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Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management fails to launch: Error 0xA00906B3, Update RST

GraniteStateColin
9,182 Views

I suspect this is a well understood issue by some, but I'm a little confused how this is supposed to work and to my surprise, I don't see this widely reported as a problem and can't find a solution online, so I suspect I'm just doing something stupid.

I've used RST for at least 14 years, maybe longer (don't recall when I started using on-board RAID as good-enough in place of a dedicated card) for monitoring RAID integrity, tuning cache levels, rebuilding volumes, etc., across dozens of systems. I know that more recently (a few years ago, under Windows 10) Intel and Microsoft moved from the Intel-provided GUI to the one in the Microsoft Store, the "Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management" application. What I don't understand is what powers the back-end, the actual RAID monitoring software or drivers. I assume that's why I am getting the following error preventing the app from launching. The listed error code doesn't map to anything that seems relevant: other than not being able to launch the app to check the settings, everything seems to be running fine.

GraniteStateColin_0-1688562845619.png

Additional background:

I run RAID 1 on the computer in question (others run RAID 5 and RAID 10). I set that up in the BIOS (various MoBo's, but this one happens to be MSI, using Intel's Z790 chipset). In order to install Windows, I need to install the RAID drivers from the f6vmdflpy-x64 folder, which is the same process I've used for more than decade. Without the drivers added during install, the Windows installer doesn't even see the drive and won't install. So I know that from the moment of install, it's using the Intel drivers. So far, so good.

Then, once Windows us up and running, I can install the Intel Driver and Support Assistant and the Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management apps. The Intel D&SA used to also update RST, but now it seems to ignore it and only address networking and embedded graphics. The Optane Memory and Storage Management app seems to require a current version of the RST software to be able to provide a report on the RAID array and drives. 

Also SOMETIMES, the Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management starts and runs fine without that error. I think, but I'm not sure, that it runs after a restart or maybe if I manually reinstall the RST from MSI for the motherboard (but those have never changed, so don't understand why it would work after a fresh re-install, then later report that I need to update the drivers as shown in that error message). 

Question:

Where am I supposed to get that and how do I keep it up to date, now that the Intel D&SA no longer updates it? I really don't want to have to restart the computer every time I want to check on the RAID drivers. Or am I looking at this all wrong and there's a different way I should handle this now that Intel has changed how this works (like maybe the Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management isn't even the right tool for this)?

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12 Replies
Jocelyn_Intel
Employee
9,158 Views

Hello, @GraniteStateColin  

 

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities. I will gladly assist you here. 

 

Please be aware that Intel DSA was designed for products manufactured by Intel, such as Intel® NUCs, not for OEM systems (Original Equipment Manufacturers). In any case, the Intel® RST drivers are provided by the OEM, since Intel drivers are generic. You can find the Intel RST generic drivers in the Download Center

 

Note: We recommend checking with your System Manufacturer and using the driver software provided by them to avoid potential installation incompatibilities. Intel supplies generic versions of RST Drivers for general purposes. Computer manufacturers might have changed the features, incorporated customizations, or made other changes to the RST driver software or software packaging. 

 

Regarding your original issue, you can follow the steps of this article

  • Back up all data/files before proceeding with the steps below. 
  • If the error was encountered while launching/opening the Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management, update the Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver to the latest version available for your platform. 
  • Always verify that the BIOS is set up properly for your platform. Verify the steps in the proper installation guide

 

If the issue persists, restart the Service RstMwRpc: 

  1. Search for the Services Windows app (Open Windows Menu and type services). 
  2. Select the Services app. 
  3. Press Yes if the User Account Control popup appears. 
  4. Restart the service by following the steps below: 
    1. Locate the RstMwRpc service. 
    2. Right-click and select Restart from the menu. 
  5. If the error persists, Disable acceleration and uninstall the application. 
  6. After restart, reinstall the application and enable acceleration. 

 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 


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Jocelyn_Intel
Employee
9,085 Views

Hello, @GraniteStateColin      

 

We are checking this thread and we would like to know if you were able to review our previous post. If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us back. 

 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 


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GraniteStateColin
9,069 Views

It's not always easy to reproduce, because restarting the computer temporarily fixes it for a few days.

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Jocelyn_Intel
Employee
9,050 Views

Hello, @GraniteStateColin  

 

Thank you for your reply. 

 

In previous posts, there are troubleshooting steps for this error code you are getting, have you tried these steps? 

 

You can follow this article in any case: Error Code 0xA00906B3 - Intel® RST Service Disruption 

 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 


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Jocelyn_Intel
Employee
8,962 Views

Hello, @GraniteStateColin  

 

We are checking this thread and we would like to know if you were able to review our previous post. If you need further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us back. 

 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 


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Jocelyn_Intel
Employee
8,933 Views

Hello, @GraniteStateColin    

 

We have not heard back from you, so we will proceed to close this thread now. If you need any additional assistance, please submit a new question as this thread will no longer be monitored.  

 

Best regards,  

Jocelyn M.   

Intel Customer Support Technician. 


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GraniteStateColin
8,737 Views

Typical Intel screw up on these support forums. It's like your goal is to close the tickets before users can actually get a resolution. I had specifically told you that I needed time to test. Does your insulting fast closure help you earn a bonus for a speedy resolution, when all you've done is screw over you customer? Again... (this is about the third or fourth time you've done this in the past couple of years, others relating to your video drivers fighting with Microsoft Update). 

