BEWARE of new Samsung 850 PRO Firmware!

[soewhaty]

I did not experience any dropoff in performance - which I have confirmed now though testing. This is true for both drives - which perform as they did before the flash.

OK, thanks man! just to make sure I did not misunderstand you - did you have to do a reinstall of the OS or anything like that? Did your ssd die after the fw update or not? Mine did not die after the update, it just became slower .. so that is what I was asking you. To compare with you and with the speeds you got. Did you successfully update the FW and now get same speeds and IOPS or did the fw update mess you up and you had to reinstall the OS and then now, only after a reinstall of the OS, you get the normal speeds of the 850 pro?

 

[TourGuide]

OK, thanks man! just to make sure I did not misunderstand you - did you have to do a reinstall of the OS or anything like that? Did your ssd die after the fw update or not? Mine did not die after the update, it just became slower .. so that is what I was asking you. To compare with you and with the speeds you got. Did you successfully update the FW and now get same speeds and IOPS or did the fw update mess you up and you had to reinstall the OS and then now, only after a reinstall of the OS, you get the normal speeds of the 850 pro?

No reinstall of the OS was necessary for either drive (both of which hold the OS for boot) and both drives are continuing to perform as expected after the FW update. Speed was maintained after the successful flash on both drives.

 

[Capt.Gil]

When I first got the Samsung 850 a few days ago and Updated Firmware to EXM02B6Q the SSD had 2 mostly empty partitions so I didn’t experience data loss like a lot of folks have.

As I mentioned before, I only got a tiny improvement in speed on that drive on Intel SATA2 ports so the numbers seem low but pretty good for an old system … Here are the numbers – pretty close to max for SATA2:

î Sequential Read (MB/s): 285î Sequential Write (MB/s): 274
î Random Read (IOPS): 52723î Random Write (IOPS): 49711


Well I finally got Windows 7 installed on my 850PRO … Absolutely no problems with the drive and the Performance Benchmarks look good - damn good on Intel SATA3 ports:


î Sequential Read (MB/s): 563î Sequential Write (MB/s): 533
î Random Read (IOPS): 96601î Random Write (IOPS): 88894

@soewhaty

I was thinking, what if one of your Storage drivers got corrupted with the Update … Some folks seem to have so many damaged files their system won’t run … Some have no damage while you may have just a few damaged files.

Most likely you have an Intel board so just run the Intel AHCI / RAID installation files which should include the Intel Rapid Storage Technology drivers

If the Installation Setup gives you the option to Uninstall or Repair files – click on Repair Files and keep going.

And maybe re-install the Chipset drivers again – It can’t hurt and takes only a few minutes.

No need to uninstall anything.

 

[soewhaty]

@TourGuide - thanks man! Happy to hear your drive runs as fast as it should without the need of reinstall.

@Capt.Gil - that is a precious tip! One to keep! Will try it soon and report back on the results! THANKS A LOT!

 

[Pwndenburg]

Just as confirmation, I was one of the lucky ones as well. I don't have encryption on the disk and it is a non-os drive for informational purposes.

 

[soewhaty]

@Pwndenburg - Thanks! I too am of the lucky ones who survived the whole mess, but my ssd was the OS partition. Didn't have encryption either. Are your speeds and iops lower now with the new fw than they were with the old fw?

 

[soewhaty]

@Capt.Gil - that was indeed a precious tip. I did reinstall the Chipset drivers without any difference though. But then went on to install

1st the sp54478 Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver
and then the sp55101 Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver [I got an HP notebook laptop]

after installing the above 2 drivers I went from 300/500 MB and 55k/55k to 350/520 MB and 92k/82k, which is more like it. Still the 350 MB, which is for the SEQUENTIAL READ is supposed to go up to 500ish, not 300ish ... So that's it for now. Some functionality restored. You really nailed it there, mate! Just don't know why Samsung SUCK so bad!

 

[tb77]

You can try my tool, unrar it and put the ssdfill.exe in a folder on your SSD, execute it. It will write a large file called fill.dat until it runs out of space, then it shows the MB/s and deletes the file. This triggers a large TRIM and garbage collect operation and should restore max. SSD performance and reclaim lost space.

HTTP://www.tommti-systems.de/temp/ssdfill.rar

 

[soewhaty]

Well, I am not too sure I wanna try this file so readily. Has anyone else tried it? Does it work? Can't just download a random .exe from the internet and execute it when one does not know the source of that file. Providing someone guarantees that the file is alright, then I might give it a try. Otherwise .. no thanks..

