System hang on Asus U36SD with OCZ Vertex III

[outofbandii]

I just bought an Asus U36SD with some upgrades from GenTech. Upgrades from standard spec are 120GB OCZ Vertex III and an upgrade to 8GB RAM. It's running Win7 Home Premium out of the box.

I'm experiencing very regular system hangs on this machine at the moment - hanging after 2-20 minutes of use, symptom is a complete system freeze which requires a power reset. I've also experienced 1 BSOD.

I'm using Firefox 6.0.2 as my primary interaction with the machine - I'm a web developer so heavy web user, multiple tabs etc. (I'm going to downgrade to FF 3.6 to see if the system hangs still occur.)

I don't think it's an OCZ issue, or at least not the same one reported elsewhere. Any ideas on diagnosing or suggestions?

Thanks,
Alastair.

 

[outofbandii]

I emailed Ken at GenTech around the same time I posted the above. He replied within 2 minutes - excellent response time.

I was running v203 of the AMI BIOS. I've updated it to v205 - link in case anyone else runs into this:

http://support.asus.com/Download.as...=30&ft=3&f_name=U36SDAS205.zip#U36SDAS205.zip

I don't have any further info as to what the issue with the 203 BIOS is - I've asked Ken for any info he has - the BIOS update doesn't come with any release notes (not impressive, Asus/AMI).

Hope this helps if anyone else hits this.

 

[outofbandii]

Ok, I'm still seeing a complete system freeze that recovers after 60-120 seconds, only had it once so far (with 3-5 minutes use).

 

[outofbandii]

More info on the symptoms:

It starts as a Firefox application not responding - I still have mouse movement - normal cursor which then switches to hourglass only in Firefox. I can try opening other applications, which don't respond, at which point the mouse freezes in place. I counted 41 seconds, and it unfroze, and opened up the applications I had attempted to start.

Will test with different browser as main application, and safe mode with networking on.

 

[AngryStudent]

I alos got a U36SD but I installed a SSD from intel, the 510 120gb by my self. Iv been having a living hell with BSOD and freezes. You can read about it at http://www.sevenforums.com/crashes-...so-when-i-go-into-sleep-mode.html#post1632100 / Sadly I have not been able to fix my problem yet. Nor Asus or Intel want to help, looks like im a grey zone because I did replace it my self. Anyways were you able to fix your problem outofbandii?

thank you

 

[zCypher]

For what it's worth, the symptoms you describe are pretty much identical to what I experienced with my first 60GB OCZ Vertex2 and saw the same symptoms in another system that has a 120GB Vertex3. In the Vertex3 system the latest firmware update seems to have resolved the issue.

In my system the Vertex2 eventually became unusable and I RMA'd it. Replacement is going ok so far, but it doesn't seem nearly as fast as the old one though it seems to benchmark similar numbers.

First step check the OCZ firmware, if you're not up to date, update it using the linux usb installer. Otherwise make sure AHCI is enabled in the BIOS/UEFI. It should be set this way at the time of your Windows install.

My symptoms also started with Firefox doing exactly what you described.

 

[AngryStudent]

I updated my BIOS yesterday and Ive been BSOD free since. But I wont be happy yet because this laptop is sneeky and will fail on me when I need it the most. Ill post again later to comfirm if the BIOS update was the fix for my BSOD problem.
thank you

 

[outofbandii]

Thanks for the posts guys.

I have 2 dump files from BSODs and have experienced the symptoms in Chrome with no Firefox process running.

I'm going to try the firmware update, fingers crossed. I'll update here whatever happens.

 

[AngryStudent]

Well I be damned, The BIOS update seems to have fixed all my issues. No crash since. I write if I get one. But atm im a super happy camper!
good luck guys!

 

[outofbandii]

Just to update this thread for any interested parties: I upgraded the Vertex 3 firmware to v2.15 and now no longer get frequent system hangs - I get BSODs every 30-60 minutes instead

Machine spec:
Asus U36SD-A1
CPU: Intel 2nd Generation Core i5-2410M, 2.3-2.9GHz,32nm, 3MB, 35W
RAM: 8GB DDR3 1333 Dual-Channel (4G X 2)
HDD: 120GB OCZ Vertex 3 Solid State Drive SSD SATA III 6Gb/s
GFX: nVidia GeForce GT 520M 1GB GDDR3
OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit


Crash Time (reverse order), Bug Check String, Bug Check Code, Caused By Driver, Comment

22/11/11 11:58 KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR 0x0000007a rdyboost.sys Photo of BSOD: http://db.tt/bX6Ykl2u
18/11/11 04:30 CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION 0x000000f4 ? Physical memory dump FAILED with status 0XC0000010
18/11/11 02:30 CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION 0x000000f4 ? Physical memory dump FAILED with status 0XC0000010
17/11/11 04:55 SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED 0x1000007e AMPPAL.sys
16/11/11 11:56 CRITICAL_OBJECT_TERMINATION 0x000000f4 ntoskrnl.exe
16/11/11 11:00 UPDATED OCZ FIRMWARE Upgraded OCZ firmware to v2.15 Freeze symptoms far less frequent, BSOD remains.
13/11/11 04:10 SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED 0x1000007e AMPPAL.sys
11/11/11 20:23 SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED 0x1000007e AMPPAL.sys
11/11/11 20:22 SYSTEM_THREAD_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED 0x1000007e AMPPAL.sys
28/10/11 11:58 KERNEL_DATA_INPAGE_ERROR 0x0000007a Ntfs.sys

I'm looking for a reliable, fast SSD replacement for the Vertex 3 - any recommendations?

 

[nitrousninja]

I have a Corsair Force GT 120G that has been issue free since i installed it three days ago. Its a new build and I set the BIOS to AHCI before installing W7.

$30 rebate at Frys too.

 

[ThatsABigOne]

Reliable SSD model would be M4 from Crucial. They do not use Sandforce controllers that have problems that you are experiencing.