 

Now that I've had a chance to observe this across a few restarts, I can see that it ALWAYS works after a restart, and seems to always fail after a few days of being up and running. I don't know that this is Intel's fault, but this is the ONLY app that has this problem. So something causes the Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application to no longer be able to launch after a while. As far as I can tell, the drivers are still working just fine, it's just the Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application won't launch. 

 

Therefore, my work-around, if I want to launch Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management application to check on my RAID drive status, is to restart the computer. That's not acceptable and Intel should be more concerned about understanding and fixing this defect.

 

The service you mentioned (RstMwService, but called "Intel(R) Storage Middleware Service" in the service manager) is stopped. I cannot restart it. It fails with an error 1067. 

Note that the rest of your "answer" did not directly address my question anyway. I had asked "Where am I supposed to get that and how do I keep it up to date, now that the Intel D&SA no longer updates it? I really don't want to have to restart the computer every time I want to check on the RAID drivers. Or am I looking at this all wrong and there's a different way I should handle this now that Intel has changed how this works (like maybe the Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management isn't even the right tool for this)?"

 

I see these in my Device Manager:

GraniteStateColin_0-1690380304089.png

 

The Intel RST VMD Controller A77F is version 19.5.2.1049, dated 11/21/2022.

The Intel RST VMD Managed Controller 09AB (both of them) show the same version and date.

 

In the Intel RST drivers at Intel.com, the only ones I see that are newer, dated in 2023, show a version number of 19.5.2.1049.4 or 19.5.2.1049.5, but those appear to be for NUC systems or CLI access only. Which one of those should I use with the Intel Z790 chipset on a regular 13th gen i9 system for a RAID 1 configuration?

 

Today, I have installed version # 19.5.2.1049.5 from https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/720755/intel-rapid-storage-technology-driver-installation-software-with-intel-optane-memory-11th-and-12th-gen-platforms.html?wapkw=rst. It appears to show the same version and date I had previously. I have restarted and everything seems to work fine now, but it ALWAYS works fine after a restart, so because nothing appears to have changed, I expect this problem is not fixed (but would love to be wrong about that).

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GraniteStateColin
8,842 Views

Looks like it's no longer possible to post to this thread, because Jocelyn M. closed this ticket even after I said I needed more time to reproduce. My prior response with screen shots is not here, so I suspect this won't post either...

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GraniteStateColin
8,840 Views

OK, so not sure why my prior response was removed, but looks like this thread is still active after all. Good.

 

While Jocelyn M's response was pretty far off the mark and did not answer any of my questions, I did download the latest RST from Intel, version 19.5.2.1049.5 at https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/download/720755/intel-rapid-storage-technology-driver-installation-software-with-intel-optane-memory-11th-up-to-13th-gen-platforms.html?wapkw=rst

 

I installed that, but it did not change anything. My Device Manager still shows 19.5.2.1049 (no .5 visible, maybe that last part just doesn't display?), but also shows the same date of Nov 21, 2022 for VMD Controller A77F and both VMD Managed Controller 09AB:

GraniteStateColin_0-1690382303598.png

 

And again, it always works after a restart, so the fact that it's working again now is most likely just because I needed to restart after installing the drivers (appear to be the same ones that had been installer earlier). 

 

Jocelyn M.'s response did move me to look at the service that bridges between the drivers and the MS Store Application by Intel that I can't run after the computer has been up for a while, the "Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management" application. The real problem appears to be that middle service layer. After the system has been running for a few hours or days (not sure how long it keeps working), the RstMwService (appears in Service Manager as "Intel(R) Storage Middleware Service") eventually stops and won't restart. Attempts to restart it from the Services application yield, I think (can't reproduce right now) a 1067 error.

GraniteStateColin_1-1690382458368.png

So, redirecting this a bit: why does this stop and how do I fix that or at least restart it w/o restarting Windows?

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Vulcan
Novice
7,257 Views

I installed the Windows10 series and service system on the Maxsun W680(D4) workstation motherboard using Intel's i5-12500 CPU. I had turned on VMD on the motherboard to support Intel Raipd Storage. I also updated the lastest storage controller's driver to 19.5.2.1049.5. When I installed the software Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management from the app store, I encountered an error when opening it. 

I had also tried it successfully on other motherboards, such as Z690, but the driver version we used was before version 16.

After checking the W680 mother board chipset and CPU's documentations, it was written that Intel RST is supported, and I did successfully set up Intel RAID through the BIOS and it was recognized in the system.

The problem is that I cannot use software Intel Optane Memory and Storage Management to manage it. The specific error screenshots are as follows.

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Vulcan
Novice
7,297 Views

Big brother, I carefully read the above conversation, and my colleagues and I would like to give you a thumbs up.

I am using the W680 motherboard on Windows 10 and encountered the same issue as you. I've tried different versions of drivers and systems (haven't tried Windows 11 yet), but the rstmwrpc service still won't start. How did you manage to start it successfully?

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Vulcan
Novice
7,138 Views

The problem was resolved very simply. Previously, our test environment was W680D4, and we encountered an error when trying to open the management UI in Windows while using VHDX to install the system. Later, we were about to give up and decided to install Windows 10 using partitions instead. Miraculously, all issues disappeared, and the RPC service started correctly.

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