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Fake Samsung 980 Pro SSDs are spreading around
- henriquez 4y agoThe real 980 Pros have recently become notorious for premature degradation issues (resolved with a firmware upgrade that many users may not know to apply). How conveniently distracting that a fake version of the product is now hitting the news cycle. Instead of associating bad SSDs with Samsung we’ll henceforth associate them with cheap Chinese counterfeits. What a stroke of luck for an anticompetitive company like Samsung.
- daveguy 4y agoSamsung has had a fix for the wear degradation bug since January.
- wlesieutre 4y agoI missed that news so I appreciate the heads up. Looks like mine is on a safe firmware version, phew. If anyone else wants details: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/samsung-980-pro-ssd-failures-firmware-update https://www.tomshardware.com/news/samsung-980-pro-ssd-failur... > However, the new firmware update from Samsung will prevent the failures from occurring in the first place if your drive is still functioning. So, if you have a 980 Pro running the 3B2QGXA7 firmware, you'll want to update to the newest firmware (5B2QGXA7) using the Samsung SSD Magician software (opens in new tab) ASAP. It should be noted that 980 Pro SSDs running the 4B2QGXA7 or 5B2QGXA7 firmware are not affected by this issue.
- cbg0 4y agoWhat is this tinfoil hattery about? The article mentions the fake ones having weaker sequential performance, nothing about degradation.
- Retric 4y agoFake products in China are so common it seems unlikely for this particular fake to be worth reporting. The simplest answer of a slow news day is probably the correct one, but I can see why someone would think Samsung might want to push it.
- ls612 4y agoYou are confusing the 980 pro and the 990 pro. The 990 Pro had a firmware bug causing largely accelerated wear which was fixed by an update in January. The 980 Pro had a bug in firmware causing the drive to just fail (enter read only mode) after a certain amount of time, this had been fixed for well over a year in firmware but many people didn't update their firmware and so were surprised when the requisite amount of time passed.
- thevagrant 4y agoDoes windows update the firmware automatically? I may have a couple of these ssds but never thought to check firmware
- ls612 4y agoNo but the Samsung Magician software will automatically tell you to update the firmware and do it for you.
- bombolo 4y agoAh, for the 6 people in the world who have that?
- florbo 4y agoheh, yeah I installed it just for the update and immediately uninstalled it.
- favaq 4y agoSomeone who buys an evo pro knows to install magician, at least to update the firmware for the first use, or so i hope - it would be like buying a high-end nvidia and using the drivers from windows update.
- addandsubtract 4y agoThere's a difference between a GPU that gets new drivers every week (and essential to gaming/working) and an SSD, which I personally have never even thought about checking the firmware for.
- hosteur 4y ago> The real 980 Pros have recently become notorious for premature degradation issues (resolved with a firmware upgrade that many users may not know to apply) How does one find out if a particular 980 Pro needs firmware update or not?
- TacticalCoder 4y ago> How does one find out if a particular 980 Pro needs firmware update or not? I'm wondering the same and I'm also wondering if upgrading the firmware can be done from Linux or not. I could search online but certainly people here do know?
- wmf 4y agohttps://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Samsung_SSD_Firmware https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Samsung_SSD_Firmware
- fsckboy 4y ago> How does one find out if a particular 980 Pro needs firmware update or not? seriously? you google "upgrade firmware samsung 980 pro" or you add "how do I know" and "version"
- haunter 4y agoCheck your SSD's firmware, SSD-Z is a good one under Windows for example http://aezay.dk/aezay/ssdz/ http://aezay.dk/aezay/ssdz/ Hardinfo is a good one under Linux, most distro has it in their repo https://github.com/lpereira/hardinfo https://github.com/lpereira/hardinfo Then go here https://semiconductor.samsung.com/consumer-storage/support/tools/ https://semiconductor.samsung.com/consumer-storage/support/t... -> Samsung SSD Firmware and check what's the newest firmware file
- withinrafael 4y agoData point for readers: I was affected by the 980 Pro firmware issue. I had no idea there was an update available--Samsung did not post it to Windows Update--until my drive was read-only with only a few TBs written. Warranty covers 5 years/N TBWs [1], and the replacement process--albeit slow--does work. Just be aware you can't erase a read-only SSD... [1] https://semiconductor.samsung.com/consumer-storage/support/warranty/#:~:text=B.%20Limited%20Warranty%20Condition%20(Period%20and%20TBW) https://semiconductor.samsung.com/consumer-storage/support/w...
- Havoc 4y ago990 Pro have the rapid degradation issue -> firmware update halts but doesn't reverse 980 Pro has risk of bricking -> firmware fixes if you catch it before it bricks. No degradation.
- olliecornelia 4y agoDoesn't seem like a bad drive, where can I get one without the fake Samsung branding?
