New Firmware for Samsung 960 PRO/EVO

So today I noticed that there is a new firmware for both the Samsung 960 PRO and 960 EVO.

I have 2 Samsung 960 PROs in RAID 0 so obviously I know that installing Samsung Magician to perform the update won't work since Samsung Magician does not recognize SSDs in RAID mode.

Here is how I updated both drives.

1) There is a data loss risk so I recommend you backup your stuff (I personally don't but don't say you have not been warned if you lose your data)

2) Download the firmware ISO for your SSDs (PRO or EVO) from here from the Samsung SSD Firmware Updates for Windows Users: http://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/download/tools.html

3) Insert any flash drive that you may have lying around and format it in FAT32

4) Download Rufus Portable and run it as admin

5) Follow the below illustration:



6) You may be prompted to download additional files by Rufus, allow it to do that and if given a choice to which method you want to burn the ISO to the flash disk, just stick to the default (recommended)

7) Reboot your computer and enter BIOS

8) Change your boot mode from RAID to AHCI (just temporarily for the flash process)

9) While you're still in the BIOS, also change from UEFI to Legacy mode otherwise you won't be able to boot into the flash drive you just created

10) Save the changes and exit then keep bashing the key which corresponds to the boot menu options on your laptop, Google it if you don't know or refer to your laptop's user manual. For MSI laptops, you need to keep bashing the F11 key to get the boot menu options, for Clevo laptops, keep bashing the F7 key

11) Once you boot off that USB Flash Drive, hit any key to continue, the ISO updater will scan for the respective Samsung SSD and prompt you to upgrade, press Y then hit enter to continue, then hit Y again to acknowledge the warning that you may lose your data.

12) If you have multiple Samsung SSDs like I do, you will be prompted to flash the next drive

13) After the firmware update has been done, you will be prompted to reboot

14) As soon as you reboot, enter BIOS again

15) Change the boot from AHCI back to RAID and form Legacy back to UEFI

16) Save changes and exit

17) Done! Be brave....be like Phoenix ......

 

Nice! Thanks! I will check it out. It will be even easier for me since I run Legacy BIOS with AHCI already.

 

Hi Phoenix,
Could you please confirm that whether I have the latest version, the version currently I have is 2B7QCXE7 and the Samsung iso also the same.

 

You have the latest version my friend.

 

Thank you

 

Mission accomplished. Nothing to be afraid of, guys. Gracias, amigo.

 

Bro, I used to create a backup of my base image with no drivers/software installed in like 55-59 seconds, now the backup completed in 35 seconds after this new firmware!

 

Keep these real world 'benchmark scores' coming - this is what is important - not how fast it can theoretically go...

Could you tell us what software you used and platform? Along with the size of the finished BU file?

Thanks.

 

Very true man, synthetic benchmarks may have not even improved other than a slight bump in 4K Random read speed and maybe that was just a margin of error

I was booted in UEFI on Windows 10, C: partiiton was 20 GB (hiberfil.sys disabled)

No drivers or software installed. Just Macrium Reflect Home v7

Compression chosen (none, I don't compress the base image as it's small anyway)

Image File Size after creation of the image = 9.84GB

A bit confusing why the image is smaller since I chose no compression, but it is what it is

 

And Samsung continue as usual...
Latest Samsung 960 Pro Firmware Update Causes Application Freezes, Instability (Wednesday, November 29th 2017)

"Samsung''s 960 Pro firmware can't be rolled back by users to a previous version, though, so take this post as a heads-up and maybe wait for a newer firmware revision, just to play it safe."

 

Rule #1...


Updating firmware when the firmware you have is functioning correctly borders on stupid. Only if it fixes something already broken or offers proven performance enhancements is it an intelligent move. Newer is frequently NOT better. This frequently applies to drivers as well.

 

More info and possible fix for people who Love Samsung’s own Bloatware... Magician.

 

We all know Samsung Magician is NEVER wrong.

 

Yeah, and don’t forget all the sheep who bragged about high ASSD scores from their ssd’s ram

 

@Mr. Fox Try AS SSD 2.x and you will see hell lot of improvements and even get insane access times.
Maybe Samsung is releasing new drives and releasing hidden potential of 960 SSDs.

 

It is a little bit better than the older version. Thanks!

 

New 960 Pro firmware, 4B6QCXP7, is being released through Magician (5.2 only) , in waves to fix the previous firmware update bugs.

Unfortunately I can't install it yet as I'm on RAId and Samsung Magician can't see my SSDs in RAID so I'll have to wait for the seperate firmware ISO to update

 

Shrink your volume to the size of one SSD. Make a Macrium Image. Break the RAID array, change to AHCI and restore the image. First boot, go into Safe Mode and let Windows 10 adjust for the boot protocol change. Update the firmware in AHCI mode, then recreate the RAID membership and restore the image. Expand the volume to consume the unallocated disk space.

Or, if you are not experiencing any issues (my 960 Pros work great with old firmware) just ignore the fact that they have firmware update. If you don't need it, you don't need it.

 

Follow up on the web the first few days to see if you get a gain or only problems if you update. No point in update if all you get is nothing!!

 

It can't get any worse than this

 

Lower performance before the refreshed Pro being pushed out

 

Upgraded my firmware successfully, here's the full story