Lenovo P/Y/Z Series :: Y400 / Changing BIOS To RAID For MSATA SSD As Cache - Windows 8.1
Feb 12, 2014
I have the Lenovo Y400 laptop with Intel Core I-7 processor and Nvidia Geforce 650M Graphics chip. The laptop came with windows 8 and is now running windows 8.1 At the time of purchase I opted to go for a model with a standard HDD and no MSATA SSD for caching.
I have recently purchased a 128 GB "My Digital SSD - Bulletproof 4" MSATA SSD and installed it.
I installed the Intel Rapid Storage Technology software and it shows the drive, but does not give me any options for acceleration or caching.
Based on my research so far, it seems I need to enable RAID mode in the BIOS (SATA setting is currently at AHCI).
The only other option shown is to change it to "compatibility mode" which it identifies as IDE.
Is there a way to switch the BIOS to RAID mode so I can use my MSATA SSD for caching without having to reinstall windows?
I am using a B590 booting from a mSATA SSD (Mushkin). I am booting in to Ubuntu 12.04. Everything worked fine for half a year. Last week booting from the SSD did not work any more. Now the mSATA SSD is not visible in my BIOS, under Windows 7 oder several Linux distros. I cannot access the mSATA SSD at all. I am especially surprised that my configuration quit working from one day to the other without any action from my side. The usual set of questions:
Is there something trivial that I do wrong?Is there a way to check the sanity of the drive and/or my notebook?Is there any way to revert to the previous extremely satisfying state?My BIOS-version is 1.18 (06/27/2013).
Id like to remove the 32gb msata Cache drive in my laptop so that i can upgrade it to a 250gb 840 for use as another storage device. I know how to physically remove the msata from the laptop i just dont know what i have to do before i do that. Can i just simply physically remove the drive and reinstall the drivers saved on it to my HDD or is there other things that need to be done first like disabling intel RST.
I cannot select my new SSD (M4 mSATA) in the boot order in the BIOS.
The mSATA drive DOES show up on the BIOS info page (first BIOS screen) but does NOT appear on the boot order page. The drive is visible and formatted in Windows 8 64bit and I can copy files to it,
Computer: Lenovo IdeaPad Y580 with a 1TB HDD (i7 CPU, 660M COU, 8GB RAM, etc.)OS: Windows 8 64bitSSD: Crucial M4 mSATA 256GB Model # M4-CT256M4SSD3Windows shows the drive as operating correctly. After some fiddling I did use disk management to populate the volume (238GB available) and assigned a drive letter. I successfully copied a txt file and can open the file.
I have created a recovery DVD but it doesn't recognize the drive when attempting to use--although I can see/use in Windows.
I have also removed the HDD and rebooted a number of times. So the drive is working but I cannot set it as a bootable drive. The things I have tried:
>>>Have you tried the ssd as the only drive>>> Yes.
>>> are both drives on the same sata contoller have you tried the ssd in the hdd port?>>> he SSD is mSATA and has a different port than the HDD (which plugs into the SATA port). I have tried w/o the HDD plugged in,
>>>could it be that the hdd has ahci and the ssd doesnt or vice versa>>> I have not tried disabling AHCI yet as a quick browsing showed this bricking some systems.
>>> See the Bootmenu of the BIOS setup utility. Make sure that the Boot Device Priority in the BIOS setup utility is set so that the computer starts from the device you want. >>> Doesn't list it as an option on the priority screen, BUT it is listed on the BIOS information page as recognized (HD0 I believe).
>>> Press F12 when the Lenovo logo appears on the screen while the computer is starting up to select the device you want the computer starts from.>>> Does not list the SSD drive as a boot option. Tried w/ and w/o the HDD installed.
W540 20BG001CGE, had BIOS 1.05 and RAID 1 with two Samsung 840 EVO 1TB working fine under Windows 7 - x64. Did a (by lenovo update tool recommended) BIOS Update with the bios update manager to 2.05. Update ran fine. After Rebooting (and loading defaults, disabling Intel Rapid Start, Changing BIOS boot option to legacy first ... I recognized SATA Option (AHCI or RAID) in BIOS is gone. At boot Intel Matrix Storage Configuration doesnot appear anymore (where you can build RAID etc).
