BIOS recognizes SSD as SATA5 but Windows 10 does not see it

[johnofarc]

Had to reinstall Windows 10 on my Dell XPS 8700 desktop. After installation, C: is recognized correctly (1TB) but even though my 32GB SSD (OnLite) is recognized as SATA5 in BIOS, Windows 10 does not see it at all in Disk Management. I've read many threads here and I ran Memory Diagnostics as someone else suggested but have not been successful. Anyone have a suggestion based on previous experience? I can provide whatever other info you need (from BIOS, etc.). Thank you kindly!

 

[Colif]

The 32gb drive is a cache drive, it uses Intel Smart response technology to speed up the hdd by acting as a cache for it

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/smart-response-technology.html

You need to run Intel Rapid Storage software to run the 32gb drive. http://www.overclock.net/t/1227655/how-to-set-up-intel-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching - I would assume the drivers would be on the Dell site for your PC.

windows cannot see it as its not formatted at all. That is intentional.

Having said all that, it should show in disk management. Go back to DM and under actions, click rescan drives

 

[johnofarc]

The 32gb drive is a cache drive, it uses Intel Smart response technology to speed up the hdd by acting as a cache for it

http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/smart-response-technology.html

You need to run Intel Rapid Storage software to run the 32gb drive. http://www.overclock.net/t/1227655/how-to-set-up-intel-smart-response-technology-ssd-caching - I would assume the drivers would be on the Dell site for your PC.

windows cannot see it as its not formatted at all. That is intentional.

Having said all that, it should show in disk management. Go back to DM and under actions, click rescan drives

That was an awesome answer, thanks so much. The Dell drivers were not installed so I installed the Rapid Storage Software (downloaded from Dell's driver page for my machine) and rebooted my computer.

Also downloaded the drivers/software for the drive itself (also from the Dell site). My drive is the LITEONIT LMS-3259M-11 MSATA 32GB.

Now when I go to the IRST panel, the disk shows up fine, with the correct details but the status shows "Incompatible", and it does not show up in Device Manager either. Should this drive have a drive letter associated with it? (Sorry if that's a dumb question).

I checked BIOS and now the drive shows as MSATA and no longer SATA5. I get an error at boot-up from the Intel RST warning me that there are potential problems and a prompt to open the panel to view the status.

Is there a way for me to attach a screenshot of the "Manage Disk" page from the Intel RST panel.

Any further thoughts? Thank you so much. You should teach the guys at Dell how to work with customers and give complete answers. You're the best!

 

[Colif]

If you open the Rapid Storage Technology application and press the big Help button, then a new window opens and you can press the search button and then type "incompatible" within the search box and finally press the search button which will then list all matches. The first match indicates the following:

Incompatible
Cause: The volume was moved to another system that does not support the volume type and configuration.

Solution: In this situation, volume data is accessible to the operating system and can be backed up, but the volume cannot operate because your system does not support its RAID configuration.
Here are your options:
■ Reconnect the volume to the computer where the volume was originally created and continue using it.
■ Delete the volume, and then create a new volume with a RAID configuration that is supported by the current system.

Warning: When a volume is deleted, all existing data on all the disks that are part of the volume is permanently lost. We recommend that you back up all valuable data before continuing.

So the questions to ask yourself are:

1. was your XPS 8500 SE delivered with the SSD installed?

2. was the SSD configured as the boot drive with the operating system installed on it?

3. or was the SSD configured as a HDD cache?

4. or was the SSD configured in some other way (data drive)?

5. if the SSD was not delivered with your system, what disks did the system originally have when delivered and how were they configured?

6. how did you then install the SSD? In other words what did you do in detail?

It is important to know what physical disks exist and how they are presented to the OS by the iRST chipset. Luckily within the Rapid Storage Technology application itself, you should be able to see how the physical disks are logically presented to the OS in the Storage System View. Smile

But as a first step, it would also be worth your time to read the iRST help contents starting at the introduction and working through the help document to better understand raid technology..

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/disk-drives/f/3534/t/19506391

 

[Colif]

to attach screen shots, you need to share them on a site like imgur and show link here

Seems some at Dell know what they talking about.

Think you probably need to delete the raid volume and recreate it but read the help as the above quote suggests. Still trying to figure out how to do this

I can't use this feature as it was phased out when ssd became big enough to replace the hdd as the boot disc. Its not on my motherboard.

The disk shouldn't have a drive letter as windows doesn't use it directly, Intel software does all that, or should. windows doesn't know its there.

Have a look in BIOS and see if you have fast boot enabled. If so, turning it off can make the error with drive go away

Under SETTINGS / ADVANCED / WINDOWS OS CONFIGURATION, there is an option called FAST BOOT. It was set to ENABLED; I flipped it to DISABLED. I restarted (without going back into BIOS to linger), Windows loaded, and IRST reported that the arrays were fine.

SO: It was foolish to set FAST BOOT to ENABLED, yes?

Not exactly. I also experimented a bit. In that same WINDOWS OS CONFIGURATION section, there is a setting called WINDOWS 8.1 / 10 WHQL SUPPORT. If you set it to ENABLED, it automatically sets FAST BOOT to ENABLED as well. There is virtually no context / guidance in the BIOS menu; before today, I had no reason to look at FAST BOOT and decide that it shouldn't be ENABLED for me.

SO: By default, anyone with this BIOS that enables support for Windows 8 / 10 will by default inherit an associated system setting that will make it impossible to create / manage / use RAIDs with IRST.

https://communities.intel.com/thread/101996

 

[johnofarc]

If you open the Rapid Storage Technology application and press the big Help button, then a new window opens and you can press the search button and then type "incompatible" within the search box and finally press the search button which will then list all matches. The first match indicates the following:

Incompatible
Cause: The volume was moved to another system that does not support the volume type and configuration.

Solution: In this situation, volume data is accessible to the operating system and can be backed up, but the volume cannot operate because your system does not support its RAID configuration.
Here are your options:
■ Reconnect the volume to the computer where the volume was originally created and continue using it.
■ Delete the volume, and then create a new volume with a RAID configuration that is supported by the current system.

Warning: When a volume is deleted, all existing data on all the disks that are part of the volume is permanently lost. We recommend that you back up all valuable data before continuing.

So the questions to ask yourself are:

1. was your XPS 8500 SE delivered with the SSD installed? INSTALLED FROM DELL FACTORY

2. was the SSD configured as the boot drive with the operating system installed on it? NO

3. or was the SSD configured as a HDD cache? YES

4. or was the SSD configured in some other way (data drive)?

5. if the SSD was not delivered with your system, what disks did the system originally have when delivered and how were they configured? N/A

6. how did you then install the SSD? In other words what did you do in detail? N/A

It is important to know what physical disks exist and how they are presented to the OS by the iRST chipset. Luckily within the Rapid Storage Technology application itself, you should be able to see how the physical disks are logically presented to the OS in the Storage System View. Smile I DO

But as a first step, it would also be worth your time to read the iRST help contents starting at the introduction and working through the help document to better understand raid technology..

I DID

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/disk-drives/f/3534/t/19506391