SanDisk Extreme Pro SSD compatibility issues with Intel controllers

We have 10 new Lenovo T440 laptops with the latest Extreme Pro SSD 240GB verison. i think there might be some compatibility issues with the current firmware and the intel controller driver as i am seeing high values of Program Fail Count in S.M.A.R.T. data, which have led to an unbootable windows 7 machine and some hard freeze in several machines. i checked the smart data and here are some screenshots of one of the drives’ smart data.

Program fail count and reassigned sector count always have the same value. Uncorrectable ECC count also spikes to over 6000. and the numbers are growing over time.

This is a 9-month-old SanDisk Extreme II 240G on my T440 with none of the above issues.

other drives also have similar situation. Since i have seen problems with Samsung 840 Pro SSD on T440 (intel controller / driver), i assume this is also a compatibility issue between the drive firmware and the intel driver? As when switched from intel driver (iaStor) to microsoft driver (msahci), the numbers of Retiring / Reassigned Blocks and Program Fails seem to stop growing.

The extreme pro drives come with 10 years of warranty. i dont think it is going to last as long as 10 years with this rate of retiring :wink:

Im sure the drive is great in speed and everything but please do work on the compatibility so we can all enjoy it.

What is the version of the Intel RST driver you are using? Also Can you provide which Intel SATA chipset is in the computer?

here you go

Driver Description

     Intel(R) 8 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI Controller
Driver Date

     2013/11/15
Driver Version

     12.8.10.1005
Hardware ID

     PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_9C03&SUBSYS_220C17AA&REV_04
Location Information

     PCI bus 0, device 31, function 2
PCI Device

     Intel Lynx Point-LP PCH - SATA AHCI Controller

As you can see the version is 12.8.10.1005 which is the latest version on lenovo website. Intel has 13.2.4.1000 on their website though.

let me know if you need anything else. thanks.

tried the new driver from intel, 13.2.4.1000, still giving out Program Fails from time to time.

FWIW, I’m _ no** t**_ getting any Program Fail or Reassigned Sectors on my 240GB EX Pro, used with a Z87 chipset board and IRST 13.2 driver. UECC count remains at zero.

OP, are you just looking at the SMART data shown in the SSD Dashboard software without running the short or extended test, or have you run either test? Just curious.

SSD enthusiasts commonly use the IRST driver with their SSDs, I certainly do. SanDisk EX IIs and Pros, and other high end SSDs like the 840 Pro (which I also use) are used with IRST drivers all the time, that is all I use on all my PCs, in RAID mode. But none of them are T440s.

The Intel eight series chipsets and IRST 12 and 13 drivers may support a new feature called Dynamic Storage Accelerator (DSA), which also must be supported by the processor used in the PC. DSA is a power saving and performance option feature, that has a corresponding UEFI/BIOS option, to enable or disable. The mobile HM87 and QM87 chipsets support DSA, the HM86 does not. If the DSA option is not in the UEFI/BIOS, it could be enabled or disabled behind the scenes. Running the IRST Windows GUI will reveal if DSA is enabled. Link power management is also enabled by default.

I have multiple EX Pros and EX IIs used with Intel 8 and 9 series chipset boards, using IRST 13.2 drivers, and am not seeing the issues you are. I’m also using Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 TP, but again all on desktop PCs, Z87 and Z97 chipsets.

i think it has somehting to do with updates as when the driver was first installed, everything is fine. i dont know if windows update would automatically update drivers or some other components but after sometime, perhaps 2 or 3 weeks, the disk starts to fail.