Intel® Optane™ Solid State Drives
Support for Issues Related to Solid State Drives based on Intel® Optane™ technology, Intel® MAS and Firmware Update Tool
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Memory and Storage Tool Full Diagnostic Scan Does Not Run for 600p SSD

khancast
Novice
1,952 Views

My backup software (Acronis True Image 2021) has been reporting errors in my C: drive, which is on an Intel SSD 600p.  The Acronis help forums suggested I use the Intel Solid State Drive Toolbox, which has been discontinued; after some searching, it appears the Memory and Storage Tool is what I need to diagnose any problems with my SSD.  (Correct?) 

However, when I select my drive in the MAS GUI, go to "Select a Feature" -> "Diagnostic Scan" -> "Full Diagnostic Scan", I am told the scan will take "an hour or more".  Instead, it finishes in three seconds, and reports neither any drive errors nor errors with the scan itself.  This doesn't seem possible.  What am I missing?  Is there a different tool I should use?

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BrusC_Intel
Moderator
1,930 Views

Hello, khancast.


Good day,


Thank you for posting on the Intel Community Support forums.


I received your thread regarding the Full Diagnostic Scan of your Intel® SSD 600p, I will be glad to assist you.


Please provide us with a full system report using Intel SSU:


  1. Download the Intel® System Support Utility and save the application to your system: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293
  2. Open the application and click Scan to see the system and device information. The Intel® System Support Utility defaults to the Summary View on the output screen following the scan. Click the menu where it says summary to change to Detailed View.
  3. To save your scan, click Next and click Save. You can save the file to any accessible location on your computer.


I would also like to know the following:

  • What exactly was the error shown by that software regarding the drive?
  • How much free space do you have in the SSD?
  • Can you also provide us with the SMART report using the Intel Memory and Storage Tool?


I will follow up on March 30th, but please let me know in case you would like additional time.


Best regards,


Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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khancast
Novice
1,919 Views

Here are the requested files.  As I said very explicitly in my OP, there isn't an error shown regarding the drive -- which is the entire problem; I EXPECT an error.  If a scan that is meant to take "an hour or more" finishes in TWO SECONDS, then the tool clearly isn't performing an actual scan.

There is 162 GB remaining on the SSD.

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BrusC_Intel
Moderator
1,904 Views

Hello, khancast.


Thank you for the reports and details.


I was referring to "Acronis" when I said "that software" in my first question. I was curious about what that software said was wrong with the SSD; my apologies since this was not clear.


I tested a few drives (660p, 600p, and 7600p) and I noticed the same behavior in the diagnostics, both tests take just a few seconds, so I would say this is normal behavior, but I will still investigate this further, so thank you for bringing this to my attention.


Regarding the report provided, I do not see critical errors and the drive looks healthy, there seem to be media errors so I would recommend performing a secure erase, of course, since this is your main drive, this would require you to migrate your OS to a temporary storage device or perform a clean OS installation.


The following article contains a few tools you can use to perform the erase, I personally consider KillDisk the easiest, but you are free to use any other tools you trust for this operation:

- When to Run a Low-Level Format or Secure Erase: https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000006198/memory-and-storage.html


I will follow up on April 1st or we can schedule a different date if necessary.


Best regards,


Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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khancast
Novice
1,891 Views

Thanks for the reply.  Re-reading your first post, your request makes more sense.  (Apologies if I got snippy.)  The error reported by Acronis is simply: "File system error is found.  Consider checking the disk using Check Disk Utility."  However, running "chkdsk C: /f /r /x" (and allowing it to run before Windows boots up) finds no errors.

When I went to the Acronis help forum (full post here), I was told that message "has always been issued correctly for a latent issue on the disk drive identified".

I am extremely hesitant to reinstall my entire OS, let alone erase the whole SSD, even if temporarily.  Would you mind elaborating on why you think such a procedure would help with errors in a 3rd-party backup program?

Also: Is it relevant that my SSD has multiple partitions, for both Linux and Windows?

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BrusC_Intel
Moderator
1,878 Views

Hello, khancast.

 

Good day,

 

I would have also tried the CHKDSK as you did, and the erase I mentioned is just a general recommendation when a problem with the drive is suspected, but now, with the details you have shared and the information in that thread (the Acronis forum), I would say there is no reason for you to do it.

 

By reviewing the thread you shared I also noticed in your latest post that the error goes away if you do not select the Recycle bin or when you empty it, which is interesting as it would point to an issue with the tool itself (as you mentioned).

 

Regarding your multiple partitions for dual-boot setup, from our perspective, this is not a problem, and I do not know if this could have any implications from the side of that backup tool, but seeing that you already brought this up with them, it does not seem to be a problem either.

 

From our part, there are no other recommendations we can provide since the drive looks good, but please let me know if you have any concerns or if you would like to keep the thread open, otherwise, I will proceed to close it on April 5th.

 

Best regards,

 

Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician


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khancast
Novice
1,873 Views

Thanks again.  The tests I've run since my last post do indeed point to Acronis as the culprit, so you can close this thread.

However, as a parting note: I still think someone should investigate the anomalously-fast "Full Diagnostic" MAS scan.  One would expect such a tool to be at least as thorough as chkdsk, and thus to take at least as long to complete, no?  Without a good reason to continue doubting my own drive's health, I have no way to confirm or deny the scan's efficacy, so I have to leave that ball in your court.

BrusC_Intel
Moderator
1,862 Views

Hello, khancast.

 

Good day,

 

You are right.

 

What I can do as soon as I receive the information is to update the thread (this post), and depending on the resolution this could also mean that a new public article will be created or the information in the tool will be modified, unfortunately, I cannot provide a timeframe for that, but we will be working on it.

 

I will proceed to close the thread right now, but if you need any type of assistance from Intel in the future, please open a new thread or contact us via any of the other support methods (https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/contact-support.html).

 

Best regards,

 

Bruce C.

Intel Customer Support Technician

 

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