Testing an mPCIe SuperTalent SSD inside T61

[wels]

Hello everybody,

today I tested the following mini-PCI-Express SSD in the most left slot of my T61 (8889-ACG) which was occupied by the Intel TurboMemory module previously:
datasheet: http://www.supertalent.com/datasheets/6_10058.pdf (64GB MLC, FPN064C2RM).

While the SSD is properly detected by the BIOS my problem is now that none of the other storage devices is able to boot anymore (the SSD neither). Directly after displaying info about the SSD the boot process stops with a blinking cursor in the upper left corner.

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Asmedia 106X SATA Controller Ver 3.70 AHCI Mode
Copyright (C) Asmedia Technologies, Inc. All Rights reserved.
S.M.A.R.T. Supported
Using PCIE Gen 1
SATA PM 0 Port 0 STT_FPN064C2RM

The behaviour is independent of the boot device order settings in the BIOS. Only if there is not any storage device present it displays the general BIOS error after the SSD infos and stops too:

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...
<no device found>
...

Initially, the T61 had BIOS version 2.25, later it was upgraded to the recent Middleton version 2.29. With both versions the effect is the same.

Nevertheless, the SSD works quite well if it is inserted (hotplugged) directly after the BIOS before booting the OS, for example while GRUB waits. On Ubuntu 14.04 it was possible to format, write and read it without any issues. Just that it does not boot anymore with the SSD installed renders it useless

Can anyone give a hint or knows a workaround for this issue during boot-up?

Thanks so far for your interest and best regards!

[automobus]

First hint, is to avoid ASM1061. People have _all kinds_ of trouble with it. (I do not trust ASM1061, no matter how expensive is a device which contains it.)

Second hint, is to try different firmware. Not ThinkPad firmware—ASMedia firmware. Ask SuperTalent for a firmware without BIOS option ROM.

[axur-delmeria]

So the problem boils down to:

1. The option ROM is so buggy that booting from any device is impossible.

2. But when the option ROM is disabled/removed, it cannot become a boot device.

Ask Super Talent if there's a way to disable the SSD's option ROM via software. If that's possible then it may be possible to use the SSD as a cache.
(Intel's SRT is out, but Linux makes this easy)