SATA SSD incompatible after replacing CMOS battery

[Roger_G]

I recently had to replace the CMOS battery in my Dell XPS (just out of warranty). Now Intel RST keeps reporting "SATA SSD on Controller 0: incompatible". I have no idea what this means or how to get rid of it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware, @Roger_G!

I'd strongly recommend you update the IRST drivers from the official manufacturer's website. I'd also recommend you check your BIOS configuration. Swapping the CMOS batter basically gets your BIOS settings back to factory defaults, so try to configure the SSD in AHCI mode again. If it's already set, I'd try swapping to RAID/IDE and see if that would help.

Hope it works. Let me know how it goes!
Cheers,
SuperSoph_WD

 

[Roger_G]

Thank you for your advice, SuperSoph_WD. I have updated the RST driver and applied Dell Recommended driver updates. I have checked the BIOS. The device in question is listed as "MSATA" (or "MSSATA" I forget which) and SSD is in AHCI mode. I have no idea how to "swap to RAID/IDE". The message is still popping up.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, @Roger_G!

I'd suggest you check all your BIOS settings. The SATA mode settings should be in the 'Advanced' BIOS settings. For more details on this, refer to the mobo manufacturer's official manual. If you don't have a copy of it at home, look for the specific motherboard in Google and find the manual through the search engine. I hope it helps. Have you also tried reseating the CMOS batter on your mobo again?

SuperSoph_WD

 

[Roger_G]

My BIOS editor displays dire warnings against making changes to the SSD mode, so, as this is all too esoteric for me and as (apart from the annoying message) everything is working OK, I guess I'll just live with it. Thank you again for your time and kind advice.

 

[Roger_G]

I found a solution in a post to the Dell Community Forum on 25/10/2013 by AMCooper63. an extract follows:

XPS 8700 MSATA usage

Open msconfig.exe and set the Safe Boot check box on the Boot tab.

Restart your system and use the F2 key to access the bios. Go to advanced settings, On Board Devices and change the SATA mode from AHCI to RAID. When you select save, your system will reboot and this time, let it boot into Safe Mode.

While in Safe Mode the drivers will be changed. You can check Device Manager if you like and you will see an entry in Storage Controllers for the Intel Desktop/Workstation... . Open msconfig.exe again and uncheck the Safe Boot box. Then close it and reboot back into normal Windows.

Now you can configure your MSATA drive as a cache drive for your HDD in Intel® Rapid Storage Technology.