- jonatron 4y agoFirst result on aliexpress for "2tb nvme" is a FANXIANG with a Maxio controller and YMTC flash (by looking at a review picture, probably varies). https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005061184382.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005061184382.html https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/A3676f5ce9ecf465095e5568b08c630aer.jpg https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/A3676f5ce9ecf465095e5568b08c630ae...
- jonatron 4y agoPlaying spot the difference on the sticker is fun.
- 5- 4y agoa related classic from 2010: fake microsd cards https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=1022 https://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?page_id=1022
- libpcap 4y agoWhy hasn't the CCP clamp down on these manufacturers of counterfeit SSDs? Won't this give a bad image on products made in the PRC?
- sva_ 4y agoI don't really see how it would? 'Made in China' is often associated with low quality anyways, so why would this make a dent? I hope you know that Samsung is a South Korean company.
- lozenge 4y agoChina is what's called an endemic corruption environment, the government can't just make things happen even if they want to. At best they can focus on the life threatening stuff like baby formula and the rest is left to the market.
- jokethrowaway 4y agoI lost it at AliExpress and TaoBao being referred as "distinguished online shopping platforms". They feel like platforms that belong on the darkweb. You really have to rely on reviews and a scam is always behind the corner. This is completely not newswhorthy.
- fsckboy 4y ago> "distinguished online shopping platforms" They feel like platforms that belong on the darkweb yes, this is what distinguishes them
- gaudat 4y agoMaybe not in your country but that statement is definitely true in China and developing economies. Be reminded though Amazon is chock full of the same scammy products as on AliExpress and Taobao done by the same merchants. Case in point, SSDs / thumb drives with laughable capacity indications.
- snvzz 4y agoI used AliExpress and Amazon for a good decade now. Yet, I have had more issues with Amazon. But for both storefronts, issue resolution has been good.
- anaganisk 4y agoThey are not so different from Amazon, Etsy or wish in terms of scams.
- qwertox 4y agoHow would I notice this on a Linux machine? I have a pair of 980 pro 1 TB in a software raid 0 and a pair of 2 TB in a software raid 0. I've disabled the cache on all 4 of them in order to minimize corruption in case of an unclean shutdown and iirc they run at about 500 MB/s, which is way below the 7000 MB/s they're supposed to run at. I bought them in December 2021 from Amazon, where Amazon was the seller.
- wtallis 4y agoHave you tried to measure their performance as specified, rather than deliberately crippled? It doesn't sound like you have any reason to suspect you have counterfeit drives when you already have a simpler explanation.
- shaunsingh0207 4y agoWhats the point of getting a 980 pro if you're going to disable the cache? Don't disable cache, prevent unclean shutdowns
- andromaton 4y agoWhy doesn't hardware cryptographically attests manufacturer authenticity? Analog Devices had an article about it from 2014 I just posted https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35225102 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35225102
- wtallis 4y agoPCI vendor IDs are quite a bit older than 2014. Likewise for the USB ecosystem. It would not be easy to retrofit cryptographic signing into these systems without breaking a lot of vital functionality or making the security a toothless opt-in system. Verifying the authenticity of every component of the system is only viable when it's a relatively closed system: embedded devices, smartphones, etc. Narrowly-focused authentication systems like HDCP have had some success, but doing that for every peripheral and replaceable component in a PC would be a monumental project.
- andromaton 4y agoPerhaps it's not easy or fast, but it's unavoidable.
- wtallis 4y agoThe PC industry seems to be getting along just find avoiding your "solution".
- andromaton 4y agoNot sure why the scare quotes. Counterfits are a reliability and security risk.
- wtallis 4y agoYou seem to think the industry needs a perfectly effective counter to those risks, no matter the cost. You don't seem at all willing to consider that your proposed solution may be impractical or more of a problem than what you're seeking to solve. You're also refusing to accept the long-standing status quo as evidence that the problem is actually fairly manageable without the solution you claim is unavoidable. So overall, it's pretty clear your original question of why the industry isn't working toward that kind of solution was not an honest question you wanted answered, but merely a rhetorical opening for you to preach your cause.
- leonidasv 4y agoI've bought a 1TB 980 Pro from Aliexpress that's scheduled to be delivered this week. Paid about $110, the same price from reputable stores such as BestBuy (but choose to buy it from Ali since it was way cheaper than local stores - I'm not located in North America). Thanks for posting this. Now I will double check the components below the sticker once my unit arrives - and will file a complaint if the drive turns out to be fake.
- zamadatix 4y agoAnother option is to leave it be and run a speed test to see if it performs as expected. This may result in less runaround if you have a real drive but need to RMA.
- leonidasv 4y agoTurns out the drive is original and perform as expected. The components match original specifications and the board is clearly different from the fake news and identical to original ones. The performance speed hits the expected 6,500~7,000 MB/s for read. Samsung Magic also labels the drive as "Genuine".