Hello, I’m user of CLEVO D900F i7 X58 with ICH10R/D0. Last manufacturer updates (I’ve got) are BIOS REV 1.00.09 and KBC/EC FW REV 1.00.04. But still my Intel Matrix Storage Manager Option ROM is v.8.8.0.1009 - which worked fine in WIN XP SP3 x86, but now this machine is WIN 7 SP1 x64. RAID0 performance in Win7 is being lower than expected, and sometimes unstable, as it interrupts recording jobs (this is a machine only for audio) even with lower data throughtput than current RAID0… I know this may involve some MODs, flashing, etc… but I’m willing to do - PLEASE HELP!!!
All the best, brave.
@ brave:
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!
Please give us the download link to the latest BIOS. Then we try to fond out, which BIOS tool you can use to get the Intel MSM RAID ROM updated.
Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)
Hello! Thanks for the prompt answer!
I remember I downloaded BIOS from here: http://repo.palkeo.com/clevo-mirror/D900F/
…but this is currently with dead files. You can find the BIOS file here: http://www.mediafire.com/download/d4rmzizdczc/D90F0904.zip
It’s Phoenix BIOS!?
Thanks a lot!
All the best, brave.
Yes, it is a Phoenix BIOS.
Unfortunately the common Award/Phoenix BIOS modding tool named CBROM doesn’t work with this BIOS. So you have to use andyp’s PhoenixTool, if you want to update the Intel RAID ROM module. You can get it >here<.
Since the Win-RAID Forum doesn’t support the usage of any SLIC modding BIOS tools (to avoid any problems with Microsoft), I recommend to ask >here< for help.
You can do that. If you are not sure, whether it will work or not, it may be a good idea to send the link via PM and to attach it within the Forum after having gotten the success report.
Hello!
According to this: Performance of the Intel RST/RSTe AHCI/RAID Drivers
…and this: Which are the “best” Intel AHCI/RAID drivers?
The best performance in Win7 for X58 would be: Intel RST(e) v11.7.4.1001 WHQL for AHCI;
and Intel RST v11.2.0.1006 WHQL for RAID - for these best matching Intel RAID ROM: v11.2.0.1527 !!!
With the old ROM I have (8.8.0.1009), which is installed by those last BIOS updates, RAID performance is being less than expected, but instable for the main use of this machine - which is audio recording.
Thanks for your attention and help!
Hello,
I decided to sumarize all of this info in one post. This is what I need:
I need a BIOS MOD for CLEVO D900F, to change Intel RAID ICH10R / IMSM OPT ROM to newer.
The BIOS I’m using (provided below) installs INTEL RAID ROM v8.8.0.1009.
In Windows 7 it is giving lower but ok-ish RAID0 performance, but it is being unstable for long audio recording of many channels (which is the main use of this computer).
According to these:
win-raid.com/t362f23-Performance-of-the-Intel-RST-RSTe-AHCI-RAID-Drivers.html
win-raid.com/t25f23-Which-are-the-quot-best-quot-Intel-AHCI-RAID-drivers.html
…the best performance for X58 ICH10R RAID would be driver Intel RST v11.2.0.1006 WHQL - for this the best matching is Intel RAID ROM: v11.2.0.1527 !!!
So I request a Bios MOD/update for my current BIOS, to include the Intel RAID ROM v11.2.0.1527:
-Manufacturer: Clevo (pcaudiolabs branded)
-Model: D900F (mobile i7) X58 ICH10R
-Bios revision: 1.00.09, KBC EC firmware: 1.00.04
-Bios Type: Phoenix BIOS
-Bios Download Link: mediafire.com/download/d4rmzizdczc/D90F0904.zip
-RW Report Download Link: mediafire.com/download/dzp51299aqu9xo9/AcpiTbls.rw
This bios I am using supplied above for you to work with is the modified BIOS image for Clevo D900F based on BIOS D90F0904 by member kizwan notebookreview.com forum, supposedly the most recently one.
Sorry if anything is not correct, this is too technical for me!
Thanks for any help!!!
@ brave:
We generally do not modify mainboard BIOSes upon request.
Nevertheless I just have opened the BIOS your CLEVO D900F by using andyp’s PhoenixTool and found the Intel MSM RAID ROM v8.8.0.1009 inside the BIOS. Its name is OPROM01.ROM.
Unfortunately the PhoenixTool doesn’t offer the “Advanced” option after having opened your BIOS file (the option is greyed out).
So I am not able to modify the BIOS.
