SandForce Identifies Firmware Bug Causing BSOD Issue, Fix Available Today

@ 2011/10/18
After months of end user complaints, SandForce has finally duplicated, verified and provided a fix for the infamous BSOD/disconnect issue that affected SF-2200 based SSDs. The root cause is a bug in the firmware, although specifics are pretty slim. The typically sparse release notes just state a rare condition resulting in a blue screen error has now been addressed. OCZ has been testing the fix in-house for the past three weeks and now believes it is fit for public release. SandForce is simultaneously releasing the firmware to its partners, so if you have non-OCZ drives you should contact your drive manufacturer for an availability update.

The new firmware is version 2.15 for OCZ drives and 3.3.2 for drives that use SF's standard numbering system. It's important to note that the fix here is for the bug that SF discovered and may not solve all pending issues. Given the extremely long discovery and fix time for this issue I still believe the best policy towards SandForce drives is one of caution, at least until we start hearing from users as to whether or not this fix worked (and didn't create any new issues).

Update: OCZ sent along its official statement -
OCZ is pleased to announce that the cause of a BSOD issue experienced by some SF-2000-based drive owners has been identified by OCZ and SandForce. A new firmware update which directly addresses this BSOD occurrence related to SF-2000 based SSDs is available here. All newly manufactured OCZ SF-2000 based SSDs will feature the new 2.15 firmware revision (which is based on SandForce firmware version 3.3.2.) We highly recommend that any customers that have experienced the BSOD issue update their firmware to 2.15.

We sincerely appreciate the support from our customers, and if any customers have any questions or require additional support please do not hesitate to contact a customer service representative and we will be happy to address any questions or concerns.

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