Firmware Update of Samsung 840 Pro in RAID mode

[titanradical]

I am considering the purchase of the Samsung 840 Pro, but I need to verify something regarding firmware updates using the Magician software. I have my motherboard Intel disk controller in RAID mode to support a RAID-1 disk drive configuration. I plan on connecting the Samsung 840 Pro to my motherboard Intel controller, and will access it using the latest Intel RST driver software. I will *not* put the Samsung SSD in a multi-drive RAID configuration, as it will be the boot drive.

Since my disk controller is in RAID mode, will I have any issue accessing the Samsung 840 Pro using the Magician software? I've seen some mention of issue doing firmware updates to the Samsung 840 in RAID configurations, but it's not clear to me if there's an issue with a single Samsung 840 connected to the Intel controller that's set to RAID mode.

I understand using single drive configurations on the Intel controller in RAID mode will have TRIM support using the Intel RST driver - correct?

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

It may not work. The SSD doesn't show up as a drive anymore after RST is active. You would have to disable acceleration, update firmware, and re-enable acceleration, to get it to work. This is my experience on z68 + Samsung 830 as a cache drive under Windows 7. I don't know if its any different with the newly enabled TRIM support with RAID new drivers + mobos.

 

[titanradical]

It may not work. The SSD doesn't show up as a drive anymore after RST is active. You would have to disable acceleration, update firmware, and re-enable acceleration, to get it to work. This is my experience on z68 + Samsung 830 as a cache drive under Windows 7. I don't know if its any different with the newly enabled TRIM support with RAID new drivers + mobos.

Hmmm. That's very interesting. If the SSD isn't available to the Magician software while RST is running, that's a problem. When you say "disable acceleration", do you mean uninstall Intel RST?

 

[MarkLuvsCS]

No inside intel RST software you can turn it off the feature and reboot and it will show the SSD to allow you to update the firmware. Then u can re-enable acceleration in the software and after a reboot it would be up and running again. You never have to uninstall the intel RST software.

 

[titanradical]

I see "Acceleration Mode" in the RST help file under "disk properties". I just checked my current disk drive properties in Intel RST, and "Acceleration Mode" is not listed. Perhaps "Acceleration Mode" is only available to an SSD?

If that's all it takes to use Magician, that's not too bad. I can live with that.

 

[Unit'Igor]

No you will have to do it in AHCI mode,that means in other PC,or like i did it :Install on spare disc,just Windows and Magician Software and update firmware.

 

[titanradical]

That's what I was afriad of, and it a deal breaker for me. Too many other SSD's available that don't have this issue. Too bad, Samsung really should address accessing their SSD's on a disk controller in RAID mode. A very common configuration for many people.

I mean, other SSDs like Intel and Crucial don't have a problem doing firmeware updates to their SSDs connected to a disk controller in RAID mode, do they?

 

[Unit'Igor]

No they dont,because its not done in Windows environment.I am angry too that i can use this software in Raid.And Samsung should know that now about every fifth 840 pro is in Raid.
But i would always buy Samsung.

 

[Phynaz]

What are you people talking about? He said the Intel controller in RAID mode, not that he is running RAID.

Intel RAID mode - ACHI when you don't have drives RAIDed.

 

[Unit'Igor]

What are you people talking about? He said the Intel controller in RAID mode, not that he is running RAID.

Intel RAID mode - ACHI when you don't have drives RAIDed.

Yes man you are so right,i read his post but all that raid,single,multi-drive,IRST,IRTS,this and that made confusion in my head.maybe he is in raid because he dont have ahci,like old laptop or motherboard.

 

[titanradical]

What are you people talking about? He said the Intel controller in RAID mode, not that he is running RAID.

Intel RAID mode - ACHI when you don't have drives RAIDed.

A bit confusing terminology here. What you are saying is as long as I'm not running a multi-drive RAID SSD configuration (say RAID-0), my Intel controller in RAID mode will access a single SSD via AHCI. Correct? And the Magician software will see this single SSD on an Intel controller that's in RAID mode, correct?