Hello Fernando,
Thanks a lot for your interest and help.
In my situtation, with ROM 8.8.0.1009 - which RAID driver would you suggest for me? I’m using the same version of ROM for drive.
It’s getting lower than expected performance for RAID0 (please see below), and OK performance for single HD (system). Now I’ll use another disc (SSD) for system too. So I’ll have: HD (General data), SSD (system, win 7 sp1 x64) and 2xHD (hitach 1tb 7200rpm - audio data raid).
I’m worried because last time I needed to record bigger channel number of audio (like 24bits, 48kHz, 28 chs), performance was unstable and interrupted. The only mistake I could see is with RAID driver vs. win7 - (it was not an issue when in XP SP3).
Can you suggest me?
Thanks again!
To be honest, I would backup the important RAID0 data, break the RAID array and switch to the AHCI mode.
This way you get rid of the Intel MSM RAID ROM restrictions and are free to choose the best suitable Intel RST AHCI driver for your system.
Thanks Fernando.
You believe I would get better performance using 2 independent HDDs thru AHCI than thru RAID0?
Thru AHCI, which driver version would you suggest for me to best performance?
Thanks again.
PS: AHCI would allow me to choose drivers without ROM / BIOS restrictions? Would it be better too for SSD?
Under these conditions - yes!
Either the Intel RST v11.2.0.1006 WHQL or the Intel RST(e) v11.7.4.1001 WHQL.
Yes and yes. Furthermore you will get TRIM support for your SSD.
Hello again,
I’m having issues when changing from RAID to AHCI. No matter what I do, I get blue screen or windows can’t boot…
How should I do it?
thanks again!
PS: I tried changing RAID → AHCI in BIOS, but I can’t make it work, only blue screen!
I saved all data that was in RAID and removed the two HDs from RAID, so now they are independent HDs.
Even so, no luck with AHCI. Tried updating to 11.7.4.1001 too…
No luck…
@ brave:
A simple switch of the BIOS setting regarding the SATA mode of the Intel SATA Controller does not work, because the OS doesn’t find the system device during the next startup/reboot (it still expects a RAID configuration and cannot manage the new AHCI situation.
When you want to run your system drive in AHCI mode, I recommend to do a fresh clean installation of the OS in AHCI mode.
Hello!
I searched many sites and found this tutorial:
http://www.overclock.net/t/1227636/how-t…ws-installation
And it worked!!! At least for my situation - RAID → AHCI.
After some initial testing, I’m getting better individual performance from the HDDs, from 10 to 20% better at AHCI than RAID.
General latency is reduced too, which is very important for realtime audio recording of many channels.
As soon as I have more results I’ll report.
Thanks again!
All the best!
@ brave:
It’s fine, that you succeeded with the switch from RAID to AHCI mode.
Nevertheless I do not recommend the linked method for all users, who want to change the SATA mode from within a running OS.
A fresh OS installation onto the system drive after having set the SATA Controller to the desired mode is much safer.
So finally I found some time to mod the BIOS.
Here you can find the mods.
10101008.zip: This one is modded with iRST 10.1.0.1008 (TRIM in RAID 0).
11201527.zip: And here is one with iRST 11.2.0.1527 (TRIM in RAID 0).
WARNING: Use at your own risk! I am not responsible to any damage to yourself, your software and/or hardware!
Since brave found a solution to his problem, I don’t think he would test these mods.
So I decided to post them directly.
EDIT: I did not change SLIC information.
Dear mr_nuub,
Thanks so much for your effort! I’ve just downloaded both BIOS mods.
Thanks to this forum I could solve my issues and work it with AHCI - my job was a huge live recording thru Dante, 52 channels (@24bits, 48kHz)! - my two data HDDs were not in RAID0, but I could assign half of the load (26 channels) to each one and it worked very fine!
But I still find RAID0 may be needed - like for 64 channels (@24bits, 96kHz)? Or for some video work I may do…
Now I’m in the middle/end of another work - so as soon as I finished it (in a couple of weeks), I’ll try both mods you did and report - I can even provide some speed tests if it could be interesting/helpful for this forum!
Thanks again!
All the best,
brave
PS: what does it means “I did not change SLIC information” ?
SLIC means Software Licensing Description Table. This is a region in the BIOS, where the Windows Vista/7/8/8.1 product key and license information is stored.
I don’t want to put you and other users into trouble, so I did not alter that information.
BTW: iRST 10.1.0.1008 could boost your performance, as it did with my X58 system (desktop).