Formatting a SSD and need advice for RAID 0 SSD

[MerrickAggie97]

I dont mean to resurrect an old thread, but I want to know if any of the problems have been solved.

Does TRIM work on SSD RAID 0?

Do the latest Intel drivers work?

 

[taltamir]

while theoretically possible, currently an SSD that is a part of a RAID0 array will not have trim.

The latest intel drivers allow you to have TRIM work on an SSD plugged to the same controller as a RAID array as long as the SSD is not part of an array.
What does that mean?

Lets say you have an intel mobo, it has 6 SATA plugs come off the intel southbridge controller + 2 SATA plugs from a third party j-micron controller (most common setup, the jmicron chip provides an IDE plug as well as 2 SATA plugs).
The 6SATA plugs from the intel southbridge are of the same controller (they will be a different color, and labeled as such).

If you have a setup where:
Drive 1 = SSD
Drive 2 = WD 500GB spindle drive
Drive 3 = WD 500GB spindle drive

And you plug all 3 of them into 3 out of the 6 ports of the intel southbridge. You now can set them up in several ways.
A. If you make a raid array (using hybrid raid since your SSD is smaller) of the SSD + HDD then it will not receive TRIM.

B. If you make a RAID0 array from drive 2 and 3, but leave drive 1 as a "single drive". then ONLY intel controller with v10+intel RST drivers will send TRIM to the SSD. Every other SATA controller will NOT.

C. If you leave all 3 drives as individual single drives with no RAID then every single SATA controller will send TRIM to the SSD.

D. Used to be you could get B like situation by plugging different drives to ports from a different controller in intel boards, but that has been rendered obsolete by v10+ intel RST drivers.

 

[MerrickAggie97]

I am so fed up with the garbage that I am receiving from these drives that I just want to curse and scream.

Anyway, it is time for me to reformat my system and I need to perform a secure erase and I need to know the PROPER way to do it because I just cannot under any circumstances get HDD Erase to work at all.

Get this:
It says one of the drives is locked (WTF does that mean?)
For the 2nd one it says Secure Erase failed.

and yes, I did have it set in IDE mode when I tried to do the erase.

Not only that, for whatever reason I was only able to update one of the drives to FW 2030, the other one fails to update.

Can somebody please help me and tell me what I need to do.

I apologize for the harsh tone, but I am already a day behind because of this garbage.

 

[taltamir]

and yes, I did have it set in IDE mode when I tried to do the erase.

Why would you do that?

Actually what program are you using for secure erase? what drives are you using?

 

[MerrickAggie97]

Why would you do that?

Actually what program are you using for secure erase? what drives are you using?

HDD Erase wont see the drives unless you set the motherboard settings to IDE. I want to perform a secure erase so I can get their performance back.

I try and reformat my computer every 6 months and Im two months overdue.

Its based on advice I was given on the first page of this thread.

 

[Old Hippie]

I forgot all about this thread.

I'm thinking you should try the HDDerase function on the Parted Magic boot disk.

Burn the ISO, run it at boot, let it load, hit the "Start" button on the lower left corner, System Tools > Erase Disc > Secure Erase.

It even worked in AHCI mode on my last Intel drives.

Give it a shot. It won't hurt ya none. :biggrin:

 

[taltamir]

you still haven't answered half the question, what drive are you using? its easier to suggest compatible software with we know.

 

[MerrickAggie97]

you still haven't answered half the question, what drive are you using? its easier to suggest compatible software with we know.

crucial 256gb m225

 

[taltamir]

thank you. Unfortunately I don't personally know what the best program would be for that drive, but it should help others when giving you advice. Go ahead and try Old Hippie's suggestion.

Also, I would appreciate it if you try the intel SSD toolbox (it has an SSD secure erase function) and tell me if it lets you use it on a crucial drive or if it refuses to do secure erase non intel drives.

 

[aigomorla]

B. If you make a RAID0 array from drive 2 and 3, but leave drive 1 as a "single drive". then ONLY intel controller with v10+intel RST drivers will send TRIM to the SSD. Every other SATA controller will NOT.

can u explain this to me?

Im lost, as i have 3 intels on raid 0, and a c300 single.

So if i want TRIM being passed onto the C300, i have to set the C300 as SATA 0?

Then Trim will be passed down to my C300?

As its setup right now the C300 is on SATA 3, SATA 0 1 2 being the intels in RAID 0.
I have SSD Toolbox installed, i have RST V10 installed, and chipset drivers.

Did the cmd line to active trim as well.

So am i set? or did i do something wrong?


Oh and i tried to set AHCI, and i lose RAID when i do that.
So it needs to be set on RAID, so im lost in how to setup AHCI and have RAID working.

 

[taltamir]

So if i want TRIM being passed onto the C300, i have to set the C300 as SATA 0?

It was just drive 1 in my example, but it can be on any port on the intel controller. Port order doesn't matter, RAID array membership does.
Your setup is:
SATA0, SATA1, SATA2 make up a RAID0 array, SATA3 is a single non raid member drive.

With such a setup SATA3 will get TRIM just fine on intel motherboards only (at the moment); any other mobo will not send it trim (only due to driver limitation).
SATA0, SATA1, SATA2 which make up a RAID0 array will not get TRIM on any controller on the market as of march 05th 2011

As its setup right now the C300 is on SATA 3, SATA 0 1 2 being the intels in RAID 0.
...i have RST V10 installed...

