BEWARE of new Samsung 850 PRO Firmware!

[Capt.Gil]

- has anyone else experienced the same - can anyone help me try to fix it to be as fast as before - alternatively, how can I revert to the old firmware {I know that on samsungs homepage it says it is impossible, but it has to be possible}

Yea, Samsung Firmware Update process is a flakey mess.

In my case, I'm using an older m/board and I use the Intel SATA2 instead of SATA3 ports so I won't see any wonderful speeds anyway but just for fun I used Magician and the speeds did improve but it was so insignificant I won't even bother mentioning.

Firmware reversion

I hate to say it but Samsung clearly states that you can't go back - I would tend to believe that.

And IF it were possible, you would need a copy of the old Firmware and I haven't seen where it’s available on the Samsung site.

Unless Samsung really screwed this up, (not out of the realm) the new Firmware shouldn't slow down your SSD ... So a re-flash using the Samsung DOS Firmware Update Tool may be the answer (assuming it will allow a re-flash)

Bootable Flash Drive ... Can you use a CD instead? ...

You probably know all this but ... Assuming Windows 7:

§ If you have a built-in or portable Optical Drive, then make a bootable CD from the .ISO file.

§ Unzip the downloaded files to get the .ISO and FW image. Then right-click the .ISO and select 'Burn Disc Image'

§ If your PC has UEFI enabled you will need to disable it in BIOS and enable the CSM (Compatibility Support Module) to get it to boot and you may need to set it to boot to your Optical Drive or select it from the Boot Selection Menu (Some key like <F8> or <DEL> or whatever)

§ BTW – The last item above probably applies to your flash drive as well just in case that’s the issue with it not booting.

Hope this helps.

 

[soewhaty]

Yea, Samsung Firmware Update process is a flakey mess.

In my case, I'm using an older m/board and I use the Intel SATA2 instead of SATA3 ports so I won't see any wonderful speeds anyway but just for fun I used Magician and the speeds did improve but it was so insignificant I won't even bother mentioning.

Firmware reversion

I hate to say it but Samsung clearly states that you can't go back - I would tend to believe that.

And IF it were possible, you would need a copy of the old Firmware and I haven't seen where it’s available on the Samsung site.

Unless Samsung really screwed this up, (not out of the realm) the new Firmware shouldn't slow down your SSD ... So a re-flash using the Samsung DOS Firmware Update Tool may be the answer (assuming it will allow a re-flash)

Bootable Flash Drive ... Can you use a CD instead? ...

You probably know all this but ... Assuming Windows 7:

§ If you have a built-in or portable Optical Drive, then make a bootable CD from the .ISO file.

§ Unzip the downloaded files to get the .ISO and FW image. Then right-click the .ISO and select 'Burn Disc Image'

§ If your PC has UEFI enabled you will need to disable it in BIOS and enable the CSM (Compatibility Support Module) to get it to boot and you may need to set it to boot to your Optical Drive or select it from the Boot Selection Menu (Some key like <F8> or <DEL> or whatever)

§ BTW – The last item above probably applies to your flash drive as well just in case that’s the issue with it not booting.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the reply. I managed to make the bootable usb but when I boot into it after a PC restart, then the procedure just hangs at some DOS screen and the last line is 'InitDisk -' ... and some other bla bla stuff above it. So it doesn't really get me anywhere. That is what I got from the 'Samsung_SSD_850_PRO_EXM02B6Q_Win_Mac.iso' file for the firmware update. I tried with the bootable usb a couple of times and it never led to anything so I had to force shutdown the pc from that DOS screen and booted back into Windows and the firmware obviously still was the newer one and when I tested with Magician's performance benchmark the speeds were sadly still the slower ones Downloaded the other file from here http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html but don't know how to handle it. That is the REVISION ZIP file called 'Samsung_SSD_850_PRO_EXM02B6Q.zip'. Not sure what I can do with it ...

When you say the 'Samsung DOS Firmware Update Tool' what exactly are you referring to? The iso file, with which I made the bootable USB and and got stuck at the DOS screen? Or do you mean the zip file? Or yet another file/technique unknown to me?

