Intel Bug Causes Failed SSDs Turn 600GB to 8MB

Intel's SSD 320 series offer some great storage solutions for enthusiasts. For those with the budget, getting 600GB in solid state is quite impressive – of course, that is until it fails and reports itself as a cry-worthy 8MB.

A bug that afflicts the entire 320 line can cause an SSD to revert to 8MB following a crash or power failure. The Register quotes a couple of users from the PC Review forum:

"Be wary of the new Intel SSD 320 series. Currently, there's a bug in the controller that can cause the device to revert to 8MB during a power failure," wrote one user. "AFAIK they have not yet publicly announced it, and won't have a firmware fix ready for release until the end of July."

Another posted, "I just had this happen to me. Had the 600G model for a month. Then the drive crashed and now DISKPART shows 8MB for that drive. SMART attributes are gone... The drive worked great for a month!"

Fortunately, Intel did eventually acknowledge that it is aware of these "customer sightings" on the 320 SSD series. Intel isn't yet revealing more about the nature of the bug, or when a fix is coming.

If you have a 320 SSD, we recommend that you backup all of your data ASAP.

Ask a Category Expert

Create a new thread in the US News comments forum about this subject

Title
Title
Subject

This thread is closed for comments

48 comments

Comment from the forums

Your comment

Top Comments

Netherscourge 6 years ago

...and the paid beta testing continues!
wiyosaya 6 years ago

Haha! I guess this is rather embarrassing to the behemoth, Intel.
drwho1 6 years ago

just another reason to keep waiting for SSD's to mature.... and drop the prices

Other Comments

reprotected 6 years ago

Why can't it be some kind of bug which allows users to unlock conveniently locked SSDs from a crappy 64GB to 300GB?
f-gomes 6 years ago

Oh no, Tom's. You didn't just quote TheRegister, did you?
belardo 6 years ago

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!
nearly nil 6 years ago

Don't get too excited about this folks. The error is caused by extreme power cycling. Yes, it should be fixed to avoid this bug, but it sounds like normal use will not sink the boat. We are, essentially, early adopters of SSDs right now, so it's not too surprising that these bugs are coming up. That said, power cycling seems like a very routine Quality Control test, so why didn't Intel find this error prerelease?
Netherscourge 6 years ago

...and the paid beta testing continues!
lethal decipher 6 years ago

I remember Western Digital spinners failing and showing up as 8MB failures...
nearly nil 6 years ago

lol related stories: Best SSDs for the money. Guess what gets big recommendation?
hakkafusion 6 years ago

i'm surprised with the amount of defective sandforce drives that just drop dead vs intel drives, the sandforce drives don't get a cover story but intel do
wiyosaya 6 years ago

Haha! I guess this is rather embarrassing to the behemoth, Intel.
Anonymous 6 years ago

After all,it's intel we are talking about,here, no surprises.
A bug here and there once in a while.
Cpu bugs,chipsets bugs,not news here.
but i want my data back ,i use them as a backup drive on an external case.
:-(
borisof007 6 years ago

Anyone remember the Sandy Bridge fiasco? Cmon people: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/sandy-bridge-cougar-point-chipset-sandy-bridge-recall,12123.html
lethal decipher 6 years ago

borisof007Anyone remember the Sandy Bridge fiasco? Cmon people: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/s [...] 12123.html

Not to get off subject but that isn't a common scenario!
eklipz330 6 years ago

damn that blows for intel, they probably haven't announced it so their stocks don't drop lol
reggieray 6 years ago

I can hear greedy lawyers rubbing their hands together now.
DjEaZy 6 years ago

... sandforce rox... or the bug is jet to come...? wee will see...!
hellwig 6 years ago

Assuming you don't try to modify the drive in any way, I would assume the data is recoverable (perhaps re-flashing or replacing the controller). Maybe Intel would be so kind as to offer recovery services to the affected customers (and apparently, this isn't wide-spread, so it couldn't be that many people).

Still, don't know why you'd treat an SSD any different from other storage, i.e., MAKE BACKUPS!
lethal decipher 6 years ago

hellwig...Still, don't know why you'd treat an SSD any different from other storage, i.e., MAKE BACKUPS!

SSDs will outlast humans and most importantly roaches!
Yuka 6 years ago

So much for a billion dollar R&D company, huh.

Cheers!
xrodney 6 years ago

nearly nilDon't get too excited about this folks. The error is caused by extreme power cycling. Yes, it should be fixed to avoid this bug, but it sounds like normal use will not sink the boat. We are, essentially, early adopters of SSDs right now, so it's not too surprising that these bugs are coming up. That said, power cycling seems like a very routine Quality Control test, so why didn't Intel find this error prerelease?

Well SSD is already after early adopt stage being on market for 4 years.
darkphox 6 years ago

This happened to my wife's 120GB last night. Trust me, there is nothing excessive about her 'power cycling'. She turns it on during the day, and off at night. While it may not be widespread, it is a B.S. problem that Intel needs to fix.

Hoping my 160gb lasts until the supposed firmware update...my wife's lasted a little over a month. Feeling like mine is on borrowed time right now...

Display All 48 comments

Display more comments