Sony :: Vaio VPC-Z1 (HDD Option): Custom RAID
Apr 25, 2010
I've got the HDD option, which replaces the optical drive with a normal HDD, and doesn't come with proprietary Sony SSDs. I've been thinking about and testing RAID configurations, and this thread is meant to gather some thoughts on that. At some level it's probably easier to go the Sony SSD route, but... I prefer something else
There are two parts: (1) external RAID, (2) internal RAID.
Part 1: External RAID
I went down this path because I believed that there's only one SATA port offered by the HDD-option. From Intel [url], it appears that the port multiplier functionality is not implemented in the ICH8, which is what the Z1 comes with. This means we can't get two or more drives to logically share the same SATA port, which means that they have to appear as one logical device, which in turn means that some sort of external RAID/BIG hardware is needed.
I tried a number of hardware RAID solutions. The first was the Silicon Image SiI 4726, in a mini-board with a form between the 2.5" and 1.8" drives. Unfortunately, after configuration on a (old) desktop, the chip offers only its admin drive ("Config") to the bios and Windows, rendering it impossible to boot off of...........
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Aug 30, 2009
I'm about to take the plunge and order the vaio z from sonystyle uk, i was looking for the fastest, reasonably portable with good resolution laptop, and while I was looking for screen little bit bigger than the vaio z (15"-16") I couldn't really find anything that would go as fast the vaio z while still being under 17" and light enough to carry around.
But all my searching was based on the fact that I want to raid 0 two fast SSDs.
But is it really worth it? will two x18-Ms in Raid0 on the vaio z raid controller be really faster than one x25-M?
Also is it possible to DIY the raid? I did some reading and while I found some threads talking about the parts used to do the raid i couldn't get a clear answer whether it's easy to do the raid yourself.
One other question is that on sonysyle uk you have the most expensive vaio z having the carbon fibre option, while anything cheaper doesn't say so, does that mean the others are not carbon fibre? how different would a carbon fibre vaio z be VS non carbon fibre?
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Mar 21, 2010
how much faster are the tri and quad raid configurations compared to dual raid? I know bench tests show that the tri and quad raid are significantly faster but how does this translate into real world use? will opening programs be twice as fast or games will load twice as fast?
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Jul 3, 2009
I am looking at buying the Z690/790 with the SSD RAID configuration and was looking for more information on the size and interfaces of the SSDs used in RAID configuration.
a. Are they 2.5" inch drives or 1.8" inch drives?
b. Do they have SATA interface or some other interface
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Feb 6, 2014
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).
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Boot then brings up message "missing operating system".
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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 ...").
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Rewriting BIOS version 2.05 (GNET57WW) does not work (says "BIOS update not necessary").
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Embedded Controller Version GMHT25WW (1.10) ME Firmware Version 9.0.22.1467. How to get back my RAID controller?
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Feb 12, 2010
Is there any word on possibly upgrading the Vaio F series GPU to something better than the 330M in the future? It is the only thing stopping me from getting a Vaio F , since it won't be too great for gaming.
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Apr 14, 2010
if I could install my own Intel X25M SSD drive in the Sony Z laptops. I was thinking of getting the Z series and I heard someone say that its not easy to upgrade the hard drive in the Z series.
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May 29, 2009
I purchased a Sony AW230J/H believing it would be easy to convert to a RAID 0 array by installing my 2 Intel SSD drives. Turns out on this particular model they turned the RAID options off in the BIOS so I can't access it, and install a NON-RAID version of Intel Storage! But, striping/mirroring are available in the native VISTA Storage of Manage Computer! So, how can I create a RAID on drives that are already being used to boot into the OS? Or does anyone know any tricks to turn ON the RAID Bios so I can configure it PRE-OS installation? When I right click on the 2nd SSD (unpartiioned) all options for mirrow/striping/etc are available, but no drives to add to it. My primary drive has those items greyed out?
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Apr 14, 2010
Is the quad raid 0 512Gb on the Z the fastest setup in the laptop/mobile world?
How does it compare to the 512GB SSD setup on the new MBP or even the Alienware 15x and 17x?
I asked this on the Alienware forum; but nobody truly knows much other than that the alienware would demolish the Z and that the ssd on the Z is a dual setup like the mbp and alienware. I know its a quad setup, but is it the fastest option availble?
I was under the impression tht it was, and it would be extraordinary on such a tiny laptop.
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Mar 8, 2010
Does anybody know if the SSDs on the Z series use the slower MLC flash memory or do they use the more efficient (and expensive) SLC flash memory?
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Mar 11, 2010
I'm thinking of purchasing the new sony Z-1190 laptop. Some of the options have only one drive (say 128GB X 1, or 256 X 1) but still supposedly have raid 0. How is this possible (I thought that more than one drive was needed)? Would there be a performance difference between the 256X1 or the 192 (64X1 + 128X1)?