As to making a bootable CD ... now that I've tried with a bootable USB, I doubt there is any need to try with a bootable CD too, but will try later on and will report on the progress. I do expect though to see the same result as with the bootable usb.

Probably should have mentioned that I have an HP notebook laptop which has a BIOS with limited functionality and I do NOT have UEFI enabled ... never have had, so that rules that out.

Still, thanks for your help! Muchly appreciated.

 

[soewhaty]

OK, just did the bootable CD instead of USB .. dunno why the usb did not work, but the CD worked now and all it did was to tell me that I already have the latest firmware, which I already knew, but sadly it did not let me re-flash it or re-do the update process. Stuck for now If someone gets their hands on the iso of the old firmware EXM01B6Q then please share it with us.

 

[exar333]

Firstly, I'm a believer in the old saying, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" ... Even manufacturer's will usually say that ... So far, so good.

§ About Updating Firmware ... YES you should normally update to new firmware if it's available especially for an SSD - They are just too complex, require tons of complex algorithms to work properly and they're pushed out on the market before they're ready, including half-baked Firmware coding (bugs) the Manufacturer's don't want to admit to or you to even know about.

That shouldn't be a surprise, right?

§ Manufacturers are absolutely never completely up front with what a firmware / BIOS or any other update will fix - They outright lie or omit the info or offer so called 'New Features' as a smoke-screen to fix bugs in their Firmware hopefully before you crash into one and spread the bad word all over the Internet.

So ask yourself, what happens to your data if you just happen to hit an unpatched bug because you didn't update the Firmware?

And how do I know any of this? - Well, I've had it happen more than once where an update will fix something that's not working for me but never a mention of it from the manufacturer. It begs the question – What’s being fixed that you don't know about and they won't tell you?

§ Just take the Samsung Magician, the SSD Utility ... Even the DOS version, it's a joke and its Firmware Update process stinks - no time for Samsung to get that stuff working properly ... That's why this thread even exists.

§ About losing data ... "berryracer" is pretty much right on ... It shouldn't happen. If the Manufacturer says you will lose your data - then you will.
But just to be sure - you always, always, need to backup your data anyway - JUST DO IT.

In my experience, I have never unexpectedly lost anything while updating firmware on any SSD

§ About spending hours re-installing ... No way! If your that worried you can use imaging software - If I lose the OS on my SSD, I can Restore it and be back in business in about 7 minutes - Everything ... All programs and data.

§ About bricking your SSD ... Be careful. Yes, a Firmware Update can brick your SSD so read, and re-read the instructions and if you don't understand what is being said - please just ask someone ... And remember ... "Google's your friend"

Sorry folks, I'm into overkill now ...

"NOT UPDATING to new SSD Firmware could be more hazardous to your DATA than the Firmware Update process itself"

Just my 2 cents worth ...

This is a little bit of a 'sky is falling' comment.

I would tend to agree with you if you purchase a brand-new SSD SKU that has a new controller, new NAND, etc. The updates immediately after release may be pretty critical. If you are worried about this, then I would highly suggest NOT purchasing a drive like this to be your main bootable drive. Just my opinion.

When I got my 840, the drive had been out for many months and had been a very stable drive. The risk/reward for me doing a recent update is WAY more risky to update vs. leaving it alone. The performance is great, the stability is great. Why mess with that unless you are getting a TANGIBLE benefit?

I still would suggest upgrading with caution...

 

[soewhaty]

True! Upgrade with caution ... look at my case for instance

 

[Pokeas]

Hi Guys!

So before I found my way to this forum, I saw that my Samsung 850 Pro had a new firmware update in Samsung Magician.

Thinking dearly of Samsung I hit the update button and soon it displayed an error message saying it could not finish the update. When I wanted to restart my computer the drive was unable to boot, and is rendered unrecognizable. BIOS can not even display it's name with usual letters instead uses several lines of strange symbols and numbers. When I try to boot with windows disk, it looks like its loading in a dos like surface, but when it tries to boot into the windows install UI only the mouse cursor is visible everything is black and nothing happens.

