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