IRST 11.5.0.1207 Removed by Intel, Memory Leak and Other Issues

[parsec]

(See below regarding why I posted this information)

Intel has removed the latest version of IRST, 11.5.0.1207, from their download pages. It has multiple issues including:

Memory leaks. Memory usage climbs slowly higher and higher for no good reason.

Some applications will BSOD when they are started when using this driver.

Windows will see the SATA interface as a SCSI controller with this driver, which is false.

The performance of this driver is below average.

There is nothing to be gained using this driver, so if you're using it, install an earlier version such as 11.2.0.1006, which now is the latest IRST driver Intel has available on their download pages. You don't need to uninstall it, and doing so will cause big problems if you have any RAID volumes on the Intel chipset. You can install an earlier version over 11.5, and you will see a warning displayed that you are installing an older driver. Just continue the installation and it will complete fine.
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The main reason I posted this here is because I was using this IRST driver, and when I started my favorite monitoring program, HWiNFO64, my PC BSOD, and rebooted. That was the first and only time I have ever had a problem like that with HWiNFO64. In reality, the problem was really not with HWiNFO64, but with this bug filled IRST driver. TBH, it is rare for Intel to release software that is as poor as this version is.

I then went to the HWiNFO forum, to see if anyone else had experienced this. I did see at least one thread that sounded like the same problem I had. The quick fix was to disable Drive Scanning, which worked. At the time in that thread, I think the author of HWiNFO was not 100% sure what was going on, or at least did not immediately blame Intel or attempt to pass the blame elsewhere. I'm not sure, but I think a fix was added to compensate for this problem.

It was only two days ago that I noticed Intel had removed this driver from their download pages. That confirmed IMO that the issue with HWiNFO64 was caused by that IRST driver all along.

I felt it was important to let everyone know what really happened in this situation, and to pass it on to the author of HWiNFO, in case he was not aware of it.

 

[stasio]

I think that Intel withdrew their "OS Independent" version of the 11.5.0.1207 only! Since the Win7 (32-bit),(64-bit) bit version is still there...as of today 8-5-2012

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...ldID=21592&lang=eng&OSVersion= &DownloadType=

I am guessing that maybe the that other versions of windows < Win7 might have issues ... as at the top of the page for the "OS Independent" version it states "previously released"

 

[parsec]

Yes, it is there, but only for certain Intel chipset boards.

That is, the H61, B65, and B75 chipset boards. None of those boards support RAID, and are very basic boards. So apparently this driver is Ok when used in AHCI mode with those chipsets.

If you check the driver downloads for any of Intel's H67, P67, Z68 or Z77 boards, you'll see IRST 11.2.0.1006. H67 and P67 boards support RAID, and the Z68 and Z77 boards support RAID and SRT, which uses RAID. IRST 11.5.0.1207 was listed for download for all H67, P67, Z68, and Z77 Intel boards earlier this week, but not anymore.

If you check the IRST 11.2.0.1006 download page, which shows all the Intel boards compatible with that driver, none of the H61, B65, or B75 boards are listed. That too is odd. Is it possible that the 11.5.0.1207 driver was meant only for those boards?

If you search by a specific Intel chipset series (ie, 5 or 6), Intel no longer shows any drivers at all, which is unusual. If you search on Software products, Chipset software, and then IRST, the latest you'll see is IRST 10.8.0.1003, which was the last 6-series chipset era IRST driver.

I use IRST drivers in RAID mode on several PCs, and as I wrote earlier, that 11.5 driver used in RAID mode has issues, including the one with HWiNFO64. I use Windows 7 64bit only, on three PCs, including the one that had the problem with that IRST driver and HWiNFO64.

People are posting issues in the Intel forums about that driver, and I also noticed the memory leak myself. I would not use it in a system configured for RAID.

 

[Martin]

Thanks for the information, I wasn't aware that Intel pulled these drivers.
Yes, in the latest beta release I added a fix for Intel RST drivers. The problem I found was that when HWiNFO tried to query a certain device address for information, the RST caused a BSOD, whereas other addresses responded properly with either "no device here" or "drive is here". I think such query shouldn't cause a BSOD, so I believe it was rather an RST issue. In fact there were often problems with RST drivers - slow response, hangs, missing information.. I hope one day Intel will come with a stable driver set...

 

[parsec]

Thanks for the information, I wasn't aware that Intel pulled these drivers.
Yes, in the latest beta release I added a fix for Intel RST drivers. The problem I found was that when HWiNFO tried to query a certain device address for information, the RST caused a BSOD, whereas other addresses responded properly with either "no device here" or "drive is here". I think such query shouldn't cause a BSOD, so I believe it was rather an RST issue. In fact there were often problems with RST drivers - slow response, hangs, missing information.. I hope one day Intel will come with a stable driver set...

You're welcome, I thought you would be interested simply because you added that, let's be frank, workaround for the bad IRST driver. In other words, it's not you (Martin), it's them.

Regrettably, you've made the same statement about IRST in the past, a "... stable driver set", in this forum. I never realized the apparent buggy nature of these drivers, as they've always worked fine for me. Changed my perspective a bit.