WARNING Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB firmware version 3B2QGXA7 (mfg ~2021) WILL DIE, update firmware ASAP!

[tinfoil3d]

Just saw this recently, it's quite old news by now, but there's a firmware issue affecting 2 TB(no or less reports on lower capacity versions of 980 pro) version of M.2 samsung 980 pro SSDs, that would, as i understand it, start marking some blocks bad and pulling replacement from spare section, and as soon as it goes above 32k errors it'll go read-only mode and firmware update at that point won't fix anything.
So i haven't tested it because i don't have these, but if you're on linux this may work for you https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/upgrade-update-samsung-ssd-firmware/
otherwise on windows it's as simple as using samsung magician tool.
If your drive is manufactured in 2021 there's a good chance you're on affected 3B2QGXA7 version.
If you're on 4B2QGXA7 or 5B2QGXA7(latest) then no need to update.

Samsung Issues Fix for Dying 980 Pro SSDs

Download the firmware fix ASAP if your 980 Pro is affected

www.tomshardware.com

 

[i386]

I start to dislike samsung...
I have a 990 pro m.2 ssd that crashed a server multiple times (the drive disappears and is only recognized after reseating/reinstalling it again). And now the 980 pro which I have installed in a laptop for work...

 

[ano]

990 pro m2... server.....

if you wanna annoy yourself, the PM9a3 firmware are a shitshow, and 1733 is so variable most servers has issues

 

[Stephan]

Peak Samsung appears to have been 840 Pro or 850 Pro. Yes, SATA. Most reached endurances into the 2-9 PB range. Anecdotally, with M.2 up to 970 Pro seems ok. Right after release Samsung appears to have fired the guy who knew how to code. Or he retired. M.2 is a bit too hard to cool for my taste with performance-oriented gear. If you want better chances with reliability, pick MLC or TLC flash, PLP, warranty 5 years or more, firmware updates through official channels. For M.2 you'll end up with Micron, 7300 or 7400 series.

 

[elvisimprsntr]

One would think a company which makes its own flash and controllers would have this figured out.

Hopefully, Crucial/Micron don’t have similar issues, since that is what I use exclusively.

 

[Wasmachineman_NL]

Man, the 980 and 990 Pro have been a total shitshow. Both of them degrade way too quickly and they never even put out a updated firmware that fixes the excessive wear on the 980P.

 

[tinfoil3d]

One of my firends bought the affected 2TB version in 2021 simply because 970 pro(last consumer-oriented MLC out there?) didn't come in 2TB model which is a pity. So he was thankful to know this. I bet you all have someone using these. You better let everyone know.

 

[ocfguy]

Peak Samsung appears to have been 840 Pro or 850 Pro. Yes, SATA. Most reached endurances into the 2-9 PB range. Anecdotally, with M.2 up to 970 Pro seems ok. Right after release Samsung appears to have fired the guy who knew how to code. Or he retired. M.2 is a bit too hard to cool for my taste with performance-oriented gear. If you want better chances with reliability, pick MLC or TLC flash, PLP, warranty 5 years or more, firmware updates through official channels. For M.2 you'll end up with Micron, 7300 or 7400 series.

7450 can also be an alternative to PM9A3, and the <960 GB capacities come in 2280 as well. Nice to have a 2280 SSD with PLP.

 

[ocfguy]

I have some data corrupted (uncorrectable) due to the faulty firmware on 2TB 870 EVOs purchased in 2021. Luckily it was only a couple sectors, but that experience spooked me and now I've migrated to ZFS from MD...

Also have some 850 PROs that have been rock solid for over 9 years of power-on hours now (!). Not a lot written to them, though, around 100 TBW.

@ano: is there an issue with the firmware on the PM9A3? Have both M.2 and U.2 variants of the model and they seem to be doing fine so far.

 

[ano]

I have some data corrupted (uncorrectable) due to the faulty firmware on 2TB 870 EVOs purchased in 2021. Luckily it was only a couple sectors, but that experience spooked me and now I've migrated to ZFS from MD...

Also have some 850 PROs that have been rock solid for over 9 years of power-on hours now (!). Not a lot written to them, though, around 100 TBW.

@ano: is there an issue with the firmware on the PM9A3? Have both M.2 and U.2 variants of the model and they seem to be doing fine so far.

yes, check your error count and types, some firmwares seem to clash with sytsems/smartctl/other? resulting in tons of errors, same for kioxia cd6, not sure if its fw or smartctl/linux causing it yet. with that said, we run them over the 1733 since we have much better luck with PM9a3 than 1733 for most stuff

I can grab the versions from lab one of theese days

m.2 versions on all fws they have shipped with have been good, some lots of PM983's did ship without PSID printed though, more of a case in 2nd hand market

 

[unwind-protect]

I have some data corrupted (uncorrectable) due to the faulty firmware on 2TB 870 EVOs purchased in 2021. Luckily it was only a couple sectors, but that experience spooked me and now I've migrated to ZFS from MD...

Also have some 850 PROs that have been rock solid for over 9 years of power-on hours now (!). Not a lot written to them, though, around 100 TBW.

