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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

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 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 ago
Samsung has had a fix for the wear degradation bug since January.
- wlesieutre 4y ago
  I 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 ago
What is this tinfoil hattery about? The article mentions the fake ones having weaker sequential performance, nothing about degradation.
- Retric 4y ago
  Fake 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 ago
You 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 ago
  Does windows update the firmware automatically? I may have a couple of these ssds but never thought to check firmware
  - ls612 4y ago
    No but the Samsung Magician software will automatically tell you to update the firmware and do it for you.
    - bombolo 4y ago
      Ah, for the 6 people in the world who have that?
      - florbo 4y ago
        heh, yeah I installed it just for the update and immediately uninstalled it.
      - favaq 4y ago
        Someone 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 ago
        There'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 ago
    https://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 ago
  Check 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 ago
Data 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 ago
990 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.

daveguy 4y ago

Samsung has had a fix for the wear degradation bug since January.

wlesieutre 4y ago
I 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 ago

What is this tinfoil hattery about? The article mentions the fake ones having weaker sequential performance, nothing about degradation.

Retric 4y ago
Fake 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 ago

You 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 ago
Does windows update the firmware automatically? I may have a couple of these ssds but never thought to check firmware
- ls612 4y ago
  No but the Samsung Magician software will automatically tell you to update the firmware and do it for you.
  - bombolo 4y ago
    Ah, for the 6 people in the world who have that?
    - florbo 4y ago
      heh, yeah I installed it just for the update and immediately uninstalled it.
    - favaq 4y ago
      Someone 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 ago
        There'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 ago
  https://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 ago
Check 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 ago

Data 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 ago

990 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.