I have an option of putting it into a secondary drive, but even like that windows does not recognize it, and it is not displayed.

Device manager seem to find it, and this is how its identifying it:

SCSI\Disk3_c_K___cCK_c_K_cCK_;!c_c_K_
SCSI\Disk3_c_K___cCK_c_K_cCK_;!c_
SCSI\Disk3_c_K___
SCSI\3_c_K___cCK_c_K_cCK_;!c_c
3_c_K___cCK_c_K_cCK_;!c_c
GenDisk




What could I do?

 

[ivanlj]

Hi Guys!

So before I found my way to this forum, I saw that my Samsung 850 Pro had a new firmware update in Samsung Magician.

Thinking dearly of Samsung I hit the update button and soon it displayed an error message saying it could not finish the update. When I wanted to restart my computer the drive was unable to boot, and is rendered unrecognizable. BIOS can not even display it's name with usual letters instead uses several lines of strange symbols and numbers. When I try to boot with windows disk, it looks like its loading in a dos like surface, but when it tries to boot into the windows install UI only the mouse cursor is visible everything is black and nothing happens.

I have an option of putting it into a secondary drive, but even like that windows does not recognize it, and it is not displayed.

Device manager seem to find it, and this is how its identifying it:

SCSI\Disk3_c_K___cCK_c_K_cCK_;!c_c_K_
SCSI\Disk3_c_K___cCK_c_K_cCK_;!c_
SCSI\Disk3_c_K___
SCSI\3_c_K___cCK_c_K_cCK_;!c_c
3_c_K___cCK_c_K_cCK_;!c_c
GenDisk




What could I do?

I have exact same problem. Magician notified me that new firmware was available. I tried updating, it said it failed. I restarted my computer, tried it again, reported failed again. I shut down the computer since I had to go. Next time I turned it on it said no available boot partition or something like that, I can't remember the phrase exactly. In BIOS it doesn't recognize it and just shows jibberish same as previous poster. I also tried then downloading firmware update via iso Cd from Samsung, but when it runs it says it cannot find and ssd for bios update. Please help. :-(

Edit: no active partition found. I think that was the phrase, sorry

 

[soewhaty]

Well for that no active partition found - do a search on google as to how to set a partition as active and to initialize it. You can do that from CMD. I think what may have happened is that the FW upgrade has done some bad juju stuff to your ssd and the MBR table and you have to set your partitions as active and initialize them. Sevenforums.com had info on that. Do google it. I might be off and might be wrong but am trying to offer a helping hand here. Those are just some tips I'd try to troubleshoot the issue ...

 

[Pokeas]

Update: This seems to be a global issue, many people are reporting the same problem, as you can read on their FB page, comments section.

Will be interesting to see how Samsung handles it!

https://www.facebook.com/SamsungSSD

 

[Xeon_Addict]

They need to pull the fricking firmware....

 

[Emulex]

Basically Xeon_Addict has nailed it! Kiss your SSD goodbye and hopefully they will RMA it!

 

[Capt.Gil]

When you say the 'Samsung DOS Firmware Update Tool' what exactly are you referring to? The iso file, with which I made the bootable USB and and got stuck at the DOS screen? Or do you mean the zip file?

OK, just did the bootable CD instead of USB .. dunno why the usb did not work, but the CD worked now and all it did was to tell me that I already have the latest firmware, which I already knew, but sadly it did not let me re-flash it or re-do the update process.

Yes to both questions – I’m referring to the .zip file that extracts to the .iso file and Samsung calls it something like the ‘Samsung Magician DOS Utility’ and I think they called it something else too but no matter, it’s what I was referring to and you figured that out.

Since I used the bootable CD … I know that it works in spite of the error message at the end … that’s why I suggested it.

And in the end it wouldn’t let you re-flash … I was afraid of that.

