SSD random Lockups

[Schnese]

Dear Forum,

I recently purchased a Samsung SSD. I then installed Win 7 on it. Now whenever I stream things online or play video games the PC will Freeze up at random points and I have to do a manual reboot.. (i.e. 5 min or 20 min from start of streaming). Whilst browsing the web it rarely comes to lockups.

In order to try and fix this problem i have monitored the GPU and CPU Temps, both of which are normal. I have tried setting the mode to AHCI but I couldn't change it in the BIOS. I have also changed the power settings on windows, to the max, drives no sleep, but to no avail.

I have noticed though that if i disconnect my secondary HDD, which used to be my primary, i cannot boot. I get stuck at BOOTMGR missing. But if i have my HHD plugged in, i can boot into my SSD via dualbooting. I have tried to fix this with the install CD but it keeps saying that the windows version isnt right.

So if someone could help me with stopping these annoying Lockups, that would be great

Also my specs:

Computertyp ACPI x64-based PC
OS Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate
OS Service Pack SP 1
DirectX DirectX 11.0
CPU Typ QuadCore Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 Motherboard Name Asus Striker II NSE
Grafikkarte NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260 (896 MB)
Festplatten:
SAMSUNG HD103SJ SCSI Disk Device (1000 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Samsung SSD 840 Seri SCSI Disk Device (232 GB)
WDC WD50 00AAKS-00V1A SCSI Disk Device (500 GB, 7200 RPM, SATA-II)
Ram:
2x2gb ddr3 1333 Kingston
1x4gb ddr3 1333 Kingston



Thanks in advance for any solutions!

 

[dingo07]

you created the problem by having your HDD connected while you installed Windows on the SSD

you need to disconnect the HDD then reinstall windows on the SSD after deleting the partition it was on - start from scratch, and then install all the latest motherboard/chipset drivers, then all windows updates, then your programs

 

[Murissokah]

you created the problem by having your HDD connected while you installed Windows on the SSD

you need to disconnect the HDD then reinstall windows on the SSD after deleting the partition it was on - start from scratch, and then install all the latest motherboard/chipset drivers, then all windows updates, then your programs

Elaborating a bit, when you installed windows on the SSD with the old drive connected, the new windows installation detected a drive with a valid MBR (master boot record) and updated it with the new windows installation, instead of creating a new MBR on the SSD. Since there is no valid MBR on the SSD, the system can't boot without the HDD.

To fix this situation, you need to boot from a repair disk into the recovery console and perform a "fixmbr c:" command (where C is obviously your SSD drive). Disconnect the HDD first. After that, as long as your SSD is first on your boot order, the system will boot from the newly created boot record.

A full boot repair using the recovery console may be done like this:

FIXBOOT C: (creates a new boot sector);
FIXMBR C: (writes a master boot record into the boot sector);
COPY NTLDR C: (copies a new bootloader);
COPY NTDETECT C: (copies a new hardware detection file);
BOOTCFG /REBUILD (rebuilds your boot.ini with the current valid windows installations detected).

Please try that first and see if the freezing stops.

 

[Schnese]

so i reinstalled windows and the BOOTMGR error is gone. THanks for that. Still getting lockups though

 

[dingo07]

are you using the latest video driver? what version do you have installed?

 

[Murissokah]

According to a quick research I just did, the main reason for SSD's causing the OS to freeze is a power management feature called LPM (Link Power Management) that is present on Intel SATA controllers. First, make sure you have the latest Intel Rapid Storage driver and SSD firmware. If the problem still occurs, possible solutions for this are as follows:

A. Use a different SATA controller, if available;

or

B. Disable LPM on the registry (windows power configuration does not affect this). To do so:

1. Open the registry (Win+R, regedit.msc)
2. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters
3. Open the folder relative to the SATA port you will use for the SSD. If in doubt, you may repeat for all ports;
4. Set "LPM"=dword:00000000
5. Set "LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
6. Set "DIPM"=dword:00000000

To make things easier, you may copy the following text into a notepad file and save it as whatever.reg, then run it for an automatic registry fix:



Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port0]
"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port1]
"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port2]
"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port3]
"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port4]
"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\services\iaStor\Parameters\Port5]
"LPM"=dword:00000000
"LPMDSTATE"=dword:00000000
"DIPM"=dword:00000000


This will disable LPM for all six SATA ports on the Intel controller. Note that this will take effect after a reboot.

Also, you wrote that you tried to set your SATA controller to AHCI to no avail. Why is that? Is there no option on the BIOS or did it cause the computer not to boot? The latter is expected, you are not supposed to change SATA mode after installing the OS. It would be preferable to use AHCI, though it should work either way.

 

[Schnese]

I have geForce 320.49 Driver installed for the graka.

 

[cin19]

Take out the 1X4GB RAM to see the PC run fine or not.
Test the RAM with Memtest86+ too. http://www.memtest.org/

 

[Schnese]

@Murissokah as far as I can tell I don't have any intel SATA controllers. So im a bit confused what you mean.

I downloaded the Samsung Magician Software and it did not recognize my SSD. I downloaded the zip firmware but I don't know what to do with the files.

 

[Schnese]

@cin19 I already tried taking the 4gb stick out, no difference. Ill run a mem-test later tonight and will post results tomorrow.

 

[Murissokah]

You are right, I just realized your motherboard uses an nForce chipset. It's actually the last one made for Intel CPUs, they've been discontinued since 2009. That's why I assumed intel. You also have 2 ports controlled by a Jmicron SATA controller, but those are external. If possible, I would try connecting the SSD to one of the eSATA ports while leaving the Jmicron controller in AHCI mode, and see if the issue remains. If it goes away, you will know your SATA driver/controller is the cause. Also, Samsung magician might be able to detect the drive through the Jmicron eSATA port.

 

[Schnese]

So i cant actually find the e-sata port on my mobo

 

[Murissokah]

They should be in the backplate, above the USB ports.