Acer Aspire xc-1660g-uw92 Updated SSD and WD dashboard not recognizing it

I have an Acer Aspire xc-1660g-uw92 that I have installed a Western Digital Black SN770 with 1TB and the WD Dashboard cannot see it. I can see it everywhere else and the machine is running. In my contact with WD they are saying it is the Intel RST drivers that are conflicting with it so it does not show up on the dashboard. I would need the dashboard to monitor the temperature and determine if I need a heatsink and for firmware upgrades to the SSD. Their recommendation is to remove Intel RST. If I change the BIOS to non-RST then the machine will not boot. I have updated to the latest version of Intel RST with no luck.

So I either need to remove Intel RST for WD to help me (e.g. per WD support) or live without being able to read the information or update the SSD (not a good idea).

Is there a way to remove Intel RST successfully? Everything I read states that you cannot.

If necessary I could wipe the drive and install Microsoft Windows 10 from scratch, but not my preference.

Thoughts on what to do or recommendations?

I just purchased this recently as a refurb from Acer. I have updated the memory to 16 GB, exchanged the hard drive to the SN770 to increase it to 1TB, and yesterday added a GeForce GTX1650 low profile. The video is much more crisp with the video card.

[Edited the thread to add model name]

Accepted answers

brummyfan2

Hi,

Switch to Safe mode and change SATA mode to AHCI from Intel Optane(IRST), after you have switched to AHCI you can switch back to normal boot.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234#:~:text=On%20the%20Windows%20sign%2Din,while%20you%20select%20Power%20%3E%20Restart%20.

brummyfan2

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1198233#Comment_1198233

Hi,

Safe boot is used only to switch the SATA mode, after you have switched to AHCI, you have to switch to Normal boot state because some Apps or functions do not work in Safe boot.

This is how you enable Safe mode and then switching back to Normal boot:

Type Run at Start, type msconfig in Run window, move to Boot tab and tick the box, reverse the procedure to go back to normal boot.

All comments

brummyfan2

Hi,

Switch to Safe mode and change SATA mode to AHCI from Intel Optane(IRST), after you have switched to AHCI you can switch back to normal boot.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/start-your-pc-in-safe-mode-in-windows-92c27cff-db89-8644-1ce4-b3e5e56fe234#:~:text=On%20the%20Windows%20sign%2Din,while%20you%20select%20Power%20%3E%20Restart%20.

Commodore_1995#

Can you send a picture of that tab?

Comment

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for the quick responses. I am attaching a copy of the screen from my Bios as requested. It is also possible I will hear more back from WD on Monday or Tuesday… but it is not always that fast, given the weekend.

I have not installed any additional drives yet, just the boot drive. I used Macrium to clone the drive and then extended the partion on the WD SN770.

Thanks.

Comment

Hi Brummyfan2:

I am wondering if you can clarify what you mean by switch back to normal boot. Are you saying test it with AHCI and then switch back to iRST, or are you saying to keep it AHCI going forward?

" Switch to Safe mode and change SATA mode to AHCI from Intel Optane(IRST), after you have switched to AHCI you can switch back to normal boot. "

When I did the switch in BIOS before booting, it could not find a boot drive. So if I do it in safe mode, I am assuming that the iRST drivers would not be loaded and it would boot normally. But if I then boot without safe boot, will it again see iRST and not allow it to boot? There is conflicting information on the Intel website regarding the removal of iRST and the potential for data loss. But there are plenty of sites that say you can do it.

Thanks.

brummyfan2

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1198233#Comment_1198233

Hi,

Safe boot is used only to switch the SATA mode, after you have switched to AHCI, you have to switch to Normal boot state because some Apps or functions do not work in Safe boot.

This is how you enable Safe mode and then switching back to Normal boot:

Type Run at Start, type msconfig in Run window, move to Boot tab and tick the box, reverse the procedure to go back to normal boot.

billsey

I'd rather leave iRST on and just skip the WD software. There is almost no chance you'll even need it, heat is just not a problem with this type of drive in this type of system.

Commodore_1995#

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1198706#Comment_1198706

These programs only see ssds when sata mode is set to ahci or when vmd controller is disabled. This is also necessary when the user is going to update the firmware of the ssd.

Comment

Hi Everyone,

Thanks, for the great information. I finally got the opportunity to try first what WD recommended, and it did not work, but this method worked great. I now have the WD dashboard working. Now all I need to do is install a spinny drive.