SSD problems under Windows: Old firmware is said to be to blame
SSD problems under Windows 11 are said to have occurred when the manufacturer installed a non-final firmware version.
(Image: heise medien)
Unfinished firmware versions on older SSDs apparently lead to problems under Windows 11. The SSD controller designer Phison confirms that an error can occur with the combination of Windows 11 24H2 with the KB5063878 update, SSD with pre-production firmware version, and large copy volumes: the data carrier then disappears from the drive overview under certain circumstances and is no longer accessible.
Phison engineers found the cause together with a Chinese hardware Facebook group that provided affected systems for testing. According to the group, pre-production firmware was installed on a Corsair Force MP600 and a Silicon Power SP US70, which Phison only intended for testing purposes before the market launch. Phison confirmed the group's claims in a statement to Neowin.
It is unclear whether manufacturers have sold SSDs with pre-production firmware themselves or whether prototypes have come into circulation elsewhere. Either way, the circumstances would explain why apparently only a few systems are impacted: the focus is on SSDs with Phison's E16 controller, which were released six years ago – the firmware should have been replaced long ago. At that time, it was the first generation with PCI Express 4.0.
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The problem was therefore dormant in affected models the whole time. The Windows 11 update is said to have merely triggered it. Microsoft made changes to the NVMe driver, which SSDs use to communicate with the processor. According to reports, the KB5064081 update from the end of August is said to have fixed the possible trigger at Windows level.
Issues with SSDs without a Phison controller and some HDDs could have occurred independently of possible firmware errors. Or other manufacturers have built similar errors into their firmware.
As a precaution, users can check whether their SSD firmware is up to date. Manufacturers usually offer tools for this, such as Corsair's SSD Toolbox, Samsung's Magician software, Western Digital's own Dashboard, Lexar's DiskMaster, Crucial's Storage Executive tool, and Kingston's SSD Manager.
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