Storage OCZ Vertex 3 Not Detected in BIOS

[richythomas]

I bought a nice shiny new OCZ Vertex 3 240GB SSD yesterday to replace my Crucial C300 128GB as boot drive. However I seem to have a problem in that I cannot get my motherboard to detect the drive.

My motherboard is a Rampage III Gene and I have installed the latest BIOS ROM via ASUS EZ Flash 2 utility. BIOS system nformation shows my BIOS to be version 1003 with a build date of 09/20/11.

Please let me first say that both SATA3 ports on my motherboard detect my Crucial C300 without any issues, The same goes for all six sATA2 ports. Therefore I can hopefully say my motherboard isn't at fault (unless of course it is compatibility issues).

When connected and powered up the OCZ SSD has a green power LED illuminated (one can see this through a gap next to the SATA data cable plug). I have tried a seperate SATA Power plug just in case.

However it does not detect correctly on any SATA3 or SATA2 ports on my motherboard in AHCI or IDE mode.

-----
Whilst in IDE Mode:

SATA 1 Hard Disk Error
Press F1 to Resume

I press F1 to resume and the drive appears as "Sandforce" in the BIOS "Main" section:

If I select the Sandforce option I get a sub menu with the following options:

Device: Hard Disk
Vendor: SandForce
Size: 256.0GB
LBA Mode: Supported
Block Mode: 16 Sectors
PIO Mode: 4
Async DMA: Not Supported
Ultra DMA: Ultra DMA-5
SMART Monitoring: Supported

Type: Auto
LBA/Large Mode: Auto
Block (Multi-Sector Transfer) M: Auto
PIO Mode: Auto
DMA Mode: Auto
SMART Monitoring: Auto
32bit Data Transfer: Enabled

So it can see the SSD but the BIOS boot shows there to be a Hard Disk but the BIOS reports a problem with it. If you press F1 to resume and attempt to install Windows the list of drives do not detect the SSD as a valid drive (with or without any other drives attached except of course one optical drive).

-----

Whilst in AHCI Mode:

No disk detected on any of the SATA2 or SATA3 ports.

-----

The SSD does not detect in either mode on the Marvel SATA3 Ports on the motherboard and does not appear in a list of available disks.

I have removed all other drives from the system, including the Optical drives, and the problem persists.

I've tried the SSD on my wife's computer but it only allows IDE / RAID mode so can't test AHCI mode. It is detected as Sandforce again but unable to see the drive in a list of useable drives when attempting to setup Windows 7. I would try it on my laptop but am loath to take the entire thing apart to install the drive as the entire front bezel needs to come off to install SATA drives in a Dell XPS 15 (I've already done it for my Corsair F120 when I bought the laptop).

I have even installed it into another 2.5" external USB case and Windows will not detect the drive either.

Is there anything else I can do to test it as it is increasingly looking like a DOA?

[Slizza]

You tried updating the drives firmware in IDE mode?

[richythomas]

That is something I have not thought about.

Now I need to go and find out how to do that but I presume it's something to do with OCZ Toolbox, I'll have a look into it this morning and will report back.

[richythomas]

Will try this now but the instructions on OCZ website says:

"The SATA controller must be set to AHCI mode in the bios to use OCZ Toolbox."

So not sure if this will work.

[Slizza]

I thought you could do it just as well in IDE mode.
Better seek advice on that.

[feathers]

Yes, to update FW the drive will need to be detected. I suggest trying the SSD on another computer. If it fails to detect on another machine u will know the drive is screwed.

Even an OCZ should be detected ok regardless of what FW it has. I am wondering if your mobo bios needs updating.

[debs3759]

Originally Posted by feathers

Even an OCZ should be detected ok regardless of what FW it has.

"Even an OCZ". I take it you don't like OCZ, or you think their drives are not worth the money?

I vaguely remember reading recently about problems with the Vertex 3 240 GB (and only the 240 GB model). If I can find the article I'll post a link (assuming it is as relevant as I remember).

[feathers]

Originally Posted by debs3759

"Even an OCZ". I take it you don't like OCZ, or you think their drives are not worth the money?

I vaguely remember reading recently about problems with the Vertex 3 240 GB (and only the 240 GB model). If I can find the article I'll post a link (assuming it is as relevant as I remember).

