Plextor M5S Issue !!

[denio12]

Hi all,

I have recently bought Plextor M5S 128 Gb SSD which I have plugged into the Asus P8P67 Pro motherboard. The Plextor replaced an old OCZ Vertex 2 60 Gb which I have had for around 3 years. I had no issues with vertex whatsoever but I changed it as the drive became to small fro all my programs and system.

So I set up the new ssd by plugging it into the SATA 3 port on my Mobo and installed the Windows 7 but during the installation and from the beginning the drive behave strangely, namely the installation of the system froze few times so I had to restart the computer. After around 5- 10 restarts I managed to install windows on the drive. Once finished that I also tried to install all the system updates and the same issue of freezing during installation occurred. So again I had to restart machine few times in order to successfully install them all. But this have not solved the problem as during drivers and program installation the same thing was happening. I researched the issue online and found that it could be caused by bad drive.

SO I installed the HDTune to check the system and surprisingly the new (2 days old drive) has some issues already. The (C7 Interface CRC Error Count) is 165 and says "attention". This is worrying me as I mentioned the drive literally is 2 days old and everything what I managed to do was install system, system updates and few programs I use on daily basis.

For comparison I also checked all my storage drives (have 2 of these) and they all seem fine no issues whatsoever. I also checked an old vertex 2 before I received the New SSD and the driver after 3 years of solid work is also fine, no issues at all in the HDTune.

I looked into many threads similar to mine online but everything what guys said was the issue either with mobo, cable or drive itself. But my old vertex and additional two drives work fine on my mobo so I ruled it out. I checked the cables and again I used the same sata cable for the new SSD that I used for an old so I also ruled this out. However The ASUS P8P67 pro has 4 sata 3 ports two which are controlled by marvel and two which are controlled by intel. I had my old vertex plugged into the intel sata 3 and worked fine. I realised that I plugged the new ssd to the one of the sata 3 ports controlled by marvel and that seems to be an issue. I also forgot to mention that once I managed to install windows, after few normal restarts (for program and drivers installation purposes) the blue screen was appearing and I had an issue with missing windows system files which render system useless as it would not boot (ssd drive plugged into sata 3 controlled by marvel). This was strange as I have just installed the new fresh system on the drive. I then switched the drive back to the one of the intel's sata 3 ports and surprisingly windows booted in and just works fine... even quiet fast comparing to previous experience.

SO sorry for such long essay but I though laying out the issue properly will avoid many unnecessary questions.

SO Does anyone had similar issue or problem related the sata 3 ports or the ssd drive on the ASUS P8P67 pro motherboard?? Does it mean that my sata 3 marvel ports are broken or is it the drvier issue ? (I installed drivers supplied with mobo which are windows 7 ready)
And Lastly should I worry abut the Interface CRC Error Count ?? Currently the count is 165 and does not rise (I have read that if it does not rise that it should be fine) is it true??

Will be Glad for any help with this

Thanks


So everything was pointing out to issue with the SSD drive and I started worrying as I have bought two of these.

 

[Charlie98]

I have an M5P and had none of those issues after swapping it for a bad Samsung SSD.

Did you unplug all of the other drives before loading Windows?

You say you have 2 of those drives, have you swapped the other M5S in and tried loading that one?

Would it be possible to just clone the old Vertex over as a starting point? (Even with the understanding that you may clean install at a later date.)

 

[Cerb]

Try again, only using the Intel ports, and use one of the cable from a drive that's been working fine for some time. Some of the early Marevll implementations had buggy firmware. If the Intel ports work fine, you might want to see if there are newer firmwares for your board (including OROMs, if separately listed).

 

[denio12]

Thanks Guys for answers.

Yeas I did unplug all the other drives while installing Windows and during that the issues of freezing occurred first time as mentioned earlier in my post. I managed to successfully load the windows on the drive while having it plugged into one of the marvel ports but the issue is still there. I did not make it clear but while ssd is plugged into the marvel port I am having issue with missing windows core files (dot exactly remember the name of the file but is something like ...krntl.exe) so it does not boot in at all. Only shows black screen and tells me to insert Windows Installation disk in order to repair it.

But interesting is the fact that the same window installation on my ssd works fine on the intel port. So missing files from the same windows are occurring on marvel port and while I swap it to the intel port everything works fine windows boots and works fine.

Yeah I have another brand new not even formatted M5S but have not tried to plug it in as I am not sure whether its me who is doing something wrong or is something with hardware so I did not want to break another drive (one is enough )

The thing with vertex is that I formatted it as I am going to use it in different machine so not really possible to clone it. But as said I had it plugged into the intel port on my mobo only and worked and still is it in good shape as HDTune does not indicates any issues with Interface CRC Error Count whatsoever. Everything is perfect with the Vertex 2.

Yeah I did use the Intel port and it works fine as I say windows boots without the issue of missing files etc... The same windows installation which gives the issue of missing files using marvel ports works fine on the Intel ports. The Interface CRC Error Count does not rise stay the same (165 - I keep checking it every time I switch the machine.)

One thing also while the ssd was plugged into the marvel port I noticed that the Interface CRC Error Count once was 91 and when the another freeze occurred I restarted machine and noticed that this number increased to 165...

So exactly what I am trying to find out is what "Cerb" indicated whether it is the port issue or the drive issue. However I am not the computer geek and therefore I am not familiar with some of the stuff like :

Whats the OROMs ?? IF you could explain.
I was also thinking about installing newer firmware for the drive (Would it help ?) but don't really know how to...

 

[Cerb]

Whats the OROMs ?? IF you could explain.

Option ROMs, which are how add-in cards get BIOS/EUFI support, needed for booting, for example.Sometimes, the RAID and AHCI firmware, along with firmware for 3rd-party controllers, is distributed separately from the core motherboard firmware. I don't see such a thing for your board, though[/quote].

I was also thinking about installing newer firmware for the drive (Would it help ?) but don't really know how to...

Updating the firmware shouldn't hurt, certainly. Best thing to do is just use it on the 6Gbps Intel ports (gray), and treat the Marvell ports with suspicion.

 

[denio12]

Thanks for the replay.

Yeah I have changed already to intel port so I will do as you suggest and keep in plugged into the intel port.

I found how to updated firmware so sorry for such stupid question. Search is my friend

The only thing I am concerned is the SSD. is the Interface CRC Error Count in any way dangerous for the drive?
Does it mean that it will fail eventually ? or as long as it does not rise its ok?

Don't know really what to do, should I RMA it or keep it ?

 

[Cerb]

No. The UDMA CRC error count has to do with transporting data, so it's going to be a problem with the cable (most likely), physical port on the drive, physical port on the motherboard, or one of the SATA controllers. If it were a physical port on the drive, or controller on the drive, the problem would persist regardless of port or controller used. So, it's surely a problem with the Marvell controller ports, whether it be mechanical, electrical, or software in nature.

 

[denio12]

Great, good to hear that so I will keep the ssd I have right now I hope it will serve well. Thanks for responding and explanning everything.

Thanks, I appreciate Your Help