In the past, several SSD manufacturers had bugs in their firmwares. So to be sure that I can fix such issues with a newly bought SSD, I need some secure (and somewhat easy) way of updating the firmware.
I don’t need to do the update on my own Linux installation. A bootable ISO would be fine, too.
Which manufacturer has some well supported way of updating SSD firmware, even if I don’t have any Windows installations left?
I never had any issues with any SSD I ever bought in my life.
Just buy whatever you like and install it. You’re done. Don’t overthink everything.
I’ve been dealing with SSDs since the early days of Windows XP.
A lot of drives have had a lot of problems.
Like, the most recent I have dealt with was with Samsung 980 SSDs and the critical flaw in their firmware.
That wasn’t exclusive to Windows though
I once dropped a SATA SSD on my foot while installing it and now I only use M2 SSD in case it happens again.
You’ve been lucky, then. Some popular SSDs have had firmware that actively corrupted data or burned through the flash cells incredibly fast.
Assuming you’re talking about the firmware on the device and not the firmware distributed with the kernel/distro to interface with the hardware, I would identify a vendor that uploads to the Linux Vendor Firmware Service for their SSDs.
Solidigm P44 Pro is a good choice. This model is based on the Hynix Platinum P41, which is well regarded. They provide a bootable linux ISO image for updating firmware, so you can boot that directly, or potentially extract the files and run the updater on your distro of choice. (It’s probably best not to do it on an installation running from the SSD, of course.)
I don’t see any firmware bug workarounds for these models in the linux kernel sources, which is a good sign.
Solidigm is the company resulting from SK Hynix recently buying Intel’s NAND business. They apparently contribute to LVFS, which is another good sign, even if the current model’s firmware isn’t on there yet.
I’ve bought always the cheapest which meets my storage requirement and never had issues since 2011.
I’m using WD. No issues.
How do you update firmware on this SSD?
On their site it says you need Western Digital Dashboard, which requires windows. I’m not sure/haven’t bothered myself as of now on Linux.
I think some of my units are on the ‘lgtm’ update plan too. ;-)
Maybe Im just lucky, bought tens of SSDs and never had problems like that. Well many of them failed including samsung evo, so I guess its just important to have backup, warranty and luck
Have a ready Qemu image of a Windows install. Have a live distro that has (or can install to RAM) Qemu. Boot Windows using Qemu in the live environment, and VFIO-passthrough your NVME as a PCI device. Install and run the official Windows-based update tool, which now has raw access to the SSD.
At least that’s what I’m doing for my WD.
Thanks. Nice to know. So I’ll not get a WD, then.
To each their own.
I thought that the trick with exposing the raw hardware to a VM was the coolest thing ever, since it negates this entire “do their special tools support Linux” issue. And you do it once every 6 months, maybe 4 times in total, until releases taper off.
But I don’t want to deal with Windows at all. Something like this may be acceptable for existing “pre Linux” hardware to have a solution after migration.
But I need new hardware in an environment where no Windows is left.
I’ll never buy Western Digital. I’ve given them too many chances and owned many over the last 20 years and they consistently fail. Even the more expensive ones I’ve owned had something stop working in them.
I’m aware I’m jinxing myself when I suggest that I’ve had very different experience. We’re mostly WDReds though.
Some SSDs have fwupd support, but I’m not aware of a comprehensive list of them. I know some Samsung drives will get firmware updates automatically that way on Linux, but I can’t think of any others off the top of my head.
Here’s a list of vendors that contribute to fwupd:
https://fwupd.org/lvfs/vendors/
A manufacturer’s presence on that list doesn’t mean all its drives are covered, but it might be a good starting place when searching.
Yeah, I was referring to a specific list of actually supported drives.
I know Micron Storage Executive can run in Ubuntu Live USB, too bad Micron/Crucial doesn’t have attractive offering where I live.
Get one with OPALv2 support
Any SSD manufactures will fine as long you remember to choose SSD with SLC type for fastest, more durable, less error-prone, and security integration (on this link for further information). With the longest guarantee from the manufactures too will be great for you in long term usage.
For secure thing, SLC is the best option you have as you can see this video from this source that I found week ago. SSD with SLC type will maximize your productivity than other types, while also keep your privacy when you want sell them in the future.
I know the sources I’ll give to you are from 2011/13 research like this comment. But as far as I know, this sources are the best explanation that give me deep understanding on how SSD works, rather than just articles or simple explanation things from manufactures with no deep explanation how they methods works. It’s up to you to in the end…
choose SSD with SLC
Drives made with SLC flash memory are practically nonexistent. Affordable ones completely so. Times have changed.
Here’s a list of models: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1B27_j9NDPU3cNlj2HKcrfpJKHkOf-Oi1DbuuQva2gT4
Drives made with SLC flash memory are practically nonexistent. Affordable ones completely so. Times have changed.
Yes, there are many SSD SLC with afforable price right now too, for example ADATA SU650 I used. The benefit SLC over other types in the video I provide before are after we secure erase our SSD. SLC provide less latency than others, and trim from SSD controller are not enough to clean the data or reduce the latency after using it for long time (based by research in the paper). And from point of security as the main topic in paper, show a good point that SLC give more clean data format than others for privacy minded people (focused on that right now). I’m still searching the latest paper about this topic… still stuck in this because others not explain well or have proof with research / comparison as this.
Yes, there are many SSD SLC with afforable price right now too, for example ADATA SU650 I used.
No, that is a TLC drive. It only uses SLC for the cache.
Thank you for correct me, now I get what I need right now from this correction…
Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/eNlobn2CinQ?t=731
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I’m open-source, check me out at GitHub.
Usually you won’t be updating the firmware because it’s baked into the Linux kernel.
Personally, I’ve got both a Samsung and Intel NVMe in my PC, they work fine.
SSD firmware is baked into the kernel?
No. Drivers are, but not firmware.
Not for a SSD. Every manufacturer has some tool to update SSD firmware. Some Samsung models can actually be updated with fwupd but I’m unsure if this covers all Samsung SSDs or only the “Pro” series. I also tend to prefer booting into some dedicated “update ISO”, first, just to be sure that nothing interferes with the update.
