Phison, a major SSD controller manufacturer, is attributing recent reports of SSD failures following Windows 11 security updates to reviewers using early, pre-release firmware and BIOS versions. Michael Wu, GM and President of Phison US, stated that these “performance preview drives” are not representative of the final firmware distributed to consumers.
The Verge reported Wu’s statement, where he urged reviewers experiencing issues to update to the latest channel firmware available through manufacturer-provided utilities. This comes after some reports surfaced suggesting a link between Windows 11 security updates and SSD problems.
YouTuber JayzTwoCents highlighted a Crucial T500 drive with a Phison E25 controller failing after the latest Windows 11 security updates, requiring a power cycle to recover. However, it remains unclear whether JayzTwoCents was using pre-release SSD firmware or a preliminary motherboard BIOS.
Phison replicated issues reported by the PCDIY! community and traced them back to engineering preview firmware. According to Wu, PCDIY! was using engineering preview firmware and not the final firmware found on consumer-grade Corsair Force Series MP600 SSD 2TB drives and other E16-controller drives. Phison’s internal tests on consumer SSDs with the final firmware revealed no crashes or failures.
Late last month, Microsoft stated that it had found no connection between its security updates and the reported drive failures. Despite Microsoft’s statement, many users, including prominent YouTubers, continue to blame Microsoft for the SSD issues, a reaction that is not surprising given the company’s history of problematic Windows updates.
