X25 SSD - XP - Error loading operating system

[mattclary]

I just purchased an Intel x25-v and am having some problems loading XP on it. I used a Win 7 install disk to set the offset as per these instructions: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=326656&postcount=3. I used nLite to integrate my SATA drivers for the mobo, and the disk is properly recognized by the XP install. I do a format (tried quick and full) of the drive, the files copy, then, when the machine reboots to complete the install, an error message is displayed: Error loading operating system

If use XP to delete/create the partition, the install completes properly, but as we all know, the drive is not aligned. It seems as though using the alignment causes the drive to not boot with XP. I found a post in another forum, here: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62093 that found the same issue. Oddly enough, I ALSO am using an Asus board.

Can anyone provide any advice on the subject? I have tried a 32k and 1024k offset, but have not had time to do a lot of testing. Any help is appreciated.

 

[Voo]

I'd install XP as usual and use GParted (never seen a live cd without it, so that should be easy) for changing the alignment afterwards - that should work without any problems..

 

[imagoon]

I just purchased an Intel x25-v and am having some problems loading XP on it. I used a Win 7 install disk to set the offset as per these instructions: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showpost.php?p=326656&postcount=3. I used nLite to integrate my SATA drivers for the mobo, and the disk is properly recognized by the XP install. I do a format (tried quick and full) of the drive, the files copy, then, when the machine reboots to complete the install, an error message is displayed: Error loading operating system

If use XP to delete/create the partition, the install completes properly, but as we all know, the drive is not aligned. It seems as though using the alignment causes the drive to not boot with XP. I found a post in another forum, here: http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62093 that found the same issue. Oddly enough, I ALSO am using an Asus board.

Can anyone provide any advice on the subject? I have tried a 32k and 1024k offset, but have not had time to do a lot of testing. Any help is appreciated.

From reading their forums, what your talking about is a "known issue" on their forums. ASUS boards specifically are having issues with anything above "63"

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=62093

I would guess an ASUS bios update may be required to fix it.

 

[mattclary]

Actually, I resolved this while home at lunch. Rather than using the Align command as per OCZ, I used the Offset command and it worked like a champ.

 

[imagoon]

Actually, I resolved this while home at lunch. Rather than using the Align command as per OCZ, I used the Offset command and it worked like a champ.

Good to hear. Funny to see this stuff appearing in SOHO. This stuff has existed on SANs for years.

 

[kmmatney]

I need to Hijack thr thread for a moment. I just ordered one of these drives to be used in an existing Windows XP computer. From what I understand, TRIM will only work with Windows 7 - is that correct? I'm not too worried, as the drive will only be half full, but just wondering. Do I have to use the Intel SSD Toolbox if I want to do a manual TRIM?

 

[mattclary]

You can download a utility from Intel's website that allows you to schedule a trim on XP.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?agr=Y&ProdId=3233&DwnldID=18455&lang=eng

 

[imagoon]

I need to Hijack thr thread for a moment. I just ordered one of these drives to be used in an existing Windows XP computer. From what I understand, TRIM will only work with Windows 7 - is that correct? I'm not too worried, as the drive will only be half full, but just wondering. Do I have to use the Intel SSD Toolbox if I want to do a manual TRIM?

Because of the way these disks work, the "1/2 full" comment is irrelevant unless the data is truly 100% static. Each edit to an existing file or delete only marks the sector on the disc as available. Once it is reused without TRIM it will need to wiped and rewritten. The drives firmware will by default try to use blank sectors first and will eventually run out and be forced to do clean ups which reduces the performance of the "1/2 full" drive.

 

[kmmatney]

Because of the way these disks work, the "1/2 full" comment is irrelevant unless the data is truly 100% static. Each edit to an existing file or delete only marks the sector on the disc as available. Once it is reused without TRIM it will need to wiped and rewritten. The drives firmware will by default try to use blank sectors first and will eventually run out and be forced to do clean ups which reduces the performance of the "1/2 full" drive.

OK, so how do you fix this with Windows XP. Do you need to wipe out the drive, and then recopy everything back over? Do you need to use a "Secure Erase" utility (like HDD Erase)? Are there any windows utilities that can do this nowadays?

 

[mattclary]

OK, so how do you fix this with Windows XP. Do you need to wipe out the drive, and then recopy everything back over? Do you need to use a "Secure Erase" utility (like HDD Erase)? Are there any windows utilities that can do this nowadays?

No, that's what TRIM is for. Win 7 does it automatically, but that utility I linked to will do it also for XP.

 

[imagoon]

No, that's what TRIM is for. Win 7 does it automatically, but that utility I linked to will do it also for XP.

^ Exactly. SSD is a different tech so avoid using HDD logic on it. Same thing will happen on the newer magnetic 4k sector drives if you use a 512 byte sector OS (Read: old DOS / Fat32.) NTFS defaults to 4k so the effect is minimal as long as the ntfs sectors are aligned.

 

[max789]

Actually, I resolved this while home at lunch. Rather than using the Align command as per OCZ, I used the Offset command and it worked like a champ.

Sorry to bump this up, but I've exactly the same problem installing XP on an X25-V.

mattclary, did you use diskpart and the command "create partition primary offset=1024"?

http://www.pronetworks.org/forums/using-diskpart-on-the-windows-7-dvd-t112571.html
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/wiki/index.php?title=How_to_set_up_Windows_on_a_VERTEX

I followed these instructions to align the partition but still got the same "Error loading operating system" during XP installation.

Your feedback is most welcome!

 

[krick]

Sorry for bringing this thread back from the dead, but I found a true solution to this problem and I felt that I needed to share.

I had the same problem as the original poster. Unable to install XP on an aligned partition.

So I installed XP normally, and partitioned (unaligned) and formatted using the XP install CD as usual.

Then I downloaded the gparted live cd from here...
http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php

...and I followed the instructions I found on this page...
http://lifehacker.com/5837769/make-...ned-for-optimal-solid-state-drive-performance

Start up Gparted and find your SSD in the upper-right dropdown menu. Select it, and click on your first partition in the menu. Hit the Resize/Move button in the toolbar. Change the "Free Space Preceding" box to 2MB, uncheck "Round to Cylinders", and hit "Resize/Move". (If you're using a newer live CD, check the "MiB" box). Hit Apply once and let it do its thing.

Now hit Resize/Move again, and change the "Free Space Preceding" box to 1MB. Uncheck "Round to Cylinders" again, hit Resize/Move, then click Apply. Now your drive will be aligned to exactly 2048 blocks after the beginning of the disk, which allows for optimal SSD performance. Note that if you have multiple partitions on your SSD, you'll need to repeat this process for each partition, not just the first one on the disk.

Yes, moving it 2MB away then moving it back 1MB seems like a long, roundabout method, but Gparted measures space in a weird way. When you first start up Gparted, your partition will have less than 1MB of space preceding it, but Gparted will only measure it as 0-meaning if you align it to 1MB right off the bat, it'll keep the drive annoyingly misaligned at 1.03MB. If you set it to 2MB, hit Apply, and then move it back to 1MB, it works fine.

The difference in boot time between the original un-aligned install and the new aligned install are shocking.


Some notes:

No re-install of XP is necessary.

I have a single partition. When I went to shift the partition back after shifting it 2MB, it showed that I had 3MB at the beginning. I think this was rounding in the display or something. I changed it to 1MB as instructed. Then I re-adjusted the partition size so that there was zero space after the partition. When you shift right, it shrinks the partition, then shifting back will leave space at the end if you don't grow the partition to use the space.

Make sure you have "Round to MiB" selected. It should be the default anyway.