Old build with long standing bug...

[IceBoy109]

A while back I upgraded my main hard drive to a Crucial M4 SSD and I've enjoyed the speed increase ever since. However, there has been one issue that has been bothering me a little bit that I never gave much attention to because I'd been content with my PC's performance. First, here are the specs of my build:

OS: Windows 7 Professional (Sp1) 64-bit
CPU: Intel i7 940
RAM: 12.0 GB
Graphics: 2xRadeon 4850
HD : Crucial M4 128GB


Here is a shot showing what is bothering me - hard drives showing up as ejectable usb devices:

When I try and install the Intel Rapid Storage Technology software from my MSI's website, I get this error:
[Update: after Changing the RAID mode from IDE to AHCI I was able to install the Intel Rapid Storage software, but it never recognized the M4 SSD, which goes along with the whole Marvell/Intel thing outlined below]

I really just want to confirm what I've come to understand from reading around the forums and other online sources and that is as follows:

My motherboard (Big Bang Xpower) uses the Intel Chipset for the 3Gb/s connectors while the 6Gb/s connectors use a Marvell chipset. As a result, if my SSD is connected to the 6Gb/s sata connectors I will not be able to install/run/ the Intel Rapid Storage Technology utility which explains why the drives are showing up in the USB devices that can be safely removed.

Additionally, I'd like to know whether my Bios looks to be set up properly, and whether I'd be better off using the 3Gb/s ports and using the Intel AHCI Controller, or if I should deal with the fact that my internal hard drives all show up as USB devices that can be ejected and stick with the 6Gb/s ports.


Unrelated Side Questions and Screen Shots:

Microsoft Teredo Tunneling Adapter warning on Device Manager Screenie - I think it's an ipv6 thing...not sure if I need to worry about it or not.

I've also noticed that when I first turn on my computer Photoshop and Illustrator load up quite fast. However, if I leave my PC on for about a half hour and then try to open it up again later, it's much slower. It's as if the other hard drives (scratch disks) are slowing down the load process, but in my power management options they aren't set to sleep or power down or anything for hours. Am I missing something else?

Why the heck does the boot sequence continue to list everything in my PC even though I keep disabling all but the primary OS drive (m4)?!?! bah!

Here are some screen captures of my bios settings and device manager (my apologies for the phone pics, couldn't figure out how to do a screen shot in the bios):

Thanks in advance for the help and thanks for taking the time to read all this, folks. You guys are the best!

 

[ericloewe]

Intel RST will never recognize anything not connected to an Intel controller. Also, the advantages of using the Marvell controller instead of Intel's integrated one (even if it's just SATA 3.0Gb/s) are dubious at best.

As for your real problem... Try looking for a Legacy option somewhere in the BIOS setup, that might be the cause of your problem (not too likely, but it doesn't hurt to check). Do the drives on the Intel controller still show up as removable drives after installing RST?

 

[IceBoy109]

USB Device Legacy is set to "enabled" but I don't think that was a part of it. The drives do still show up as removable even after installing RST.

Just to confirm, my SSD drive would provide better results connected to the Intel controllers (3.0Gb/s) with RST than the current Marvell controller (6.0Gb/s)? Seems counter intuitive but just wanted to double check before I take the time to open up my rig. Thanks again!

 

[Vaz]

This is a bit confusing and I'm betting a lot of this has to do with motherboard design. If I understand correctly, you should have at least 3 options for the hdd in BIOS. IDE, AHCI, and a 3rd one RAID. Even though you may not be setting up an array, try it out and see if there is any effect. As for the drives showing up as ejectable, I don't know about that one, it's strange. It could be part of the mobo design or it could be a logical windows thing. If you have the ability, I would do some test installs of other OS, even if just prior windows, like Vista and the 8 preview.

 

[ericloewe]

USB Device Legacy is set to "enabled" but I don't think that was a part of it. The drives do still show up as removable even after installing RST.

Just to confirm, my SSD drive would provide better results connected to the Intel controllers (3.0Gb/s) with RST than the current Marvell controller (6.0Gb/s)? Seems counter intuitive but just wanted to double check before I take the time to open up my rig. Thanks again!

Try disabling it. It's a longshot, but it should be off anyway, if you're not using anything pre-Windows 98 SE. Otherwise, I can't think of much that could perhaps help...

And yes, real-life experience usually shows that Marvell controllers are a piece of crap, compared even to Intel's 3Gb/s controllers. Raw throughput may be somewhat better, but it's usually a small difference. Latency and stability do suffer quite a bit (driver support isn't nearly as good, more hoops to jump through), and you lose TRIM support. Counter-intuitive? Hell yeah. Just got my new Samsung 830 (256GB), so I'll try it out with the Marvell 6Gb/s controller and with the ICH10R (Gigabyte X58A-UD3R), but the result is mostly clear according to most reviews.

 

[IceBoy109]

Thanks, ericloewe. When I get home tonight I'll disable the USB Device Legacy settings and switch to the Intel 3Gb/s controllers and post my findings. Thanks!

 

[IceBoy109]

OK...late to follow up, but better late than never, ya? ;P Disabling USB Legacy Device options prevented my computer from booting; it would actually BSOD. Weird. Anyway, I switched to the 3gb/s controllers and changed the raid configuration to AHCI and the Intel Rapid Storage Technology service is now running. However, unlike my work computer, there is no tray icon...which I guess is fine as long as the service is running.

The "Eject Marvell 91xx Config ATA Device" option is still present in the USB eject menu options, but at least it's not my primary drive anymore.