samsung nvme 980 extremely slow (writes) after fw update 2B4QFXO7

[astrakan]

Hi there

I need help to flash back previous firmware of my SSD nvme 980 1To, or to get it working.
Samsung Magician notified me that a new firmware was available and I made the mistake to release the updade. I'm now with a write speed of 4MB/s. Before the update it was working fine at 2700MB/s ...
My PC is now hanging like crazy.
I don't know if it's possible do flash back the previous fw version and I don't remember its number.

Any help ? Thanks in advance

 

[eidairaman1]

I dont think magician allows firmware downgrades or finding them in the wild, you will need to contact Samsung for help on that

 

[astrakan]

No option in magician to get back. And I'm unable to locate a samsung support for ssd...

 

[eidairaman1]

What country?

 

[astrakan]

I bought it in France, I'm french but I live in Brazil ... which turn the situation worse ...
Thank you

 

[eidairaman1]

I bought it in France, I'm french but I live in Brazil ... which turn the situation worse ...
Thank you

You would contact brazil support

 

[astrakan]

Thank you.
But I have some news and I put them here in case someone will face the same shitty situation:
- A tried a couple of reboot and it took a while, probably due to some writes on ssd until restart. After that, same problem : 4MB/s writes / 3500MB reads
- Then I thought "let's go to bios" (vivobook pro laptop), so "reboot" ! And this one took a lot more time... A lot ! kind of scary
- I entered bios where I was unable to switch to advanced mode, Fn keys were not responding, and the ssd whas not recognized (no device!)
- I thought "this time, it's all dead". As I wasn't able to quit the bios properly I clicked the power button, wait 10s, and then power on ...
- Back in windows 11 : Samsung SSD 980 expected performance is back !!! (~2750MB/s writes)

Since then I didn't go back to bios to see if I can navigate in it and if the device is recognized. Will do that later, emotions enough for today...

Conclusions for now:
- it's weird; it seems that a ssd fw update on a laptop is messing up something between ssd and bios ?
- if you have no issue with your ssd, DON'T follow the Samsung Magician invitation to update !!

If I found something more I will post here

 

[Shrek]

Could it be that drive wanted to move things around after the update and was busy doing that? just a thought.

 

[astrakan]

Well, false joy ... the problem is back after a few minutes... Loading internet pages started to take more time; I copy a 27MB file and the disk usage was 100% for several seconds with access time like 4000ms

 

[bobbybluz]

RMA it as defective. No use in wasting time fux0ring with it. I wouldn't even mention doing the firmware update when asking for the RMA.

 

[astrakan]

RMA it as defective. No use in wasting time fux0ring with it. I wouldn't even mention doing the firmware update when asking for the RMA.

No way, no international warranty with Samsung. (I bought it in France and live in Brazil...)

 

[eidairaman1]

No way, no international warranty with Samsung. (I bought it in France and live in Brazil...)

Do you Speak Portuguese or French?

https://semiconductor.samsung.com/resources/warranty/SAMSUNG_SSD_Limited_Warranty_Portuguese.pdf

Global site warranty policy

SSD Product Warranty | Support | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Samsung ensures the best quality in all products and services beyond customer expectations. Warranty policy, conditions for Internal and Portable SSD.

semiconductor.samsung.com

 

[astrakan]

Both ! Your pdf is for portugal. Warranty policy from Samsung Brasil is very clear : only products built or sell in Brazil.
Thanks anyway guy !

I ran an SFC / scannow and a DISM / restorehealth just in case of a data corruption : nothing
I just reboot once again and went to bios: i was able to navigate in it and SSD was recognized.
I'm back in windows 11 and for now it's fast. I guess that in a few minutes SSD is going to enter in crazy mode. So weird !
I just hope this f.... update didn't f...up my almost brand new laptop ....

