Intel SSD Caching Error

[shovenose]

The system in question: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit, MSI Z87M-G43, i5-4440, 16GB DDR3, 2TB Seagate Barracuda (OS drive), 60GB Kingdian SSD (just put this in).

Error I'm getting, when I hit OK to enable the acceleration:

What my Intel settings look like:

How I got to this point:

1. Install intel RST
2. Shut down and switch from AHCI to RAID in BIOS.
3. Boot in safe mode so it loads RAID driver instead of AHCI driver.
4. Boot back into Windows 10 normally.
5. Now I see Enable acceleration button, but when I try to configure it, I get that error. Of course, the "more help" link is useless.

I've tried every possible solution found online including making an empty small partition at the end of my OS drive, disabling anti-virus (Windows 10's built in Windows Defender), running diskpart clean on the SSD...

I am unwilling to reinstall the OS, though Intel's documentation and everything else it's recommended to start off with BIOS in RAID mode before OS installation but I honestly don't see how this matters since I am now running in RAID mode (or else I would not see Enable acceleration button in Intel RST software, and device manager shows RAID as well.

Thanks for any input.

 

[newtekie1]

After doing a clean in diskpart, did you go into disk management and initialize the SSD? I think you have to initialize the SSD and set it to the same partition style as the drive you are trying to accelerate(GPT or MBR).

 

[AsRock]

try at your own risk, but i just come across this and it has files for resetting the caching the file name is CLI_X64.exe.
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25165/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-RAID-Driver

 

[shovenose]

After doing a clean in diskpart, did you go into disk management and initialize the SSD? I think you have to initialize the SSD and set it to the same partition style as the drive you are trying to accelerate(GPT or MBR).

Hi, yes, I just cleaned again and initialized to be sure, both are basic MBR.

try at your own risk, but i just come across this and it has files for resetting the caching the file name is CLI_X64.exe.
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25165/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-RAID-Driver

"The scripts assume the
SRT volume has already been created. "

Looks like this will not help :'(

 

[newtekie1]

When you say you made a small empty partition at the end of the OS drive, did you actually create a partition or just leave it as unallocated space? And how big did you make it?

A screenshot of diskmanagement might be helpful.

 

[shovenose]

When you say you made a small empty partition at the end of the OS drive, did you actually create a partition or just leave it as unallocated space? And how big did you make it?

A screenshot of diskmanagement might be helpful.

 

[newtekie1]

That extra 455MB partition seems strange to me. I hesitate to say delete it, because it looks like there is space taken up on it. But it may be what is causing the problem. ISRT will get an unknown error if it enounters a partition it doesn't know what to do with.

It seems like that partition is formatted as NTFS, so you can try mapping a drive letter to it and seeing what is on it.

 

[shovenose]

That extra 455MB partition seems strange to me. I hesitate to say delete it, because it looks like there is space taken up on it. But it may be what is causing the problem. ISRT will get an unknown error if it enounters a partition it doesn't know what to do with.

It seems like that partition is formatted as NTFS, so you can try mapping a drive letter to it and seeing what is on it.

I believe it's Win10 recovery. I was considering deleting it, but do I need the "winre" data on it that I saw when I accessed it? If my OS is ever a goner I'll just reinstall, that's what backups are for, as long as Win10 will boot/run fine without it.

Edit: deleted the partition, tried with my main partition all the way extended or with 20mb free space on end, with windows defender off, diskpart clean on the ssd, initializing with mbr or gpt, on a clean reboot with no extra software running, same error!

 

[newtekie1]

Yeah, I don't think you need it to boot, my legacy install of Win10 only has the first System Reserve partition and the C drive, nothing at the end like that. My UEFI install has an extra 300MB recovery partition, but it is labeled as the Recovery Partition and isn't formatted as NTFS and it is located at the beginning of the drive.

Obviously, delete at your own risk, but my best guess is that partition isn't required.

 

[shovenose]

Yeah, I don't think you need it to boot, my legacy install of Win10 only has the first System Reserve partition and the C drive, nothing at the end like that. My UEFI install has an extra 300MB recovery partition, but it is labeled as the Recovery Partition and isn't formatted as NTFS and it is located at the beginning of the drive.

Obviously, delete at your own risk, but my best guess is that partition isn't required.

Hi, please check my edit above. Thanks

 

[shovenose]

ok, I updated BIOS and am updating RST to latest version. 14.5.something was the latest download from MSI's site, but I thought to double check the version against the link you posted, and Intel offers 14.8.something. Will keep you updated. I will sure feel dumb if it was just that simple.

 

[shovenose]

IT WORKS!

 

[newtekie1]

Do'h!

 

[shovenose]

Well, I shall update, it's still working, the $27 Kingdian SSD hasn't exploded yet, and my computer is faster Instead of waiting like 2-3 minutes after logging to have a usable computer everything works right away. Near-SSD boot times and application loading for stuff I use frequently, but I get to retain my 2TB of storage without reinstalling my OS!