Corruption after SSD alignment or Samsung 950 Pro install

[tincanalley]

Okay, I'll try to make this a short, but clears as I can. It's kind of crazy, so hang in there.

Currently I run a Samsung XP941 128G M.2 drive in my Asus X99-A w/Intel 5820K, 16GB G.Skill 2400 DDR4 and Windows 7 Home. I decided I wanted to upgrade to the new Samsung 950 NVMe M.2. After realizing I couldn't back up and restore on the drive as W7 has no drivers for it, I got a PCIe card, loaded the Samsung NVMe drivers and cloned the XP941 to the 950 Pro using Easeus and had it optimize for SSD. I was able to boot from the new SSD, but then things started to go wrong over the next few hours. First I noticed that I lost all Chrome setting and extensions and Norton Security needed to be removed and reinstalled. Then I noticed I lost the ability to do a Windows update after the first successful attempt it decided to stop. I then found that my Pinnacle Studio 18 would load and then hang. Last was my Asus systemboard apps (AI Suite III) wouldn't load and I had to remove them.

After all that I figured something went wrong using the Easeus cloning, so I went back to the old drive and did it again, double checking everything. This time it seemed okay, so I started doing some benchmarks. When I went into AS SSD Benchmark, it showed that my alignment was bad. I doubled checked by going into MSCONFIG32 and dividing the offset by 4096. It came up with a decimal, so it is bad. That's when I used MiniTool Partition Magic to align the partition. It didn't take long and I was up and going again. Going again until all the previous problems started again.

I tried on last time by using the Data Migration program from Samsung. This time it cloned with the correct alignment, but the same issues started happening.

So back to the XP941 I went. I figured there must be some kind of issue with the 950 Pro as had the latest BIOS that supports it. Maybe it was a driver issue. I sent the darn thing back to Amazon.

So now we get to today. I am using the XP941 and AS SSD showed that this entire year I have been using it with a bad alignment. Figured I back it up with Easeus and do an alignment with Minitool PM. All went well, but upon completion it would just boot over and over again at the point the login screen should show. I managed to get a Windows repair to fix that issue and I was up and running.

The machine seemed fine for about an hour or so, but then things started happening. I have error messages with AI Suite III, Windows Update no longer works, Chrome lost all its setting and extensions, etc.

So now I know it is not NVMe. It must have something to do with having a properly aligned drive, I'm assuming. I am also unable to restore my system back up from Easeus because there is unallocated space on the drive that wasn't there during the back up. It told me to try it on a clean drive or do a partition restore. The partition restore isn't available and I have to get a boot time utility to wipe the drive.

So, any clues as to way aligning the drive does this or cloning to the 905 Pro also has the same issue? The XP941 has worked flawlessly for a year until I aligned it. I know it was definitely out of alignment as my through put scores went up after aligning it.

Thanks for any and all help/suggestions.

 

[Laith]

Can you try to do a clean install on the SSD? Like without any cloning software?

 

[tincanalley]

Can you try to do a clean install on the SSD? Like without any cloning software?

I could, but to be honest, the number of installed apps, customized settings and current stability (on XP941 SSD) puts that last on my list of things to try. I am taking a hit by not being aligned, but it isn't too bad.

The other option I was thinking about was an in-place reinstall to see if that fixes things.

 

[Laith]

Well, you can try to do that.

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Being it's out of alignment and you didn't check alignment after the original install and the fact aligning now only causes issues it would be best to start over painful as it might be,

Use a system image for a another way to transfer the os to the new
It might act better seeing that a clone is an exact copy of it plus all of it's imperfections
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

I wouldn't use ai suite 3 either

 

[tincanalley]

Hi,
Being it's out of alignment and you didn't check alignment after the original install and the fact aligning now only causes issues it would be best to start over painful as it might be,

Use a system image for a another way to transfer the os to the new
It might act better seeing that a clone is an exact copy of it plus all of it's imperfections
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/73828-imaging-free-macrium.html

I wouldn't use ai suite 3 either

Yeah, I'm kicking myself for not checking the alignment. I, stupidly, assumed the "optimize for SSD" would do it and do it correctly.

