Backup before switching from ACHI to RAID configuration
Intel's Rapid Storage Technology is telling me that my AHCI SATA SSD is incompatible. Instructions from Intel recommend reinstalling Windows after switching SSD from AHCI to RAID. If I backup my entire computer using Acronis 2018, will I be able to restore the two hard drives to their original state if I change the BIOS to show RAID instead of AHCI. I'm concerned the boot configuration won't match and the recovery will fail because of the different configuration.


- Accedi per poter commentare
In risposta a Steve,… di truwrikodrorow…

I get the following message from the Intel Rapid Storage Technology interface which reports "SATA SSD on Controller 0, Port 1: Incomplete.
Intel responded to another user who had the same problem with the following message: "Based on the information on the [report], the SATA mode is set to AHCI, so, what we need to do will be to change the SATA mode to RAID, then re-install Windows from scratch and after that enable the Intel SMART Response Technology on Intel RST, to optimize performance." They also indicated a low level format of the SSD would be possible but the mode would still be AHCI.
SSD is Samsung SSD PM830 mSATA 32GB, firmware CXM12D1Q. It appears this SSD was used to cache data for either of two other hard drives that are performing without a problem.
My system is sluggish on boot up and slow to respond to simple file I/O commands. So there is some performance degradation. The other hard drives are SATA Disk - 2,795 GB and SATA Disk - 1,863 GB.
Thanks for looking into this.
- Accedi per poter commentare

The SSD does not contain my Windows OS. That is on the primary HDD 1,863 GB drive.
The problem has only appeared as a warning from the Intel software but I am beginning to notice within the last month or so a slow down in performance. Intel's Rapid Storage Technology interface reports 6gb/sec transfer rate for the disk now so I don't think the problem is critical but it is cause for concern.
- Accedi per poter commentare

Steve,
Can you open Windows Device Manager, then expand the Storage Controller entry by clicking on the > symbol, locate the Intel entry, right click, select Properties, then select the Driver tab, record the Driver Provider, Driver Date and Driver Version number.
Post this information back here.
- Accedi per poter commentare
In risposta a Steve,… di truwrikodrorow…

Enchantech:
In Windows Device Manager the only entry under Storage controllers is "Microsoft Storage Space Controller." Intel is not listed.
I checked Computer Management/Storage/Disk Management and the Intel SSD does not appear. In fact, there is no 30 GB storage device of any kind listed under any other name or logical drive. All other partitions are healthy.
Not sure this is relevant but there is an entry in Device Manager for IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers that references the Intel 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller but this would appear to be for the optical drives. In any event, the Driver provider is Intel Corporation, Driver Date is 8/1/2013, and the Driver Version is 12.8.0.1016. The driver file is iaStorA.sys.
- Accedi per poter commentare

Steve,
Thanks for posting back your info. Given what you have said so far I believe your system actually uses Intel Smart Response Technology to in effect use your mSATA drive as a cache for data held on your HDD. This is an older technology that is a hybrid SSD/HDD software configuration for the storage devices you have installed in your system. If I am not correct in my understanding of your system configuration as stated above then the rest of this post does not apply to your situation.
First, I see that you are running Windows 10 1803 OS. Reports are in the Intel support Forum pages that 1803 breaks Intel Smart Response Technology and makes the software configuration stop to function as intended. The remedy to that issue is to uninstall the present driver and install a new driver.
Having said that you need to understand that the driver used is an Intel driver and in your case it IS the IDE/ATAPI driver as this is the storage controller driver for your Intel 7 Series/C216 Chipset Family. You can get the latest driver for your machine HERE
Once you are on the download page above look at the left side of the page for a download link for the file named setuprst.exe. You must use this file as it contains an updated driver and the IRST application for Windows. The other files you see that are .zip files are only the driver files and do not include the application.
You will need to uninstall the IRST application on your system before you run the exe file you downloaded above to install the new software and updated driver. Use Windows Apps and Features to perform this task. Once you have completed that task you will be notified that your system requires a reboot to finish the uninstall, at least I believe you will. If not you should reboot at this time.. At this time you should also change the SATA bios mode to RAID. Once the computer is rebooted you can then run the exe file you downloaded which will install the Controller driver and the Application software. Another reboot will be required to make the changes go into effect.
Upon this reboot you can start up the IRST application and enable the Intel Smart Response Technology which will setup the mSATA for you.
Now a bit of news that you may find at issue. Back when this Smart Response Technology was introduced True Image did not support it in the bootable Recovery Media. At that time the default environment for the Recovery Media was Linux. Intel Smart Response was never released for Linux that I know of so no support.
True Image has since moved to a WinPE based media but that in and of itself does not address the driver support issue.
Because of how Smart Response works I myself do not see this as an issue. I believe you can backup your entire HDD and have all the data necessary to boot your machine after a recovery of such a backup. You would then need to reconfigure the Smart Response to activate the NSATA drive again. I believe this to be true due to the fact that the technology caching is performed at the Logical Block Level not at the file level. Even so if it were me here I would create backups using the Sector by Sector method option to insure the capture of all data on the HDD. This will increase the size of backups.
You can find out more about Smart Response HERE
In your original post you asked:
If I backup my entire computer using Acronis 2018, will I be able to restore the two hard drives to their original state if I change the BIOS to show RAID instead of AHCI. I'm concerned the boot configuration won't match and the recovery will fail because of the different configuration.
If in fact you are using Smart Response Technology on your machine then the reality is that at one time your machine was configured as RAID mode in the bios and the IRST application managed the Smart Response cache. Now your bios mode is AHCI (thanks to Windows 10 1803 upgrade I suspect) and your computer still works just not as before with the cache advantage. The Intel Controller drivers support AHCI and RAID all in a single package. If RAID mode is enabled in the bios then the installer will install drivers for both AHCI and RAID modes
For more on setup of Smart Response look at Enable Intel RST HERE
- Accedi per poter commentare

