HELP !! X25-M - Corrupt Master Boot Record ?

[idata]

Hi

I bought an X-25M a few weeks ago for a new build. The rest of the new hardware was not here yet so I installed it in my old machine running XP, formatted it for NTFS with 4K clusters which I read was the best size for speed. That worked fine so I copied one little text file to it as a test. Fine.

Since then its been sitting waiting for its new host machine. Now the new build is done so I connected the X-25M and tried to update the firmware. The new BIOS recognized it fine. I downloaded the firmware, burned an ISO image. Booted from that disc. The utility ran but would not complete the update. It kept saying Updated not completed - either enable Legacy [it was], set to AHCI [I tried that - same thing] or disable disk passwork [I never set one].\

So, I decided to remove it and re-connect it to my old machine so I could try running Intel Tool Box to do the firmware update. I connected it and booted. When XP came up, the SSD was not listed in My Computer but Disk Manager opended. The SSD showed up as Disc 0 - not initialized. I initialized it and rebooted. Then it showed up as Disc 0, unallocated. So I tried to format it [again]. Now it says there is only 8Meg total space !!! This is an 80G SSD!!.

I looked at it with Intel Toolbox - it sees it fine. The Toolbox wanted the disc formatted so I formatted it - all 8M of it as NTFS. The Optimizer said that was not enough space to do anything with.

Where did my 80G go? Why when I put it back in the old machine did it show up as not formatted? I did format it - even copied one litle file to it just to test.

HELP !!

Thanks

Message was edited by: EVGABuzzer

[idata]

I do have the same problem, but I never did the firmware upgrade, it just loose the MBR by itself.

Now I can't format it as 80gb. And everything I'll try, it shows just 8gb.

So, be aware everyone, your Intel can just turn to this situation even if you never did any firmware upgrade or something.

Any help will be appreciated.

Pierry

[idata]

The new SSD is working fine. I have been loading apps on it all day. Its FAST !! As for the old one, I am half tempted to work on it some more. I still have it. I don't have to return it to Amazon for 30 days. They ship the replacement first and give you 30 days to send whatever back. Beats an Intel cross ship for $25. I was lucky I had bought it recently. If I do start fooling with it again, and fix it, I'll post what I did - maybe it will help out Pierry8 or someone else. Thanks to all who responded. EVGABuzzer

[idata]

Actually I think this was what happend to my SSD - while I was using it.

Its clear to me, that this fault has got nothing to do with firmware updates or whatever.

It simply seems like Intels X25-M models (perhaps only the G2 ones) are prone to dying; loosing their master partition and only having the small "hidden" error correction partition visible.

This destroys ones data, obviously. The question is, wheter it also destroys ones confidence to the drive in question (requiring a RMA) or worse - to the product line.

Im split here. I simply cannot afford to have my machine go dead for weeks at a time (Intels return policy is.. Dodgy).

On the other hand, I really do like the speed, when its working.

Hmm.

~~DukeP~~

[idata]

My new X-25M SSD is cranking along fine. I am sending the other back to Amazon tomorrow. I have read a lot about these drives, and SSDs in general - before and since buying one. I never heard of losing or corrupting the MBR until it happened to me. I don't know if it was the firmware update or not. The update process never completed for reasons unknown to me. The new one came with the latest firmware so I had no reason to attempt an update.

I sure hope this is not a recurring or common issue with X-25Ms - they are considered the benchmark for other SSDs. I will, however, be diligently doing full backups of it. Geez - one buys an SSD to get faster speeds [which I am getting] and higher reliability as there are no moving parts. I thought of the thing as darn near indestructible. Now I am not so sure...

EVGABuzzer

[idata]

Hey Everyone,

I just had a similar corrupt master boot record (MBR) issue with only 8gb available to access. I purchased it from Amazon about 60 days ago or less and 30 days later after installing it into my dell xps m1210 laptop, it crashed on me. I have been trying everything I can to trouble shoot with no luck. It looks like if I cant get secure erase to work, I am going to have to go through the RMA process inorder to get a refurbished one. Has anyone on this thread been able to resolve the corrupt MBR issue?

-Tara

Message was edited by: tsevan