BIOS update fixes data corruption with Linux on Asrock DeskMini X600
An SSD in the first M.2 slot of the DeskMini X600 mini PC barebone can lead to data corruption under Linux. A c't design proposal is also affected.
The DeskMini X600 is slightly larger than NUC mini PCs, for example, but is home to interchangeable processors.
(Image: c't)
- Thorsten Leemhuis
Asrock has released BIOS version 4.10 for the DeskMini X600, with which Linux no longer corrupts data when writing to NVMe SSDs. This happened in some configurations with earlier BIOS versions of the Mini-PC barebone, which c't used in issue 17/2024 for the construction proposal for a 10-watt Mini-PC, among other things.
The data corruption occurred with earlier BIOS versions with Ryzen 8000G processors if an NVMe SSD was inserted in the first slot. The problem could be observed with numerous Linux distributions, but not with Windows 11, as the c't editorial team found out. The data corruption was also not observed with a 7000 or 9000 Ryzen. The same applied if the SSD was in the second slot or if a second data carrier was installed there at the same time. Deactivating the IOMMU (Input–Output Memory Management Unit) via BIOS setup or the Linux boot parameter amd_iommu=off also avoided the problem for many of those affected. Furthermore, the data corruption could also be circumvented by reverting an older kernel change; however, this was apparently just a lucky coincidence.
Some c't readers discovered the data corruption when using the Btrfs file system as early as mid-2024: Thanks to its checksum function, it recognizes data errors when reading, which Ext4, for example, cannot do. The problem also often quickly became apparent during tests with the test software f3 (Fight Flash Fraud), which is inspired by the c't Windows tool h2testw.
Asrock remains silent on the cause
Some of those affected have reported the data corruption to c't-Reaktion, the Linux developers and Asrock. After the hardware manufacturer was initially unable to reproduce the problem, it finally succeeded a few weeks ago; in mid-February 2025, the company then provided those affected with BIOS version 4.10, which, according to several testers and attempts by the c't editorial team, fixed the problem. The company recently began distributing this BIOS publicly via its support website.
(Image: c't / Thorsten Leemhuis)
Asrock does not provide any concrete information on the cause of the problem and only speaks of "optimized system compatibility". A comparison of the hardware configuration information output at Linux startup reveals, among other things, differences in the configuration of the PCI Express bus. As a result, the kernel now builds up the topology differently, among other things, and in doing so, it snatches another memory area from the working memory area that can be used for applications for data exchange with devices.
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