Western Digital releases fix for Windows 11 24H2 BSODs — users are strongly advised to update their SSD firmware

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Updating the firmware does come at the risk of total data corruption.

Western Digital SSD
(Image credit: Western Digital)

Western Digital finally solved the BSOD problem with its HMB-equipped SSD lineup. The affected users have been urged to update their SSD firmware immediately, straight from the horse's mouth.

Many reports sprung up on the Western Digital community forums about continuous BSODs on updating to the latest Windows 11 24H2 update. The culprit was a misconfigured HMB (Host Memory Buffer) allocation, which was fixable through a minor registry edit. However, since only WD and SanDisk NVMes were the affectees, it appears that there was an underlying problem in the firmware on some models, which are as follows:

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NameModel Number Starting WithUpdated Firmware Version
WD_BLACK SN770 NVMe SSD 2TB WDBBDL0020BNC, WDS200T3X0E 731130WD
WD_BLACK SN770M NVMe SSD 2TB WDBDNH0020BBK, WDS200T3X0G 731130WD
WD Blue SN580 NVMe SSD 2TB WDBWMY0020BBL, WDS200T3B0E 281050WD
WD Blue SN5000 NVMe SSD 2TB WDBS3F0020BNC, WDS200T4B0E 291020WD
SanDisk Extreme M.2 NVMe SSD 2TB SDSSDX3N-2T00 731130WD

If your SSD is on the aforementioned list, then the resolution is that you must update your firmware, which may result in a complete data loss. The process is simple and can be done in just a few minutes. We should also inform users that systems with affected models might be unable to update to the latest version of Windows 11 until the SSD firmware is updated.

How to Update the Firmware on Affected Western Digital / SanDisk SSDs

  1. Download and install the Western Digital Dashboard for Windows (macOS is not supported).
  2. If you are worried about the potential loss of data in the worst-case scenario, backup your SSD to another drive.
  3. In the Western Digital Dashboard, navigate to the "Tools" section to see if any firmware update is available. If so, click on "UPDATE FIRMWARE."
  4. Once the update has been finished, you'll be prompted to shut down your system. Once powered on again, the SSD firmware will have been updated.

It is pertinent to mention that the registry fix is still applicable. However, that appears to be a stopgap solution rather than a permanent fix. Admittedly, a large disclaimer stating the risk of losing your data is a jagged pill to swallow. However, this is not a first occurrence, as Samsung users were required to download a new firmware ASAP just last year, or their SSDs were on a certain track to failure, literally.

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Hassam Nasir
Hassam Nasir
Contributing Writer

Hassam Nasir is a die-hard hardware enthusiast with years of experience as a tech editor and writer, focusing on detailed CPU comparisons and general hardware news. When he’s not working, you’ll find him bending tubes for his ever-evolving custom water-loop gaming rig or benchmarking the latest CPUs and GPUs just for fun.

10 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Makaveli
    Thankfully my 850X is not affected by this.

    Still on Win 10 also :)
    Reply
  • Pierce2623
    There are SO MANY gaming machines on 2TB sn770s as it has basically the best random iOPS performance out of any of the budget gen4 drives while being nearly as cheap as the TeamGroup and Crucial budget drives. That’s terrible. I’ve got a machine with one as the OS drive. Oh joy.
    Reply
  • Lafong
    Hmmm..................

    Per the table in the link:

    Only drives affected are 2 TB in capacity.

    Other sizes don't need the fix.
    Reply
  • bourgeoisdude
    Yup this explains the bsod issues when I was trying the insider builds. Will definitely update my 770 2TB before the 24h2.
    Reply
  • logainofhades
    Thankfully I don't have any WD drives.
    Reply
  • Diceman_2037
    The firmware does not fix the issue, it works around it by restricting it to 64MB pending investigation and fix.
    Reply
  • DaveM1485
    I have two of the affected drives, both mounted in UGreen external enclosures for use with Win11 laptops. After the warranty runs out on the laptops, I plan to use them to replace the OEM drives. Will the firmware update work with the external enclosures? If not, I have two 2TB drives that I can't use for the next 8 1/2 to 9 months.
    Reply
  • Royalgipsy
    Well that aged like milk fortunately Diceman, there was a new firmware update and even a Dashboard update for this issue the very evening you wrote the comment that the firmware did not fix the issue.
    Unfortunately the list of discs affected is a lot longer than in the article, and there is a missunderstanding that it is only affecting 2TB units from someone using 2TB units as model examples.. I just learned from Sandisk support that even my old WDC BLUE SN550 is one of them, and it causes crashes and bluescreens only by being in the system and used for downloads and a couple of games. ... So expect that a substantial part of the affected discs are just being updated before people realize there was a problem. Many people just swap them and think it propably was worn out. Because that is the fast and easy way, and they will rather do that than dealing with customer supports or warranty service that propably is taking time, and they need the PC to be stable and working YESTERDAY, since most of us use it for several things work and privately related stuff. This was discovered very early fortunately. And I don't believe for a second that the companies does not take advantage of the situation that people think their older units that is known only by a few people yet to be affected are not known. They happily sell you a new SSD rather than banging the big drum and tell people in a press release that EVERYONE that has a WDC nvme SSD in their system should download the software named Dashboard from WDC/Sandisc site and upgrade the firmware, and the fix is aplied in 5 seconds max!
    Anyhow here is the link.
    https://support-en.sandisk.com/app/answers/detailweb/a_id/51469/~/internal-ssd-critical-firmware-update-available-for-solving-bsod-on-windows-11
    Reply
  • wrerkec
    This explains problems I saw when MS Upgraded my system to 24H2 earlier this year and it started BSOD with every single reboot. They finally shot up a dialog saying basically "This has not gone well, would you like to return to 23H2?" Hell yes.

    Oh, and the fact that Samsung fracked up a year ago isn't an excuse for WD to threaten us with data loss for their (or MS's) mess.
    Reply
  • Pierce2623
    DaveM1485 said:
    I have two of the affected drives, both mounted in UGreen external enclosures for use with Win11 laptops. After the warranty runs out on the laptops, I plan to use them to replace the OEM drives. Will the firmware update work with the external enclosures? If not, I have two 2TB drives that I can't use for the next 8 1/2 to 9 months.
    Yes it will. It will just be slower funneling everything through usb but if you’re using external drives then you’re already used to that.
    Reply