|
|
|
#3589563 - 06/10/12 05:10 PM
Warning To Crucial SSD Users
|
Member
Registered: 06/18/07
Posts: 2335
Loc: Shropshire UK
|
One popular and highly recommended SSD is the M4 range and I was reading up about them but found this nugget !! (For anyone who isn't already aware) If you have any capacity Crucial M4 drive running firmware version 0009 or earlier you MUST update it to a later firmware state otherwise it will stop working after about 5100 powered-on hours (about 8 months at 24/7). Contrary to their comment below, it would appear (from a sample size of one, admittedly) that if you don't apply the firmware update *prior* to 5184 hours then you will NOT be able to do so afterwards, and you will then be the proud owner of a useless SSD. You have been warned! Shame that Crucial couldn't be bothered to warn their customers - I certainly won't be buying their products again. From http://www.crucial.com/uk/help/ssd/index.aspx?source=webRelease Date: 01/13/2012 Changes made in version 0009 (m4 can be updated to revision 0309 directly from either revision 0001, 0002, or 0009) [Version 0309] corrects a condition where an incorrect response to a SMART counter will cause the m4 drive to become unresponsive after 5184 hours of Power-on time. The drive will recover after a power cycle, however, this failure will repeat once per hour after reaching this point. The condition will allow the end user to successfully update firmware, and poses no risk to user or system data stored on the drive. This firmware update is STRONGLY RECOMMENDED for drives in the field. Although the failure mode due to the SMART Power On Hours counter poses no risk to saved user data, the failure mode can become repetitive, and pose a nuisance to the end user. If the end user has not yet observed this failure mode, this update is required to prevent it from happening. If you are using a SAS Expander please do not download this Firmware. As soon as we have a Firmware Update that will work in these applications we will release it. Included in the 0309 Firmware are the changes made in previous revisions. I purchased this drive in mid-2011.
It failed after around 5800 powered-on hours (POH). Turns out that this is a well-documented bug in the design - see Crucial's website for details.
Crucial's response - do the firmware upgrade and the problem will be fixed. Except that's not the case - once the drive has 'died' in the way documented you cannot successfully upgrade the firmware.
I have returned mine to the ever-helpful eBuyer for replacement - I'll be checking the firmware release carefully!
Whay I found disappointing was Crucial's approach (knowing that they have a 100% failure timebomb in the pipeline) - do nothing and hope that customers put the blame elsewhere. Not impressed!
_________________________
IL2, FSX, ROF, SOW, Cliffs of Dover...
Vista Ultimate 64bit. Core2Quad9550 @ 3GHz, Nvidia 560Ti 1GB @ 1920x1080P, 4GB RAM, Creative SB X-FI
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3589696 - 06/10/12 11:14 PM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Military Advisor - USAF
Member
Registered: 07/31/06
Posts: 916
Loc: Barksdale AFB, La
|
Thx for the info,I just bought one and was planning on updating it anyway. I read somewhere else that said to make sure you get the latest version.
Edited by Cali (06/13/12 09:46 AM)
_________________________
i5-2500k @ 3.3, Asus P8Z77-V LE mobo Windows 7 64-bit, 8GB 1866mhz
EVGA GTX 670 FTW 2GB, 8800GT 512MB, 256GB SSD, 500GB WD, CH Franken-Potato (Stick, Throttle and Pedals)
TM Cougar MFD's, TrackIR 5, G15 keyboard
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3589859 - 06/11/12 09:44 AM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Skate Zilla HD Studios
Veteran
Registered: 11/24/04
Posts: 12006
Loc: Virginia Beach, VA
|
i know someone that can update it even after the 5800hr SMART limit
_________________________
Skate Zilla
William B.
HAF922, 700W OCZ, ASRock Fata1ity 990FX Pro,
Corsair H100,AMD FX8350 @ 5.15GHz, 16GB G.SKILL Sniper@DDR2133,
Sapphire DualX HD7950-OC@1.1 GHz Core/6GHz Mem, Creative XFi Fata1ity Platinum Champ.,
ASUS VS248HP 24" LEDx3, 5760x1080(6048x), Turtle Beach Earforce, RCA 5.1 Surround
CH Fighterstick, Pro Throttle, Pro Pedals, Saitek EclipseII
IntensityPro 10-Bit, Kinect For Windows, TrackIR 4 Pro
WD 1.5TB Black SATA3, SG 1TB SATA2, 2x SG 500GB SATA2, 1x SG Ext. 1TB USB3
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3590451 - 06/12/12 08:21 AM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Member
Registered: 04/07/03
Posts: 568
Loc: Colorado
|
Thanks a lot for the heads-up NineLives. I would have never known and been quite peeved when it happened to me. I used to think Crucial was a notch above the rest. Foolish thinking. Every company I've done business with for the last 20 years insists you should register their products in order to get important updates and I have never once in my life got an important update, all I get is spam. Crucial's download page says you update your firmware at your own risk. I guess they'll have to pay an operator to take my phone call.