Boot then brings up message "missing operating system".
Downgrade to BIOS 1.05 impossible, due to ISO File on www.lenovo.com support is not system compatible, message "Lenovo Group Limited - Invalid system disk; Replace te disk, and then press any key") (The link to the ISO File version 1.05 at the bottom of this page links a non bootable ISO image [URL]....) Also the downgrade to BIOS version 1.08 found here [URL] .... does not work, CD also messages "Lenovo Group Limited - Invalid system disk - Replace ...").
Rewriting BIOS version 2.05 (GNET57WW) does not work (says "BIOS update not necessary").
Embedded Controller Version GMHT25WW (1.10) ME Firmware Version 9.0.22.1467. How to get back my RAID controller?
I bought a y400 in feb 2013 and it worked perfectly. Then i faced some SSD issues and the system would hang and needed to force restart .I had to install Ubuntu to work.. I sent it back in feb'14 under warranty and they replaced motherboard ,SSD , HDD , re imaged ,etc . Now i got it back and everything seemed to be ok but was facing display driver issues (tried everything to fix this) and ended up disabling my graphic card to make the system work seamlessly .
Having read on internet somewhere that windows 8.1 may fix the dispaly driver issue , I upgraded to 8.1 from the windows store . After downloading the update I had to restart to install windows 8.1 and it was stuck at 49 % at setting up on lenovo logo screen for about 2 hrs and I had to force shutdown.
After starting up again as expected it crashed. Now I cannot Safeboot nor can I use OKR .
After the booting up its landing lenovo logo screen for a while then jumping to select language screen ENGLISH US -> Advanced Options -> cannot find startup settings (to safe boot) any option i select for example system restore it then asks me for windows 8 setup or windows 8 OS when i select any one of them it hangs (blue screen)
Same happens when i use OKR .It loads the files and then boots to the same language screen . Since Recovery image is stored on separate drive all I need to do is format the C drive but how can I do it ?
I have an IdeaPad Y400 and just suddenly one of the USB Ports stopped responding. The hub shows up in device manager and if I connect a usb light it will receive power but I cant use it for anything else.
More Specifically it is the always-on yellow usb port on the right side of the device.
Just a few months ago I had issues with the onboard gpu and had the entire motherboard replaced (twice) for a few hundred dollars
I just bought a lenovo G500 59-390085 laptop and installed windows 7. It is supposed to have 8GB of ssd for caching but I cant see it either in the bios or in the disk managment. I tried to make it work with Intel Rapid Store technology, where I see only the main hard disk, and it also needs to make it RAID instead of AHCI so I thought that changinh that in the bios would solve the problem, but there is no such option, only AHCI and "compatible". Ιs there a chance that the ssd drive is not connected?Also, this is the message on express cache when I tried to reinstall it. URL....
Lenovo U410 comes with 24 GB SSD and 500 GB HDD. Lenovo claims that they use some express cache to get faster speed during bootup and opening apps.
Lenovo recommends clean install of ideapad system while upgrading to windows 8.
link:
My problem: As I am doing clean install , I want to delete LENOVO partition. The technical support guy also told me in phone that I can delete the partition and create my own.
But how will I use ssd and hdd? In my laptop, the windows OS was installed in 500 GB hdd and 24 GB ssd was used for some "express cache" .
But if I delete all the partition, how will I configure such that 24 gb ssd is used? Because lenovo does not provide any software named "express cache" in their site.
BUT they provide "Intel Rapid start, Intel rapid storage"
So does these rapid start and storage use 24 GB ssd aand improve my boot time?
Lenovo Ideapad U410,Ruby Red Color i5 processor,4 GB ram,1 GB nvidia 610M GPU,24GB SSD,500GB HDD.
