IRST accelerate option missing

[PKroo]

Hello world,

I'm trying to set up Smart Response Tech (or something like that) by using a SSD as cache for a HDD. But in the Inter Rapid Storage Technology program there's no button 'accelerate' (or anything similar); the help function also did not help.

All my drives are connected to the same controller (system report attached), and it's running in RAID mode. I want to accelerate the disk on port 0 (WD2001FASS-...) using the ssd on port 1 (KINGSTON ...60G).

The SSD is 56GB is size, and completely unallocated. I have already performed a low level format using diskpart's 'clean all' (when I open Windows' disk management it asks me to initialise the disk as either MBR or GPT, so I think the formatting worked).

The HDD is ~2TB, and contains one partition (Basic disk, MBR, NTFS) with flags Page File, Active, Primary Partition.

Motherboard chipset: H270

CPU: Intel i5-7600K kabylake

Please help, it's driving me up the wall...

EDIT: shrinking and expanding the partition on port 0 didn't help either

Message was edited by: Pitje

[idata]

Hello Pitje,

Thank you for contacting the Intel community. I'm sorry that it took me some time to come around to this post and to be able to help you. Just make sure the SSD is unallocated as you already have mentioned above, your operating system needs to be installed with the BIOS set as RAID mode and download the latest IRST.https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26361/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-RAID-Driver?product=55005 Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) RAID Driver I found and article that can be helpful for you, please check the following link:https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardware/4478-guide-fix-acceleration-tab-button-missing-intel-rst.html https://www.tenforums.com/drivers-hardware/4478-guide-fix-acceleration-tab-button-missing-intel-rst.htmlNOTE: This link is being offered for your convenience and should not be viewed as an endorsement by Intel of the content, products, or services offered there. Best regards, Ivan.

[PKroo]

Hi,

thanks for the response, I'm not used to receiving any support for software whatsoever, so I'm really happy this forum is being monitored

I downloaded the drivers/IRST you linked, and reinstalled them. Didn't work.

Next i shrunk both my C: drive and my E: drive (which I want to accelerate). Didn't work either.

Growing the partitions again also did not help.

I rebooted every time before seeing if it helped.

The controller is in RAID mode.

Could I unplug the two drives I don't want to accelerate (including my system drive), and then enable acceleration from the BIOS?

I hope there's still some options left...

Pitje

[idata]

Please leave some unallocated space at the end of the mechanical drive. I believe 100 MB should be enough but otherwise increase the amount and try again.

Actually, you can try setting the unallocated space as I have mentioned above but according with the Intel ark website the Intel® H270 Chipset does not support the Intel® Smart Response Technology, you can check here:http://ark.intel.com/products/98090/Intel-H270-Chipset http://ark.intel.com/products/98090/Intel-H270-Chipset Best regards, Ivan.

[PKroo]

I'm feeling pretty stupid now, I can tell you that...

If I understand the promo-page (https://www-ssl.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/optane-memory.html Intel® Optane™ Memory) correctly Optane does roughly the same thing, but with a M2 ssd, right? Do you know whether it has to be a specific model?

Thanks for the help, I'll mark it as answered.

Pitje

[AOroz4]

I need some help here, I have the exact same problem, it is driving me crazy, mi processor does support IRST http://ark.intel.com/products/88967/Intel-Core-i7-6700HQ-Processor-6M-Cache-up-to-3_50-GHz?q=Core%20i7-6700HQ Intel® Core™ i7-6700HQ Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.50 GHz) Product Specifications

I don't know how to set my system in order to have the accelerate option available.

[PKroo]

Hi Zaggan,

what chipset does your motherboard have? Could you attach a system report (Under IRST's help function somewhere)? You might get a faster reply if you make your own topic, but I'm not sure what the nettiquette is on this forum.

[idata]

Yes, it is similar to that, when combined with a large storage drive; the Intel® Optane™ memory M.2 module accelerates computer performance, while maintaining capacity.

