Intel SSD 520 Series unresponsive in Windows 10

[CLin77]

I recently upgraded my Lenovo ThinkPad T61p (Type 6457-BF5) with an Intel SSD 520 Series (180 GB), and installed Windows 10 Professional 64-bit (Build 16299) on it. The SSD provided great performance improvement, but I also noticed something strange - the system would freeze every a few minutes, with no or light access to the SSD. During the incident, the laptop's HDD indicator was constantly on for up to a minute, and the mouse cursor could sometimes be moved, but clicking on objects was unresponsive.

I searched online and found a relevant article entitled "Task Manager might show 100% disk utilization on Windows 10 devices with Message Signaled Interrupt (MSI) mode enabled" on Microsoft Windows 10 Support (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3083595/task-manager-might-show-100-disk-utilization-on-win... https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/3083595/task-manager-might-show-100-disk-utilization-on-win...). The described symptoms seemed exactly the same as mine, so I followed the instructions to disable the MSI mode in the registry, and rebooted my laptop.

However, the problem persisted. I installed the Intel SSD Toolbox and my SSD is in perfect condition, with the firmware version of LE1i. I guess it might need a more suitable driver than the default one provided by Windows 10, but I did not find it on Intel's website. There might also be some other settings needing tweaking. Could you please advise how to resolve this problem? Many thanks in advance.

[idata]

Hi elarry,

Thank you for contacting our support community. We understand your situation regarding the Intel® SSD 520 Series. We would like to inform you that there are no drivers available for this SSD since it is a SATA drive. Based on the Firmware for the SSD it seems that this is a Lenovo* version of the drive.We recommend you to contact https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/topics/oems.html Lenovo* and make sure you are running the latest firmware available for this SSD. Note: Our tools do not work when the SSD is an OEM version. Only the tools from the manufacturer are able to update it. Regards, Junior M.

[CLin77]

Hi there,

Thanks very much for getting back to me - your advice is very helpful.

Before I contact Lenovo, may I clarify with you for the following:

1) Intel does not provide a driver for the SSD in question, as it is an SATA drive.

2) You think the problem described here may be attributed to an outdated firmware, instead of settings in Windows 10.

Many thanks for your time again.

[idata]

Hi elarry,

Thanks for the reply. In order to clarify your concerns, please check the info below: 1-We do not have drivers for SATA drives because they are embedded in the OS since Windows* Vista. 2-We need to make sure you are using the latest Firmware for the SSD in order to discard that as a possibility for your issue. However, we can not confirm that because due to the drive been an OEM version so we don't know the latest firmware provided by them. Regards, Junior M.

[CLin77]

Hi Junior M.,

Thanks for your clarification.

I have contacted Lenovo Support and they did provide me with a tool, with which I successfully updated the firmware of my Intel SSD 520 Series in question from Version LE1i to LF1i.

I have also disabled the scheduled optimisation of the SSD in Windows 10's Disk Defragmenter, as well as Windows 10's Superfetch (via Services) and Prefetch (via Registry Editor), based on information I found online. These measures did seem to reduce the occurrence of the unresponsiveness, but did not completely eliminate it.

Another explanation I found online for this problem points to Windows 10's default driver for the SATA AHCI controller. The solution was therefore to update it with Intel's corresponding driver. I found and downloaded Intel's Rapid Storage Technology driver (https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27400/-?product=55005 Download Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) ). However, when I tried to install it using the SetupRST.exe, I encountered the following error message (I translated it from Chinese to English, so it may appear slightly differently from the original English version):

Failure

Due to the error below, the Setup programme has terminated prematurely:

The platform is not supported.

I do not understand, as Intel SSD 520 Series is in the supported product list, and my Lenovo ThinkPad T61p uses Intel PM965 chipset - they should be supported, right? I tried to look into the log file, but was confused by the overwhelming information in it - it appeared to me that it was due to the lack of a certain version of .NET, but I am not 100% sure. Could you please advise on the system requirement of this driver? I can certainly provide you with the log file if it helps.

I look forward to your help, and many thanks again.