Just upgraded the 24GB msata to a 120 GB msata and I'm having trouble cloning the hard drive over to the ssd with Clonezilla. The plan is to move the OS to the msata ssd and wiping the original hard dirve and using it for back-up and storage. The BIOS is current set to AHCI with Lagency OS support active but trying UEFI first. I've done this before with win 7 systems; but this is my first foray into win 8.1 w/UEFI. The system does recognize and access the 120 GB Crucial M500 msata disk; it just won't mirror the 8, win-8 partitions. I reinstalled the HD and rebooted the system; to ensure I didn't mess something up and everything seems to be working; though on the slow hard drive.
I did boot from the USB drive with Clonzillia on it and used the drive to drive cloning option...
I recently purchased a intel 530 240GB ssd for my extra msata slot. Turns out that my new msata ssd won't fit the slot. I'm wondering if Lenovo installed the wrong type of slot on my mobo.
Lenovo x220 Winodws 7 64bit, up todate MyDigitalSSD Super Cache2 50mm SATA III (6G) mSATA SSD
I have installed my mSATA card as instructed and that part went fine. Like a couple of other folks the drive is not being recognized by Windows 7. I have checked the storage management in windows 7 and the drive is not there in any form. I have disabled all caching as suggested in some posts in the polices for the drive in windows 7. Again no drive being recognized.
I've just purchased the Lenovo Z510 Intel Core i7 (model 20287) and I've got a few queries:
1. if there is one mSATA connector available and free (not already connected) so I could be able to add an ADATA XPG SX300 mSATA SSD? this one is compatible with lenovo products?
2. if yes (compatible) ,I can be able to install the Win7 OS after and if system will recognize the new ssd? any tutorial?
3. if no (not compatible), what are Lenovo laptops compatible with mSATA ?
I`ve just received my new notebook and I had already bought the SSD drive I would like to use with it.In the first moment I thought it would as easy as described hereURL.... but my notebook has the windows 8 and the OKR 8.0 and I can't find the option to create recovery discs.
I found out that I can make a recovery media, a pen drive with at least 16Gb, to recovery the system. I would like to make the same with DVDs. create the recovery discs or to reinstall the windows 8 from scratch with the same license key (not even sure if I have one) the one preinstalled in my notebook?
Why the zoom % of webpages randomly changes whilst I am surfing the internet with Mozilla on my Lenovo S10e laptop? It is very frustrating and when this happens I go down to the right hand corner of the application and select 100%. Is this a zoom problem or just the fact it is resizing the pages because of the screen size being very small. Are there any updates or software needed to overcome this problem.
I have a couple issues with moving Win7 Pro from my HD to my new mSATA. I have an E520, 1143 FU3 (?), 500gb hd, Win7 Pro. I added a 120gb mSATA SSD.
I first thought I would clone the drive to the new one, but had trouble getting the used space small enough. Then I thought I would do a factory install, but can't seem to get that to work either.
First of all, I made recovery disks back when I first got the computer. But I can't find a way to use the data on the disks. They are not bootable. So If I remove my old hard drive so I can install to the new one, how do I boot? I made a boot disk from Lenovo Recovery, but it doesn't boot to a command prompt, just into the program, which doesn't seem to be able to use my recovery disks, it wants something else. How do I restore my computer back to factory defaults? The recovery system won't let me make new disks, its says this can only be done once.
Also, I have been removing things from the hard drive so it will fit to clone to the new 120gb drive. I seemed to be unable to get the drive to be less than 130gb, even though I had removed almost everything except Windows. I was checking the size by looking at the drive properties in Windows. Now I noticed that if I check the properties of each item, directories and files, on the C:, the total size is only about 60gb. Does that mean I can clone the drive, and the drive properties is reporting the used space incorrectly, or am I missing something? Even with the "Q:" (Lenovo_Recovery) added on, I should still be well under my 111gb on the new drive.
Does the Microsoft Window's 7 installation CD automatically recognize the mSATA and the Optimus in conjunction with the Intel HD 4000 as well as the fingerprint reader for login? Or do I have to download the drivers and install ExpressCache separately off of Lenovo's website... trying to stay clear of Lenovo drivers that might conflict with Intel's and NVIDIA's.
I installed Windows 7 onto my y410p without a problem but now I am not able to get into the BIOS. Are there specific instructions for how to get into the BIOS in Windows 7? how to?
best way to install a *clean* version of Windows 8 to their Thinkpad that came with Windows 8?