 

[dnm_TX]

@astrakan try to reflash the same firmware but this time through DOS with bootable flash drive.
Would advise you to completely remove/uninstall Samsung Magician prior doing it.
Use some good program like Revo Uninstaller for that,make sure there is nothing left.
Here are the instructions on HOW TO:

https://semiconductor.samsung.com/resources/user-manual/Firmware_Update_Utility_UserManual.pdf

And this is for the firmware:

https://semiconductor.samsung.com/resources/software-resources/Samsung_SSD_980_2B4QFXO7.iso

As allways: GOOD LUCK

 

[astrakan]

Thanks for that @dnm_TX. I will give a try when the issue will appear again. Strange, but for now, still working OK...
Note that when last time I entered Bios and everything in it was fine, I selected "Save and Quit". Who knows something occured...
I'll let you know soon how the it's going.
Thanks everybody

 

[eidairaman1]

Contact Samsung Directly

 

[astrakan]

Contact Samsung Directly

Done! Ticket opened. Let's see what they'll say.
But I'm worried about the first time I entered the bios (Fn key not responding, ssd not detected). Can this be an effect of a crazy SSD or the fw update messed up the laptop hardware ?
That said, since yesterday night reboot (bios was ok this time), my laptop is running fine

 

[astrakan]

Here is the samsung support answer, with nothing interesting in it :

Thank you for contacting Samsung memory Support and for your inquiry.
We are sorry to learn that you are having issues with your SSD.
Please note that it is not possible to roll back the firmware.

Please attempt the following:

- Optimize the performance of your SSD with Samsung magician.

This software can be downloaded via the same link provided above.

Do note, however, that the software only works with drives that are directly connected to the motherboard.

- Please update the motherboard/BIOS/driver to the latest version and check if the mainboard and BIOS/driver can support NVMe.

- Please verify and ensure that your computer supports PCIe 3.0 and x4 lane.

- Please check the system's temperature during performance measurement because of Samsung NVMe SSD's dynamic thermal guard feature.

- We found that some mainboard's M.2 slot supporting performance can not reach the performance of the PCIe slot.
So please mount Samsung NVMe SSD at the PCIe slot.

- If you measure SSD's performance using Magician software with that condition, Magician's performance can be lower than the initial state temporarily.
So please measure performance in the same condition because different conditions can cause different performance.

- Make sure that Write Cache buffer is enabled

- Disable CPU Power management (C-state) at BIOS. Please contact the system maker about how to disable C-state off in BIOS.
This is because that can be dependent on the BIOS version or mainboard.

- Set OS's power management option as "Performance Mode".

- Please keep in mind that previously installed software and user data can cause different performance.

- Please try a secure erase with Samsung Magician and a fresh installation, no cloning please.



If all else fails, then it will be necessary to return the drive to your reseller for a replacement, as there could be a technical issue with the drive.



We do hope to have adequately informed you.

Should you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact us.

 

[Shrek]

Is it still working fine?

 

[GabrielLP14]

No way, no international warranty with Samsung. (I bought it in France and live in Brazil...)

I feel you're pain as well, i'm also from Brazil, they don't provide support for these specific types of products because Samsung SSDs aren't sold in Brazil "Officially"

 

[astrakan]

Is it still working fine?

Yes. I noticed that windows did an Optimize (TRIM) on day 27th at 00:20. Maybe it has something to do.
But yesterday in the morning my ssd went crazy for about 30 seconds when starting a video call with skype. So maybe the problem is still there.
I'll continue my report here ...

 

[Shrek]

SMART status?

 

[astrakan]

No errors from SMART report. It was all green too when the ssd was running slow.

 

[astrakan]

One more samsung support answer after I insist to know what could have happened:
"Till now we do not have such negative feedback yet, no.
We know that Windows 11 had some issues in general with NVMe SSDs and the performance.
Can you check the SSD in Magician? Like the performance Benchmark, SMART values and a Diagnostic Scan. "

Everything is green / ok in Magician. However, magician cannot recognize the nvme driver in use neither the interface (it shows PCIe Gen 0 x 0). But it was like that before the fw update and I saw in forums that it seems to be a common issue.
For now, my PC continues to run flawlessly

 

[Shrek]

Could it have been the new firmware had some house-hold chores to catch up on? like checking each and every sector, or re-trimming?