Wednesday, October 28 2009
Intel has retracted the recently released 02HA Firmware Update for its X25-M solid state drives, in view of the firmware causing the drive to malfunction on systems with Windows 7. Reports suggest that a bug in the firmware causes the drives to stop working. To investigate the issue further, and possibly release a corrective firmware, Intel retracted the software from its website. This is not the first time such a thing has happened. Soon after its release in July, the X25-M Gen 2 54 nm SSDs were diagnosed with a problematic firmware, to which the company had to release corrective firmware two weeks later.

posted by btarunr - 10:27 AM |  Related News

User comments
by tkpenalty (October 28th - 10:29 AM) - Reply
Doesn't Intel do any beta testing with these firmwares?
by rjkoneill (October 28th - 10:36 AM) - Reply
mine are fine - :)
by Bo$$ (October 28th - 11:34 AM) - Reply
good for you, but seriously these malfunctions with drive firmware happen all too often....
by WarEagleAU (October 28th - 11:54 AM) - Reply
It is new technology. Intel, and I can't believe I am saying this and defending them, are at least the first to always release a firmware. Bugs pop up and happen, such is the way of tech, especially new tech with a new os.
by Imsochobo (October 28th - 1:28 PM) - Reply
New os ?
Beta .. almost 2 years ago now.

Final soon 6 months ago, its not "new" by a long shot, they have had 6 months to test with the beta.
6 months to complete with the final kernel.
In fact, 6 months is what it takes for a new release of ubuntu to ship, every cycle there is 6 months. 2 releases a year.They almost never have bugs.

Intel needs to make better routines for drivers... really, storage is far worse to go bad than graphics( that ALSO have failed alot of times.)
Intel, testing routines, beta stage then FINAL!
by mechtech (October 28th - 1:33 PM) - Reply
cough cough *seagate* cough *intel* cough same thing

lol
by WarEagleAU (October 28th - 1:43 PM) - Reply
yeah maybe you are right, so let's just shit all over them and get mad. Far be it from someone to not be perfect. Seriously man, they will get it fixed.

As an aside, you are right, they should work out kinks sooner rather than later. Sometimes these things just don't pop up until they are "deployed" ::shrugs::
by gumpty (October 28th - 2:02 PM) - Reply
Wicked, deja vu.

Go check out the Crucial forums (and OCZ and whoever else uses Indilux's controllers) - they've been struggling with corrupting firmware (with Win7 & TRIM) for their SSD's for months. Actually over there it is mostly Indilux's fault - their firmware, not Crucials.
by Mussels (October 28th - 2:09 PM) - Reply
with intel, they'd retract if it they had a 1% failure rate with the firmwares.


those other companies, it was probably a lot higher before they ever admitted a problem
by Zubasa (October 28th - 2:11 PM) - Reply
by: WarEagleAU
yeah maybe you are right, so let's just shit all over them and get mad. Far be it from someone to not be perfect. Seriously man, they will get it fixed.

As an aside, you are right, they should work out kinks sooner rather than later. Sometimes these things just don't pop up until they are "deployed" ::shrugs::

Storage failure/mal-function is probably the worst thing you an expect.
This is a serious problem you know, especially with high-end storage like this SSD aimed at high-end users and workstations.

by: Mussels
with intel, they'd retract if it they had a 1% failure rate with the firmwares.


those other companies, it was probably a lot higher before they ever admitted a problem

1% failure rate at this market segment is pretty bad you know.
Firmware basically needs to be fool prove.
by WarEagleAU (October 28th - 3:18 PM) - Reply
yes, it is bad. I was just saying all the crapping on them, at least they pulled it.
I didnt know Crucial, Patriot, etc were having problems. From the mag reviews, they were getting along pretty good. I guess the TRIM part of Win 7 was something they didn't quite understand. I do hope they get it fixed soon as with the prices coming down, I want to snag me an OCZ, Patriot, or Corsair SSD.
by Zubasa (October 28th - 3:30 PM) - Reply
by: WarEagleAU
yes, it is bad. I was just saying all the crapping on them, at least they pulled it.
I didnt know Crucial, Patriot, etc were having problems. From the mag reviews, they were getting along pretty good. I guess the TRIM part of Win 7 was something they didn't quite understand. I do hope they get it fixed soon as with the prices coming down, I want to snag me an OCZ, Patriot, or Corsair SSD.

Isn't some are OEM versions of Samsung SSDs?
I believe its Corsair that sell SSDs from Samsung. :toast:
by gumpty (October 28th - 3:35 PM) - Reply
Crucial, OCZ, Patriot etc's problems come from Indilux, as they are the ones that develop the firmware. A few months back they released firmware that would support TRIM in Win 7. Unfortunately the new firmware would also brick the drive if a Win 7 machine went to sleep. Oops. Luckily only a small number of drives left the factory with the new firmware.

So they pulled that firmware quick, and just a week or two ago released a new firmware after testing in the labs. Problem with the new firmware is that, while it wont brick a drive and does support TRIM, it can quite quickly ruin the sequential write speeds of the drives - down to HDD speeds.
Oh dear. They haven't pulled the new firmware yet and are testing etc. The drama continues.

Good to see that even the 'big boys' are having trouble with SSD firmware, and it's not just the cheap[er] end of the market.
by Mussels (October 28th - 3:37 PM) - Reply
it just makes me glad i'm holding off on these early SSD's
by BazookaJoe (October 28th - 6:36 PM) - Reply
HAHAHahaha.. Crikey...

How many times are they going to do this?
by Bo$$ (October 28th - 9:34 PM) - Reply
by: Mussels
with intel, they'd retract if it they had a 1% failure rate with the firmwares.


those other companies, it was probably a lot higher before they ever admitted a problem
good point actually :rockout:
by lemode (October 28th - 9:47 PM) - Reply
by: Mussels
it just makes me glad i'm holding off on these early SSD's
yeah i too am happy i won't be spending money on them till they are refined further.
by BazookaJoe (October 29th - 7:25 AM) - Reply
by: lemode
yeah i too am happy i won't be spending money on them till they are refined further.
AND, Until they are a LOT cheaper - let's face it ALL manufacturers are still trying to rape away their initial development expenses on we Joe Public.

I am VERY eager to get an SSD as my boot/os drive, and its all about the IOP's for me, but as of yet everything on offer is still just a little too unsafe & overpriced :
by extrasalty (October 29th - 8:33 AM) - Reply
by: lemode
yeah i too am happy i won't be spending money on them till they are refined further.
by: Mussels
it just makes me glad i'm holding off on these early SSD's
I have to say Intel did piss me off again, but there is nothing wrong with the drive. Even without the firmware update, it will wipe the floor with other SSDs. Until Intel switches to new process (smaller than 34nm) they will do their best to keep the prices stable. The more you wait, the more (time) you lose.
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