Intel P67 support for TRIM (Windows 7 Ultimate x64)

[idata]

I have a Gigabyte motherboard (GA-P67A-D3-B3 v1.0) with latest firmware (F7 as of April 2013). I've read that some folks in other online communities (Anandtech, tweaktown) managed to alter their BIOSes and implement support for TRIM in RAID0 (on the two SATA3 interfaces).

I've asked Gigabyte support for an official BIOS update that would permit this.

Here's the reply:

"

Thank you for your kindly mail and inquiry. Since TRIM command depends on the SATA controller, and according to GA-P67A-D3-B3(rev. 1.0) chipset, it uses PCH and which does not support TRIM command. We are sorry that it cannot be support TRIM command by update BIOS version, since it is the chipset specification.

If you still have any further questions bla bla

Regards,

GIGABYTE"

What do you guys think about this answer?

I thought I have trim support, the SSD supports it (Corsair Force GT 120 GB) and I got "0" after "fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify".

I thought that the trim command is passed by the operating system (Win7 Ultimate x64 in my case; SSD is hooked on SATA3, AHCI) to the SSD. OK, in RAID0 I understood that it can't be used, but didn't know that PCH (Platform Controller Hub) can't do that even with a single SSD.

[idata]

I have tested with Mr. Vladimir Panteleev's freeware utility TRIMCHECK v0.4, and I can say that Gigabyte support is wrong: P67 chipset does allow the trim command to get from the OS to the drive, and the drive executes trimming.

Roger, Mr. Panteleev, we copy you on the ground. You've got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We're breathing again, thanks a lot!

(without googleing, can someone say where that reply is from? 😉

[idata]

You mean I have to remember? Uhm, Mission Control to some Apollo mission, when they landed on the Moon or the one that had the problem en route. Congratulations on finding out the trim does work on your chipset.

[DZand]

Razvan Neagoe schrieb:

My question does not go that far. I just want to know if right now, with unmodded stuff, I have trim or not! From the Gigabyte support person, it seems that I don't have trim..

What you certainly want to know is, if TRIM is active within your P67 RAID0 array, if you are using "unmodded stuff", and the answer is "No!" The TRIM command will be sent out by the OS Win7 or Win8 (detectable by the command "fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotify"), but does not pass through the Intel P67 SATA RAID Controller, if your BIOS contains an original (= untouched) Intel RAID ROM module. Besides the used Intel RAID drivers it is mainly the Intel RAID ROM module of the BIOS, which is responsable for the "TRIM in RAID0" feature. Unfortunately the currently available actual Intel RAID ROM modules natively do only support this feature for Intel 7-Series chipsets.

Nevertheless it is possible to get Trim support within your P67 chipset RAID0 array. All you have to do is to replace the original Intel RAID ROM module by a slightly modified version, where the TRIM in RAID0 support has been enabled. The same is possible for Intel Z68 and even for P55 RAID0 systems. All this has been already proven very often by special TRIM tests (manually with a hex editor or by using the tool TRIM Check).

So the answer you got from Gigabyte was definitively wrong. It is possible to get TRIM working within RAID0 arrays of P67 and Z68 chipset systems, but this requires a slightly modified Intel RAID ROM resp. EFI SataDriver module within the BIOS..

[idata]

Fernando, just yesterday I have followed your guidelines written in some other forum, and modded my F7 BIOS. Haven't tested it yet, though... I don't know how important is the file order in the BIOS stack, because CBROM left the SATA file someplace else than in the original BIOS. MEMINIT is where it should be, I've compared original and modded BIOS in the hex editor.

Flybelowtheradar: yep, that was CapCom Charlie Duke speaking to Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, immediately after their report of landing the first manned vehicle on another celestial body.

[DZand]

@ Razvan Neagoe:

If you have any questions regarding BIOS modding, please ask them within the Forum, where you found the guide.

The intention of this thread is to avoid any BIOS modding regarding TRIM in RAID0. What we want are officially released Intel RAID ROM modules, which natively do support the TRIM in RAID0 feature for all Intel P67 chipsets (and hopefully for some others).