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Aug 27, 2009
Im looking to buy the raid cable and bracket for my Z. I've seen old threads and saw that the raid cable is FCP-126, but does anyone know the model number for the bracket?
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Feb 4, 2010
I was browsing at an online store today and I see that Intel has released 1.8" 160GB drives! These are 5mm thick.
Now I have upgraded my Z to a single 160G (2.5") but these should slip right in!
Does anyone know where I can get the required cable and the tray for the z-series notebooks
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May 4, 2010
My RAID failed yesterday and one of the new drives I bought is dead. I only had it for less than a day.
I don't know if it is was the drive or RAID but either way the drive does not work but the connector does so.
I'm most likely going to send a ram module I bought back as I’m unsure the voltages of that ram.
My keyboard also developed a problem. Not all the keys work. I looked at it and the connector is burnt the middle of it. The keyboard connector is what goes into the sound board. I'm not 100% certain how it happened may be it was either the ram or RAID that did that or some other unrelated fluke caused by something else. I kept on powering of and on without logging of in test mode and may be that did it. I'm not a smoker and I never physically did that.
The ram I originally had was 7-10-F1 the ram I bought was a 4GB 7-10-F2. I think what has confused me is that I googled and read that the ram I bought was CL8 when I had originally CL7 it makes no sense to me to me that ram could be CL8 when the first letter is C7?
I put my laptop on my desk like I normally do and it just turned off. I powered it on and it said no OS found. I opened it and the connector looked fine and the KB was ok at that point..................
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Mar 14, 2010
How to Setup - RAID Volumes
BEFORE CONTINUING WITH THIS POST, BACKUP YOUR DATA AND CREATE RECOVERY DISKS IF YOU DECIDE TO DO THIS!! DID I MENTION MAKING RECOVERY DISKS AND BACKUPS? GOOD!
RAID 0 as defined from this Wikipedia Article
Quote:
RAID 0
RAID 0 (striped disks) distributes data across multiple disks in a way that gives improved speed at any given instant. If one disk fails, however, all of the data on the array will be lost, as there is neither parity nor mirroring. In this regard, RAID 0 is somewhat of a misnomer, in that RAID 0 is non-redundant. A RAID 0 array requires a minimum of two drives. A RAID 0 configuration can be applied to a single drive provided that the RAID controller is hardware and not software (i.e. OS-based arrays) and allows for such configuration. This allows a single drive to be added to a controller already containing another RAID configuration when the user does not wish to add the additional drive to the existing array. In this case, the controller would be set up as RAID only (as opposed to SCSI only (no RAID)), which requires that each individual drive be a part of some sort of RAID array...............
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Mar 16, 2009
I found the part number for the raid component in the Z-series. You just need two low-profile SSD, and you should be able to do RAID in the Z-series laptop without paying for RAID config from Sony.
Part number is A-1553-769-A
You can go here to purchase the part
[url]
You may be able to use this in the TT as well, but I'm not so sure about that.
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Mar 5, 2009
Here's my story and, let's say, my analysis:
I bought a generic 2 HD sata2 RAID1 enclosure based on the chipset Silicon Image SteelVine 5744. It can be used in USB or eSATA2. This embedded chipset (named SiL5744) is known (understand "claimed") to auto-handle Sata I/II and host sata2 controllers that not support the port multiplier feature. The HD are two Samsung F1 1To. There's no jumper to rollback to SATA 1.5Go on them, you can only do it by flashing the HD's bios, however we don't need to do it as I wrote just before, the SiL5744 supports SATA 3Go natively.
The enclosure works pretty well with USB, but *not* in eSATA : the E6500 freezes/hangs just after the POST step (a potential driver issue with the installed vista 64bits is not the reason then). As soon has I disconnect the eSATA cable, the system recovers and continues as normal.
What I've tried/done so far :
Both E6500's BIOS SATA mode AHCI and IRRT mode were tested,
Intel Matrix driver and software was updated to the latest 8.7.0.1007 version (AHCI and IRRT),
The SiL5744 chip was upgraded to its latest firmware as well (in case of...)
In order to verify the esata cable, the HDs and the enclosure itself, I succeed to :
- Use the enclosure's RAID1 feature when using the USB connection, I could partition,format, and read/write on the logical volume
- directly connect *one* HD (Samsung F1 1To) to the E6500's esata port -(I have a sata2esata cable), Vista installed it and I was able to use it as normal, even the hotswap feature seemed to work fine (I unkindly removed it). I could so test both HD individually this way... On the enclosure hardware side, everything looks fine then.
An IMPORTANT thing : The E6500's ICH8/9-M sata host controller seems to support the Port Multiplier feature *ONLY* on sata port 0 -as a bubble message from the Intel Matrix soft sometimes shows up-, but this is exactly where the internal HD is plugged on the motherboard I found nowhere you can change the internal sata port ID (switch,bios,ect...). I think this is the key of the problem that seems to be a dumb port conflict, because the esata port is in fact the port sata 4 (the DVDRW drive is sata 1, dock's esata is 5 for instance). If somebody knows how to swap the sata port ID, I think I won't be toasted !
