Crucial Admits m4-Series SSDs Are Affected by Firmware Bug

After Intel, OCZ, Corsair and other SSD makers have faced reliability problems with their latest generation solid state drives, Crucial/Micron is now experiencing similar issues with its m4-series SSDs.

A thread was started on the Crucial forums at the end of December 2011 regarding these issues and so far has gathered almost 160 replies from users complaining of random bluescreens.

Crucial is well aware of this problem, which according to the SSD maker appear after 5,000 hours (about 7 months) of actual use. 

“We are aware of an issue that is currently affecting a small number of users whereby their m4 causes their system to require a restart.

“This issue occurs after approximately 5,000 hours of actual “on time” use. Following the initial reboot, the system then requires subsequent restarts after each additional hour of use.

“However, the data on the SSD is unaffected and will not be lost due to this condition.”

To remedy the problem, Crucial plans to release a corrected version of the firmware m4 firmware that should be available in the coming weeks.

Those of you that can’t wait for this firmware update to arrive can return the SSD to Crucial which will exchange it with a new unit.

Crucial isn’t the first SSD maker to face problems with its solid state drives as Intel’s 320-series products were also affected by a series of issues that could cause data loss. 

In addition, drives based on second-generation SandForce controllers are notorious for causing BSOD’s out of the blue for many of its users, which have affected their reputation among system builders.

Introduced in early April, the m4/RealSSD C400 solid state drives are available in 64GB, 128GB and 512GB storage capacities and come in the 2.5-inch form factor.

The drives are powered by a 6Gbps Marvell 88SS9174-BLD2 controller (an updated version of the Marvell BKK2 IC found in the C300) as well as 25nm Micron NAND Flash memory chips which are laid out in an 8-channel design.