_________________________
"There is nothing wrong with being lazy. The old saying 'The early bird gets the worm', just goes to show you the worm should have stayed in bed. So, when I volunteered for WW II, I signed up to be a fighter pilot because it was a sittin' down job." -- Robert Heinlein
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3590516 - 06/12/12 10:09 AM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Skate Zilla HD Studios
Veteran
Registered: 11/24/04
Posts: 12006
Loc: Virginia Beach, VA
|
wonder what the return policy and data recovery policy is for the people that arent/werent able to update their FW in time.
_________________________
Skate Zilla
William B.
HAF922, 700W OCZ, ASRock Fata1ity 990FX Pro,
Corsair H100,AMD FX8350 @ 5.15GHz, 16GB G.SKILL Sniper@DDR2133,
Sapphire DualX HD7950-OC@1.1 GHz Core/6GHz Mem, Creative XFi Fata1ity Platinum Champ.,
ASUS VS248HP 24" LEDx3, 5760x1080(6048x), Turtle Beach Earforce, RCA 5.1 Surround
CH Fighterstick, Pro Throttle, Pro Pedals, Saitek EclipseII
IntensityPro 10-Bit, Kinect For Windows, TrackIR 4 Pro
WD 1.5TB Black SATA3, SG 1TB SATA2, 2x SG 500GB SATA2, 1x SG Ext. 1TB USB3
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3591048 - 06/13/12 08:08 AM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Member
Registered: 04/07/03
Posts: 568
Loc: Colorado
|
wonder what the return policy and data recovery policy is for the people that arent/werent able to update their FW in time. That's a good question. You would think if their policy was to replace those drives then they would have more diligent with a notification. I found out the "update at your own risk" warning is only for people who downgrade their firmware which causes failures. No problem with upgrades.
_________________________
"There is nothing wrong with being lazy. The old saying 'The early bird gets the worm', just goes to show you the worm should have stayed in bed. So, when I volunteered for WW II, I signed up to be a fighter pilot because it was a sittin' down job." -- Robert Heinlein
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3592537 - 06/15/12 10:16 PM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Lifer
Registered: 09/29/00
Posts: 21670
|
Just updated my two M4s. Seemed painless. Maybe I got lucky.  Run the exe as administrator, it reboots, you get a bunch of 1985 vintage DOS text displays rolling past, it reboots clean into W7 and done. Another big thanks to NineLives for the news tip!
_________________________
"That's at least a third canine dog barking"
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3593301 - 06/17/12 02:20 PM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Member
Registered: 06/18/07
Posts: 2335
Loc: Shropshire UK
|
Glad people found it useful
_________________________
IL2, FSX, ROF, SOW, Cliffs of Dover...
Vista Ultimate 64bit. Core2Quad9550 @ 3GHz, Nvidia 560Ti 1GB @ 1920x1080P, 4GB RAM, Creative SB X-FI
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3593335 - 06/17/12 03:35 PM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Hotshot
Registered: 06/23/05
Posts: 7416
Loc: Philippines / North East UK
|
Thanks for bringing this up! I got a Crucial M4 as well and the update was rather straightforward. Glad to know I'm good now.
_________________________
- Ice
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3593537 - 06/18/12 02:35 AM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Military Advisor - USAF
Member
Registered: 07/31/06
Posts: 916
Loc: Barksdale AFB, La
|
Mine's updated also, very easy.
