Crucial M4 Firmware 010G

[mobilenvidia]

Firmware 010G

Firmware Release Notes
Firmware for the m4 SSD is being updated from version 000F
to 010G.
Firmware 010G is optional for anyone currently running 000F,
as it includes incremental improvements and refinements over
these versions, but recommended if the user is experiencing
issues with the current firmware.
Firmware version 010G includes improvements which are
specific for Windows 8 and new UltraBook systems, although
Windows 7 and other operating systems and computer
platforms may also see improvements. Any m4 firmware
version will function normally in Windows 8. However, the
following improvements were made to meet new certification
requirements for this operating system:

for Windows 8
• Improved Time-to-ready (“TTRâ€) after a clean power
cycle. TTR is now less than 850 milliseconds for all
capacity points. A “clean power cycle†is defined as
a power off and power on sequence which follows a
STANDBY IMMEDIATE command sent by the host and
acknowledged by the SSD. STANDBY IMMEDIATE is
typically sent during a normal operating system Shut
Down.
• This change also improves resume-from-sleep time to
meet new Windows 8 requirements.
• Trim response time is reduced from 50ms to 20ms
(typical).

Power consumption improvements for some notebook
computers
• HIPM (Host Initiated Power Management) is no longer
supported. In some notebook computers HIPM can
interfere with the SSD’s ability to get into and stay in
low power modes using DIPM (Device Initiated Power
Management). Using DIPM alone is the most efficient
method to conserve SSD power.
• SATA pin 11 (Device Activity Signal) is electrically isolated
from the host when the SSD is in low power modes.
This eliminates a potential leakage path which could
draw unnecessary power while the SSD is in sleep or
hibernate. This does not affect most computer systems.

 

[Metaluna]

FYI, I've been reading about a lot of problem reports with this update. The major one seems to be that the drive will work for a few days then suddenly stop being detected by the BIOS. Also the firmware updater doesn't support UEFI BIOSes, so you're supposed to find a machine with an old BIOS to run the updater. That's ridiculous in late 2012, especially for an update that touts improvements specific to Ultrabooks and Windows 8. How many non-UEFI Ultrabooks are out there?

Anyway, I'm sticking with 000F on my M4 until I have better confidence in this F/W

 

[Patrick]

I just did a clean install on my main workstation of Windows 8. Decided to skip this firmware upgrade.