[foxicity]

Last September I purchased a Kingston HyperX 120GB SATA 3 SSD. It was a great addition to my computer... That is, until it bricked. After setting a boot password on the drive and rebooting, I can't unlock the drive with the set password! I looked up this issue and it seems that some Lenovo laptops, including my W520, have this problem with all new Sandforce 3 chips: they set a different password than is entered, thus rendering the drive unusable. I need the drive working, but I also want the password ability. Lenovo won't help as they are neither the vendor nor the manufacturer of the drive, NewEgg (the vendor) won't help because the 30-day return or replacement warranty expired before the issue developed, and Kingston will only replace the drive under warranty, no refunds because I did not buy from them. I don't want the same drive back, though, as it will have the same issues. I see Lenovo as the ultimate culprit here, but they refuse to help because the hard drive is third-party hardware. What can I do?

[waldojim]

Lenovo tests their machines to work with specific products. For best support, use products approved by the manufacturer. Understanding that You cannot even change your wifi card, as it will not be on the "white list". This is one situation where I am afraid to say that homework should have come before the "buy" button. Sandforce controllers are notorious for various problems. You are only experiencing one of the many known issues with those drives. If Kingtson is willing to work with you to fix the problem, I would use all the support they have to offer.

[waldojim]

After doing some research for my own SSD in my w520, I have to say that I may have been a bit too harsh with you. I apologize for that. Lenovo seems neither willing to help users, nor at least list "certified" hardware. For what it is worth, there does seem to be a list of known functional SSD's that include:
Samsung 830 series
Intel 310 and 510 series
Plextor M3 series
Crucial M4 series
All of the above has 100% functionality as of the latest bios.
All SandForce drives suffer the typical SF problems and Password failures even as of the latest BIOS.