0x00000f4 error on M4 64GB

[pamelaz]

Hi Ceedub,

Thanks for sharing your experience with the Community!

[slz]

Just a heads up incase you don't already know this, but this issue has spread on the internet like a virus. It's mentioned at pretty much every tech site on the net (including slickdeals, overclock.net, and tomshardware). Just search google for crucial m4 bug.

As I mentioned before, I was just about to buy an m4 when I heard this, so I'm guessing pretty much every enthusiast that visits those sites will be holding out until the fix is actually confirmed to work.

If you already know what the problem is, I'd recommend taking less than 10 days to test it because your reputation for reliability is being hurt by this. A lot of people are questioning if you're just trying to buy time to figure out what's wrong because for a problem this major, a company would be expected to be working 24/7 on it to get a fix out as soon as possible.

[DooRules]

Their reputation is just fine, lol.

[targetbsp]

I would argue that if the whole worlds eyes are on them like you say, it's better to make **bleep** sure the fix is as thoroughly tested as possible.

[Ceedub]

Micron/Crucial a solid company, the M4 is a solid drive. No worries here.

[jz78817]

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@Crucial_Dude wrote:

We are aware of an issue that is currently affecting a small number of users whereby their m4 causes their system to require a restart. This issue occurs after approximately 5,000 hours of actual “on time” use. Following the initial reboot, the system then requires subsequent restarts after each additional hour of use. However, the data on the SSD is unaffected and will not be lost due to this condition.

---

two questions, please- 

1) Are all M4 models potentially affected?  I have a 256 GB M4 (firmware 0001) and a 64 GB (firmware unknown.)  I'm only at 1421 hrs on the former and just got the latter, but the 256 is my main system drive and I really don't want to go through the hassle of a re-install. 

2) I take your word that the issue we're discussing won't result in data loss.  However, I'd like to know if updating the firmware will potentially result in data loss.  I've read in the past that other companies' (not naming names) SSDs might end up losing the data contained within if the firmware is updated.

EDIT:  I just found the firmware update guide on the Crucial site that says it shouldn't result in data loss (but backing up is strongly recommended.)  My second question above can be disregarded.

Thank you, 

Jim

[m4ssd256]

Hi RR4711,

regarding your post from 01-05-2012 02:05 PM:

have you already tried a different SATA-Cable and/or SATA-Port ?

I just ask, because your

C7 100 100 __1 000000000B42 Ultra DMA CRC Error Rate

can be the result of e.g. a defect SATA-Cable.

Greetings,

Andi

[kevindd992002]

Is this error present with the 128GB version of the Crucial M4 as well?

[RR4711]

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@m4ssd256 wrote:

Hi RR4711,

regarding your post from 01-05-2012 02:05 PM:

have you already tried a different SATA-Cable and/or SATA-Port ?

I just ask, because your

C7 100 100 __1 000000000B42 Ultra DMA CRC Error Rate

can be the result of e.g. a defect SATA-Cable.

Greetings,

Andi

---

Yes, plus I'm onto a new P67 motherboard right now (finally SATA 6GB/s). The CRC also made me suspicious, but this is probably the result of the old poor quality cable that came with the old mainboard (replaced it a while ago with a HQ cable).

Will undergo more tests when the FW update will be out. But thanks for the hint anyhow.

[mcdull]

"Crucial site that says it shouldn't result in data loss (but backing up is strongly recommended.)" is NOT exactly true.

In my server machine, one of the files which stores a program's state is corrupted, which probably because the machine crashed while it's being written. So the program lost its previously cached records. The bug in the SSD might not directly cause data loss but the side effects will.

My machine which acts as a personal ftp server, web server, file server, print server, DVR has to be shutdown now while waiting for a fix. I can only turn it on to finish my job for a moment and turn it off to finish my jobs.  I'm very frustrated and upset for the slow progress for Crucial to fix the problem.

I'm wondering how much damage it can cause if the drives are used in a commercial environment [Edited per Guidelines.]