Please bear in mind that this product has not been released yet and we still don't have information when it is going to be release but hopefully it will be soon. By placing this new memory media between the processor and supported storage device, we are able to store frequently used data (programs) closer to the processor which allows the system to access this information more quickly. By pairing Intel® Optane™ Memory with slower storage devices (like HDDs, SATA SSDs), the PC user can get amazing responsiveness with high capacity local storage. Best regards, Ivan.

[AOroz4]

Informe del sistema

Información del sistema

Estado: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

Versión del SO: 10.0.10586

Nombre del sistema: DESKTOP-MEC762L

Fabricante del sistema: Alienware

Modelo del sistema: Alienware 17 R4

Procesador: GenuineIntel Intel64 Family 6 Model 94 Stepping 3 2.601 GHz

BIOS: Alienware, 1.0.12

Tecnología de almacenamiento Intel® Rapid empresa

Kit instalado: 15.2.0.1020

Versión de la interfaz de usuario: 15.2.0.1020

Idioma: Español (México)

Versión de la ROM opcional de RAID: 15.2.1.2771

Versión del controlador: 15.2.0.1020

Versión de ISDI: 15.2.0.1020

Información del sistema de almacenamiento

Configuración de RAID

Información del hardware

Nombre de controladora:Intel Chipset SATA RAID Controller

Tipo:SATA

Modo:RAID

Número de puertos SATA: 3

Número de volúmenes: 0

Número de dispositivos de repuesto:0

Número de discos disponibles:2

Reconstrucción de la Conexión en Caliente:Desactivado

Fabricante:32902

Número de modelo:10274

Revisión de producto:49

Disco conectado directamente:170127422921

Disco conectado directamente:JR1000D31Z2LYE

Disco enControladora 0, Puerto 0

Estado: Normal

Tipo:SSD SATA

Tipo de ubicación:Interno

Uso: Disponible(s)

Tamaño: 119 GB

Disco del sistema: No

Caché de datos de disco: Activado

Colocación en cola de comandos: NCQ

Velocidad de transferencia: 6 Gb/s

Modelo: SanDisk X400 M.2 2280 128GB

Número de serie:170127422921

ID de dispositivo SCSI:0

Firmware: X4130012

Tamaño del sector físico: 512 bytes

Tamaño del sector lógico: 512 bytes

Disco enControladora 0, Puerto 3

Estado: Normal

Tipo:Disco SATA

Tipo de ubicación:Interno

Uso: Disponible(s)

Tamaño: 932 GB

Disco del sistema: Sí

Caché de datos de disco: Activado

Colocación en cola de comandos: NCQ

Velocidad de transferencia: 6 Gb/s

Modelo: HGST HTS721010A9E630

Número de serie:JR1000D31Z2LYE

ID de dispositivo SCSI:0

Firmware: JB0OA3W0

Tamaño del sector físico: 4096 bytes

Tamaño del sector lógico: 512 bytes

Puerto vacio

Puerto: 0

Ubicación del puerto: Interno

-------------------------------------------------

System Report

System Information

OS name: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro

OS version: 10.0.10586

System name: DESKTOP-MEC762L

System manufacturer: Alienware

System model: Alienware 17 R4

Processor: GenuineIntel Intel64 Family 6 Model 94 Stepping 3 2.601 GHz

BIOS: Alienware, 1.0.12

Intel® Rapid Storage Technology enterprise Information

Kit installed: 15.2.0.1020

User interface version: 15.2.0.1020

Language: English (United States)

