Identify faulty sandy bridge motherboard.

[Giorgos]

I have a laptop with sandy bridge. The manufacturer says the machine is revised and with no problems. But every test ive ran show that i am affected by the problem. What is an extra sure way to find out whether i am or not?

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

I'm assuming you mean that you think the laptop has the B2 version of the Cougar Point mainboard chipset. Note that laptop manufacturers can still sell the B2 version as long as the drives only use the SATA3 ports, which are not affected by the bug.

CPU-Z version 1.57 or newer can identify which revision of the chipset your system has. What tests have you run, and how do they show that you are affected by the problem?

 

[Giorgos]

Why shouldnt i be able to use all the SATA 3 ports since i paid them the same price as the unbugged ones? And why shouldnt i be able to use them unproblematically in the future?

I ran this test http://news.softpedia.com/news/How-to-Find-Out-if-Your-Sandy-Bridge-Motherboard-Is-Affected-by-Intel-s-SATA-Bug-182252.shtml

And the test described at post 10 here http://www.google.gr/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBgQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fh30434.www3.hp.com%2Ft5%2FNotebook-Hardware%2FHP-continues-to-ship-defective-Intel-6-series-chipset-to%2Ftd-p%2F584005&ei=qYX-TY7VAYizhAeZoMGbCw&usg=AFQjCNEavNk4OwYjMRgBSUfkwPngbhdZIw. Both say im affected.

Intel says that third party software may not read stepping revision correctly due to BIOS issues. So i can accept the Rev. B2 CPUz says. What about the other tests? Intel says the extra sure way to know is by looking the sspec number of your chipset which means i have to void my warranty because its only doable physically. So i must only take my manufacturers word without proof?

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

You can use both of the SATA3 (6Gbps) connectors. They are not affected by the bug.

You can also use the four SATA2 (3Gbps) connectors if you want to, but they might fail some time in the future. There's no way to tell whether they will fail or not, nor when.

Is there even enough room to install multiple hard drives in the laptop chassis you have? If not, then there's no reason to complain.

If you really want more drives and the laptop chassis is big enough to install them, all you can do is keep pestering the manufacturer. If you bother them enough they might replace the laptop for you.