New SSD and a Windows DVD failure

[gmreplay]

The damned OCZ forum won't even send me the account activation email. Apparently there is a substantial process you have to go through to get this working properly. And I thought SSDs were ready for primetime! Boy was I wrong.

 

[whs]

LOL, I did not have that problem. But that was 18 months ago.

 

[gmreplay]

I'm trying the sanitary erase just to get my sanity back, but even that won't work. I followed the guide here to the letter Guide How to use OCZ Sanitary Erase but when I try to agree to proceed in the wiping of the drive I get the "Error: cannot open target drive 2" message. I ran a google search for this and turned up nothing in English. This is getting real desperate real fast.

 

[whs]

As we said before. The thing is defunct. Probably the indilink controller.

 

[gmreplay]

Bloody hell.

 

[gmreplay]

Any idea why my DVD drive still sounds like it's going to explode while reading a disk? I still can't fathom how a SSD affected that.

 

[Wishmaster]

If you can see your vertex in the Bios, as suggested try a Sanitary_Erase.

If its disappearing from bios w/signs of corruption or startup repairs, then you may be having the issues many others have had. Especially if on FW 1.5
Or at least signs of a Drive that will soon be "lost"

For SE, you must do this w/the drive connected to another machine running Windows. The SSD can NOT be activley running the OS.

To SE from the same PC, you need to place SE on a USB drive and boot from a 32BIT Win7/Vista Disc.
((It HAS to be a 32bit install disc. to execute SE from CMD Promp))
At Install Scrren press Shift+F10
Then type the following commands to SE your Drive:

diskpart
list volume
<<Take Note of the Driver letter given to your USB>>
exit
<<Drive Letter of USB>> :
sanitary_erase

.... <<youll see all disks listed. Simply type the number of your SSD, likely 0>>

Youll getting a Warning now. Contains partition DATA that will be lost. Continue?
just Press Y

exit
exit

Restart and you can now boot from the 64bit install disk and install as normal. I would just create all the partitions in Win7s setup TBH.

 

[Jo6Pak]

If you haven't already, I would spend a few hours (minimum) perusing the Vertex Forum to get a better idea of what you're up against before proceeding. Of course it IS possible you have a defective unit, but there are several things that can go wrong during an installation if you are not familiar with the particulars of doing so. SSDs are very different from conventional drives. For example, you never want to defrag one (use TRIM and GC instead). When wiping an SSD, rather than '0 it out', you actually '1 it out'. Just a couple examples of how different they are from what your are probably used to when dealing with HDDs.

Don't give up but, if necessary, RMA it and they will send you a new one (if it was a retail purchase) with the latest firmware. You WANT the latest firmware and there is plenty of talk about that in the Vertex forum.

 

[gmreplay]

I tried to run the sanitary erase on the SSD, but even that is non-functional. I've tried to run it from within Windows 7 on my NVIDIA based motherboard system, using the USB + Windows 7 32 bit disk method, and even on my netbook as an external drive, all per recommendations on the OCZ board. Not a single one worked. This drive has already outweighed in headaches the benefits it offers me. I'm about to throw it back in the box and ship it to newegg. What a damn disappointment. There goes 15-20 hours of prep and troubleshooting.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello gmreplay, it's a shame you're having such issues with a new SSD.


Here's an excellent tutorial on Diskpart, at the link below; it does an exceptional job, I used it to do a secure erase (clean all) on my Intel G2 with no problems at all.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/52129-disk-clean-clean-all-diskpart-command.html?ltr=D

 

[gmreplay]

Here's my OCZ thread for anyone interested Support Question Save me from returning this Vertex, please!! . Apparently my only hope for a fix is to run their Sanitary Cleaner, but for several reasons I can't do so on any of my computers. I'm utterly fed up at this point and I plan on sending it back to newegg. Very disappointing. To be honest though, I didn't notice any snapper performance aside from the boot up and shutdown, and those didn't justify the $100 price tag. I also bought a SSD to give me more stability, but after seeing how finnickey they can be I'm starting to doubt their sturdiness too. Perhaps I'll try SSDs again in future years when the kinks are worked out and they are more user friendly.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello gmreplay, it's a shame you're having such issues with a new SSD.


Here's an excellent tutorial on Diskpart, at the link below; it does an exceptional job, I used it to do a secure erase (clean all) on my Intel G2 with no problems at all.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/52129-disk-clean-clean-all-diskpart-command.html?ltr=D

Hello gmreplay.


Did you give this a go before you gave up?

 

[gmreplay]

I did not. They tell me that the only way to do it is Sanitary Erase.

 

[whs]

Here's my OCZ thread for anyone interested Support Question Save me from returning this Vertex, please!! . Apparently my only hope for a fix is to run their Sanitary Cleaner, but for several reasons I can't do so on any of my computers. I'm utterly fed up at this point and I plan on sending it back to newegg. Very disappointing. To be honest though, I didn't notice any snapper performance aside from the boot up and shutdown, and those didn't justify the $100 price tag. I also bought a SSD to give me more stability, but after seeing how finnickey they can be I'm starting to doubt their sturdiness too. Perhaps I'll try SSDs again in future years when the kinks are worked out and they are more user friendly.

I think you are just out of luck. As I had posted earlier, I had a bad one too. But it was no problem exchanging it. The other 3 SSDs I have (2 Intel and 1 Vertex) work fine.
And in performance you do get quite a boost. On this box I have Windows7 on an Intel and Vista on a HDD. There is a big difference in respose time. And since all the rest of the hardware is the same, that is a good way to compare.

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

I did not. They tell me that the only way to do it is Sanitary Erase.

Fair enough partner, I hope you can get some satisfaction from OCZ.

 

[gmreplay]

And would you believe it, Newegg doesn't take returns on this item! Looks like I'm stuck with it. Eesh!

 

[Jo6Pak]

RMA Instructions here: OCZ Technology | Support | Customer service FAQ

 

[whs]

And would you believe it, Newegg doesn't take returns on this item! Looks like I'm stuck with it. Eesh!

This is really strange and very unlike NewEgg. I would not let them get away with it. Probably some pion telling you that. Put your foot down, ask for a manager and explain the situation. Tell them that the thing is defunct as certified by several "specialists" and ask for an exchange.

And if that does not help, go to the OCZ help page (you first have to get some case number) and explain the situation. Ask to send it to them so that they can look at it. I have done that once too and they were helpful. They did not charge me and sent it back (fixed) within a week.

 

[gmreplay]

I think Newegg regards it as a "nonreturnable" item because it wears down with use and is easy to muck up. I got this info from the Return page on their site, not just from some lackey. I really appreciate the righteous anger. I'm feeling quite a bit of it myself. I'm going to try one last ditch effort to fix this SOB and if that doesn't work it's going to OCZ to let them tinker with it. I'll keep you guys updated. Thanks again for all the help!

 

[whs]

That must be new. They took my OCZ back without asking any questions - but that was 1 year ago.