G75 and OCZ Vertex 256GB - problem with starting the system after power on.

[jerrykoziol]

Hello,
There are some posts about problems with SSD drives - perhaps my problem is somehow related.
I would say - it's not a problem. It's rather an irritating behavior of the BIOS.

G75 - bought a week ago. Original HDD = 1TB 5400rpm.
I didn't change anything in BIOS - everything is factory set. AHCI, boot order.
Recovery BR - created.
Then I've changed drives and installed the system onto SSD OCZ Vertex 4.
I put the SSD in the same slot as the factory HDD was - assuming that's the correct boot slot for the "first" drive.
And everything went fine. Everything works. No problem.

But when I power up the G75 for the first time everyday - it doesn't find my SSD!
So it just informs me that there's no drive to start the system.
Alt+Ctrl+Del - and after reboot it normally loads the system.
Since this moment everything works fine. I can reboot the notebook as many times as I want.
BIOS can't see my SSD only when I power up the notebook for the first time.
It seems like uhm.... The POST passes so fast so it's not able to initialize the SSD! That's weird because BIOS recognizes in the same time much slower, original HDD which I put into the second slot.
I also used the SSD in my old notebook - there were no such problems.

There are options related to delaying POST in desktop computers - in order to give older HDDs more time to initialize.
I guess - such option would help, but it's not available in G75 BIOS.
The SSD is of course much faster than HDD - but maybe it just takes more time to initialize?

Do you have any idea what to do with this irritating behavior?

Regards!
J.

[john_from_ohio]

Interesting Jerry thanks for the writeup.

In my system I installed my SSD in the "other slot" ... which is now set as the default boot drive ( F2 on startup into BIOS the BOOT tab lets you set/change priority ). Looks like my SSD is P1 and a second hard drive ( not factory installed one ) is P0 ( storage only ).

What does your system show in that screen? Is your SSD showing as the first device in boot priority? Either way if you change where it is in the priority of bootup does it change the behavior of your system?

Wondering like you are if different SSDs take differing amounts of time to initialize ... certainly there is firmware involved inside the SSD ... hmmm. Maybe if you make your system look at the other hard drive first ... then have it realize that other drive is not bootable ... if that might be enough time to change things.

[Cecil_2099]

Very interesting. Looks like this is the second OCZ ssd owner having problems getting their SSD to work on the G75VW.

[jerrykoziol]

And who is the first user?

I was trying different configurations, I've even reinstalled windows 7 using my another BOX license - doesn't work.

I am unable to set boot priority because when I power on the G75, there is no SSD at all. Bios can't see the SSD - so it can't boot up the system. Alt+Ctrl+Del - and after the reboot SSD is visible to BIOS and Windows 7 installed on the SSD loads with any problem.

I also suspect latest Vertex firmware 1.4 but I can't say for sure because I haven't tried this SSD with 1.3 in G75.
What I can tell - while flashing the Vertex with 1.4, OCZ application requests "shutdown and restart" - what I did.
And when I did it for the first time and started the OCZ Tool to check the firmware version - Vertex was gone. It wasn't visible. I did a restart (not shutdown) and after second login to windows OCZ Tool found with any problem the Vertex and showed firmware version 1.4.

I could say that was the first time Vertex behaved weird but I thought it's normal while flashing the firmware. Now I think this could be related to my current problem.

Vertex was flashed on my second notebook - then moved to G75 and I installed Windows 7 from Recovery BR on it.

J.

[john_from_ohio]

jerrykoziol wrote:
I am unable to set boot priority because when I power on the G75, there is no SSD at all. Bios can't see the SSD - so it can't boot up the system.

When you go into F2 and the boot screen what drives does it show as options P0 P1 P2 values and strings etc?

I would seriously think about getting one of the "dang nice" Intel 120 gb ( or 180 gb which I have ) new 520's for the G75VW!!! I guess the sammy 830's are pretty sweet also but maybe not quite as high rated as the new Intel 520's.

[jerrykoziol]

When I start the notebook for the first time after shutdown and press F2 I see:
Serial ATA Port 1 ST1000LM024 (that'sthe factory HDD which I turned into data storage)
Serial ATA Port 2 ATAPI CDROM

And that's all.

When I reset the notebook (not shutdown) I see:

Serial ATA Port 0 OCZ Vertex
and two above.

So it's clear that BIOS can't start the system from Vertex, because it can't see the SSD.

I have no idea what to do right now. Start using the Vertex? Buy Samsung ?
I've bought the G75 in order to have all-in-one machine (work, hobby stuff related to photo and video, and games of course).
I'm going to sell the old notebook because I don't need this. It's almost sold in fact...
I can live (I don't know how long) with the "double reset" but if this is a serious Vertex problem - I'm afraid of my data and I DO NOT WANT TO INSTALL AND CONFIGURE my whole system because it takes quite a lot of time which I don't have.

[Praz]

Some laptop users are experiencing this issue. OCZ is currently looking at the problem and hopefully a solution will be forthcoming soon.

[john_from_ohio]

Hey I am no "intel" marketer ... but as far as I know the OCZ ssds have not exactly had a great reputation for stability and/or reliability.

Can you start working this problem on the OCZ vertex side to get some idea from their support where this kind of issue stands?

The new intel firmware is based on apparently the sandforce controller but with a bunch of ( perhaps not back ported ) intel specific tweaks and fixes and ( well who knows exactly ? ). The Intel has a 5 year guarantee.

Regardless of what SSD brand one chooses everyone better have some kind of regular periodic backup scenario ( and well you have to test it also otherwise a backup plan is useless ).

[Cecil_2099]

First user reported a similar problem in the following thread:
[G75] Frustrated trying to upgrade to SSD

I personally snagged a 256 GB Crucial M4 SSD over at B&H Photo and Video for $199.99 a couple of weeks back (had a $30 instant rebate). The install and system restore went smoothly, but the firmware upgrade for the SSD was only possible through a bootable DVD or USB stick (wouldn't work from HDD or SSD for some reason)

[rlwhite86]

Check my other thread and all of the issues I had with my OCZ SSD. I considered messing with the firmware, but the bottom line is I shouldn't have to.

It's getting RMA'd immediately. The Intel 520 series I just picked up installed correctly the first time.