How to Add/Install 16Gb Disk Caching SSD?

[FrankPDX]

Ah ok! I thought i did a wrong setting or plug in wrong spot of ssd. So everything is correct to you?

[Big_Dave · Accepted solution]

If it works for you then you are good.

[FrankPDX]

Yes, everything smooth so far. The only thing I might consider is to clone the OS over. Right now I havent partition (create new volume) of the rest of SSD space yet. Do I need to create new volume first if I want to do the clone drive? Do you think about 100gb would be enough?

Right now I have the Adobe Suite CS6, MS Office 2013, Advanced System Care , and Kaspersky Security software installed. These program is install on different of the partition drive on HD, (drive F:) not the same drive C: of the OS system.

Should I just clone thr C:\ and the HP recovery drive only?

[Big_Dave]

Hi Frank,

I got your PM that you had replaced the SSD being used for disk caching with a smaller less expensive SSD.

Did you disable caching on all defined volumes before disconnecting the SSD?  Did you wait long enough to the operations to complete?

If you go back into IRST ---> Performance you should then be able to Disassociate the cache function.

If the above suggestions fails then you might be able to enter the Intel ROM via ctrl-I and boot time. I don't know if thi s method is enabled in UEFI mode. Some models of PCs have the ability to enter the Intel ROM functions via the UEFI interface but that is a method that I haven't not tried.

[FrankPDX]

Thanks for giving me few suggestions. I found out that I need to delete the Volume from the smaller SSD today I just bought before I can do a new disk caching.

[ALU32]

HP Envy 700-410xt   (J6N59AV#ABA)  -  MSATA Install Issue (Final Steps)

Good Afternoon Big_Dave,

    I want to start off by saying thank you for this very detailed breakdown of what is needed to install this msata device.  I have read through all of the notes here and differ in that I elected to go forward with an msata, as opposed to selecting the 2.5/3.5 SSD option.  I followed all of the items you mentioned in your breakdown, but am stuck in the final steps?  I have tried rebooting in different configurations, removing and replacing the msata device, and ensured I had the most up to date IRST drivers. 

    Can you please review the screen shots and tell me what I am missing to get this to simply read "Accessible", as opposed to the "Inaccessible" I keep gettting?  I have read through the help section and there is nothing that helps me get this cleared, so I gain the option to ENABLE this RAID feature.  Thanks so much in advance and let me know what you need.  Have a wonderful day!

 

[Big_Dave]

Hi ALU32,

Are you referring to using the mSATA as a boot device? This is not what HP has intended for use with the mSATA device. The BIOS might not even support the mSATA as an eligible boot device.  But you can try the below procedure.

Your PC is in RAID mode and the Intel controller will limit your mSATA to 26GB caching.   This is not a lot of space for expansion. However, Microsoft indicates the minimum space as 20 GB for W8 64 bit.  I suspect the mSATA card is 32 GB?

Here is what I would try based on your PC current configuration if you want to use mSATA for booting.

1. Be sure to create the external HP recovery media and backup your data.
2. Install the latest Intel IRST drivers.  Additionally, use the Intel IRST f6flpy-x64.zip and place these drivers on USB flash.  You might need these drivers if W8 doesn't recognize the mSATA device when you go to install W8.1 from a retail media in UEFI mode.
3. Use the Intel Control panel function to delete out caching on the mSATA.
4. Since your PC is booting in RAID mode you will need to go into MSCONFIG and set the boot parameter to Safe boot.  Reboot your PC.  If your PC boots up in Safe mode then shutdown.
5. Boot into the BIOS and disable Secure boot and change the SATA mode to AHCI. Save the changes and reboot.
6. If your PC boots up OK then you are now running AHCI. Shutdown your PC.
7. Disconnect the SSD hard drive device if this is your normal boot device. If the hard drive was ever used for booting your PC then disconnect the hard drive. We don't want an eligible boot device to have a EFI partition exposed at boot time or you will run into multiple boot loaders which may confused things.
8. Now is the moment of truth (MOT).
9. Place your W8.1 retail UEFI bootable media into the PC and power up and boot the EFI (usb flash or optical) W8 media. Insert the USB flash made in step 2.   When you get the the Installation screen choose Custom. Do you see the mSATA device? If yes, then proceed with the installation. If no, select Add drivers and load the drivers. Now do you see the mSATA device? If yes, then proceed with the installation.
10. If the installation succeeds then you should be good to go.
11. Your existing SSD has an EFI partition on it so if you plug it back in without formatted it then you will have boot issues with multiple eligible EFI boot devices.  I have multiple eligible EFI boot devices on my custom PCs and care must be taken to ensure that the correct default device is chosen in the BIOS.

An alternative procedure if AHCI mode fails to produce and eligible boot device during the W8.1 installation process is to try RAID mode without caching. Skip steps 4,5 and 6.  You may want to try this first as the AHCI method is more complicated.

There may be other ways to accomplish using the mSATA as an eligible boot device such as using a PCI-E SATA adapter to build up the W8 mSATA boot device before installing it into the mSATA slot. Nevertheless, some of the above steps would still come into play.

My custom Z97 PC boots up from PCI-E and the m.2 slot using the same SSD device (must swap the SSD card). If I had two cards with W8 then I cound boot from either device. I use UEFI mode and AHCI SATA.