I ordered a T430s with low specs and Windows 8 and I dropped in an 8GB DIMM and mSATA drive. However, the Lenovo implementation of Windows 8 is maddeningly difficult to create backup media (you can't) and the Lenovo "restore" from the HDD partition won't allow you to restore to another drive. Plus, that kinda defeats my original purpose of a clean install without any bloatware onto a fast, user-installed mSATA or SSD.
I have Windows upgrade media I purchased for my desktop, but that install program says the installation won't work with the Lenovo Product Key specific to my Thinkpad T430s (I'm guessing it's an OEM product key while the install media is an upgrade looking for a previously installed Windows 7?)
I want to run a Virtual PC . After googling I got some instruction. Some of the people suggest to change in bios. They suggested go to Bios-> Security -> System Security -> Enable virtual. But when I tried that. I didn't find the system security under Security. what should I do? How can I enable virtualization in my pc?
My machine is Lenovo Z580 with Windows 7. Some time ago I accidentally installed Linux Mint on my whole HDD, so all the partitions and files (including recovery partition) were erased. I then installed back Windows 7 and partitioned the HDD.
However, since the incident, I'm unable to enter BIOS. I'd like to change boot sequence, because the laptop wants to boot from network, displays an error, and then boots from HDD and Windows 7 starts. I can access boot manager with F12 during boot, and the entries are (those aren't the exact names of course, except the first one):
1. ubuntu <- yes, that's how it's called. I guess it's a remnant of Linux Mint installation 2. booting from network 3. booting from HDD 4. booting from DVD 5. booting from USB
I tried the following things: 1. pressing F2 at boot. it used to work before the incident, now the laptop ignores it and proceeds to attempting boot from network, displays an error, and then boots from HDD. 2. using Novo button instead of power button, then choosing "BIOS setup" option - the laptop still proceeds to boot OR displays black screen and need to be shut down 3. removing boot entries using Ubuntu via USB stick [URL] ..... - I can't remove any entry, because after using
>efibootmgr -v
no list appears, and when I enter
>efibootmgr -B -b 001
or any other number, I get an error that the entry wasn't found.
I can't flash BIOS because Lenovo didn't provide the necessary file for this model. I also can't sent the laptop to repair because my warranty period ended two months ago.
So, I flashed the file attached here: [URL] .... and everything works now! the "ubuntu" entry has been automatically deleted and I was able to access BIOS and change the boot order.
Before installing ... write down MAC address of your LAN card, because it'll get deleted after BIOS update!
1. press windows key+R, type cmd and press Enter..... 2. in the opened command window, type ipconfig /all and press Enter, find the entry regarding your Ethernet connection and write down the physical address.... 3. Flash BIOS update 4. After reboot follow this guide: [URL] .....
I have a Lenovo Z500 notebook and I would like to know if is it safe to run 1.21 BIOS update for Windows 8 on Windows 8.1 64bit? I have a problem with Fn keys and in my current BIOS (1.10) there are no option for it.
Wats up everyone,i was just wondering,if any one could give me feedback on what difference performance wise 6mb cache(with 2.80GHz) would make on the Studio Xps 16(or any laptop for that matter) Versus the 3mb that comes with the 2.4GHZ? thanks in advance
I am unable to enter Bios settings on z580 with windows 8.1. I have tried everything including holding shift with shutdown and accsesing bios within windows, nothing seems to work and windows just strarts up normally. I also can't find a update to fix this problem.
Basically I am trying to install a new Samsung SSD into a W530, however, I can not get the Bios or Windows instalation to see it (when you select what drive you want to install windows on).
I can externally attach the SSD to my other laptop and see the drive. I can create partitions, format them, etc. But none of that worked my original issue.
I have also updated to the latest BIOS version, tried turning off UEFI, no luck.
What I am missing here to get this SSD to show up?
my laptop is z500 and i've installed the windows 8.1 enterprise x64 but i don't have bios update and windows 8.1 is nothing have a bios setup or bios update,.Where can I find the bios update for z500 windows 8.1 x64 ??