university. Should I leave it on the sata2 port or can I put it back to sata3 after the firmware update? Oh and I just got a bsod, I was talking to my friend on skype, it was silent, screen did a little flicker I though oh f***, windows aero turned off then 6 seconds later BSOD. When it restarted no hdd's, detected I restart, won't boot this time the ssd showed in post, so i restart again and go into the Bios and change the boot order to the ssd before the hdd, it changed itself. And here I am :\ Thanks guys, yellowbeard your a champ. :)

If it was my system, I would not use the Marvell controller at all.