Time to disable Samsung RAPID...

[JimmiG]

So I was playing some games when power was suddenly cut. It came back within a few seconds, but it was enough for the computer to shut down. When starting the computer again, I just got a blue screen with some error about boot configuration data missing:

The Boot configuration data for your PC is missing or contains errors.
File:\Boot\BCD
Error code: 0x000014c

I booted from a Win10 flash drive to try and repair the system.
The Automatic Repair failed. I then tried several fixes I found on Google, like rebuilding the BCD using Bootrec, however I just kept getting various error messages about missing system drives etc.

Fortunately I had a backup from just ~6 hours earlier so I booted the EaseUS recovery disc and restored from backup. After restoring, which took another several hours, the system finally booted.

Pretty sure this had to do with Samsung RAPID being enabled, since it's essentially a large RAM cache. I don't quite understand how that could ruin the BCD since the system shouldn't have been touching those files when just running games, but somehow it did.

I'm going to disable that now. It's not worth the risk of data loss and downtime for a performance boost that's really only noticeable in benchmarks. Samsung should warn users to only enable it if they have a UPS. Even then, I think a BSOD might cause the same error since that's almost the same as cutting power.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Samsung RAPID ... the risk of Data-Loss is REAL!

Next on Geraldo...

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Well, I had a friend whose desktop PC was "going south." It was only a couple years old. I asked him if he had a UPS system between the PC and the wall-socket. Of course he didn't. I told him about a Fry's ad in the Times, and he bought a UPS.

I began investing in UPS/battery-backup systems around 1993 after being wiped out by a severe mid-Atlantic electrical storm. When I have to, I replace the entire UPS. Otherwise, I order the replacement batteries. I configure the software to use the USB connection. I favor APC, but have used Tripplite and Cyberpower.

It's an "insurance policy" as well as an "investment."

Any problem with RAPID under anything less is probably due to the fact that you can't configure write-back and deferred writes -- simply disabling those features.

I use PrimoCache for four systems here, all with UPS. I wouldn't touch a caching program like Primo or RAPID with a ten-foot pole if not protected from power-outages, but I probably wouldn't want my computer running off a surge-protected wall socket connection, with or without caching.

Anyway, if RAPID was only of interest to you for getting better SSD storage performance mostly visible only through the benchmarks, it's not much of a loss to you -- you shouldn't really miss it.

 

[mnewsham]

SNIP

Yeah I have my computer on a UPS that can give me ~42 minutes of standby time in the event of a power outage and I have my RAMDisk set to create a backup image every 30 minutes, so even if power were to go out when I was away from the computer, it SHOULD have a backup state of the RAMDisk within at most 30 minutes from when I lost power.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Yeah I have my computer on a UPS that can give me ~42 minutes of standby time in the event of a power outage and I have my RAMDisk set to create a backup image every 30 minutes, so even if power were to go out when I was away from the computer, it SHOULD have a backup state of the RAMDisk within at most 30 minutes from when I lost power.

The only potential drawback arises when the batteries begin to decline or the UPS otherwise fails to switch to battery power quickly enough. It may show itself when, after a brown-out forcing the unit on battery-power, the mouse freezes or the system becomes unresponsive. But the software should warn you of need for battery replacement before that ever happens.

The other caution I have for RAM-caching: be absolutely sure you have completely flawless RAM at the settings you gave it. That will begin to show worse problems whether you use a RAM-caching feature or not.

Beyond that -- back up, back up, and back up. Regardless of the power-consumption and extra "administrative" duties, having a server on the household network that backs up each and every client workstation daily further reduces any worry. I can make a bare-metal restore to any boot-disk in a matter of 20 minutes.

 

[Coup27]

Not being funny but I think it is wrong you have made a thread blaming RAPID without any evidence whatsoever. RAPID may have been the cause of your corruption but unless you are prepared to repeat the power outage yourself with RAPID on and off a couple of times I think it's wrong to create a thread attributing blame.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Not being funny but I think it is wrong you have made a thread blaming RAPID without any evidence whatsoever. RAPID may have been the cause of your corruption but unless you are prepared to repeat the power outage yourself with RAPID on and off a couple of times I think it's wrong to create a thread attributing blame.

Well, true, I think. What assurances are there that the boot-drive didn't experience corruption anyway during the outage? RAPID or any other caching program might only contribute to a situation with multiple causation.

 

[LTC8K6]

A small UPS is cheap, and it really only needs to power the computer for five minutes so you can shut down.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

A small UPS is cheap, and it really only needs to power the computer for five minutes so you can shut down.

Mainstreamers and casual users may not think of it, or someone tells them to get a surge-protected power-strip and "that's that."

But there was a time through the '90s when I made money with my computers, and damage from power spikes and surges was as much a risk as data-loss -- with a cost to me, obviously.

All the UPS systems come with a warranty that "insures" against data or equipment loss, but the UPS system itself is "insurance."

I power all my peripherals from UPS's except printer and scanner: network switches, KVM switches and monitor(s). So for a system that draws a peak load occasionally of 400 or 500W, I might pick a UPS with a VA rating of 1,000 or 1,200. This would translate approximately to a wattage capability of 600W to 720W. Of course, there may be a greater chance that a black-out would occur when the system is only pulling 110W at idle -- or less with some OEM systems. But a blackout can also occur when you're gaming.

The bundled software allows you some comfort for being away from home (or office) when these power-outages occur, so that the systems will shut down in an orderly and automatic fashion on a time delay chosen by the user -- say, 4 minutes. You do not want to run down the batteries on UPS backups: they don't last as long, and the cost of replacement batteries may be more than 50 or 60% the price of the original UPS.

Figure that batteries, managed properly, may last 3 to 5 years.

 

[WackyWRZ]

Completely agree here. A small APC UPS can be had for ~$40 on sale which is good enough for most normal desktops is a small price to pay for the level of protection gained. Most people have no idea what joules or clamping voltage is either and think their $10 power strip is really doing something. Another place where an UPS is a necessity - DLP TVs. If there's a power sag/surge the bulb or ballast can easily pop along with an unexpected shutdown that doesn't allow the cooling fan to overrun.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Completely agree here. A small APC UPS can be had for ~$40 on sale which is good enough for most normal desktops is a small price to pay for the level of protection gained. Most people have no idea what joules or clamping voltage is either and think their $10 power strip is really doing something. Another place where an UPS is a necessity - DLP TVs. If there's a power sag/surge the bulb or ballast can easily pop along with an unexpected shutdown that doesn't allow the cooling fan to overrun.

And . . . truth be told, I started doing that as a second priority to the house LAN of systems. I had this certain model of CyberPower UPS -- maybe rated at 1350 VA. I discovered that it was causing troubles to the system: a brownout would occur, the system would switch to battery, but not in sufficient time to avoid even the slightest corruption to RAM. And the system would eventually reset or become unresponsive maybe a day later. Enough back-pedaling research and I discovered that the CP UPS wasn't compatible with various Active PFC PSUs.

So I moved it over to the AVR/HDTV and peripherals, including another network switch. But I think I'd used a smaller one before that -- a Tripplite 500 VA model from yesteryear with new batteries. Then the batteries got old, and I probably chucked the 10-year-old unit to the recycler.

 

[coercitiv]

I think a BSOD might cause the same error since that's almost the same as cutting power.

In my case it was a BSOD that left me without 2 files I was working on, likely due to RAPID, so the UPS can only diminish the risk somewhat.

 

[PliotronX]

Any time that volatile memory is used as a cache for storage, it's a good idea to ensure power continuity. I also would not use this on an overclocked system.