Intel SSD 520 Series Disconnecting/Reconnecting, what to do?

[ENeto]

Abount an year ago I bought an ASUS Zenbook UX32VD with an Intel SSD 520 Series 480GB.

I got rid of Windows 8 (that ended up inside Virtualbox) and installed Linux, that time was Linux Mint 14 Nadia and now I have Linux Mint 17 Qiana, since the beginning I noticed occasional crashes that the logs ended pointing out the culprid was the SSD drive.

The kernel keeps logging that several times a day:

kernel: [15833.344939] ata1: exception Emask 0x50 SAct 0x0 SErr 0x4090800 action 0xe frozen

kernel: [15833.344952] ata1: irq_stat 0x00400040, connection status changed

kernel: [15833.344971] ata1: SError: { HostInt PHYRdyChg 10B8B DevExch }

kernel: [15833.344975] ata1: hard resetting link

kernel: [15834.068392] ata1: SATA link up 6.0 Gbps (SStatus 133 SControl 300)

kernel: [15834.079528] ata1.00: ACPI cmd f5/00:00:00:00:00:a0 (SECURITY FREEZE LOCK) filtered out

kernel: [15834.079606] ata1.00: ACPI cmd ef/10:06:00:00:00:a0 (SET FEATURES) succeeded

kernel: [15834.079615] ata1.00: ACPI cmd ef/10:03:00:00:00:a0 (SET FEATURES) filtered out

kernel: [15834.099770] ata1.00: ACPI cmd f5/00:00:00:00:00:a0 (SECURITY FREEZE LOCK) filtered out

kernel: [15834.099825] ata1.00: ACPI cmd ef/10:06:00:00:00:a0 (SET FEATURES) succeeded

kernel: [15834.099837] ata1.00: ACPI cmd ef/10:03:00:00:00:a0 (SET FEATURES) filtered out

kernel: [15834.109697] ata1.00: configured for UDMA/133

kernel: [15834.124335] ata1: EH complete

It says it needed to hard reset the sata link.

Occasionally it keeps doing that, downgrading the link speed to 3.0 Gbps then try with 1.5 Gbps, never stops and the system crashes.

I readed a ton of claims of people with the same problem principally with lenovo computers and the solution is always the same "I ended up exchanging my Intel 520 SSD for a Samsung 840 Pro" and now I don't have any problem.

I have a Samsung 840 Pro SSD with 512 GB that doesn't do that. Another interesting thing that happens with my Intel 520 and not with my Samsung 840 Pro is that if I put them in an external USB 3.0 case (I tested with a 2.0 USB case of another brand too), the Samsung works fine, but the Intel SSD keeps disconnecting and reconnecting all the time at a point to be impossible to use it, no matter what the computer/system I connect it to, Windows/Linux.

Is that normal? An Intel 520 Series 480GB SSD be unusable through USB, and only be usable because the kernel can handle its disconnections when connected through the SATA connector, and still ocassionally crashing?

I was considering buy another Samsung 840 Pro as the Intel 520 one will not serve me even as a backup drive.

[ENeto]

And I already TRIM my SSD on every system boot.

[Jose_H_Intel1]

Besides the usual recommendations, another option is to contact your local http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/contactsupport Intel support center for further assistance.

[ENeto]

This SSD was bought from a local reseller that import products from USA to Brazil. According to him, my SSD don't have more than a year warranty (or he simply don't care about it).

[ENeto]

As everybody knows about the problems with this drive. Lenovo made a custom firmware LB3i to specific models they sold, HP seems to use that firmware? I readed here http://h20566.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/kb/docDisplay/?docId=emr_na-c0380994... HP Support document - HP Support Center but its only for drives with 180 or 240GB.

Can anyone comment on this?

http://www.sounddevices.com/notes/video-note/updating-intel-520-firmware/ PIX-SSD5 (Intel 520 Drive) Firmware Update Process | Sound Devices Technical Notes | Sound Devices, LLC

They say this update is for the 480GB drives, but I did not understood if Intel made it to address something specific to their devices.

[ENeto]

I secure erased my drive (it did not made any difference). But I repartitioned it using MBR and made sure the GPT partition table was erased, some tools can make a mess with both tables. The drive inside an USB case seems to be disconnecting less times now, but it still does.