 

[soewhaty]

A FW update for a drive ... especially a system drive, being used and active in the time of update should take place thru DOS in preboot environment, because the OS itself is running on the SSD at the time being, in case one decides to do the fw update from the desktop utility Magician. HOW STUPID DO YOU HAVE TO BE, IN SAMSUNGS CASE, to allow a FW update of the CURRENTLY-USED, ACTIVE, SYSTEM DRIVE TO TAKE PLACE WHILE IN WINDOWS .... IT MUST TAKE PLACE OUT OF WINDOWS, COS THE C;\ IS BEING USED IF WINDOWS IS ON. MAKES NO SENSE THAT MAGICIAN SHOULD ALLOW FOR THE FW TO BE INSTALLED WHILE IN WINDOWS. IT SHOULD ONLY BE DOABLE USING THE ISO IMAGE FILE ... THAT'S WHAT SIMPLE LOGICS LEADS TO. THAT IS ALSO WHY IN THE DEV. MANAGER IN WINDOWS YOU CANNOT DO EXTEND [CAN ONLY SHRINK] THE C:\ PARTITION ... COS IT IS BEING USED, FOR CRAP'S SAKE, SAMSUNG! LOADS OF OTHER EXAMPLES ... CHECKDISK, PARAGON DEFRAGMENTING AND PARTITIONING ... LOADS OF TASKS THAT HAVE TO HAPPEN OUTSIDE THE OS ENVIRONMENT ... FW UPDATE SEEMS TO BE NO EXCEPTION OF THOSE TASKS.

 

[tb77]

I can't guarantee, you have to trust my word - I registered the domain tommti-systems.de to my real name, just send the exe to some virus scanners to get some proof and there is no need to execute it as admin!

 

[tb77]

@soewhaty

You are wrong. It's totally fine to upgrade firmware in a live environment. Those upgrade procedures work like a transactional commit, so the new firmware won't be activated before the next power cycle - that's why you have to reboot or perform a manual power cycle!

 

[soewhaty]

Why did this crap happen to so many ppl then? If that is not the culprit, then it is the version of Magician ... 4.5. I'd wait till somebody actually tries out the ssdfill file ... no offence but i wanna stay on the safe side. Have had enough trouble with all the junk out there in the IT world. Dont take it personal!

 

[tb77]

I don't know. I killed one 850 pro 1TB and I upgraded the firmware via the boot iso file

 

[tb77]

No offense taken!

 

[hhhd1]

@soewhaty

You can extend/shrink the C drive while running windows from it, I have done it many times, you just need extra free space AFTER the C partition to be able to extend.

 

[Capt.Gil]

after installing the above 2 drivers I went from 300/500 MB and 55k/55k to 350/520 MB and 92k/82k, which is more like it. Still the 350 MB, which is for the SEQUENTIAL READ is supposed to go up to 500ish, not 300ish ... So that's it for now. Some functionality restored. You really nailed it there, mate! Just don't know why Samsung SUCK so bad!

Thank you so much for the feedback … Excellent news … I’m glad to see you had some improvement.

That leads me to think there are probably other files like System files that are damaged too.

Most folks forget or don’t know that Windows comes installed with a database of critical system files … If you run the System File Checker tool, Windows will check for corrupt or damaged system files and automatically replace them with a good copy.

It’s very, very easy to use and may help as well – again it can’t hurt.

Basically, open a Command Window (Run as Administrator) and type: “sfc /scannow” and hit ENTER … (without the quotes and don’t forget the space between sfc and /) … Go for coffee and check the log when you come back … probably about 20 minutes or so.

The log is found here … C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log

It’ll be long and detailed so it’s best to scroll to the bottom to see what happened.

I would say that at some point when you have the time, a fresh install will fix your system once and for all.

 

[soewhaty]

@hhhd1 - yes exactly ... located right after the c partition, you said it yourself, but if it is not after the c partition, then you cannot do it live in Windows.

@Capt.Gil - thanks for the tip again. Ran the checker. It said

'Beginning verification phase of system scan.
Verification 100% complete.

Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations.'

When done, I rechecked magicians tests .. still seq.read at 300 mb, sadly. I think your guess is right. Do a fresh OS install at some point. Prolly gonna wait till June when Win10 is out. Isn't it June it is coming out?

 

[Capt.Gil]

@sowhatey …

Yes, according to Neowin:

“… an RTM (release to manufacturing) build of Windows 10 should be rolling out in June … General release can’t be far behind”

I’ve also heard it’s supposed to be FREE for Windows 7 and 8 users for the first year!

Here’s something to look forward to – I’ve been running Windows 7 on my 850 pro now for 2 days with the new Firmware and it’s fast, stable and working great.

