Intel SSD 330 120GB often freezes for 60 seconds

[idata]

Hello,

I have a problem with my SSD. The symptoms are exactly as decribed in this Microsoft article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976418 http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976418

The problem is that I have already installed Windows 7 SP1 and available hotfix is already included in SP1. So the problem should be gone, but it's not in my case. It happens quite often and is very annoying. I think it may be the SSD firmware issue, because I have already tried almost everything and nothing helps. So I decided to post here on Intel's support community for help. I have Windows 7 Home Premium x86 SP1 installed in AHCI mode with msahci driver. My motherboard is Intel D915PBL with 4 SATA I ports. The OS often freezes for exactly 60 seconds and after that time, simply returns to the normal operation. Please help me solve this problem.

[idata]

Dear Intel,

I notice you are aware of this issue by having your representatives interact with this forum.

The issue is clearly related to older sata chipsets. I myself own three 330's and they work fine in newer chipsets but I've never managed to work out a solution for the freezes in older sata 1 chipsets. Buying a SSD drive on OLDER computers along with more RAM is THE ONLY solution to prolongue the systems' life. I am extraordinary happy with this six-years-OLD computer, for subjective reasons such as "I would buy a new laptop but the new keyboards are unusable for someone who types a lot"

Your product support is a total waste of time. I opened a ticket and after stupid recommendations such as "did you try to format the drive with intel toolbox", "oh, your windows installation is five years old, did you try on a clean windows install" and so on (while I was sending out raw logs, clear explanation, etc), all you were able to do was to offer to replace the drive, while you already KNEW there are issues with these drives.

If you did not know, then your entire support line is totally out of sync with your production line. I even asked your support what happened to my failed RMA drive (i.e. did you test the drive in a sata1 generation to be able to reproduce the issue?) and he was unable to provide an answer.

I have two questions, of which one is rethoric.

1. Were you able to identify what exactly causes the freezes on sata1gen links and eventually release a firmware fix/recommend a workaround?

2. Will I ever buy an Intel SSD?

Thanks and goodbye.

[idata]

You asked a very good question Costin Guşă. I would also like to ask Intel what causes the ssd to hang and stop responding that it needs a reset on SATA 1 controllers. Can you test it in your labs? The freezes are random. What causes them?

[idata]

brn, I switched too to pata mode and apparently no more freezing.

According to article below and contrary to popular belief ssd's behave faster on "ide mode" than on ahci because of lack of NCQ which takes a bit of calculation time

http://forum-en.msi.com/faq/article/ide-sata-and-ahci-all-you-need-to-know/ IDE, SATA, AHCI, SSDs and TRIM: all you need to know | MSI HQ User-to-User FAQ

[idata]

Costin,

I'm guessing you meant sata.

It's awesome to hear it worked for you too. Good info in the article as well. SSD manufacturers should get the word out! This will reduce frustration from users.

[idata]

Thank you Nathalie, for your comment.