Enchantech:
Thanks for your extensive remarks on my issue. Your level of interest is appreciated.
I believe your assumptions in your first paragraph are correct given the age of the hardware. This Dell XPS 8500 was purchased back in 2013 so it is fairly old but has been reliable aside from the efforts by Microsoft to improve Windows.
I accessed the link you posted to the Intel driver download page for the Intel RST driver but noted they had posted a link to a newer version of the software (version 16.5.1.1030) that was posted on 7/19/2018, very recent. Should I install this version or did you intend for me to use the older version (version 14.8.16.1063, 4/16/2017) of the driver as your link indicates?
I'm currently backing up the entire PC sector by sector (I did not include the unallocated space). I expect this will take some time given it's size.
Finally which RAID mode do you suggest I implement once I get there, RAID 5?
Thanks again for all of your help.
Steve
- Accedi per poter commentare

Steve,
I intended for you to install the version of software I linked to. Reason is that the one I linked to is a prior to Optane Technology driver. Theoretically, you could use the newer driver however, I read a few help articles of users having issue with getting the Optane versions to work. Also in my own systems I have found the Optane drivers to be less reliable even though my systems are slightly newer vintage than yours. The driver I linked to is the latest I found where users got things working with your configuration and Windows 10.
As for RAID mode, in SATA setup in a machine bios, you will have ability to setup your motherboards SATA storage controller to operate in a MODE, in this case it will be RAID. Your choices in this setting will be IDE, AHCI, or RAID. These will be your only options in this setting. What this does is set the controller to use a specific METHOD of operation. The RAID you ask about are RAID LEVELS. Levels determine how disks are used and data is handled when configured for RAID operation. Raid 0 for example is where 2 disks are used to operate as 1 large disk with data alternately spread across each disk. Raid 1 is where 2 disks are used to operate as 1 disk that is the same size as only 1 of the disks with data duplicated or mirrored on both disks. Other RAID levels are variations on these two. In your situation The IRST software will handle this LEVEL setting itself when you use it to configure your SSD/HDD drive.
Intels idea here is to use the ability of the RAID MODE of the storage controller to leverage the use of both a small SSD and a larger HDD together to enhance performance. So it is neither a RAID 0 or RAID 1 but a HYBRID where the software (IRST application) uses the SSD as a cache to house frequently used data for fast access to improve performance. You might consider it a poor mans RAID. Performance not quite on par with a standard RAID LEVEL, but better than a conventional HDD.
- Accedi per poter commentare

Echantech:
Excellent, I'm glad I asked about the driver. My inclination was to go with the newer one buy I'll use the one you linked to. Also, your explanation of how this system was meant to work is very helpful.
Looking down the road I wonder how the next iteration of future Windows 10 updates will impact this configuration. Hopefully I won't have to revisit the problem later.
Let's hope all of this gets this fixed. I'll let you know how I make out.
Thanks again.
Steve
- Accedi per poter commentare

Steve,
These major upgrades of Windows now are in some cases new installs so you might face it again in the future.
Please do post back your results.
- Accedi per poter commentare