What's wrong with the Crucial M4 010G Firmware and why hasn't it been fixed ?

[tweakboy]

About a week or two ago Crucial released a new firmware update for the Crucial M4 SSDs, the firmware update is 010G. Last week I updated my M4 towards that firmware as I was still running the old firmware that could crash at 5000 used hours of the SSD ( a known and fixed problem). If it ain't broke, then don't try to fix it, however with that 4000 or 5000 something used hours bug in mind I figured, it is time to update the firmware. With a backup in place I re-flashed the SSD, all data was still there which made it a lovely silent upgrade. But ...
Once I posted about the firmware there was word in our forums that some Guru3D users had the problem that after a reboot or a certian while the SSD was missing from the system and BIOS.
Hunting down the issue I learned that it actually is a massive problem. The Crucial forums are invested with users complaining about this. The root of the issue is that the new firmware has a problem with UEFI based BIOSes (the new flashy GUI based BIOSes). If you have a motherboard with UEFI in combo with the 010G Firmware chances are pretty good that at random after a reboot your SSD is missing -- non detectable in the BIOS. So the secondary scenario would be at power loss or a system crash, this could drop the SSD from your system and it will not be recognized in the BIOS anymore.
Today after running this firmware upgrade for over a week it was my turn, I had a system crash and after a hardware reset, the SSD was gone rogue, missing while not detectable in the BIOS.
There are steps you try to recover the SSD. Windows desktop users follow these steps.

1. Connect the SSD towards power only. Once you have the drive connected and sitting idle, simply power on the computer and wait for 20 minutes. We recommend that you don't use the computer during this process.
2. Power the computer down and disconnect the drive for 30 seconds.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 one more time.
4. Reconnect the drive normally, and boot the computer to your operating system.

This method so far has worked for some and not for others, me personally still trying to revive the SSD. If you are able to revive the SSD and thus are using a EUFI BIOS based motherboard, then drop down towards firmware 000F which I made available at that link.

 

[DarkRogue]

Sorry to hear about your SSD dropping, but this is exactly why I advised against 010G in the other thread. Staying with 0309 or 000F is the safest route for now.

 

[dmoney1980]

link to the original article posted above: http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/wh...10g_firmware_and_why_hasnt_it_been_fixed.html

I'm staying on 000F...if it ain't broke dont fix it

 

[Coup27]

link to the original article posted above: http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/wh...10g_firmware_and_why_hasnt_it_been_fixed.html

I'm staying on 000F...if it ain't broke dont fix it

lol. I actually thought tweakboy had constructed one of his own threads from personal experience for a change but it's actually a complete copy and paste from another site without even a link to the original source or even a follow up comment from himself.

 

[corkyg]

I do remember well, Dark Rogue's warning about that firmware.

I recall a Tom Lehrer song that fits. It was called "Lobachevsky," and here is the applicable verse:

"Plagiarize,
Let no one else's work evade your eyes,
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes,
So don't shade your eyes,
But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize -
Only be sure always to call it please 'research'."

 

[dmoney1980]

nothing wrong with pasting content from an article if it's useful information, but I do think that it should be in a quote format, or at least include the original link.

It's ok TweakBoy, no harm

 

[mv2devnull]

lol. I actually thought tweakboy had constructed one of his own threads from personal experience ..

Last week this looked more original, at least written in the usual tweakboy style. Amazingly, it did predate this, which DarkRogue probably did refer to, or was there something earlier?

 

[tweakboy]

link to the original article posted above: http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/wh...10g_firmware_and_why_hasnt_it_been_fixed.html

I'm staying on 000F...if it ain't broke dont fix it

Its not my SSD. its the guys who did the review

 

[tweakboy]

That was it, no more information or link from where I got it. That is all of it

and the OOOF link

 

[dmoney1980]

Its not my SSD. its the guys who did the review

Tweakboy - if you create a new topic on this forum that's been copy/pasted from another site or forum, I kindly suggest that you make a note of it in your post (something like "interesting issue I found other users having" or "interesting article about..."). That way, we don't interpret it as an issue you are having.

The members on this forum are very helpful, and if you post an article like this one people will respond to you with follow up questions and tips. You created a topic in the VGA section about DHL smashing your brand new GPU which was actually from another site, which ended up creating some confusion when readers asked you which card it was...

 

[DarkRogue]

Last week this looked more original, at least written in the usual tweakboy style. Amazingly, it did predate this, which DarkRogue probably did refer to, or was there something earlier?

Yes, that was the thread I was referring to.

It's also like a puzzle now, trying to figure out what tweakboy is actually trying to say, or if he's trying to prove a point, or trying to pass some information along.

The OP did strike me as oddly well written, but I didn't want to bring that up without looking into it. My next thought was perhaps he was trying to pass along an event that occurred.

It appears now that is not the case, so I thought he was trying to ask a question, but with that link, it seems he just straight up copy/pasted an article.

What is going on?

Nevertheless, I would advise everyone to avoid 010G on Crucial M4's until they resolve this issue. As always, make sure you have a backup plan in case any firmware update becomes disastrous, and never update unless the changelog fixes something you are experiencing.

 

[tweakboy]

Tweakboy - if you create a new topic on this forum that's been copy/pasted from another site or forum, I kindly suggest that you make a note of it in your post (something like "interesting issue I found other users having" or "interesting article about..."). That way, we don't interpret it as an issue you are having.

The members on this forum are very helpful, and if you post an article like this one people will respond to you with follow up questions and tips. You created a topic in the VGA section about DHL smashing your brand new GPU which was actually from another site, which ended up creating some confusion when readers asked you which card it was...

Roger that. My bad.. . I was in a hurry.. thx

 

[gpse]

I have a UEFI based board and running O10G without issue, however I may be lucky and am not advising people to upgrade since there are reports.
Intel DZ77BH-55K mobo
64GB Crucial M4 ssd

 

[NatePo717]

I am wondering if this is a problem with 000F firmware too. I've run quite a few of these updates to 000F (a few hundred now) and seemingly random drives will not be recognized on system start up. I have to set bios to hot swap SATA ports and plug them in while in the OS to have them be discovered which might take a few times before it is recognized. This has happened on maybe 20 out of a good 400 drives. They seemed to be good after that but we're getting reports in now of them doing this again at some of our sites.