Running Toolbox Optimize on 240GB Intel SSD 520 Results In BSOD

[DWund]

I've been using a 240GB Intel SSD 520 as my boot drive for about three weeks (Intel RSTe v3.5.1.1009). I have not had any problems with day to day operations and the AS SSD benchmark for the drive is about what I would expect it to be. Yesterday I attempted to optimize the drive using Intel SSD Toolbox v3.1.2. At 85% I got a BSOD that completely froze the system. I did a hard reboot and the system came up without an issue. All of the trim files created by SSD Toolbox were still on the drive. I deleted them manually and attempted to optimize the drive again. The result was the same. Except this time when I restarted the system the SSD boot drive could not be found. The second time I tried to turn the computer on the SSD drive was found and the system booted. I ran SSD Toolbox quick and full diagnostic scans and neither found a problem with the drive. I also ran optimize on an X25-M SSD drive I also have in my system and it completed without a problem.

Although the drive seems to be working fine, the fact that running optimize crashes the system has me concerned with its long-term reliability. Any suggestions for further troubleshooting the problem (or fixing it) would be greatly appreciated.

[idata]

Update: ended up trying (stubbornly) to get it to run and ended up not being able to boot, so reinstalled Win8. And annoyingly enough with the old 8.6.2.1022 driver that installed with Windows the Optimizer now completes successfully.

I am very confused with the various drivers, at one stage I thought the latest driver was a 6.5 series, then there is the 12.5 series, and from Dell I would get an 3.5 series. Some are chipset and some are IRST but seem to all control the C600. But again, very confusing what driver does what! What I have installed so far is the Chipset and the Management Engine, and I am supposed to install IRST next, but when I do it says it is older than the existing. Anyways, its working so I'm not going to mess with it...thanks for your time...

[idata]

It's great you got the Optimizer running in Windows 8. Windows 8 also has its own SSD optimizer/manual TRIM function, that is combined with the HDD defragment function.

I can understand your confusion over the different "driver" files, which is caused by what some manufactures are using as names for things that are not really drivers, and simply using incorrect terminology.

The "chipset" files are not drivers, they are actually Windows "INF" (Information) files, that Intel describes like this:

The Intel® Chipset Device Software installs the Windows* INF files. The INF files inform the operating system how to properly configure the chipset for specific functionality, such as USB and core PCI.

Dell calls these "Chipset Drivers", which is not correct terminology. The Chipset software does not install a SATA interface driver.

RSTe and IRST are SATA drivers, programs that are the interface between a board's SATA controller (part of the X79 chipset) and (in this case) the Windows file system. The X79/C600 chipset originally only used the RSTe (Rapid Storage Enterprise) SATA controller driver, and is the only PC chipset that uses RSTe. All other Intel SATA chipsets use versions of IRST (Intel Rapid Storage Technology) SATA controller driver, and before IRST, IMSM (Intel Matrix Storage Manager.)

Dell is also naming the RSTe driver, version 3.5.0.1101, "Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver" (or IRST), and version 3.5.0.1096 "SATA RAID Driver". Intel calls a similar version of this driver for their own X79 boards:

RSTe_Win7_8_3.5.1.1009_PV.exe... Installs the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology Enterprise (RAID) driver version 3.5.1.1009 for Intel® Desktop Boards.

There is no reason that Dell cannot use the same terminology as Intel, mother board manufactures like ASUS or ASRock routinely use the identical names for these various files that Intel does.

Until very recently, the RSTe and IRST drivers could not be interchanged, X79 only could use RSTe, and the other chipsets only IRST. Currently, IRST version 11.7.0.1013 and greater (ie, 12...) can be used with the X79 chipset, as you have found. This of course adds another aspect to any potential confusion.

[DWund]

The issue that I started this thread to resolve seems to have been fixed with the recently released version 3.1.5 of SSD Toolbox. When using it to manually trim my SSD 520, I no longer get a BSOD. I currently have RSTe ver.3.6.0.1093 drivers installed.

[idata]

Same problem here. I have an ASRock X79 Extreme9 with latest BIOS (3.30). I have an Intel 520 Series 240GB SSD which came with the latest firmware. I am using the Intel RSTe driver which seems to cause a crash with Intel SSD Optimizer.

*EDIT*

I am using Windows 8 x64.

[idata]

Have you tried a clean install and so the default drivers? This is a drastic fix,but it worked for me. My current drivers: