Trim Issue

[Naso21]

I would like to run two samsung ssd 840 pro 256gig in raid 0. People have told me that I will have trim issues and not to do it. I thought you could do it with this MB. Any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks

[MultiDoc]

I am not sure if TRIM commands do pass down to disks through the RAID controller. Maybe Intel updated them so they do, but until recently they didn't.

EDIT:

I just realized that Z77 chipset will support TRIM command in RAID 0 configuration 🙂

[Nodens]

You did not specify which board you are using. If it's Maximus V then TRIM will work fine.

[Naso21]

Sorry about that, yes its the Maximus V. So I should have no problem? Is there a specific driver I should use from Intel?

[Chino]

Intel's RST (Rapid Storage Technology) RAID driver version 11.0 or newer.

[BenchZowner]

You need to have an updated Intel Rapid Storage Technology FIRMWARE as well, not just the updated RST driver.
You can find modded BIOSes with 11.5x, 11.6x & 12.x RST firmware on the net ( on kingpincooling.com's forums for example )

[Naso21]

BenchZowner wrote:
You need to have an updated Intel Rapid Storage Technology FIRMWARE as well, not just the updated RST driver.
You can find modded BIOSes with 11.5x, 11.6x & 12.x RST firmware on the net ( on kingpincooling.com's forums for example )

So you are saying that I need to use a Bios not put out by Asus? I really do not want to do that!

[BenchZowner]

Naso21 wrote:
So you are saying that I need to use a Bios not put out by Asus? I really do not want to do that!

Wrong.
Why ?
Because the RST part of it isn't Asus's work at all.
Intel develops the firmware and the OEM's ( Asus, Gigabyte, etc ) just pick up a version and add it to the BIOS "package".
I doubt that Asus has updated the RST firmware in any of their latest BIOSes to 11.X, so Trim won't work ( do the common Hex Edit test you can find on the net and you'll see ).

If you don't like installing a BIOS with a replaced RST firmware ( which is exactly what Asus does too when they decide to put a newer RST ROM in their BIOS release ) then get used to having no TRIM @ RAID support.

If you're talking about single drive ( no RAID ) then Trim is working with older RST ROMs too ( didn't pay that much attention TBH, don't remember if you're using a single drive or RAID )

limitz wrote:
What do you mean by IRST firmware? Besides the actual IRST Windows software that you install.
Do you mean the iaAHCIC.ini file "required" when hitting F6 during a Windows installation...?

Most of the components on a motherboard ( SATA Controllers, Audio Processing Units, Network Adapters, USB Controllers, etc ) have their own firmware.
Just like the motherboard has its firmware ( its interface is your familiar BIOS Setup menu ) the other components have their firmware too ( although most of them do not have a configuration menu, thus you don't see another "BIOS Setup menu".
The same applies to Intel's SATA-RAID Controller.
It's firmware ( BIOS ) is stored within the motherboard's BIOS image.
What you're referring to yourself is the "software" ( driver & management utility ). That's not the firmware.
Just like installing updated Chipset drivers from Intel's site isn't updating your "BIOS" and "chipset firmware" the same goes for RST software, it's the driver & utility update, not a BIOS update for the controller itself.

TRIM is supported by hardware ( let's call it a hardware function ) [ thus if there's no hardware support for it, running Windows 8 or Windows 69 doesn't change anything since the controller doesn't send out the necessary commands to the drives ]
If you want TRIM working on a RAID Array you need to have a new RST firmware ( ROM ) like I said.
If you're not using RAID and you want TRIM to work on single drives, you don't need to update the RST firmware ( although there are some performance gains from the updates 😉 )

[limitz]

BenchZowner wrote:
Wrong.
Why ?
Because the RST part of it isn't Asus's work at all.
Intel develops the firmware and the OEM's ( Asus, Gigabyte, etc ) just pick up a version and add it to the BIOS "package".
I doubt that Asus has updated the RST firmware in any of their latest BIOSes to 11.X, so Trim won't work ( do the common Hex Edit test you can find on the net and you'll see ).

If you don't like installing a BIOS with a replaced RST firmware ( which is exactly what Asus does too when they decide to put a newer RST ROM in their BIOS release ) then get used to having no TRIM @ RAID support.

If you're talking about single drive ( no RAID ) then Trim is working with older RST ROMs too ( didn't pay that much attention TBH, don't remember if you're using a single drive or RAID )



Most of the components on a motherboard ( SATA Controllers, Audio Processing Units, Network Adapters, USB Controllers, etc ) have their own firmware.
Just like the motherboard has its firmware ( its interface is your familiar BIOS Setup menu ) the other components have their firmware too ( although most of them do not have a configuration menu, thus you don't see another "BIOS Setup menu".
The same applies to Intel's SATA-RAID Controller.
It's firmware ( BIOS ) is stored within the motherboard's BIOS image.
What you're referring to yourself is the "software" ( driver & management utility ). That's not the firmware.
Just like installing updated Chipset drivers from Intel's site isn't updating your "BIOS" and "chipset firmware" the same goes for RST software, it's the driver & utility update, not a BIOS update for the controller itself.

TRIM is supported by hardware ( let's call it a hardware function ) [ thus if there's no hardware support for it, running Windows 8 or Windows 69 doesn't change anything since the controller doesn't send out the necessary commands to the drives ]
If you want TRIM working on a RAID Array you need to have a new RST firmware ( ROM ) like I said.
If you're not using RAID and you want TRIM to work on single drives, you don't need to update the RST firmware ( although there are some performance gains from the updates 😉 )

Ok, so how do you flash a ROM (.bin) within Windows? It extracted quite a few .bin files.
I found this ICH7/8/9/10/PCH | 11.5.0.1347: http://www.station-drivers.com/page/intel%20raid.htm

[BenchZowner]

limitz wrote:
Ok, so how do you flash a ROM (.bin) within Windows? It extracted quite a few .bin files.
I found this ICH7/8/9/10/PCH | 11.5.0.1347: http://www.station-drivers.com/page/intel%20raid.htm

You can't flash it within windows because the info needs to be written on the BIOS chip.
Only way to do it ( talking about people without expertise & professional equipment ) is via adding the updated ROM to an already released motherboard BIOS and then flashing it to the mobo.

I can upload the version I'm using on my Maximus V Gene later on ( gotta get some sleep now )