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Aug 23, 2009
Does anyone know what kind of SSD drive Sony ships with their SR and Z series laptops?
I've been doing some research on SSD drives and it seems like a bunch of them slow down considerably after prolonged use (albeit still faster than HDD)
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Feb 21, 2010
I really like the look of the cw26 that best buy has for $950
I am also waiting for the n82, but i think the cw series is great with the blu ray
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Feb 17, 2010
I have trouble with my FW 590 FEB, I did the Vaio care and used system tune up, however, I noticed several problem, the power option icon does not give me any option when I click the image (usually there is option such as balanced or power saver). Moreover, the option used to be High performance, Balanced, power saver, however, now it left with High performance, power saver, and power saver.
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Jan 27, 2010
I'm an old TR and now a TZ owner, and my TZ is awesome in the fact that it could be spec'd with a 2nd HDD, replacing the DVD drive (which i used once in a blue moon, and have an external for that)
I have the 64GB SSD and now a 500GB HDD, so it's perfect, fast SSD for the OS and shed-loads of space for all my photos and films n stuff.
So since i now want to upgrade to something with more power, and the new Z looking so awesome(!), I'm hoping they'll offer the same 2nd HDD option.
I really can't express how useful and sensible this option is (especially for my usage)
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May 12, 2010
I'm thinking about purchasing new z with "Fresh Start" option and wondering what's included with it.
On my current TZ, I've used "Clean Install" and everything worked fine for me.
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Dec 2, 2009
I just got my new Sony Vaio VGN FW590FVB yesterday and am having a problem. Once I enter either of my SD cards into the SD slot,
they show up fine under "my computer". However, once I am done using them, there is no option on the taskbar to "safely remove"
the SD card. There is also no option when I right click on the SD card under "my computer" for "eject"
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Dec 27, 2008
my planned i7 / EVGA 280 system.
My current setup I built myself is:
[url]
OS: Vista Ultimate 64 bit... XP Pro 64 bit on 2nd HD
EVGA nForce 780i SLI FTW Mobo
Intel 2 Quad CoreQ9550 running @ 3.8 Ghz
2xEVGA GeForce 9800GTX+ 512MB DDR3
2x2046 Patriot Viper 4096MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz
2xSeagate Barracuda 7200.11 500GB Hard Drive
2xLite-ON 20x DVD Burner with LightScribe
Aspire X-Cruiser Case Black/7 case fans/red-blue lights
Apevia 680W Iceberg Power Supply
Thermaltake Ruby Orb CPU Cooler
Saitek Eclispse Backlit Keyboard-Red
Microsoft Trackball Optical mouse
Dell UltraSharp 24” 1920x1200 LCD Monitor
3DMark06 score: 20,029
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Jan 7, 2010
I'm working on a new theme for my mac, nothing too groundbreaking, but I think this one in particular caught my eye: [url]
The only problem is, the program that is used for the quote of the day, Magnifique, is not compatible with Snow Leopard.
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Jul 26, 2009
Trying to get rid of these questionably useful programs -- but I don't see entries for them in add/remove programs in the control panel (or for any of the other useless VAIO software packages that come on OEM machines sans "fresh start")
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Mar 2, 2010
How do I add custom resolutions to my HP Envy 15 with an ATI Radeon 5830 card? I don't want it for the laptop screen, but I want to be able to use an 1366x768 resolution when I connect it to my HD Ready TV.
I've tried to use Powerstrip but the button for Advanced Timing Options is grayed out for me.
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Aug 7, 2009
Is there anyway to customize the multitouch trackpad on a MBP outside of the options in System Preferences? Specifically what I want is 3 finger swipe up to do the Mac equivalent of maximizing.. whatever that's called. The green plus sign
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Aug 11, 2009
I have over clocked my 9400mg geforce card and processor from 2.4 to 2.7, the system is very stable I guess i found the "sweet spot".
Anyway we all know xps 1340 heats up like a skillet. Im think about modding it in terms of cooling/fans/heat sinks... Im trying to find a copper or a better heat sink than the stock one. or maybe a slighty stronger fan?
Does anyone know any sites or information how to make it cooler...?
I dont want to buy a cooling pad because I think it looks adds extra stug the a very small laptop.
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Dec 15, 2008
Just found this looking on ebay cuz my hand hurts from typing all day. Funny thing is, I didn't even include M1330 in the search.
[url]
This thing looks pretty thin and I'm wondering if it would even really help. It says "natural chamois leather feeling" but I don't think it would really reduce the contact pressure on my wrist. What do you guys think?
Also, would this leave an adhesive residue when it comes time to remove it? I'm sending the seller a message to try and clarify this.
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