Who wants to troubleshoot some computer hardware for me? (1 Viewer)

[Polish Hammer]

I have a Dell XPS 8700 Desktop that I bought in late 2013, so warranty is up (currently running Windows 10).  The hard drive on it is a 2TB and there is a mSATA 32GB SSD attached as well.  Allegedly this was to function like a hybrid drive, I guess, where the stuff you need to access the most (startup files and frequently used applications) are housed to speed things up dramatically.  There was some software on the system called Intel Rapid Storage Technology which was supposed to monitor all of this and keep it running smoothly, apparently in some sort of RAID setup.  I don't know, I'm decent with computers but this stuff is beyond me.  

Anyway, I am getting an error message on the IRST software that says "SATA SSD on Controller 0, Port 5:  Incompatible"

In the Troubleshooting section of that App it says:

Cause    The volume was moved to another system that does not support the volume type and configuration.    

Solution
In this situation, volume data is accessible to the operating system and can be backed up, but the volume cannot operate because your system does not support its RAID configuration.
Here are your options:
■    Reconnect the volume to the computer where the volume was originally created and continue using it.
■    Delete the volume, and then create a new volume with a RAID configuration that is supported by the current system.

 
It also goes on to say when a volume is deleted, all data that was on that volume is lost and you should back that up before continuing.  

In another portion of the IRST software it shows the model of the SSD as LMS-32L6M and the Firmware as DM5110D

I did find an updated driver for this SSD through Dell.  The driver page info specifically says it is to fix a problem where the computer says the disk is incompatible under a certain set of circumstances.  Well, awesome, that seems to be the case here!  So I downloaded it, but when I try to run it, the computer basically can't even see the SSD (it isn't showing under the MyPC file tree/directory, either...but it is showing up on the IRST software.  #### me.

Any ideas or suggestions on what to do here?

 

[LAUNCH]

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/disk-drives/f/3534/t/19586579

Further. Today I solved the problem. Thanks to Osprey's suggestion for changing to RAID, after I did what I did yesterday... today I changed it back again to RAID to force what 'looks like' a BIOS based element of the IRST to appear. I then was able to delete the metadata by erasing the disk using this utility. I did not create a new RAID disc. I then saved and exited and Windows immediately tried to boot and failed. I restarted and set RAID back to AHCI in the BIOS. Then when booting all was good. The SSD is now caching as it should. In the main GUI IRST software the Liteon SSD now shows as: Usage: Available; Status: Normal. Hoorah! So, in conclusion, it looks like the solution all along was just finding a way to be able to delete the metadata on the SSD so that it could start afresh! With helpful pointers from Osprey I have got the SSD working as it should. Thank you. Hope this thread helps many others as there appears to be little or no information out there re such a problem, and how to solve it. I'll add some tags to try to help any searches.

 

[LAUNCH]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2345552

Update Bios.

 

[Polish Hammer]

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/disk-drives/f/3534/t/19586579

Further. Today I solved the problem. Thanks to Osprey's suggestion for changing to RAID, after I did what I did yesterday... today I changed it back again to RAID to force what 'looks like' a BIOS based element of the IRST to appear. I then was able to delete the metadata by erasing the disk using this utility. I did not create a new RAID disc. I then saved and exited and Windows immediately tried to boot and failed. I restarted and set RAID back to AHCI in the BIOS. Then when booting all was good. The SSD is now caching as it should. In the main GUI IRST software the Liteon SSD now shows as: Usage: Available; Status: Normal. Hoorah! So, in conclusion, it looks like the solution all along was just finding a way to be able to delete the metadata on the SSD so that it could start afresh! With helpful pointers from Osprey I have got the SSD working as it should. Thank you. Hope this thread helps many others as there appears to be little or no information out there re such a problem, and how to solve it. I'll add some tags to try to help any searches.

I would like to give these instructions a try (and saw that post earlier). How do I get into the BIOS to check on it if is set to RAID?  Based on reading this stuff, I'm thinking I may try these steps, give me a critique:

1. Uninstall IRST software.
   
2. Reboot.
   
3. Try to update the SSD firmware (earlier I said driver for it, that was wrong...I meant firmware).
   
4. Reboot.
   
5. Check and see if the disk is showing.
   
6. Install newest IRST software - should I get the version recommended by Dell or the newer one right from Intel?
   
7. See if SSD is still showing.
   
8. If not, uninstall and try changing to RAID if need be? Then maybe see if the IRST utility allows me to "delete the metadata on the SSD" as mentioned above?
   

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2345552

Update Bios.

I just updated the BIOS about an hour ago.  Same issues.  

 

[LAUNCH]

Press tapping F2 right after power up.

