Samsung recommends updating 980 Pro SSDs to fix drive read-only bug

Samsung recommends users of a 980 Pro SSD to update their SSDs to the firmware version that appeared last year. There is a bug in earlier versions that could cause a drive to go into read-only mode. The update does not fix broken SSDs, but it does prevent the problem from appearing.

PC builder Puget Systems says to have received a ‘surprising’ number of reports of broken 980 Pro SSDs, mainly on the 2TB version. In the most common cases, the drive goes into read-only mode, which, according to Puget, prevents it from booting operating systems, for example.

According to a Reddit post the issue went viral on Chinese social media last summer. A Smart scan would show a 0E error, indicating that there are issues with the integrity of the data. The Smart readings would also show that there is less storage space than there should be. Puget is an American PC maker, so the problem doesn’t seem to be limited to China.

Samsung says the issue occurs with firmware version 3B2QGXA7, according to Puget. With the latest firmware version 5B2QGXA7, the problem should no longer occur. The update can be installed without data loss. Puget claims that the problem does not occur with the 4B2QGXA7 firmware version either. Samsung SSDs can be updated with Samsung Magician.

Incidentally, there is complained on Overclock.net, among others about the Samsung 990 Pro SSD. This would be relatively more worn after relatively few hours of use, reducing the total storage capacity of the disk. This problem seems to be unrelated to the 980 Pro problem. Samsung says to ComputerBase to investigate the problems with the 990 Pro.

Update, February 3: Initially, the article mentioned a firmware update that Samsung would have recently released, but the update turns out to be a year old. The article has therefore been amended.

An affected Samsung Pro 980 SSD