Intel Rapid Storage Technology question...

[Cr00zng]

The PC in question is Sandy Bridge based system with one SSD and an HDD. Is it necessary to install the Intel Rapid Storage Technology that installs a service with the same name?

I am trying to get rid of the following error message, event ID 9, in the system log:

The device, \Device\Ide\iaStor0, did not respond within the timeout period.

I've searched for this error and this link has a pretty good explanation; quote:

If your hard drive doesn't support LPM (Link Power Management) then, by default, Intel's controller still attempts to send LPM commands to the drive which causes the computer to freeze for 10 - 30 seconds and it creates two events in the event logs.

That's pretty much the exact description of symptoms my system experienced.

While the link references ICH7R and ICH8R controller hub drivers, the suggested registry fix seemingly fixed event 9 errors for the ICH10R as well.

Removing Intel Rapid Storage Technology probably will not do anything in relation to this error, I don't really see much use of it.

The other question relates to the ICH10R controller driver; is this driver, that freezes my system, necessary at all? The reason for asking is that I have another system based on the Asus P7P55 motherboard that does not have Intel controller driver installed and it works just fine.
Thanks in advance...

 

[sygnus21]

Perhaps reading this might help - http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=18859

BTW I use it and have no issues. However I don't don't have a RAID setup but I do use AHCI.

It also provides AHCI support on select Intel® 5 Series, 4 Series, 3 Series, 965, 975X, 955X, 945, 925 and 915 chipset-based platforms, as well as on Mobile Intel® 915/910 chipset-based platforms.

If you're not using RAID or AHCI I'd imagine you don't need it.

That's the way I understand it.

 

[Cr00zng]

I also use AHCI on both machines, one with and the other without the ICH10R controller driver. Well, first up is removing the Intel Rapid Storage Technology service; the worst can happen is that it'll be re-installed.
Thanks...

 

[Cr00zng]

Well, removing the Intel Rapid Storage Technology and ICH10R controller driver did result in a number of interesting things.

The Windows performance index no longer completes its assessment, exits with an error about failing to complete the drive assessment.

On the flip side, the performance of the drives did not change for the SATA ports. Here's the performance benchmark for with and without the ICH10R driver:



There's a slight increase in performance when the ICH10R driver is removed from the system. Even the OCZ Vertex 3 shows a performance increase in certain performance benchmarks:



The 10-30 seconds freeze provided by the ICH10R is a very long time and let's see how the MS driver will behave. The early indications are promising, the system seems more responsive and the CPU temperature also dropped a degree or two. It's too early to tell at this point...

 

[Wishmaster]

All you need is the F6 install driver. And install it manually. (The AHCI driver)

The Storage app is really only useful if you have any of your drives set up in a RAID array. Othehrwise, its a bit pointless to have.

 

[Cr00zng]

Actually, the MS AHCI driver is added during installation without the need for F6, especially with the slipped streamed SP1 DVD.

But you are correct; I should've never installed the crappy Intel drivers...

 

[serge037]

cr00zng - your vertex 3 shows a quite remarkable reduction in 4k writes with MS AHCI drivers, compared to IRST. Since 4k read/write is what really pushes your system in load i dont understand how you can see a perfomance boost ...

I'm esp interested in this because my vertex 2 / win7 64 combo is causing random freezes and i cant seem to find a solution. deinstalling the RST seems a bit dramatic

 

[HammerHead]

Raid & AHCI

I will add my experience to the discussion. I haven't analyzed it to the extent that other posters have. My bios was set to Raid although I had not set any disks to raid (none paired). I set the bios to AHCI and uninstalled Intels Rapid Storage module. There was no performance gain or degradation that was immediately discernable. But I noticed that my cpu was showing activity when it should have been idle. It was not a lot (@3%). I traced it down to iastor.sys. So I loaded the Rapid Storage back. This solved the problem.

I am running the Rapid Storage software although I am not using it in relation to raid.

 

[sygnus21]

Just FYI but I found that if you don't use the Intel Rapid Storage drivers I can't enable the "Enable write caching on the device" check box, which is said to boost hard drive performance. That's the main reason I use it.



Here's a couple of blurbs about that here.....

- Can't modify "Enable write caching on the disk" - Storage Forums
- What is Intel Rapid Storage Technology app for? - Overclockers Forums

My two cents.

 

[Cr00zng]

cr00zng - your vertex 3 shows a quite remarkable reduction in 4k writes with MS AHCI drivers, compared to IRST. Since 4k read/write is what really pushes your system in load i dont understand how you can see a perfomance boost ...

As stated initially, "Even the OCZ Vertex 3 shows a performance increase in certain performance benchmarks". The 4K writes wasn't one and while benchmark shows a sizable reduction; however, overall the performance of the system as a whole did not change. I am also not convinced that CDM is the best benchmark tool for testing SSD drives and has been used since the HDD was tested with CDM.

I'm esp interested in this because my vertex 2 / win7 64 combo is causing random freezes and i cant seem to find a solution. deinstalling the RST seems a bit dramatic

De-installing the RST isn't as "dramatic" as you make it sound like; the uninstall routine cleans up nicely and restores the MS ACHI drivers.

 

[SatansLilHelper]

I'm just a trial and error knucklehead, but for what it's worth, I did some research, found out my RAID wasn't using IRST, disabled it, and CPU usage dropped from 20 percent at idle down to 2 percent. Would have saved me a lot of time if someone else had posted this little piece of information -so I'm doing it now for someone with a similar problem in the future. To them, I say in advance, "you're welcome."

**IMPORTANT: Make sure your RAID isn't using it: It will tell you how to check when you go to remove it under add/remove programs... or here: Under device manager/Storage Controllers: You should NOT see intel controllers ALSO under Device Manger/IDE ATA/ATAPI controls You should NOT see intel controllers -if you do NOT, you should be able to remove IRST with no problems, like me.