RAID option ROM version: 15.2.1.2771

Driver version: 15.2.0.1020

ISDI version: 15.2.0.1020

Storage System Information

RAID Configuration

Hardware Information

Controller name: Intel Chipset SATA RAID Controller

Type: SATA

Mode: RAID

Number of SATA ports: 3

Number of volumes: 0

Number of spares: 0

Number of available disks: 2

Rebuild on Hot Plug: Disabled

Manufacturer: 32902

Model number: 10274

Product revision: 49

Direct attached disk: 170127422921

Direct attached disk: JR1000D31Z2LYE

Disk on Controller 0, Port 0

Status: Normal

Type: SATA SSD

Location type: Internal

Usage: Available

Size: 119 GB

System disk: No

Disk data cache: Enabled

Command queuing: NCQ

Transfer rate: 6 Gb/s

Model: SanDisk X400 M.2 2280 128GB

Serial number: 170127422921

SCSI device ID: 0

Firmware: X4130012

Physical sector size: 512 Bytes

Logical sector size: 512 Bytes

Disk on Controller 0, Port 3

Status: Normal

Type: SATA disk

Location type: Internal

Usage: Available

Size: 932 GB

System disk: Yes

Disk data cache: Enabled

Command queuing: NCQ

Transfer rate: 6 Gb/s

Model: HGST HTS721010A9E630

Serial number: JR1000D31Z2LYE

SCSI device ID: 0

Firmware: JB0OA3W0

Physical sector size: 4096 Bytes

Logical sector size: 512 Bytes

Empty port

Port: 0

Port location: Internal

[idata]

Since you have a laptop you best contact support is your computer manufacturer as they are more familiar with your system and how all the components interact with each other.

However, you can try installing the latest version, I know you already have it installed but try reinstalling it. All you need to do is to enable drive acceleration in the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology. Ivan.

[AOroz4]

Ivan, the option is not available, I can't see the button to accelerate, I know how it works since I have a laptop Dell Vostro which I have accelerated, and from Alienware support they told me to contant Intel

[PKroo]

If my google skills are still up to scratch, you should have either an Intel CM236 or Intel CM238 motherboard chipset. Both *should* support SRT.

1) is your SSD unallocated? This is something different than an empty partition.

2) What does the partitioning on your HDD look like? Could you change it such that there is ~200 MB free at the end of the disk? Again, a disk is something different than a partition in this context.

If you did both, and it still does not work, try a low-level format of the SSD.

[PKroo]

Actually, having a second look at your system report: Your SSD is too large. IIRC the maximum SSD size supported is 64GB.

[AOroz4]

As far as I've seen on the Internet, the maximum usable space is 64GB but the SSD can be any size, actually I've found that some people have accelerated their HDD with a 128GB SSD, using 64GB for acceleration and the rest as an extra storage space, on monday I will perform the low level format, the drive is unallocated, same monday I will upload a screenshot of the HDD partition so you can take a look.

[idata]

Thank you for your contribution on this post and Zaggan your right the Intel Smart Response Technology can be configured to consume up to 64GB of space on an SSD and the extra space on SSDs larger than 64GB can still be accessed by the system.

Please remember that your BIOS needs to be set as raid mode and keep us posted how it goes after formatting your SSD. Regards, Ivan.

[AOroz4]

already performed a low level format, did not worked at all, any more ideas?

[idata]

Did you try leaving unallocated space at the end of the mechanical drive? I believe 100 MB should be enough but otherwise increase the amount and try again.

Ivan.

[AOroz4]

I did it already, I don't know if there is some extra configuration needed to leave the HDD accelerated with the SSD

[idata]

The only way that this option is not available in the IRST is when RAID mode is not set in the BIOS.

If it is already set and the problem persists, try installing the chipset driver, you can try the https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/20775/Intel-Chipset-Device-Software-INF-Update-Utility-?product=98087 Intel® generic driver Was this working fine before? What changes were made when this started to happen? If nothing has been change and this started to happen suddenly I suggest you to contact your computer manufacturer for support as they are more familiar with your system and how the components interact with each other. Regards, Ivan.

[mark66collins]

I had the same issue. I tried the shrink/expand too, and that did not work. 

There's a tab (the second tab) on the Intel RST utility named "Manage". Highlight the cache disk and then the option "clear metadata".  Then the "Acceleration" option returns.