Firmware update for Samsung 990 Pro SSDs should solve accelerated degradation

Samsung has released a firmware update for its 990 Pro SSDs. This should stop the accelerated decline in the lifespan percentage. Users reported earlier this year that the SMART values ​​of their 990 Pro SSDs were rapidly degrading.

Samsung investigated user reports and determined that the SSD wear issues were caused by firmware issues. The company released an update for the 990 Pro SSDs this week, writes moderator DavidB on the German Samsung forum. Samsung does not provide concrete release notes for the firmware update. The update, which will be available as version 1B2QJXD7, is available via Samsung’s Magician software.

Problems with the 990 Pro came to light in January, after several users reported that the SMART values ​​of their 990 Pro SSDs were rapidly degrading. Such SMART values ​​are used to estimate the ‘health’ of an SSD or HDD. In some cases, the health of a 990 Pro drive dropped by five percent in a few days. Samsung acknowledged the problems at the beginning of this month and said it was already working on a solution.

The SMART values ​​of the SSDs are not reset to the factory defaults after the firmware update, Samsung reports. It is not known whether the drives have actually worn at an accelerated rate or whether the reduced percentage is incorrect and simply cannot be reversed. “The actual SMART values ​​of each SSD will vary depending on the user environment and usage conditions,” Samsung wrote.