Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver does not install after restart

[User906]

Recently I have been facing issues with high RAM consumption. When I investigated it using poolmonx, i found that two pools ismc and etwb were using too much RAM. The first, ismc seems to be related to a file called iAstorA.sys in system32. This file is part of intel RST driver. 

I have found a temporary fix for the etwb pool which is to stop a few event logging processes which is why the ram consumption is not that high here.

While trying to fix the RAM usage of intel RST driver, I tried to update the drivers through dell support assist. There appears to have been some problem with the update because the intel RST driver is not visible in Services app now. The RAM problem still persists though. So, I tried to do a manual install of the driver through a dell update package. It runs fine and it tells me to restart the computer after a while but after restarting, there is no sign of the installation. Nothing saying that it has been installed or that there was any issue. Can someone please help me with this. I was able to find a log for the installation which I will link below.

[User906]

Instead of doing this, can I just delete the file which is causing the problem? Or else what is a safe way to uninstall the remaining parts of the RST driver.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello User906,   

Thank you for posting on the Intel® communities. I realize how complicated this is for you, it will be a pleasure to assist you on this matter.

Before I proceed further, I would like to confirm the following:

1. Are you using Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) for a RAID configuration?

2. Just to confirm, you uninstalled the Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST) but there are remaining files that are consuming RAM, is that right?

3. Did the RAM issue appear right after you installed Intel® Rapid Storage Technology (Intel® RST)?

4. Did you make any changes to the BIOS prior to the issue?

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[User906]

Thank you for replying Deivid.

1. I don't know what exactly RAID  is but I have not configured it manually. If it was there by default, then it would be there. Otherwise no.

2. I didn't uninstall RST. After I noticed the RAM issue, I tried to update the drivers through dell support assist to try to fix the problem. But there appears to have been some problem with the update because I can't see RST in services. Some of the files like iAstorA.sys are still there in System32\Drivers and they are causing ram problems.
3. RST had come pre installed in the computer. I don't know how long this issue has persisted for but i noticed it just now.

4. I did not make any changes to the BIOS but I did do a windows update few days ago so I don't know if that would've changed anything.

Also I have tried some more stuff. I went to control panel > device manager > storage controllers and found Intel (R) Chipset SATA/PCle RST Premium Controller. I tried to update the driver from there and it says that it is updated now. But the RAM problem still persists.

In this menu I see that it doesn't say iaStorA.sys is part of this driver. Does that mean I can delete it? Should I try to roll back this driver?

[Jose_Intel]

Hello User906

Thank you for providing that useful information.

Allow us to research that internally, we will post any update here.

Best regards,

Jose B.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[User906]

Ok. Thank You Jose. Looking forward to any updates.

[Jose_Intel]

Hello User906

Thank you for patiently waiting.

This may be related to an OEM configuration, since you have not configured it manually. Have you contacted the system manufacturer in order to check if there is any configuration regarding the RST driver?

Best regards,

Jose B.

Intel Customer Support Technician

[User906]

Thank you for your reply Jose.

I have not contacted the manufacturer.

When I was trying some more stuff, I noticed that the version of RST which the problematic file, iaStorA.sys is part of is different from the version of all the other RST files. It seems to be a file from older versions which was not removed. It is also not shown in the driver information of Intel (R) Chipset SATA/PCle RST Premium Controller in device manager.

So, I was wondering if I could delete the file safely without causing any issues.

Can you please advice me about this.

[DeividA_Intel]

Hello User906, 

Thanks for your response. In this case, with Intel systems (NUCs, Laptop kits) you could uninstall the tool and files with no issues. However, this is a Dell system and Intel cannot confirm that this laptop will not have a different impact or present unexpected behavior.

I recommend you to check with Dell just to confirm from their side that your laptop will not present issues after uninstalling those files.

Please keep in mind that this thread will no longer be monitored by Intel.  

Regards,  

Deivid A.  

Intel Customer Support Technician  

[User906]

Thanks for replying Deivid. Just to clarify, you mean that on intel systems you could just go to the folder in which the file iAstorA.sys is there, select the file and delete it without causing any problems right?