Problem installing Win7 on OCZ Vertex 2 SSD - Thinkpad X100e

[MountainMan]

I have a new X100e, and I'd like to do a fresh install of Win 7 onto an OCZ Vertex 2 SSD.

I used ABRbeta.exe from directedge.us and backed up the factory activation info, and I'm trying to install from an OEM DVD of Win 7 Pro (same version of the OS as the pre-instll that came with the machine). The SSD came with the latest available firmware version, and I updated the X100e's BIOS to the latest today.

I can get thru the first part of the installation, up until the first reboot. When the system reboots, it wants to restart the install from the beginning again. It finds the drive, but sees it as unallocated space; it doesn't see the partitions I made during the install procedure.

I'd appreciate any hints anyone can offer.
Thanks.

[MountainMan]

BTW, I tried it both with the BIOS sata set to AHCI and with it set to Compatibility. Same behavior in both cases.

[MountainMan]

Well, I tried installing Linux Maverick, and I get exactly the same behavior: installer detects the drive, happily installs stuff onto it, then when it's time to reboot from the drive, I get "operating system not found".

After a bit of googling, I haven't been able to find anyone else with this failure, so I'm guessing I just have a bad drive. I'm going to RMA this drive.

[The Solutor]

Well, I tried installing Linux Maverick, and I get exactly the same behavior: installer detects the drive, happily installs stuff onto it, then when it's time to reboot from the drive, I get "operating system not found".

After a bit of googling, I haven't been able to find anyone else with this failure, so I'm guessing I just have a bad drive. I'm going to RMA this drive.

I've used a copule of SSD (a Kingston SSDnow V 64GB and an Intel X25-M G2 160GB) on the X100e with no problem at all.

BTW you can just try to format the disk on a differnt machine and then see what happens.

[MountainMan]

I've used a copule of SSD (a Kingston SSDnow V 64GB and an Intel X25-M G2 160GB) on the X100e with no problem at all.

BTW you can just try to format the disk on a differnt machine and then see what happens.

Thanks for the info. I think your experiences support the hypothesis that I just had a defective drive.

My Vertex 2 is already in a box and on its way back to the vendor.
Now I'm glad I bought it from Amazon, even though at a slightly higher price,
because the return-for-refund was so easy.

I've decided to buy a rotating-media drive instead, and leave experimenting
with SSDs for another day.

[MountainMan]

just curious: has anyone else tried an OCZ Vertex 2 in an X100e?

if so, how did it go, and did you need to do anything unusual to make it work?

[hmmwv]

My 30G Vertex 2 works just fine, I did a fresh install of Win 7 HP 32bit on it using an USB stick.