TRIM update hosed my Windows 7 install

[idata]

Just did the firmware update and it hosed my Windows 7 installation. The updater showed a successful firware update. Initially the computer booted just fine, but once I was within Windows it installed some drivers and asked for a reboot. That's when the trouble started. Now the drive won't boot Windows 7 anymore. I don't know if it's a Dell problem or Intel problem. The Dell BIOS claims a SMART error. I have a Dell XPS 8000.

[idata]

ldvader - I did not switch modes at all... I have been AHCI since day one. Flash process was successful although results = epic fail. Wait until Intel gets their crap together and releases something decent (oh wait that could be a long time). I should have waited, I have a $300 paperweight which is unfortunately too light to be functional as that too.

[idata]

Just wanted to share my experience. I installed the firmware update after already installing 64-bit Windows 7 on the SSD. I rebooted with the firmware CD still in the drive and it confirmed the update. I succesfully booted Win7 a few more times (didn't keep count) as I was still installing apps and such. Never noticed the system installing new drivers, although I was watching TV at the same time so it could have done it. I had zero problems, then saw the Engadget article about the problems last night and tried booting again and poof, I was greeted by a black screen instead of Windows. Tried booting my WinXP drive with the SSD installed and it painfully and slooooowly did. Took the SSD out and the XP drive booted normally.

Fast forward to today. I kept track of this thread at work, planning to RMA when I got home. Just for the hell of it I put the Win7 DVD in the drive to see if I could reinstall, since the system still detected the SSD and printed the right model # at boot. After waiting at the "Starting Setup" screen for a lot longer than the original install, I was able to get to the screen where you select the drive for Windows and I deleted single the partition on the SSD. 7 minutes later, Win7 is installed and chugging along like nothing happened.

Before reinstalling I checked my BIOS for the AHCI/IDE settings that people mentioned, but I never saw any AHCI options. Items that had IDE options were selected and enabled, so I didn't change anything related to the drive setup before trying the reinstall. I have an older EVGA 680i SLI, so maybe I don't have the AHCI option? I roughly timed how long the system takes to boot Win7 and it's the same as before the firmware update.

One question, though: my device manager lists the SSD as "INTEL SSDSA2M080G2GC SCSI Disk Device". Is that right? I didn't check the first time around, so I can't compare with pre-firmware. All of my SATA drives are listed as SCSI Disk Devices, in fact.

What app(s) can I run to check the health of the SSD?

[idata]

nifirefighter15,

Thank you so much for your information. So I was wrong to say that data information goes wrong when SATA mode is changed. I'm still thinking all those problems happens probably because the drive thinks some data is supposed to be erased while it is not, especially when using windows AHCI drivers with TRIM enabled (which is the case the drive will automatically try erasing something) seems to be the best (well, worst) condition to provoke the problem. Also some people like calbearz024 says their problems were 'delivered late', which I assume their disks went to wrong after scheduled optimization on their disks.

Anyway, I can't agree more that people should wait until Intel does something.

[idata]

So I saw a case where x25-m went wrong on Vista, 2 days after update. I'm getting sure that it goes wrong since it tries erasing data which is thought not to be used, so W7 w/ AHCI driver faced the problem in the first place. I'm really concerned because it could be possible more and more people are going to have problems even if things are looking good for now. Intel guys must be having nightmare without going home from their office (sad, but if they aren't, I guess I wouldn't be okay with that).

[idata]

Hello! Unfortunately I upgraded my firmware on my brand new, empty ssd when it came out. I have Vista 32bit (for now) on a hdd in ahci mode (AMD platform). For now, I have no problems, but I want to install Windows 7 (Just arrived) on my ssd. I know that downgrading firmware cant be done, so why doesnt Intel upload a new firmware that is actually the old one. That way, we can ensure that our ssds are safe and Intel can have all their time to find a solution for the w7 problems...