My 1st gen OCZ vertex 30gb still works to this day. Very good drive. Heard so much negative stuff about OCZ over the past year that I decided to avoid. A friend of mine bought a vertex 2. Performance was less than half what it should have been, turned out he was burned in that ocz scam where some people got lower spec drives with less memory chips and greatly reduced performance. OCZ sent him a replacement and a second drive by mistake (so he now had 2 x vertex 2 120gb). One of them died same day so he RMA'd it. They replaced it. Moral of the story is that in his experience the OCZ proved to be problematic although he ended up with 2 instead of the one he paid for.

I was put off ocz based on what I'd read as well.... Some units having incorrect case sizes so they didn't fit in a slot correctly.

I didn't want Corsair either because I'd heard about some issues.

Kingston Hyper X 120gb.

Happy with it.

[Harlequin]

make sure your mobo has the latest bios - didnt help my friend with his Z68 and 120 vertex 3 - new bios . new firmware and it still ended up being rma`d as being bollocks - 5 installs of windows and it finally gave up - POS it is.

he`s now on an F1 mechaincal drive and is happy as its not crashing.

[PocketDemon]

Along with updating the f/w, you have tried simple things like swapping the cables for known working ones & resetting the cmos (with the SSD unplugged)?

[Sheiken]

Originally Posted by PocketDemon

Along with updating the f/w, you have tried simple things like swapping the cables for known working ones & resetting the cmos (with the SSD unplugged)?

This!

Initially I could not get my Force GT drive to show up, but I whipped out a brand new sata cable and it worked brilliantly.

Sometimes we overlook the simplest of things

[richythomas]

Originally Posted by PocketDemon

Along with updating the f/w, you have tried simple things like swapping the cables for known working ones & resetting the cmos (with the SSD unplugged)?

Yes I have tried this in regards to the spare SATA2 and SATA3 cables (I have a few kicking around) and resetting the CMOS.

All cables that I used were also tested on my Crucial C300 SSD which proved that they worked without any issues.

The firmware upgrade was a no-go too as the BIOS has to be in ACHI mode for OCZ Toolbox to work.

I took the plunge and tested the SSD in my laptop which is a Dell XPS L502x (Sandybridge) and they're awful to get at the Hard Disk / SSD bay! The whole top panel has to be taken away but I had already done this in the past the day I took delivery on the laptop to install it's SSD.

Anyway the Laptop doesn't recognise the Vertex 3 SSD either. Simply takes ages to run through its BIOS and when looking at the BIOS Setup it reports "None" against Fixed Hard Disk and the SATA ODD is obviously the DVD drive. Re-installing its own SSD restored service to the laptop.

Many thanks to everyone for the suggestions and I've raised an RMA with the company I bought it from. Hopefully will have a new one within a few days. Fingers crossed that the new one works. I must say this is the first DOA I've ever had in the last ten years of upgrading and building PC's. I must have been lucky but my luck has run out...

[feathers]

Originally Posted by richythomas

Yes I have tried this in regards to the spare SATA2 and SATA3 cables (I have a few kicking around) and resetting the CMOS.

All cables that I used were also tested on my Crucial C300 SSD which proved that they worked without any issues.

The firmware upgrade was a no-go too as the BIOS has to be in ACHI mode for OCZ Toolbox to work.

I took the plunge and tested the SSD in my laptop which is a Dell XPS L502x (Sandybridge) and they're awful to get at the Hard Disk / SSD bay! The whole top panel has to be taken away but I had already done this in the past the day I took delivery on the laptop to install it's SSD.

Anyway the Laptop doesn't recognise the Vertex 3 SSD either. Simply takes ages to run through its BIOS and when looking at the BIOS Setup it reports "None" against Fixed Hard Disk and the SATA ODD is obviously the DVD drive. Re-installing its own SSD restored service to the laptop.

Many thanks to everyone for the suggestions and I've raised an RMA with the company I bought it from. Hopefully will have a new one within a few days. Fingers crossed that the new one works. I must say this is the first DOA I've ever had in the last ten years of upgrading and building PC's. I must have been lucky but my luck has run out...

Your luck ran out as soon as you chose OCZ.

[Harlequin]

this is the third vertex 3 i know of in 3 weeks to be doa or died soon after - get a refund and replace it with a non sandforce drive.

[richythomas]

Thanks everyone for the advice and suggestions.

Sent the drive back as a DOA and received a call from customer services this morning informing me that it is indeed DOA.

I asked if I could have a Crucial M4 256GB SSD as its replacement which is now on its way to me as well as a slight refund as it's cheaper than the initial price I paid for the Vertex 3 last week.

Should be delivered to my work address on Monday but I'm on secondment to the data centre in Cardiff next week so will need to wait until a week on Monday (or I might pop in next Friday evening on my way home from the airport).