MSI P67A-C43 (B3) & OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3 Issues

Question

Specifications:
Quote
Mobo/Laptop: MSI P67A-C43 (B3)
BIOS: 1.B (2011-04-14)
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K
RAM: 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 CML8GX3M2A1600C9B
Vid: ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti
PSU: HX750 (CMPSU-750HX)
HDD: OCZ Vertex 3 VTX3-25SAT3-120G v2.11
Chipset: Intel P67 (B3) RSD v10.6.0.1002
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit SP1
Let's start from the beginning: So I built my PC in July and ever since I've been having on and off BSODs with the Vertex 3 drive. Mostly they'll happen once a week. When I first built the machine my drive came with Firmware 2.06. I installed all the drivers from MSI's website as well as the latest Intel Rapid Storage Drivers. Eventually I flashed the SSD to 2.11 when it was released but still had similar issues. Hotplugging was enabled when I installed Windows 7 for the first time AND when I flashed to 2.11 from 2.06. Some members over on the OCZ boards stated this might have been the cause of the BSOD. Basically the PC froze, BSOD'd, restarted, and then the system couldn't detect the drive. I had to power the system down, remove the power cable, wait 10 seconds, re-connect the cable and power on the PC. After I did this Windows booted normally.
I received some advice on the OCZ forums to reset CMOS and leave hotplugging disabled. Then re-flash the drive to 2.11 with hotplugging disabled. Some members thought this would make the drive act like an internal drive, not an external drive. However, a week after doing this the same BSOD appeared. I've started from scratch last week by secure erasing the drive and re-installing Windows, but same issues. I noticed MSI released a new BIOS for my board in July. I have the one from April currently.
Is it worth upgrading my BIOS? The listed fixes don't say anything about SSDs.
I plan on trying this when I get home from work:
Quote from: Tony;676791
Going to keep this brief and to the point, this hack will force the 2 primary sata2 or sata3 ports on the motherboards to be designated Internal only...You can do this hack for all Intel chipsets from around ICH8 onwards in win7 and Vista.
You also need to make sure hotplugging is disabled in uefi/bios if your boards bios has the option(s) do this first before you do any of these regedits etc
1 Remove all traces of Intel drivers on your system, that means remove the management engine driver, the RST driver and the INF driver, you do this thru the programs and features option in control panel.  I remove them all before I reboot, the system will automagically set you using the MSAHCI driver.
2 Now reboot, let win7 detect the ssd and reboot again.
3 now open a elevated command window (CMD with administrator privileges) and copy/paste the following...then hit enter.
Code: [Select]
reg.exe add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msahci\Controller0\Channel0" /f /v TreatAsInternalPort /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001 
Once you hit enter you can then add the following again using copy/paste.
Code: [Select]
reg.exe add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\msahci\Controller0\Channel1" /f /v TreatAsInternalPort /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001 
Hit enter and close CMD.EXE down, reboot
This will now force the 2 sata 3 ports to Internal only, this means they will apply LPM if you set it and will support Automatic Partial to slumber.
I now suggest you experiment with power schemes, for some high performance may work better than balanced...try both
You also need to make sure hotplugging is disabled in uefi do this first before you do any of these regedits etc
If you want to go a step further than this you can try the following...ONLY do this after you have done the steps above.
remove the SSD to start
1 create a temporary win7 install on a hdd, use the msahci driver and once installed do the hack to force the 2 ports to internal only. Have the hdd connected to port 1 on the motherboard.
2 once the install is ready and you have installed toolbox to it power down and connect the SSD to port 0
3 now boot to the HDD, use the manual boot menu option to make sure you are booting to the HDD and make sure hotplugging is OFF in UEFI
4 once in win7, flash the FW to the drive, when its finished flashing, close toolbox, reboot back to the HDD and back into win7...make sure the SSD is detected in my computer.
5 now power off, remove the HDD...then boot to UEFI and make sure to set the SSD as first boot device
6 Power up, boot to the SSD
Stay using the MSAHCI driver for now, do not install any INF, IME or RST drivers.
Edit 09/09/11
Had a few end users quoting disabling TRIM solved BSOD for them...now im not saying it will solve BSOD for all but it may be worth trying. Remember the SandForce controller was originally designed without TRIM in mind, it functions just fine without it so you should see no loss of performance. If you want to help the controller stay fast you could always add some extra over provisioning by reducing the volume on the drive and leaving that space unallocated...totally up to you what you do though....
I like 25% OP on my drives, this means if I have a 120 with 115GB showing in windows I lose 15GB to OP and use 100GB for the volume....
A forum member wrote a little script to enable /disable trim...he wrote in support for wiper for Indilinx drives also...just ignore that part and use the TRIM function only...
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?63830-A-small-script-to-enable-disable-Trim
Here is a link to force TRIM also.. http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/forum/showthread.php?73888-Here-s-a-tool-to-force-TRIM-your-entire-drive&p=523305&viewfull=1#post523305  you could if you wanted use this once a week to force the drive to TRIM all marked deleted blocks if you turn off native TRIM in win7.
Again....not saying this cures any BSOD but a few end users have said they disabled TRIM and issues went away...anything I have suggested here is totally reversible and will do no harm to your systems.
If this doesn't work and I get a BSOD after a week I'll disable TRIM and if that doesn't work I have no idea. OCZ said they're working on a new firmware release so who knows. I just hate feeling like I am a beta tester.
If anyone has any suggestions let me know.

Answer 1

OK, had some time to go test your suggestions here
These are the 1.5V Vengeance RAM Modules.  Tried installing 2 of the RAM on slots 2 and 4 on their own.  System Boots Fine.
Went into the BIOS and changed the voltage applied to the RAM modules from
AUTO to 1.575V.   On AUTO it says is applying 1.5V to the 2x 4GB modules.
Installed the full 4x RAM on all slots... and the system just shuts down.  Power cycling again.
What do you think here?  Bad Motherboard?  Can't think of anything else to try...  totally stumped! 
Thanks!