Bluescreens Reported on Latest SandForce-based SSDs
OCZ, Kingston and Corsair have confirmed that some of their latest Solid-state Drives (SSD) based on the SandForce SF2000 series of controllers are potentially causing bluescreens in users' computers.
OCZ confirmed firmware issues that have been reported in the field that are potentially causing bluescreens on its SF2000 based drives. The company said that the issue affected "a very small percentage" of Vertex 3 and Agility 3 SSDs, and that less than 1% of all its customers were affected. Both these new series of SSDs are based on the SandForce SF-2281 processor.
The company claims that the issue is "a completely different issue than what some other drive manufacturers are experiencing, which may have similar symptoms but is caused by a hardware issue," since OCZ does not use a reference design for its SSDs, and designs and manufactures its products in-house.
Initially, OCZ had said that it would resolve the issue with a firmware update. Later, the company said that the issue was isolated to the Intel RST driver. The company advised users that have experienced the BSOD issue to switch to the Microsoft driver.
Corsair has also recalled some SSD models due to "stability" and performance" problems. The affected model is the recently release4d 120GB Force Series 3 SSD, which is based on the SandForce SF-2281 controller.
"Our review has identified that a significant percentage of these drive do not perform to specifications. The solution will require changes to both the SSD firmware and the hardware components of the SSD itself," Corsair said.
Kingston's SSDs are also reportedly causing bluescreens.
Adata's S511 and OWC (Mercury Extreme 6G S) SSDs are also based on the SF-2281 controller and are currently available at the market, without any problem reports.
Mushkin has recently announced its new "Chronos" series of solid state drive series based on the SandForce SF-2281 processor.
It seems that some of the SF-2281 SSDs that are based on reference designs will be recalled.
The company claims that the issue is "a completely different issue than what some other drive manufacturers are experiencing, which may have similar symptoms but is caused by a hardware issue," since OCZ does not use a reference design for its SSDs, and designs and manufactures its products in-house.
Initially, OCZ had said that it would resolve the issue with a firmware update. Later, the company said that the issue was isolated to the Intel RST driver. The company advised users that have experienced the BSOD issue to switch to the Microsoft driver.
Corsair has also recalled some SSD models due to "stability" and performance" problems. The affected model is the recently release4d 120GB Force Series 3 SSD, which is based on the SandForce SF-2281 controller.
"Our review has identified that a significant percentage of these drive do not perform to specifications. The solution will require changes to both the SSD firmware and the hardware components of the SSD itself," Corsair said.
Kingston's SSDs are also reportedly causing bluescreens.
Adata's S511 and OWC (Mercury Extreme 6G S) SSDs are also based on the SF-2281 controller and are currently available at the market, without any problem reports.
Mushkin has recently announced its new "Chronos" series of solid state drive series based on the SandForce SF-2281 processor.
It seems that some of the SF-2281 SSDs that are based on reference designs will be recalled.