New report blames Phison's pre-release firmware for SSD failures — not Microsoft’s August patch for Windows

The curious case of failing SSDs, following Microsoft’s August security patch for Windows, has once again taken an unexpected turn. According to the Chinese Facebook group PCDIY!, the root cause of the issue stems from pre-release engineering firmware on certain SSDs, which may have been triggered by the Windows 11 updates.

In a Facebook post, group admin Rose Lee said that the issue has been identified and additionally verified by Phison engineers, thereby giving credibility to the claims. Lee explains that testing done by PCDIY! revealed the SSD crashes tied to the Windows 11 update were occurring on drives running pre-release engineering firmware, not the final production version.

Since SSD manufacturers using Phison controllers source them directly from the original supplier and ship them in bulk with mass-production tools, the versions that reach consumers should already run the official firmware. This official firmware has been fully tested and verified, and does not show the anomalies sometimes found in engineering builds.

Last month, it was reported that Microsoft’s August Windows 11 update was causing peculiar SSD failures. Users claimed that their drives were disappearing after heavy file transfers, with some systems unable to recover even after a reboot. In response, Phison issued a statement after conducting over 4,500 hours of testing, claiming it was unable to reproduce the reported failures. The company suggested that thermal issues could be a contributing factor and even recommended that users employ heatsinks to avoid overheating during heavy workloads.

Microsoft later weighed in, firmly denying that its August update was responsible for the storage problems. The company said its investigation showed no connection between the security patch and SSD failures, dismissing the theory that the update had introduced a critical flaw.

With the latest finding by PCDIY! pointing towards pre-release engineering firmware as the likely cause, the story appears to have shifted once again. Essentially, end-users running SSDs with official production firmware should not experience any issues with their storage devices.

Having said that, the back-and-forth between user reports, lab testing by Phison, and Microsoft’s denials highlights how complicated it can be to pinpoint the source of storage failures, particularly when firmware, hardware, and operating system updates overlap.

We highly recommend that users update their SSD firmware if they encounter similar issues. Make sure to back up all important data beforehand, as a precaution.

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