@ano: is there an issue with the firmware on the PM9A3? Have both M.2 and U.2 variants of the model and they seem to be doing fine so far.

870 has issues, too.

Samsung 870 EVO - Beware, certain batches prone to failure!

Could samsung be engaging in a little planned obsolescence in their SSD designs? So these failures aren't so much a design flaw as a design feature?

www.techpowerup.com

 

[tinfoil3d]

Raising awareness for those who missed the news! Read original post and update your 980 pro 2tb before it dies!

https://forums.servethehome.com/index.php?threads/warning-samsung-980-pro-2-tb-firmware-version-3b2qgxa7-mfg-2021-will-die-update-firmware-asap.39266/post-368185

 

[tinfoil3d]

Keeping awareness! Check your firmware if you're using Samsung 980 Pro M.2 2TB!

 

[111alan]

I start to dislike samsung...
I have a 990 pro m.2 ssd that crashed a server multiple times (the drive disappears and is only recognized after reseating/reinstalling it again). And now the 980 pro which I have installed in a laptop for work...

Peak Samsung appears to have been 840 Pro or 850 Pro. Yes, SATA. Most reached endurances into the 2-9 PB range. Anecdotally, with M.2 up to 970 Pro seems ok. Right after release Samsung appears to have fired the guy who knew how to code. Or he retired. M.2 is a bit too hard to cool for my taste with performance-oriented gear. If you want better chances with reliability, pick MLC or TLC flash, PLP, warranty 5 years or more, firmware updates through official channels. For M.2 you'll end up with Micron, 7300 or 7400 series.

From what I tested, samsung sata drives are trash, they can have a steady state latency of over two seconds. Yeah, seconds. And 840 series had a GC bug that could erase and corrupt user data.

Samsung only picked up the pace in NVMe era. PM1725(a) with later firmware is basically the best gen3 drive from the tests I conducted, with performance consistency exceeds that of intel MLC drive's standards.

But as the layers of NAND goes up, reliability inevitably goes down. Especially for those desktop and mobile drives which have lower grade flash chips. Every manufacturer have their problems, you name it. So enterprise drives(DC drives not included) usually use 1-2 even 3 generations older chips.

 

[111alan]

990 pro m2... server.....

if you wanna annoy yourself, the PM9a3 firmware are a shitshow, and 1733 is so variable most servers has issues

What issue does 1733 have? Pls point it out.

As what I saw, 1733/1735 with FIP are among the most reliable drivs, with one of the lowest fail rate numbers I've seen. Due to CHIA and other mining operations, many of them have petabytes of data written and still running fine. I rarely saw a failed drive even from a seller's defect charts. Wondering what could go wrong.

 

[111alan]

I have some data corrupted (uncorrectable) due to the faulty firmware on 2TB 870 EVOs purchased in 2021. Luckily it was only a couple sectors, but that experience spooked me and now I've migrated to ZFS from MD...

Also have some 850 PROs that have been rock solid for over 9 years of power-on hours now (!). Not a lot written to them, though, around 100 TBW.

@ano: is there an issue with the firmware on the PM9A3? Have both M.2 and U.2 variants of the model and they seem to be doing fine so far.

I have some data corrupted (uncorrectable) due to the faulty firmware on 2TB 870 EVOs purchased in 2021. Luckily it was only a couple sectors, but that experience spooked me and now I've migrated to ZFS from MD...

Also have some 850 PROs that have been rock solid for over 9 years of power-on hours now (!). Not a lot written to them, though, around 100 TBW.

@ano: is there an issue with the firmware on the PM9A3? Have both M.2 and U.2 variants of the model and they seem to be doing fine so far.

Look at the fw release notes, there seems to be some critical fixes.

Ihr persönlicher Freigabelink | GMX Cloud

Mit diesem Link erhalten Sie Zugriff auf die mit Ihnen geteilten Daten.

c.gmx.net

 

[ocfguy]

Look at the fw release notes, there seems to be some critical fixes.

Ihr persönlicher Freigabelink | GMX Cloud

Mit diesem Link erhalten Sie Zugriff auf die mit Ihnen geteilten Daten.

c.gmx.net

Thanks. As we bought the SSDs in late 2022, both our M.2 and U.2 units were preloaded with the latest firmware.

 

[tinfoil3d]

Just reminding those of you who still missed it, this is a serious issue, update ASAP if you haven't yet.
Read full original post.

 

[piranha32]

How to check NVM firmware in linux:

# nvme list
Node             SN                   Model                                    Namespace Usage                      Format           FW Rev 
---------------- -------------------- ---------------------------------------- --------- -------------------------- ---------------- --------
/dev/nvme0n1    [...............]     Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB             1         180.85  GB /   2.00  TB    512   B +  0 B   4B2QEXM7

Last column shows the FW version

How to install nvme command:

Debian/Ubunu:

# apt update && apt install nvme-cli

Fedora:

# dnf install -y nvme-cli

 

[tinfoil3d]

Just reminding if anyone missed this, see first post, upgrade firmware on 2TB 980 Pro if you have version starting with number 3, or it may/will fail.