Advanced→ Onboard Device Configuration SATA Mode Allows you to configure the integrated hard drive controller to ATA or RAID

http://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_xps_desktop/xps-8700_Owner%27s%20Manual_en-us.pdf

 

[Polish Hammer]

Here is what I was able to do:

• Removed IRST, was finally able to then see the SSD on the computer's hardware/device list...even thought it didn't show as an accessible drive (like the C: drive, for example).
  
• Was able to update the firmware for the SSD from the Dell site.
  
• Rebooted, no problem, could still see it.
  
• Tried rebooting in RAID, no-go.  Got blue error screens in a loop unless I changed back to AHCI.  Which I then did.
  
• Reinstalled the IRST from Dell, got the same errors as before.
  
• Thought maybe now with IRST in place (since it is labeled as a RAID driver) I could reboot as RAID.  Tried that, no-go again.
  
• Now back to the same spot as before.  
  

Frustrating.

 

[LAUNCH]

 it looks like the solution all along was just finding a way to be able to delete the metadata on the SSD so that it could start afresh

diskpart
list disk
select disk X (from the list)
clean

Did you try that?

 

[captain_amazing]

Here is what I was able to do:

• Removed IRST, was finally able to then see the SSD on the computer's hardware/device list...even thought it didn't show as an accessible drive (like the C: drive, for example).
  
• Was able to update the firmware for the SSD from the Dell site.
  
• Rebooted, no problem, could still see it.
  
• Tried rebooting in RAID, no-go.  Got blue error screens in a loop unless I changed back to AHCI.  Which I then did.
  
• Reinstalled the IRST from Dell, got the same errors as before.
  
• Thought maybe now with IRST in place (since it is labeled as a RAID driver) I could reboot as RAID.  Tried that, no-go again.
  
• Now back to the same spot as before.  
  

Frustrating.

A couple of question:

1. I'm assuming this just started happening recently, correct?  Did anything else recently occur that you can recall - software install/uninstall, Windows update, hardware change, etc.?
   
2. What was located on that drive?  Were you able to access it like your C drive?  Was it mapped to a letter, like D?  Or did it not appear at all?
   
3. Has your computer run any differently with the SSD not functioning?  Did you have data/applications stored on the SSD that are no longer available?
   

Just trying to get more info, if possible, and propose a solution.  If there's nothing of value on the SSD and your PC's performance hasn't taken a noticeable hit, I'd simply have the controller on AHCI, then format the SSD in Disk Manager and use it as a D drive for whatever you want. 

 

[Garrett]

Is this about the message board upgrade?

 

[Polish Hammer]

 it looks like the solution all along was just finding a way to be able to delete the metadata on the SSD so that it could start afresh

diskpart
list disk
select disk X (from the list)
clean

Did you try that?

I have not tried these yet, may try them soon.  I have a guy on the Dell forums that is trying to work through this with me so I'll use these as a last-ish resort.

A couple of question:

1. I'm assuming this just started happening recently, correct?  Did anything else recently occur that you can recall - software install/uninstall, Windows update, hardware change, etc.?
   
2. What was located on that drive?  Were you able to access it like your C drive?  Was it mapped to a letter, like D?  Or did it not appear at all?
   
3. Has your computer run any differently with the SSD not functioning?  Did you have data/applications stored on the SSD that are no longer available?
   

Just trying to get more info, if possible, and propose a solution.  If there's nothing of value on the SSD and your PC's performance hasn't taken a noticeable hit, I'd simply have the controller on AHCI, then format the SSD in Disk Manager and use it as a D drive for whatever you want. 

1. Not really, it happened about a year ago.  I tried a few things that didn't do much, then figured I'd wait until I upgraded to Win 10 and see if that fixed it.  It didn't.  So then I got lazy and ignored it until recently.  I don't recall exactly any software change that happened right before the error - and being that this is a somewhat reported issue I'm going to guess that nothing like that really caused it.  No, no hardware changes inside the box at all.  

2. I don't really know.  The way this is supposed to work is that the IRST software manages it and puts frequently accessed stuff (startup files, maybe Chrome since I use that a lot) on there to speed up the machine for those basic tasks.  This way you get some of the benefits of an SSD without the cost associated with it. I don't believe it was ever mapped to a letter, but it could have been a long time ago.  It hasn't shown as a letter drive for a while, and when I removed the IRST it didn't suddenly appear as a lettered drive.

3. Just slower on startup and stuff - essentially feels like I'm not getting the benefits of it that I should be getting.  Nothing appears to be unavailable in terms of data or programs.

 

[Polish Hammer]

Not that I think anyone was sitting around waiting on this, but I got it fixed. Basically the issue was that I had to get it to start in RAID through the BIOS, but since I upgraded to Win 10 and didn't have it set to RAID then, the right startup files weren't loaded. I was able to get those active by going into secure boot mode and then changing to RAID and then restarting in the normal manner. Then life was good. Thanks to those who tried to help out!