GA-EX58-DS4 (rev.1) AHCI & Memory problems

[Palleman]

Hello.

Problem no.1 : I cannot make AHCI work
Problem no.2 : My memory sticks run at a lower speed than then should

Specs:
Intel i7 920
Gigabyte EX58 DS4
3x2048 MB Corsair Platinum XMS3
PowerColor HD5850 1GB CrossFire
Corsair Force 60GB SSD
Samsung 640GB HDD
WD 320GB HDD
Hitachi 200GB HDD
Fractal Design Define R3
Fractal Design 650W
Windows 7 x64 Home Premium

Problem 1:
When I first bought my Corsair SSD I didn't have the first clue to what AHCI was and just installed Win7 on the disk. I believe that the SSD was plugged in to the SATA2_5 port. After a while I noticed worse performance (boot up times) and learned about AHCI. From what I've gathered I'm supposed to first enable AHCI in the Windows registry then enable AHCI in BIOS and that should be it. I have two options in BIOS for AHCI:
¤ SATA RAID/AHCI Mode (for the Intel controlled SATA2_0 - SATA2_5)
¤ Onboard SATA/IDE Ctrl Mode (for the Gigabyte controlled GSATA2_0 - GSATA2_1)
I enabled the Intel controller and did a restart which unfortunately failed giving this error message during AHCI POST:

Serial ATA AHCI BIOS, Version iSrc 1.20E
Copyright (c) 2003-2008 Intel Corporation                          23
** This version supports only Hard Disks and CDROM drives **
Please wait. This will take few seconds.

Controller Bus#00, Device#1F, Function#02: 06 Ports, 05 Devices
  Port-00:No device detected

I asked Gigabyte tech support and they told me that I had to reinstall Windows (what for?) and try plug my SSD into the first Intel SATA2 port (SATA2_0). I also upgraded my BIOS from F4 to F12i and bought a real SATA-300 cable. But it still does not work for I get this error message:

Serial ATA AHCI BIOS, Version iSrc 1.20E
Copyright (c) 2003-2008 Intel Corporation                          23
** This version supports only Hard Disks and CDROM drives **
Please wait. This will take few seconds.

Controller Bus#00, Device#1F, Function#02: 06 Ports, 05 Devices
(this is as far as it goes. I've waited 2mins and still nothing)

So when I press Ctrl-Alt-Del the system reboots but POST skips HDD detection altogether and gets stuck in AHCI POST once again. The only solution is to press the Clear CMOS button. All HDDs (incl SSD) work fine in IDE mode but this is not the way an SSD is supposed to run. I've recently purchased a Crucial SSD C300 that I wanted to use as a game drive but I fear that it wont work in AHCI mode either.

Problem 2:
After I upgraded the BIOS from F4 to F12i my RAM runs at lower speeds than it's specced for.
BIOS says 1066MHz while it should run at 1333MHz. I believe all BIOS memory settings are in default mode but I do run BIOS in Optimized settings.

Please help, I dont know what to do anymore  

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and welcome to the Gigabyte Forum.

The first thing you will need to do is run a secure erase on the SSD to bring it back to full performance again as the port you were runnning it on didn't support TRIM commands. This is what caused your degradation of performance in the first place.

The SSD should be on the Intel ICH10 southbridge ports as you have already been advised. Normally SATA2_0 would be the primary choice. AHCI mode will give you the best performance but not by a huge margin.

Make sure that you have updated the BIOS to the latest version for the motherboard, same goes for the drivers for the chipset etc.
Also check on the firmware version of your SSD and see if it needs updating.

[Palleman]

Hi Dark Mantis.

Thank you for your reply but honestly you've not answered any of my questions in my initial post which makes me wonder is you really read through my entire post 

1. Why cant I get past AHCI POST screen when I've enabled AHCI in BIOS?
2. Why does my memory run at 1066MHz and not 1333MHz?

I've already the latest BIOS version (F12i) available to my main board but you're right about installing the latest firmware for my Corsair disk. Unfortunately a firmware update requires the disk to run in AHCI which I've been unable to fix.

Good point though regarding the degradation of the SSD. Do you mean that this is causing my disk not do operate in AHCI?

[Dark Mantis]

Hi and quite right I didn't answer your questions fully as I was a bit busy at the time. I will need some more information first please.

Why did you update the BIOS ?

When you updated your BIOS did you do it in one step ?

Have you installed the chipset drivers and AHCI drivers yet ?

Is your memory rated at 1333 ?

Start off by doing and extended CMOS clear exactly as follows:

Remove the power cable from the mains supply and then press the power switch on the case for a few seconds just to drain any residual energy in the PSU capacitors.