… so hang in there ‘till June J

 

[soewhaty]

Absolutely! Win7 is a great and stable release of Windows. Windows 8 and 8.1 are even faster somehow, but not as stable as 7. Just a tad too many issues with 8 and 8.1 in my eyes. The fact that 10 is going to offer itself as a free build-up of 7, means that it hopefully is going to be as stable as 7 and hopefully as fast, if not even faster, than the 8's. Somehow they have this funny pattern I once read about, which is basically a good release followed by a bad one, and then again a good one and then a bad one. Take XP for example - rock solid. Vista sucked big time. 7 - rock solid. 8 and 8.1 - wouldn't say rock solid. Have some issues, those releases of Windows. And then finally .. the long awaited 10, supposedly rock solid as well and even better than 7.

 

[mikiep]

Prolly gonna wait till June when Win10 is out. Isn't it June it is coming out?

They were trying to squash that rumor. Some MS guy said - Its expected before Halloween, same as in the past.

 

[soewhaty]

alright ... let them take as long as they need so long as they give us a stable and bettered release of Windows, which sadly does not happen with every new release of Windows

 

[wiak]

Like others, I ran Samsung Magician firmware update and poof...like magic...my SSD OS and data disappeared. Wondered why they called it Magician until that moment. Tech support: We will just RMA it....no sorry for the trouble we caused...we will erase all data before we look at the drive. Yeah, right.
Problem: SSD no longer recognized by bios or Samsung firmware tools...drive not found. My bios recognized something there but not functional and would not allow me to boot to OS even when bad SSD attached to working system.
Fix: So happened I had an identical 1tb SSD and an identical computer system. Using Samsungs dos boot firmware update utility I booted to the cd (please make note to change parameters in bios to boot compatible cd drive. I let the dos program run (now able to identify the uncorrupted ssd) up to the point where it asked me if I wanted to flash the drive by typing "y". I hot swapped the good ssd for the corrupted one and hit y all the way to reboot....getting a mismatch error. After a couple of short prayers I took the drive out and put it back in the original computer and shazaam...my OS is back completely intact.
Notes: After successful restoration I noted Magician was sluggish to recognize the drive but today the program recognized it quickly. Guessing the change in the firmware not recognized until online update now change to recognize both versions as current (as my other drive with previous firmware also recognizes original firmware as current) I cancelled my RMA request with Mr. David Mourão at Total Tech Solutions, Inc who later asked for more details as to how I recovered.
Hope this helps....if you know where to get an identical drive your in business (don't think identical computer necessary...but must be able to hot swap drives...may have to enable hot swap capability in bios first). Other thoughts drives may have to be partitioned identically for this to work....but not sure if this will make a difference

if there is any awesome programmers in the house that can modify the samsung dos update utility to skip the drive check and force a update on SATA Port 1 or something would be useful

on a bright note, only a month left til http://www.worldbackupday.com/

 

[soewhaty]

Good news for some folks out there. As mentioned, I am from those who somehow survived the madness caused by Samsung's stupidity. The only damage to my 850 pro was that according to Magician the speeds and iops were somewhat halved. 300/500mb and 55k/55k iops. So once with the new fw there was no turning back to the old fw. After reading some tips in the forums I reinstalled the storage drivers and the intel rap. storage tech. stuff and an good improvement was measured in Magician which lead me to think that some files were damaged by the wrong fw update procedure. Just for the record I did my fw update thru the desktop utility in Magician, not thru the dos boot iso. So I had a spare partition on the ssd on which I just installed Windows 7 and guess what .. speeds and IOPS there are back to normal as they are supposed to be - 560/530 and 92k/82k iops. What can I say. For those of you who lost stuff ... just sue them!!!

 

[soewhaty]

Thank you so much for the feedback … Excellent news … I’m glad to see you had some improvement.

That leads me to think there are probably other files like System files that are damaged too.

Most folks forget or don’t know that Windows comes installed with a database of critical system files … If you run the System File Checker tool, Windows will check for corrupt or damaged system files and automatically replace them with a good copy.

It’s very, very easy to use and may help as well – again it can’t hurt.

Basically, open a Command Window (Run as Administrator) and type: “sfc /scannow” and hit ENTER … (without the quotes and don’t forget the space between sfc and /) … Go for coffee and check the log when you come back … probably about 20 minutes or so.

The log is found here … C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log

It’ll be long and detailed so it’s best to scroll to the bottom to see what happened.

I would say that at some point when you have the time, a fresh install will fix your system once and for all.

Main credit goes to you mate - Capt.Gil

My above post is a way of saying thanks to you! Good thinking! For a moment I thought I'd lost it. Thank you and darn them Samsung ppl.