OK, wait a minute – I’ll throw this out there too since I did it on my SSD and it works ok … After I updated the firmware, I used Parted Magic to Secure Erase the drive, (Samsung has this ditzy process to unlock a frozen drive and I was curious) then I partitioned & formatted and checked the performance again with Magician … the change was negligible but I’m ok with that.

At that point I checked the current firmware again and was surprised to see the update had been successful.

So I don’t know if or why that would make a diff. but I thought I’d mention it.

The only other thing I can think of is to RMA the damn thing on account of Samsung’s flakey update process.

If misery loves company, I think you’re going to have a lot of it.

Thanks for keeping us posted and I hope something works for you.

They need to pull the fricking firmware....

No kidding.

I’ve seen a lot of SSDs but this is my first Samsung … Pretty good first impression!

 

[soewhaty]

Yes to both questions &#8211; I&#8217;m referring to the .zip file that extracts to the .iso file and Samsung calls it something like the &#8216;Samsung Magician DOS Utility&#8217; and I think they called it something else too but no matter, it&#8217;s what I was referring to and you figured that out.

Since I used the bootable CD &#8230; I know that it works in spite of the error message at the end &#8230; that&#8217;s why I suggested it.

And in the end it wouldn&#8217;t let you re-flash &#8230; I was afraid of that.

OK, wait a minute &#8211; I&#8217;ll throw this out there too since I did it on my SSD and it works ok &#8230; After I updated the firmware, I used Parted Magic to Secure Erase the drive, (Samsung has this ditzy process to unlock a frozen drive and I was curious) then I partitioned & formatted and checked the performance again with Magician &#8230; the change was negligible but I&#8217;m ok with that.

At that point I checked the current firmware again and was surprised to see the update had been successful.

So I don&#8217;t know if or why that would make a diff. but I thought I&#8217;d mention it.

The only other thing I can think of is to RMA the damn thing on account of Samsung&#8217;s flakey update process.

If misery loves company, I think you&#8217;re going to have a lot of it.

Thanks for keeping us posted and I hope something works for you.



No kidding.

I&#8217;ve seen a lot of SSDs but this is my first Samsung &#8230; Pretty good first impression!

Thanks, will try your tip with parted magic. And as to the iso and zip files. But if it means secure erasing my ssd then I think I wont do it cos I have my OS on the ssd now and I need it running non-stop .. school is important. So I hope they issue a newer fw soon that fixes this crap!

Hahaha here http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html we used to see the new firmware but now they've removed it. LOL !!!

There were 2 things to be found on that web address. The iso for 850 is clearly on its own and the zip file contains something else which I don't know what to do with ... both files used to be located at the above link, but not any more. The zip itself contains a folder called FW and it contains 2 files - DSRD.enc and EXM02B6Q.enc ... So I don't know how to use that folder and its 2 files. It is different than the bootable iso file ... what to do with it?

 

[TCMuffin]

I have exact same problem. Magician notified me that new firmware was available. I tried updating, it said it failed. I restarted my computer, tried it again, reported failed again. I shut down the computer since I had to go. Next time I turned it on it said no available boot partition or something like that, I can't remember the phrase exactly. In BIOS it doesn't recognize it and just shows jibberish same as previous poster. I also tried then downloading firmware update via iso Cd from Samsung, but when it runs it says it cannot find and ssd for bios update. Please help. :-(

Edit: no active partition found. I think that was the phrase, sorry

+1 New Gigabyte P34W with 1Tb 850 Pro delivered on 2 Feb...applied firmware last night via Magician software...SSD not recognised by BIOS this morning :'(

 

[TCMuffin]

Hahaha here http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/support/downloads.html we used to see the new firmware but now they've removed it. LOL !!!

I wish Samsung had killed that update last night :'(

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]

I don't trust SSDs, even though I do use them for OS / replaceable data drives.
When I update a FW version, I take a snapshot of the entire drive, update FW, perform a secure erase (with hdparm), then restore the data.