Once done remove the motherboard battery for at least thirty minutes before replacing it.
 
Next plug back into the mains supply and boot.
 
You will now need to enter the BIOS by pressing DEL and load Opimised BIOS Defaults.

Make any other changes to the BIOS settings to suit your self like disabling the floppy drive, disabling the full screen logo and making the HDD the primary boot device and then press F10 to save and exit.

[Palleman]

Hi.

It's OK, I understand   Thanks for your reply.

Q - Why did you update the BIOS ?
A - I was advised to do so by the Gigabyte support when I asked if this was necessary in order to run a CrossFireX setup.

Q - When you updated your BIOS did you do it in one step ?
A - Yes, the BIOS update was flawless. I formatted a USB drive according to instructions and placed the BIOS files there.

Q - Have you installed the chipset drivers and AHCI drivers yet ?
A - No, not yet. I was expecting the delivery of my Cruical drive last Friday but it never came so I suppose I'll have it on Monday.

Q - Is your memory rated at 1333 ?
A - This is the memory I'm using http://www.corsair.com/memory/xms-classic/xms3-ddr3-memory/cmx6gx3m3a1333c9.html

Brilliant idea regarding the full CMOS reset, never thought about that. I'll do this tomorrow after work and report back.
Thanks again!

[Dark Mantis]

Just for future reference when you do a BIOS update  especailly if it encompasses a lot of updates it is safer to do it in smaller increments. Take several intermediate steps rather than just jumping straight to the one you want to be at.

I will wait for your report on the CMOS clear.

[Palleman]

Noted And talking about BIOS maybe I should flash to an older version?
My mission unfortunately failed. After removing the battery for 45mins I noticed that the BIOS time was reset. All other settings were preserved.
When I turned on Intel AHCI I got stuck at AHCI POST like previously and my memory is stuck at 1066 MHz.

What should I do now?  

Please find here an image of AHCI POST freeze. The number "23" you see is "10" at start.
http://img812.imageshack.us/i/dsc0041st.jpg

[Dark Mantis]

Something is wrong there if only the time was wrong and all the other settings were still the same unless of course you were only using the default settings.

If this is not the case I would suggest that you do an overnight CMOS clear and make sure that all power to the board is disconnected.

[Palleman]

I'm using Optimised settings with a tweak (SMART enabled, Fullscreen Logo disabled). What I meant was that all the drives were already present and configured, HDD priority the same as before CMOS clear and settinsg seemed already to be at the Optmised preset.

I thought about a couple of things when I went to bed:
¤ I formatted and partitioned my SSD while in SATA mode. Would this affect the AHCI POST?
¤ I have three more mechanical drives plus a DVD-rom connected to Ports SATA2_2 to SATA2_5 yet the drives setup in BIOS are displayed in a different fashion. Would this affect the AHCI POST?
¤ Do you want me to post a picture of my BIOS settings?

If all else fails...can I keep my SSDs running in SATA mode? Is there a chance that they'll stop functioning earlier than MTBF?

Ill try the overnight CMOS clear.

[Dark Mantis]

There is no worry about running tha SSDs in SATA or even IDE mode. They will both convey the TRIM commands to the drives. As far as the other things you thouhgt of I can't see a problem with that.

[Palleman]

I thought that TRIM was only supported by AHCI?

Something "dinged" when you wrote "...and make sure that all power to the board is disconnected". I only disconnected the power cable to the PSU but left all other cables connected (5.1 sound which is conntected to a power source and HDMI/DVI cables which are also connected to a power source).

You don't think I should try connecting the devices to the Gigabyte SATA2 controller?

[Dark Mantis]

No TRIM is supported by AHCI and IDE but not RAID. Windows 7 supports it by default.

I certainly wouldn't swap the devices to the GSATA controller if I were you. The Intel ports are faster and more reliable in my opinion.

[Palleman]

Good news! 

After an 20hr power down I plugged in the battery but disconnected every drive but the Corsair F60 SSD. I loaded AHCI and well...same error. Then I thought about my Crucial RealSSD C300 2,5" 64GB still boxed. I unpacked it, plugged it in (also disconnecting the F60) and voila! It worked! Intel AHCI  recognised the drive and tried to load windows which didnt work since the disk is empty.

So all this was caused by the Corsair F60...and now the question is why? And what can I do about it?

[Dark Mantis]

I would suggest RMAing it back to them to do the firmware update if that is all that is wrong with it if not they can replace the drive.

[Palleman]

I suppose I will Thanks for your help.