Sony :: Z Series SSD And RAID/TRIM
Mar 8, 2010Does 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?
View 10 RepliesDoes 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?
View 10 RepliesI've wondered about this while I was shopping for my Studio 15 and now I'm helping another NBR user also find one via Dell Outlet.
Graphite Gray (apparently no longer available on new models) was offered with Black, Red, Blue or Pink trim. What areas of the notebook are in the "trim" color? Also, can anyone describe the shade of blue used on the Graphite Gray with Blue Trim?
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
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...............
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.
I have continuously through about my Vaio P because it has a 64gb SSD. Does the P have garbage cleanup "TRIM" for its SSD?
View 3 Replies View RelatedDoes anyone knows how TRIM works in that configuration ?
Have anyone done some tests yet?
I have a TT190 with a factory-installed SSD. As many of you are probably aware, Windows 7 support for TRIM greatly improves the performance of an SSD that is used over time. But the drive must support it.
Recently Intel, Samsung, Corsair and some other manufacturers have released new firmware for their SSDs that supports TRIM.
My TT190 contains a Samsung MMCQE28GFMUP-MVA SSD drive. I suspect that Sony uses that same drive (or drives from the same series) in other Vaio models.
I wanted to understand if there is any TRIM firmware already released or planned for this drive, so I sent an email to the relevant support group in Samsung. After two weeks I received the following reply:
Quote:
Thank you for your inquiry to Samsung Semiconductor.
At the end of this month or, if delayed, next month, we will open a web site on which all FW updates (including the VBM19C1Q, with ATA-TRIM) and tools will be available for easy update all devices PM800.
Unfortunately, the SSD model MMCQE28GFMUP-MVA is not supported in this FW update (it is not PM800 series) and there will be no support for TRIM in the future.
We do sincerely apologize for the inconvenience using our products
I especially like the last phrase.....
Changing Chipset SATA Mode from AHCI to RAID?
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I have already checked:
1) Changing regiser's key as above/;
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesstorahci Start 3 -> 0
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesiaStorA Start 0
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESystemCurrentControlSetServicesiaStorV Start 0
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesstorahci Error Control 3 -> 0
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Unfortunately after rebooting in RAID mode, OS doesn't work.
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2) Going step by step over the description made by microsoft support team: [URL] .....
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Doesn't work.
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My aim is to configure my SSD as a cache drive and as I read - without changing mode into RAID, it wouldn't work.
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Maybe there is a possibility to set up SSD as cache in AHCI mode?
Is it possible to remove the Raid 1 Controller / Drive from a W540 that was ordered with it installed?
View 1 Replies View RelatedI 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?
View 9 Replies View RelatedI have the Lenovo Y400 laptop with Intel Core I-7 processor and Nvidia Geforce 650M Graphics chip. Â 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'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?
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?
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.
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)?
View 10 Replies View RelatedIm 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?
View 3 Replies View RelatedI'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...........
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?
View 3 Replies View RelatedMy 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..................
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 !
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
I have been looking around for the answer to this but I'm still not sure.
I downloaded HwInfo32 and it says my firmware version is "Drive Revision: VBM24D1Q"
And then below it shows "TRIM Command: Supported (Indeterminate Read After TRIM)"
Does this mean mine already has the trim firmware?
So I was still confused about whether or not the SXPS Samsung SSDs would be able to accept the future firmware update (and thus be able to support TRIM). I contacted Dell's tech support via email and was told that the drives will support TRIM (though on 2 occasions he called it TRIP). I am not inspired by his lack of knowledge regarding the proper term and dont think that he is right. If I save the email would this help my case of getting a SSD from Dell in the future that does actually support TRIM?
View 10 Replies View RelatedAny firmware out for this yet? Or does anyone know of a workaround with another existing firmware?
View 5 Replies View RelatedLooking on Dell outlet and noticed that color scheme. I was wondering how it looks since I was planning on a Jet Black, but the Graphite Grey sounds nice too
View 9 Replies View RelatedWhat's the current status? Does or doesn't it support TRIM and if then with which firmware?
View 10 Replies View RelatedI got a Dell Latitude E4200 with a Samsung SSD PB22-JS3 TM 64GB drive. Does anyone know if its firmware can be upgraded to support TRIM in Windows 7? Current
firmware version is VBM19D1Q. Seems like the version that support TRIM is VBM19C1Q. Doesnt that seem like a downgrade? I've had my notebook since October 2009 so I dont think it has TRIM support from the factory.
Firmware location I think is here: http://www.samsung.com/global/busine.../business.html
I have got 2 HDDs in my PB12". If I do a RAID0 using Tiger, would I get a performance hit instead of getting more speed from the HDDs?
View 10 Replies View RelatedGot my XPS 1730 today and as soon as windows booted, the first message I got was that a RAID 0 drive was failing and I needed to back it up immediately. Does this mean anything? Do I have a defective part?
View 15 Replies View Related