Windows 10: Change nvme to legacy mode after using it in raid mode

I'm using Win 10 pro N in RAID mode (I installed initially to a RAID10 array of 4 x 14TB wd140emfz from elements enclosures), and I have just noticed that while defragging the RAID10 array and simultaneously benching a data free Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1TB that the NVME's performance numbers tanked, and recovered once smart defrag moved onto a partition not on the RAID10 array.

So with this info (I had an 850 & 860 evo in single drive raid array mode and never noticed performance degradation), I want to set all my SSDs to legacy mode which means that they use their onboard cache for write caching (the DRAM part which users commonly state as being a higher quality SSD if it has one).

I never changed my new MX500 2TB to single disk raid array mode, so that's left unchanged. I've reverted my 860 evo 1TB to legacy mode. My 850 evo is disconnected (have an enclosure for that), will hopefully just switch back to legacy as its not on a sata port.

My new m.2 NVME Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1TB seems to be stuck in either single drive raid array mode or unrecognised by the OS.

There are a few bios options. One SATA mode AHCI or RAID switches on the RaidXpert module of the bios. There is a NVME RAID mode option, disabled by default (from the manual). There is an entry for NVMe Configuration which "displays information on your M.2 MVME PCIe SSD if installed.

I have tried checking my options in disk management while the drive is in single disk raid array mode via the bios, and tried the raidXpert2 software too. I've tried deleting the array and trying to install windows 10 on it, but it failed even when pointed to raidbottom driver (there are 3 different directorys which I could try for the correct driver), but to the best of my knowledge I've already integrated these drivers into the install media. I've also tried using the diskpart command in the command prompt, but I think this only effects the drive as seen by software as opposed to how the bios sees it.

So I could try to install windows 10 on one of my externals or my 850evo in an enclosure (assuming I can get that out of single disk raid array mode), and set the bios to sata mode: AHCI. This might give me more options in disk management.

Its probably not a common issue that comes up here but I got myself banned from spiceworks because I got the hump after they were like you're using software raid and I have a server ect. I have a UPS which is my best bet against sudden power loss (and the fact that the data in a RAID10 is temporarily in system ram which is ofcourse volatile), and they were turning their noses up and saying that had battery backed up cache either on the motherboard or drive itself. I heard the MX500 has powerloss immunity which is one of the reasons I didn't try it in single disk raid array mode. win10 v2004

:)

 

Using an NVME SSD in AHCI vs RAID mode

Ed,

This is very strange, because we're seeing entirely different things here. My whole issue is that Magician does not recognize my Samsung 950 PRO as a Samsung NVMe drive, while yours appears to recognize it.

Compare what I see in Magician 4.9.7 with what you see. My drive is listed as "aSsmnu gSS D59 0RP O15G2 B" (with every 2nd letter swapped), while yours lists it correctly as "Samsung SSD 590 PRO 512 GB." (If you Google "aSsmnu," you get lots of hits from people in the same bucket as me, but no solutions that I can find.) My drive doesn't have the "Genuine" badge next to the serial number that yours has. My Drive Health Status, Total Bytes Written, and AHCI Mode are all "N/A," while yours actually say something. The S.M.A.R.T. button in my Magician brings up an empty grid, while yours is populated. You appear to have access to the other functions in the left-hand-side navigation menu, while in mine, every link except "Disk Drive" and "Performance Benchmark" is deactivated. Oh, and mine shows the drive capacity as 0.00GB in the two textual places, but 453 GB in the cartoon.












I wrote to Samsung, and the answer I got just this morning (slowly, over several days, and after several back-and-forths) was that Magician does not work with RAID mode. So how come yours seems to work if we have very similar setups? How can I get to be like you?

 

Using an NVME SSD in AHCI vs RAID mode

Thanks, Ed!

How can I check the health of my drive? S.M.A.R.T. doesn't appear to work with a RAID controller, and Magician doesn't tell me much since it doesn't recognize the drive as NVMe. What tool do you recommend?

I mean I could get full Magician functionality if I were to de-RAID my hard drives and change the SATA mode in my BIOS from RAID to AHCI. (I know, I would need to take some extra steps to make sure Windows installs the AHCI driver -- but I think it's already installed because my CD-ROM is on a separate SATA controller on my motherboard, which is AHCI.) Is having RAID1 worth losing Magician for? Is RAID1 all that worthwhile overall anyway in 2016?

 

UEFI vs Legacy boot mode

Legacy is compatability mode- works fine for me.