Prepping SSD for OS install

[beavereater]

First, this is what fritzi93 wrote:

Before you do your fresh install on that SSD, I'd advise you to do a factory reset. Put a jumper on the pins on the back and let it sit a couple hours.

And be absolutely sure your BIOS is set for AHCI mode.

Some OCZ SSDs seem to be a little touchy. Firmware problems usually. But let me tell you my little story:

At some point (after using the SSD in AHCI mode for nearly 2 years) I must have loaded BIOS defaults for some unrelated reason and forgot to set AHCI mode again in the BIOS for my Vertex drive. Your SSD prefers it, although supposedly it does no harm to be in IDE mode. Yeah, supposedly. Anyway, long story short I went through restoring images several times, checking alignment, and finally was about to pitch the drive. Then I remembered AHCI mode setting. Duh!

I had to do the factory reset, as the SSD was totally inacessible by that point. What do you know, it worked. Restored OS image successfully and the SSD has been working with no problems at all for nearly a year now since my troubles. BTW, the drive is nearly 3 years old.

Good luck.

If you're worried about doing a factory reset, don't be. Your firmware will be unaffected. Do a search for "factory reset" on the OCZ forum. That's where I found that useful bit of information.

[EDIT] I did a quick search to refresh my memory. All the OCZ SSDs I'm aware of have the "maintenance mode" prongs on the back, although I suppose it's possible a new model may not.

Doing what I suggested above (jumpering) allows the firmware to sort itself out. You can go one step further and do a secure erase with the jumper on. Or do a firmware flash with less risk. Secure erase will restore original speed if it has degraded significantly over time. Speed will degrade eventually, you know.

OK, so I'm still not sure about jumpers on the the board.

Can I do a firmware flash? Just use the included tool to 'update' my firmware even though the SSD drive is up-to-date? Will this be the equivalent? If not, is there a picture of a 'jumpering' setup you could point me to that shows what you mean?

Also, there are several options in the BIOS to change from IDE to AHCI. Do I change them all? Or just specific ones?

Right now I've got 3 drives, my 1GB with the OS on it right now, a 250GB for backup of photos and now the SSD. I'd like to keep the OS on the 1GB just in case something goes wrong. Then after, plug it in, pull files off that I want to keep onto another drive and the format the drive. Does this all sound good?

[jman98]

I don't want to get into a pissing war with fritzi93, who I have absolutely nothing against, but this seems like overkill to me. I've had a Crucial SSD for about a year and half now I think and I never did a factory reset on it. If your drive is up to date on firmware then you don't need a firmware update. I am completely and utterly baffled as to how jumpering the drive "allows the firmware to sort itself out" but perhaps I simply do not understand his point. Maybe the OCZ drives are just different and need all this special work.

You need to change a specific BIOS setting to AHCI, but I am struggling for how to describe it. The best I can come up with is it's the one related to the connector you have the SSD on. If I remember correctly, I deliberately put my SSD on a connector by itself. Connector isn't really the word I want but right now I am stumped for what the right word is.

[fritzi93]

The jumpering (assuming your OCZ SSD has the maintenance mode prongs) is to be used if your SSD needs a reset or firmware flash. And in your other thread it seemed you might be having problems with the SSD itself, although that wasn't at all clear. I'll see if I can find some links. Normally, I agree all that is not necessary. Nevertheless, it's easy to do and does no harm.

In the meantime, here are the steps OCZ recommends for setting up and optimizing your SSD:

http://blog.ocztechnology.com/?p=178

[fritzi93]

Okay, you have a Vertex 4, right?
Here's some information on that drive series. It appears that it not necessary to use secure erase on that drive to regain speed, although you still should be careful not to overfill the drive:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?103279-VTX4-performance-and-sto...y-find-it-here

And here:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?109983-Secure-erase-and-questio...ng-performance



You haven't said whether your drive has the maintenance mode prongs (also called write protect or engineering mode prongs). Anyway, when I had my troubles with my Vertex, here are some of the links I viewed at the time:

This allowed my BIOS to at least recognize my drive again:

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=6825341&postcount=2

What allowing the drive to "drain" does:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?65932-YATAPDONG-BAREFOOT-ROM-bu...l=1#post464726

Then here:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?91866-Vertex-60gb-not-recognize...l=1#post775858

Another one:

http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?84782-OCZ-Vertex-60GB-gt-Yatapd...l=1#post776299

Again, I didn't have to go to any great lengths to get the drive back once I jumpered it and got it recognized again in BIOS. No firmware flash was necessary.

Now all that may not apply in your case. Nevertheless, if your drive suddenly is not recognized, jumpering may work. Then allowing the drive to "drain" or "reset" may get it back to normal. And I still maintain that if there's any question in your mind that the drive is not working properly, nothing could be easier than to jumper it (if possible) and let it reset.

[beavereater]

The jumpering (assuming your OCZ SSD has the maintenance mode prongs) is to be used if your SSD needs a reset or firmware flash. And in your other thread it seemed you might be having problems with the SSD itself, although that wasn't at all clear. I'll see if I can find some links. Normally, I agree all that is not necessary. Nevertheless, it's easy to do and does no harm.

In the meantime, here are the steps OCZ recommends for setting up and optimizing your SSD:

http://blog.ocztechnology.com/?p=178

Sorry. No issues with the SSD. Just haven't gotten around to installing the OS on it. Reading some of what I saw, I was surprised at the lengths people go to get it to 'work right'. I thought it was just like any other type of drive.

I haven't opened the case or checked for the jumper prongs. I will tomorrow. My BIOS recognizes it.