Then you are good to go. However if you were using an AMD motherboard, VIA mobo, etc then TRIM would not have been passed to your SSD in such a setup.
Also if you were using RST v9 or earlier then TRIM would not have been passed to your SSD. This was a driver limitation that has been resolved in intel RST10; but has yet to be resolved for other companies.

Oh and i tried to set AHCI, and i lose RAID when i do that.
So it needs to be set on RAID, so im lost in how to setup AHCI and have RAID working.

Intel motherboards have 3 modes you can select from:
1. IDE = drives are communicated with in legacy ATA protocol; RAID is disabled. It is called IDE because of some term confusion that is likely not going to be fixed.
2. AHCI = drives are communicated with in AHCI protocol; RAID is disabled. AHCI enables NCQ and hot plugging.
3. RAID = drives are communicated with in AHCI protocol; RAID functionality is enabled.

There is no technical reason preventing a RAID mode that communicates in the legacy ATA procotol, but modern mobos don't bother with this option. If you set your mobo to RAID mode then you DO have AHCI enabled. If you are in RAID mode and have no RAID arrays it will work just like AHCI mode, only booting up your computer will take slightly longer.

It is recommended that you install windows with mobo set to RAID mode, this will make windows install the ATA, AHCI, and RAID drivers. If you install in AHCI mode you only get ATA and AHCI drivers, if you install in IDE mode it will only install the ATA drivers. This is an arbitrary (and stupid) decision made by MS, it means that if you install in RAID you can switch to AHCI or IDE mode after window installed with no problem (the drive just doesn't get used) while if you install in IDE mode windows will blue screen if you switch to AHCI or RAID; unless you manually install the drivers you need before making the switch in the mobo.

 

[Old Hippie]

Also, I would appreciate it if you try the intel SSD toolbox (it has an SSD secure erase function) and tell me if it lets you use it on a crucial drive or if it refuses to do secure erase non intel drives.

The toolbox didn't work on my 256GB C300.

 

[aigomorla]

Then you are good to go..

Thanks.. that cleared up a lot. ^_^

The toolbox didn't work on my 256GB C300.

Yup +1

 

[taltamir]

oh wow, I misread you and didn't notice that your raid0 is 3 intel SSD
now that is cool. Just to clarify on what I said before, in that configuration your intel SSDs are not getting trim, your C300 SSD is.

 

[aigomorla]

in that configuration your intel SSDs are not getting trim, your C300 SSD is.

oh i already accepted that.

Wanted trim on the C300, as its my drive that stores all non productivity software like games.

And yeah i cant get myself off raid 0 no matter how hard i try for my main.
Call it a habit.. lol..

 

[MerrickAggie97]

I forgot all about this thread.

I'm thinking you should try the HDDerase function on the Parted Magic boot disk.

Burn the ISO, run it at boot, let it load, hit the "Start" button on the lower left corner, System Tools > Erase Disc > Secure Erase.

It even worked in AHCI mode on my last Intel drives.

Give it a shot. It won't hurt ya none. :biggrin:

I did that but it just gives me a message that says its running and nothing to indicate whether its actually running.

 

[taltamir]

do it overnight, if it is running it would be done the next morning. If it still isn't done by then then abort. Don't just assume it is frozen because there isn't a progress bar.

 

[MerrickAggie97]

do it overnight, if it is running it would be done the next morning. If it still isn't done by then then abort. Don't just assume it is frozen because there isn't a progress bar.

Most SSDs are supposed to erase in a matter of minutes

 

[taltamir]

How many minutes did you wait on it before terminating the process?

Anyways, TRIMing the whole drive should be quick. But it can take longer if it is writing 1s (or worse, 0s) to the whole drive (being more secure in preventing recovery of your secret data by enemies)...

However, I just noticed something:

it is time for me to reformat my system and I need to perform a secure erase

You are just reinstalling windows, not destroying secret data to protect it from enemies before selling / discarding a drive.
There is absolutely no reason or need to secure erase your SSD if all you are doing is reinstalling windows.

1. If you are installing win7 then TRIM will keep it at top performance.
2. If you are installing older windows then it will be back to "used" performance within a week

 

[MerrickAggie97]

How many minutes did you wait on it before terminating the process?

Anyways, TRIMing the whole drive should be quick. But it can take longer if it is writing 1s (or worse, 0s) to the whole drive (being more secure in preventing recovery of your secret data by enemies)...

However, I just noticed something:

You are just reinstalling windows, not destroying secret data to protect it from enemies before selling / discarding a drive.
There is absolutely no reason or need to secure erase your SSD if all you are doing is reinstalling windows.

1. If you are installing win7 then TRIM will keep it at top performance.
2. If you are installing older windows then it will be back to "used" performance within a week

I am running it in a RAID 0 No TRIM

 

[taltamir]

I am running it in a RAID 0 No TRIM

then it will be back to "used" performance levels within a week. Just go ahead and reinstall windows.

 

[MerrickAggie97]

I said it screw it with this.

I just unRAIDED it and am going to use it as two SSDs, that way I know I will get the full benefits of TRIM.