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1343 Discussions

BSOD When using Optane on secondary drive

DRank
Beginner
2,841 Views

Hello,

I recently bought and installed a 32gb Intel Optane Memory module. My motherboard is Gigabyte Z370N WiFi. I installed the Intel Optane Memory to the front panel and my NVME SSD boot drive to the back panel of my motherboard. When I try to use Optane with a secondary 2TB HDD, the Windows 10 OS glitches after a few minutes on the SSD and then I get a BSOD with error CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED. I re-installed Windows 10 to the HDD and Optane works fine, so it is a problem with using my NVME SSD as a boot drive and my HDD as a secondary drive. I installed the latest bios for my Motherboard which is F4, and I changed the SATA mode in my bios to Intel RST Premium with Optane. I also installed the latest Intel Optane Memory drivers. I'm not quite sure what the problem is since Intel does say it supports accelerating secondary drives now. Please help! Thank you.

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7 Replies
idata
Employee
974 Views

Hello drewr27,

 

 

Thank you for your interest in the Intel® Optane™ Memory.

 

 

I understand you are experiencing some issues when trying to accelerate your secondary drive.

 

 

Could you please tell me if you are using Intel® RST Pre-OS UEFI Driver version 16.0.2.3402 or later? For more information regarding the hardware and software requirements related to secondary drive acceleration please check the following https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000027987/memory-and-storage.html

 

 

Are all the drives involved formatted for GPT partition? Is there any OS present in the HDD that you want to accelerate? Have you tried different SATA ports? Have you tested connecting the memory module to the back panel and the NVMe SSD to the front panel?

 

 

I'll be waiting for your response.

 

 

Regards,

 

Andres V.
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DRank
Beginner
974 Views

Hello Andres, thank you for your quick reply.

I don't know how to tell if the F4 Bios update contains the Intel® RST Pre-OS UEFI Driver version 16.0.2.3402 but I will be sending a ticket to the manufacturer Gigabyte asking for that information.

Unfortunately my SSD is experiencing some kind of error and I need to re-format it, but I believe that I only converted the HDD to GPT partition, do both need to be formatted that way?

There is no OS on the HDD when I am trying to accelerate it.

I haven't tried connecting my HDD to different SATA ports, I will try that later. I cannot connect my SSD to different SATA ports as it is m.2.

Yes, my first configuration had the Intel Optane Memory connected to the panel underneath and the SSD on top. I switched them around when it wasn't working, but the new configuration doesn't work either.

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idata
Employee
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Hello drewr27,

 

 

Thank you for answering the questions.

 

 

I understand that you will contact the motherboard's manufacturer to find out the driver version.

 

 

You are right regarding the GPT partition, both storage devices (primary SSD and secondary HDD) have to be formatted with a GPT style. That is probably what is causing the issues that you describe.

 

 

Please perform the corresponding formatting and contact us if you consider that you need further assistance.

 

 

In case you have any update or question don't hesitate to contact us.

 

 

Regards,

 

Andres V.
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DRank
Beginner
974 Views

Hello,

Yesterday I formatted both drives to GPT partition. I installed Intel Optane Memory User Interface and Sriver 16.0.2 .exe and restarted my system. The computer worked for about 20 minutes, but I no longer saw the Intel Optane Memory drive. I checked by using the list disk command in the terminal and the only drives that showed up were the SSD and HDD. I opened the Intel Optane Memory application and I could not select the memory or secondary drive to enable optane memory as they were not listed in the dropdown. After about 20mins the OS began to glitch again and I could no longer log into Windows and the screen I got said it needed to be repaired.

I'm thinking next i should try donwloading the IRST Driver alone without the Intel Optane Memory UI.

Is the .exe different from the .zip in the Intel Optane Memory UI and Driver download? I am run x64 Windows.

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idata
Employee
974 Views

Hello drewr27,

 

 

Thank you for the update.

 

 

Have you been able to contact the motherboard's manufacturer in order to make sure that the BIOS version is compatible with secondary drive acceleration?

 

 

It seems that you already got the required driver after installing the Intel® Optane™ Memory UI, so the main concern should be to receive a confirmation from the motherboard's manufacturer regarding the BIOS version.

 

 

I emphasize this because an Optane-ready motherboard may be able to accelerate a primary drive, but since the secondary drive acceleration feature was implemented afterwards, the manufacturer should provide a new compatible BIOS version.

 

 

In case you have any update or question don't hesitate to contact us.

 

 

Regards,

 

Andres V.
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DRank
Beginner
974 Views

Hello, I just received a message back from the manufacturers of my motherboard,

Dear Drew,

Our latest F4 Bios comes with added support for Intel Optane feature, for the preinstall driver you'll have to download it separately:

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z370N-WIFI-rev-10# support-dl-driver-sataraidahci https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z370N-WIFI-rev-10# support-dl-driver-sataraidahci

Please refer to the following Intel Optane setup guide:

https://www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/454/intel-optane-ready.html https://www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/454/intel-optane-ready.html

Thank you.

I followed the link and I already installed the second driver on that link that says "Intel Optane Memory" driver. Do I install the first one that says "Intel SATA Preinstall driver (For AHCI/RAID)" ?

I am slightly confused because it says AHCI but the driver needs IRST instead...

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idata
Employee
974 Views

Hello drewr27,

 

 

I agree that the labels associated with the drivers provided by the manufacturer may cause some confusion, and unfortunately there are no further details regarding the content of the drivers.

 

 

From my point of view, the motherboard manufacturer's agent didn't answered the most important question, which is if the latest BIOS version and driver allow secondary drive acceleration.

 

 

We know that you own an Optane-Ready motherboard capable of accelerating the booting drive, so if you decide to install the "Intel SATA Preinstall driver (For AHCI / RAID Mode)", and that doesn't fix the issues that you are experiencing, we still need the manufacturer's confirmation. Especially considering that none of the links shared with you involve steps to configure secondary acceleration.

 

 

Do you think you can contact the motherboard's manufacturer agent an ask him to clarify if the available BIOS version and driver version enable secondary drive acceleration?

 

 

I'll be waiting for your response.

 

 

Regards,

 

Andres V.
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