My controller is in RAID mode to support a RAID-1 disk drive configuration.

 

[Dadofamunky]

Well, if you only have the one disk controller, then it sounds like you're OOL. If there are two separate disk controller (like there are on some motherboards), then I'd consider using the other one for the mirrored set or for the boot drive. This might have nothing to do with Samsung, you know. I'm actually in a similar position running a RAID 0 set with the boot drive on the same controller. I can't run AHCI mode as a result, because the Intel chip set does not appear to allow for running specific drives in different modes.

The Magician software appears to just provide a set of disk management utilities. My guess is that without AHCI mode, you can't take advantage of TRIM. I am certainly no expert, however.-**

The performance is so good I'm not sure I care. I have a 250GB HD that I clone the SSD to for backup anyway. The Magician software enables me to do that, which is nice, since you don't have to pay for Norton Ghost as they give it to you.

 

[titanradical]

I only have the Intel disk controller on my motherboard. I'm in the exact same situation as you are. Once you put your controller in RAID mode to support a RAID configuration, all disks connected to the controller are in RAID mode as far as the controller is concerned, even if they aren't part of a RAID set.

So, since you have this configuration, do you have an issue accessing your Samsung SSD with the Magician software? One of the key functions that requires the Magician software is firmware updates. Can you do firmware updates in your configuration?

 

[Dadofamunky]

Actually, I am going to steer clear of firmware updates for awhile since I just installed the drive. I can't see any benefits to frequent updates if the thing is already screamingly fast. Also, I am skeptical of updating the firmware for ANYTHING in Windows. Thing is, until recently it was far too easy to simply brick an SSD (render it completely unusable) by attempting a firmware update. I strongly recommend staying away from that.

The Magician software seems to work fine, but the Norton Ghost software is only a trial version, which means it's effectively useless. There is no getting around having to pay for a cloning program. Not sure if Ghost 15 (which is the one bundled) is sufficient, since it dates from 2010. I will also mention that the Intel RST software appears to be virtually useless. For example, it does not recognize my 840 Pro as the system disk, which it most assuredly is. I think it's a throw-in that is incompatible in some ways with the Samsung drive. I'm also not interested in "accelerating" my RAID 0 set by devoting some of the SSD to caching it. I doubt that would give me much of a performance benefit, since this system is already a screamer - as no doubt yours is as well. This is the fastest consumer SSD on the market. For a little over $200, I think that's incredible. Even if most of the bundled software (except for the simple Samsung cloning tool) is simply crap.

 

[titanradical]

I expect you are right about being cautious on firmware updates. If the Magician software can access your SSD, then that confirms that it works on drives connected to a disk controller in RAID mode (as long as the SSD is not part of a RAID set).

Thanks.

 

[Phynaz]

A bit confusing terminology here. What you are saying is as long as I'm not running a multi-drive RAID SSD configuration (say RAID-0), my Intel controller in RAID mode will access a single SSD via AHCI. Correct?

Basically, yes.

I goofed on my last entry, it should be:

Intel RAID mode = ACHI when you don't have drives RAIDed.

 

[BOND8585]

Yes you can update the firmware in magician if your storage controller is in RAID mode and the SSD isn't part of a RAID array. I just updated to the latest firmware in this configuration today.

I only have the Intel disk controller on my motherboard. I'm in the exact same situation as you are. Once you put your controller in RAID mode to support a RAID configuration, all disks connected to the controller are in RAID mode as far as the controller is concerned, even if they aren't part of a RAID set.

So, since you have this configuration, do you have an issue accessing your Samsung SSD with the Magician software? One of the key functions that requires the Magician software is firmware updates. Can you do firmware updates in your configuration?

 

[Fernando 1]

@ Users with 2 or more Samsung 840 SSDs running as RAID0 array:

I just have successfully updated the Firmware of my 2 Samsung 840 PRO SSDs, which are running as RAID0 array with my Z77 system.
If you are interested about how I managed to do it, please look into >this< thread.

Regards
Fernando