SSD sata 3 will be OK for my latitude E6420 ATG ?

Hi kimi5,

You will be able to upgrade to SSD SATA 3 on your computer as it supports SATA3 technology.

Please reply for any queries.

I just got a Corsair Neutron GTX 240GB, and have similar problems.  I'm on A17 BIOS, and the disk seems to randomly show up as "240 GB HDD" or "{none}" each time I reboot.  I can't get a clean install of Windows 7 as a result.  I was about to RMA my Corsair SSD, but maybe it's a Dell problem??

One follow-up on my previous post:  The drive works fine via eSATA, but fails in the internal SATA bay.  Are there any issues with SATA 3 on the E6420?

There shouldn't be, but some of the lower-tier manufacturers (like Corsair) aren't noted for excellent quality control with their SSDs.  You might want to return the drive in exchange for one from a first-tier manufacturer (Intel, Samsung) -- their quality control is far better.

Corsair "lower-tier" ?  Ha.

Anyway, I think I'm going to start a new thread, as I put the Corsair SSD in my Desktop, and it ran flawlessly at full speed.  This seems to now be an issue with my E6420.

I just recently installed a Kingston "SSD NOW III" 240 Gb drive in my XPS M-1210 (vintage of 2006) and the drive works flawlessly.  You may need to use a utility such as "HDAT2" or another similar HDD utility which addresses HDD parameters and ensure the proper DMA or Ultra-DMA mode for the SSD is selected to be compatible with your PC.  It is my understanding that most of these new SSD drives, even if SATA III, are backwards compatible with SATA II.

Huh - never heard of HDAT2 - I'll put it on a bootable USB, and see what it shows.

Thanks!  Note: Dell thinks it's a motherboard problem, as the drive works flawlessly in my desktop.  But, maybe this utility could shed some light before they order a replacement.

HDAT2 shows UDMA2/ATA33, which seems to be normal based on various searches I've done.  HDAT2 also seems to see all the parameters, and nothing seems out of the ordinary.  It just seems like the laptop can't run the drive at SATA 3 speeds.

The SSD ran perfectly when I hooked it up to my desktop.  Only the laptop can't seem to drive it.

Anything else I should try?  Or, any details in HDAT2 I should look for?

Thanks!

When you upgraded initially, did you clone the existing HDD to the new SSD?  While cloning a drive may not always be the best option, in the case of installing an SSD to an older platform like the Latitude E6420 or XPS M-1210 (my PC) it may be absolutely necessary.  While I am not yet well-versed on solid state drives, I do know they are the same, yet different - - how's that for double speak?  I do understand that in the instances of "some" PCs (the XPS M-1210 being one), it may be much better to clone the drive to one which was working well, rather than setting it up with a clean install of the operating system and then adding files and programs.  I upgraded from an SATA 2 Hitachi Travelstar 200 Gb 7200 RPM drive by cloning it to the SDD.  I used the drive enclosure and cloning software which came with the drive and followed the instructions precisely.

That being said, I am not sure of the vintage of the Latitude E6420, but if my memory serves me correctly, it is the same or slightly newer than my XPS M-1210 (seven years).  Which operating system are you running?  Also, as you view the "ATA" options on that particular page of the "HDAT2" program, is the UDMA5/100 option available?  I believe that should be the default for something this new.  Try selecting that option and then reboot.  If that does not work, revert back to the UDMA2/ATA33 option. 

Also, if your laptop is not set up for SATA 3, it should be at least SATA 2.  Data transfer rates will not be as fast as those with SATA 3, but again, any SSD drive I've heard of with SATA 3 compatibility is backwards compatible with SATA 2.  Even so, you will notice an improvement in data transfer rates once your PC is able to identify the drive properly. 

Post back and let me know how it goes.

Steve

Thanks, Steve.  The E6420 is only a few years old, so there should be no compatibility issues.  It supports SATA3 as best I can tell, but SATA2 would be fine as well, and it should take care of that seamlessly.  I tried both cloning, as well as a fresh install, both of which were done after security erase on the SSD.  I'm cloning/installing Windows 7 x64, so all the drivers are already present.  I also tried using Intel's "F6" drivers that allows the Windows Installer to load additional drivers - no change.  I've pretty much done all the normal stuff.

The HDAT2 angle is definitely a new one.  It reports UDMA2/33 as the "default", and UDMA6/133 as the "maximum".  I tried setting the drive to that UDMA6, and it didn't behave any differently.  After rebooting back into HDAT2, it had auto reverted back to UDMA2.  From what I've read, the UDMA setting is actually only there for compatibility - that when in AHCI mode, the UDMA level is irrelevant.  But, I'm not 100% sure on that.  Maybe I'll try your UDMA5 option, but I'm not sure that's going to change the result.

Perhaps most interestingly, both HDAT2 and other utilities I've tried like Parted Magic detect the SSD very reliably.  However, when I look at the Dell BIOS, the primary drive is typically listed as "{none}".  So, it would seem that the laptop isn't quite happy with the drive.  If it weren't for the fact that the drive works great in a desktop I have, I'd say it was a bad drive.

I think the only option left is something bad with the motherboard.  I'm on another thread with Dell Support, so we'll see what they think.  But, thanks for the new ideas - I was hoping HDAT2 would show me something I could fix!

You're welcome!  I was hoping you'd have success also, but at this stage of the game, I'd have to agree with you as to the motherboard, unless there is the option of re-flashing the BIOS with the SDD installed.  You should have SATA 3 compatibility with Windows 7 X 64 bit, or at least that would be my guess.  I'm also not sure on the AHCI compatibility issue either.  It sounds like perhaps you're right in that this issue might be best resolved by Dell Support.  Let me know what transpires.  Take care!

I'm happy to report that my Corsair Neutron GTX is now running nicely in my E6420.  It unfortunately took 2 motherboard replacements, but now I'm all good!  ATTO shows 450-500 MB/s, which is awesome!  Thanks for all the tips along the way, everyone - but looks like it was just a hardware problem in the end.