SP3 SSD, possible firmware bug, same as just fixed in another Samsung drive.

Anonymous
2014-10-20T22:49:51+00:00

I've just had to update the firmware in another device that had a Samsung 840EVO SSD because they had a serious firmware bug with it.  Out of curiosity I tested the Samsung drive in my Surface Pro 3 and it looks like it has exactly the same issue (the SP3 drive is closely related to the 840 series I believe, but an OEM version.

The test is simple, just look at the read rate across the drive.  Older data (OS, installed apps) suffered from terrible read performance after a month or so.  Newly written data is fine.

As you can see, much of the drive is down to 50MB/s now.  It should be a fairly level line right the way across at about 350+MB/s.  This test was run with AC power connected and nothing else running.

If this is the same issue as the 840EVO, the good news is it can be corrected with a firmware update and refresh of the data.  Bad news would of course be Microsoft need to look into it first, then get the Samsung engineers looking into it.

Perhaps some other people could run the test too, and post results.  Remember the drive needs to be a month or more old, so that the data can have been sitting there only being read during that time.

Further details of the bug and the fix that Samsung released can be found here:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/8617/samsung-releases-firmware-update-to-fix-the-ssd-840-evo-read-performance-bug

Surface | Surface Pro | Install and update

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Anonymous
2015-09-30T22:01:46+00:00

Hello all

We wanted to let you know that an update to resolve this is still being worked on.  Please continue to post your experiences and technical details.

Mod Edit: Samsung SSD Optimization Utility for Surface Pro 3 now available.

Best regards

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-08-13T17:08:32+00:00

    Also looking for an update on this.  I can't believe MS has been silent about this.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-08-13T15:28:54+00:00

    I downloaded this SSD firmware update in February when first posted by Samsung, but did not apply it as it was identified as a Release Candidate, little documentation existed, the posting was removed in a short timeframe, and Microsoft seemed to have little comment about it.  Since, I have seen nothing about a final version or any other follow-up.  I now am starting to see more disk retries and wonder if this issue is related.

    Is there any plan for a final, supported version of this SSD firmware update? Has anyone heard any update on this matter, as the forum moderators commented on this issue quite some time ago, but have gone silent.

    Thanks

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-08-13T11:03:34+00:00

    So the SSD's firmware went from EXT41M0Q to EXT42M0Q and the SSD was rearranged by the repair tool.

    I'd say: "So far, so good". Regards to you all!

    Thanks mate!

    Hey, what tools did you use to test the SSD, & this is Win10 with all the latest updates -right?

    Cheers!

    OS: Windows 10 Prof. with update until aug. 13th '15

    Aida64 Extreme Edition (aida64.om)

    HD Tune 5.0.6

    Regards!

    Would you be so kind as to monitor your battery life following the update and report back after a week or so? Some on this thread have seen battery life impacted by this firmware.

    Cheer's

    I've read about that. To be honest, battery life never was an issue for me. So I have never monitored it in the first place. The only devices I really use without worrying about the battery are my iPad and iPhone. All other device, my Surface Pro 3 included, I use on AC when possible since battery life has always been mediocre, as far as I am concerned.

    Also I am not a frequent user so it is difficult for me to monitor and get valid results.

    I will, however, post anything I find that could be of any help.

    Regards!

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-08-13T10:36:30+00:00

    You must mean HD_Tune_Pro 5.6, there is no HD_Tune 5.06:

    http://www.hdtune.com/download.html

    Thanks.

    You are right, of course. Haven't had breakfast yet :-)

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