Brand new 525 SSD (120GB) stops responding on write

[ANiel2]

Hi all,

I am just setting up a brand new 525-series SSD (SSDMCEAC12) and as soon as I try to write more than a few MB of data to it it stops responding. I can't even use smartctl to get any details out of the drive, and if I reset the PC it locks up at the BIOS logo (motherboard is an Intel DH87MC.)

If I power off the board for a few minutes then everything seems fine until I write more than a few MB to the SSD and then it stops responding again. Am I doing something wrong? I'm just booting Linux off a USB stick and copying files onto the SSD over the network (so that I can then boot off the SSD instead.) The SSD is not warm at all so it's not a temperature issue. Before it locks up smartctl reports a normal temperature (33 degrees.)

Here are some of the kernel messages I get when things break:

Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: exception Emask 0x0 SAct 0xfffffff SErr 0x0 action 0x6 frozen Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: failed command: READ FPDMA QUEUED Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: [135B blob data] Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: status: { DRDY } Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: [138B blob data] Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: status: { DRDY } Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: [138B blob data] Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: status: { DRDY } Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: [138B blob data] Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: status: { DRDY } Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: [138B blob data] Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: status: { DRDY } Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: failed command: WRITE FPDMA QUEUED Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: [138B blob data] Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: status: { DRDY } ... Sep 07 16:07:52 archiso kernel: ata6: hard resetting link Sep 07 16:07:58 archiso kernel: ata6: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0) Sep 07 16:08:02 archiso kernel: ata6: COMRESET failed (errno=-16) Sep 07 16:08:02 archiso kernel: ata6: hard resetting link Sep 07 16:08:08 archiso kernel: ata6: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0) Sep 07 16:08:12 archiso kernel: ata6: COMRESET failed (errno=-16) Sep 07 16:08:12 archiso kernel: ata6: hard resetting link Sep 07 16:08:18 archiso kernel: ata6: link is slow to respond, please be patient (ready=0) ... Sep 07 16:08:47 archiso kernel: ata6: COMRESET failed (errno=-16) Sep 07 16:08:47 archiso kernel: ata6: limiting SATA link speed to 3.0 Gbps Sep 07 16:08:47 archiso kernel: ata6: hard resetting link Sep 07 16:08:52 archiso kernel: ata6: COMRESET failed (errno=-16) Sep 07 16:08:52 archiso kernel: ata6: reset failed, giving up Sep 07 16:08:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: disabled Sep 07 16:08:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0 Sep 07 16:08:52 archiso kernel: ata6.00: device reported invalid CHS sector 0

[KenF_Intel]

Hi Malvineous,

The only similar report we have is a report of the 240GB version not being recognized by the DH87MC. Our engineers have recreated that problem and are investigating the possible cause.

The interesting thing about that other report is that it only affects the 240GB model of the 525 SSD.

[JTso]

Similar problem with Intel 525 180GB on DH87MC:

/message/210541# 210541 https://communities.intel.com/message/210541# 210541

Any updates?

[ANiel2]

Just to provide an update on this, I am told that the problem seems to be with the power supplied to the mSATA port on the DH87MC motherboard. Apparently the SSD needs power at the higher end of the spec, but the board delivers power at the lower end. So while both devices are in spec, being at opposite extremes there is some resulting unreliability.

Intel have offered to refund my purchase price for the motherboard which is very nice of them, but I'd like to keep the board so I've asked them whether they can refund the SSD instead. I would like to get another device that isn't mSATA and see if I can squash it into my tiny case somewhere so I can keep the Intel motherboard, which was the whole point of this upgrade (wanted Intel onboard video for the open source Linux drivers.)

I would also like to say I wish I could get this level of support from other IT companies! It's nice to deal with a company that really does stand behind their products.

[MMISS53]

I doubt it's actually the motherboard that it the problem; I just had one of these drives fail with the same error. I have two of them- one works fine the other just died and I lost a ton of data. Ironically, the drive died when I was backing up my work.

Not happy.

[ANiel2]

Yes I plugged mine into a SATA 2.5" adapter and it didn't work there either. I think the drives just require above average power availability (perhaps at the upper limit of the spec) which they can't get.