 

[jimpapi22]

ok my Samsung 850 pro (500gb) started updating firmware with bitlocker encryption enabled...never finished! after a forced restart , everything was a mess. couldn't find the operation system and bitlocker screen never appeared again. I tried everything , Linux, manage-bde, repair-bde, paragon, ...everything saw my C: as row image..dd rescue the same..
now trying reinstall windows....I hope I can! we shall see!
INCREDIBLE THEY SHOULD BE Killed!.I have lost everything!:thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown::thumbsdown:

 

[bruno_bmac]

Hi,

another one here, after error on the firmware update, no more Disk.

And the data i have on the disk is critical.

i've tried to connect it by USB and is says it needs to be formated.

does anyone know any other way to at least access the data on the drive?

HELP ME!

 

[TCMuffin]

Hi,

another one here, after error on the firmware update, no more Disk.

And the data i have on the disk is critical.

i've tried to connect it by USB and is says it needs to be formated.

does anyone know any other way to at least access the data on the drive?

HELP ME!

I've had a reply from Samsung asking me to email the tech support team which I did about 40 minutes ago...no reply yet :thumbsdown:

 

[ivanlj]

Please keep us posted for any solition

 

[soewhaty]

If located in Europe call 00800-8010-8011 - this is Samsung's European support center. From there they gave me an email address to forward my request to - samsungmemory@hanaro.eu. Then these guys from samsungmemory@hanaro.eu replied today and attached some RMA forms and other forms for me to fill out and return to them, so with the feedback I give them they'll figure out what to do in my case. Dunno about other locations outside Europe though ...

 

[TCMuffin]

If located in Europe call 00800-8010-8011 - this is Samsung's European support center. From there they gave me an email address to forward my request to - samsungmemory@hanaro.eu. Then these guys from samsungmemory@hanaro.eu replied today and attached some RMA forms and other forms for me to fill out and return to them, so with the feedback I give them they'll figure out what to do in my case. Dunno about other locations outside Europe though ...

I've just received a similar email:

I am contacting in response to your communication to the Samsung UK CEO's office concerning the problems that you are experiencing with your Samsung SSD following a recent firmware update.

Support for Samsung SSD's is not provided by this office but instead by Hanaro, a link to who I have included below:

http://www.hanarocom.com/

We would therefore recommend that you contact them concerning this issue and they will be able to discuss, and moreover support you, with regards to this matter.

We trust that you will be able to conclude soonest.

Kind regards

Sean Archer
Executive Office
Presidential & CEO Escalations

I am furious as it seems I'll be asked to RMA a 3 week old £450 SSD (which contains sensitive data) that was screwed up by Samsung's firmware update

 

[Fares3d]

Hello,

got the same problem .
I contacted the Samsung chat support :
Samsung 850 PRO firmware update failed on magician software.
Now drive won't boot .
I tried the dos version with the iso file
Samsung_SSD_850_PRO_EXM02B6Q_Win_Mac.iso
No SDDs supported !!!!

they answered:
SSD (solid state drive) support is provided through Total Tech Solutions You can reach Tech solution by calling: 1-800-Samsung (1-800-726-7864) between 9:00 am - 6:00

I am outside US . can someone call them ?

Best regards

 

[mikeymikec]

I would only install a firmware update for a storage device if it claimed to fix an issue I was experiencing with the drive, or if the manufacturer basically said something like "if you want this drive to work at all beyond the next month, install this update". In either of those situations I would still back up my data to an extent that if the drive died, I'm not thinking "oh s**t I've lost x".

 

[TCMuffin]

Hello,

got the same problem .
I contacted the Samsung chat support :
Samsung 850 PRO firmware update failed on magician software.
Now drive won't boot .
I tried the dos version with the iso file
Samsung_SSD_850_PRO_EXM02B6Q_Win_Mac.iso
No SDDs supported !!!!

they answered:
SSD (solid state drive) support is provided through Total Tech Solutions You can reach Tech solution by calling: 1-800-Samsung (1-800-726-7864) between 9:00 am - 6:00

I am outside US . can someone call them ?

Best regards

European contact details are in my previous post