You mean do a system backup, use diskpart to clean and convert the new SSD to GPT and then do a restore of the image? I did that and it did a sector my sector restore, which I assume is the same as a clone.

I really hate it when you have everything working so well, no crashes, etc. Then something as simple as a drive swap throws a wrench in the works. I am looking at hours of work to reinstall the OS, apps and restoring all the settings and such so it is as before. Good time.

What's you take on AI Suite 3? So far it doesn't seem to be causing any issues. I mainly use it to put my USB ports into the higher voltage mode for phone charging, etc. I do overclocking manually and same with fan control.

Oh, mentioning OC, I put everything back to stock for the drive swap to be on the safe side.

Thanks

 

[ThrashZone]

Hi,
Well personally I believe the extra work will pay off later
I don't see how a misalignment would happen ?
Did you clean the ssd first ?
Make a weird size partition to install on ?

I would usually just resize the partition after the install
If I wanted it smaller than disk management will do which is half the disk size I would use free mini tool to do the rest but I never create a partition before hand to install on
All that does is insure the installer creates a useless 100mb system reserved partition.

AI Suite 3,
Well frankly it's just a direct access to your bios
OC'ing inside the os just insures if you do have an issue... you'll have more fun undoing the issue

OC'ing in the bios only it's pretty easy to optimize defaults inside it
That will not help if ai suite 3 is still applying the bad oc

Then you get into the security risks with having a program/ utility with direct access to the bios which if it get hacked by bios malware..... it could cause a bad issue 10 times worse and brick a board.

 

[AddRAM]

Cut your losses, setup the drive with a PW boot CD and reinstall windows, stop wasting your time.

Asus Suite 3 does not cause any issues, the only thing I use it for is my 120mm fan speed adjustment when I game. But even rarely then, as my GPU`s blow the heat right out the back of the

case.

Delete the M.2 to unallocated space, create a Primary install Partition, leave 20 GB unallocated for over provisioning, format it, set it Active, Align it, remove the disk, insert your install disc, reboot the pc and start your install. You`ll be done in less then a day.

There is absolutely no reason to OC a 5820K, the only thing you should do is have all the core Turbo speeds synced, raise it to 4.0 GHz if you have good cooling, but do not keep it at a constant OC

And seriously consider getting a GPU made in this decade

http://www.evga.com/Products/ProductList.aspx?type=0

 

[tincanalley]

Yeah, I guess it is time for a fresh install. Now to round up all my program discs and backup my bookmarks, etc.

I have my system set OCed at 4.4 with speedstep and she runs stable. Cooling is from an H100, so she runs pretty cool.

I guess I should update my specs. My GPU is now a 760 SC from EVGA. Yeah, still not the best, but I went the upgrade path. Upgraded my moms PC, gave her my 460 and took the new 760. Too bad she's not a gamer or I could have had a 980.

 

[AddRAM]

There is no reason to even go to 4.4

 

[tincanalley]

There is no reason to even go to 4.4

Why is that? Is it at a point of diminishing returns? I know that's a term in economics, but it pretty much fits with upgrades and tweaks as well.

 

[AddRAM]

You`re having problems, let`s get the cpu at stock levels, get the OS stable and functioning properly, then you can start playing with the CPU.

When you`re ready to reinstall, set the bios to defaults, sync your cores to 40 GHz (no you can`t add a . in the bios) set your ram speed to 2400 MHz, no it doesn`t do it on ot`s own, 2400 is an OC, then install windows.

 

[tincanalley]

You`re having problems, let`s get the cpu at stock levels, get the OS stable and functioning properly, then you can start playing with the CPU.

It has been at the current OC for over a year with no problems. It was only put to stock for the SSD swap, to be bumped back up afterwards. Since that didn't go well, I restored the OC settings and am back to what has been very stable settings.