_________________________
i5-2500k @ 3.3, Asus P8Z77-V LE mobo Windows 7 64-bit, 8GB 1866mhz
EVGA GTX 670 FTW 2GB, 8800GT 512MB, 256GB SSD, 500GB WD, CH Franken-Potato (Stick, Throttle and Pedals)
TM Cougar MFD's, TrackIR 5, G15 keyboard
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3594049 - 06/19/12 04:47 AM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Member
Registered: 06/28/08
Posts: 1337
Loc: The very north of Germany
|
*'%&#+,
mine got busted I think. Tries the Win version, stops with a black screen with a blinking cursor before the update. Tried the bootable CD, updated, disk still doesn`t boot, see above.
Installed Win7 on the HDD, I can still access the SSD. Tried system restore, says soemthing like the image isnīt compatible `cause the machine is BIOS and the image EFI. Installed 7 on the SSD, still doesn`t boot, however I got two Win7 in the start options, both work.
So it seems the SSD is still working, it wont run as boot drive though. Any ideas?
_________________________
i7 2600k @ 4,5 GHz
Asus GTX570
Asus P8P67
8 GB RAM
SB Audigy Gamer
128 GB Crucial M4 SSD
Samsung F3 1 TB
BeQuiet E8-700 W
Thermalright Archon
Samsung SyncMaster BX2450 LED
W7 64 Pro
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3594341 - 06/19/12 03:54 PM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Member
Registered: 06/18/07
Posts: 2335
Loc: Shropshire UK
|
Take out other drives leaving only the SSD, install Windows then check the SSD is first boot device in BIOS. What does that do?
_________________________
IL2, FSX, ROF, SOW, Cliffs of Dover...
Vista Ultimate 64bit. Core2Quad9550 @ 3GHz, Nvidia 560Ti 1GB @ 1920x1080P, 4GB RAM, Creative SB X-FI
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3594342 - 06/19/12 03:55 PM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Member
Registered: 06/28/08
Posts: 1337
Loc: The very north of Germany
|
Oki,
after some hours googling, it seems I found the solution.
When Iinstalled 7 on the SSD yesterday, I obviously booted into BIOS mode and installed 7, because of this my system image (which was installed with EFI)wasn`t compatible. So I had to boot with the setup-diskinto BIOS again, delete the both partitions with 7, boot with the setup-disk winto EFI-mode, make new partitions, install 7 again. Then finally the repair option recognized my system image as compatible.
Now restore is slowly crawling along, wish me luck....
_________________________
i7 2600k @ 4,5 GHz
Asus GTX570
Asus P8P67
8 GB RAM
SB Audigy Gamer
128 GB Crucial M4 SSD
Samsung F3 1 TB
BeQuiet E8-700 W
Thermalright Archon
Samsung SyncMaster BX2450 LED
W7 64 Pro
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3594404 - 06/19/12 05:55 PM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Hotshot
Registered: 06/23/05
Posts: 7416
Loc: Philippines / North East UK
|
Good luck!
_________________________
- Ice
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3594555 - 06/20/12 02:20 AM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Member
Registered: 06/28/08
Posts: 1337
Loc: The very north of Germany
|
THX,
it helped, system is up and running again. Took the whole night though.
_________________________
i7 2600k @ 4,5 GHz
Asus GTX570
Asus P8P67
8 GB RAM
SB Audigy Gamer
128 GB Crucial M4 SSD
Samsung F3 1 TB
BeQuiet E8-700 W
Thermalright Archon
Samsung SyncMaster BX2450 LED
W7 64 Pro
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3595081 - 06/21/12 01:22 AM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Military Advisor - USAF
Member
Registered: 07/31/06
Posts: 916
Loc: Barksdale AFB, La
|
Glad you got it working!
_________________________
i5-2500k @ 3.3, Asus P8Z77-V LE mobo Windows 7 64-bit, 8GB 1866mhz
EVGA GTX 670 FTW 2GB, 8800GT 512MB, 256GB SSD, 500GB WD, CH Franken-Potato (Stick, Throttle and Pedals)
TM Cougar MFD's, TrackIR 5, G15 keyboard
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
#3595353 - 06/21/12 02:28 PM
Re: Warning To Crucial SSD Users
[Re: NineLives]
|
Hotshot
Registered: 01/08/02
Posts: 6538
Loc: England
|
Thanks for that NL. I only came in here to try and get my pedals working but now I've updated my SSD firmware and averted possible disaster 
_________________________
WAS C2D 8500 3.16ghz, 285gtx 1gb, 4gig ram, XP NOW Win7 64, I5 2500K, SSD, 8Gig ram, GTX 570
|
|
Top
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Previous Topic
Index