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December 19th, 2023 16:27
XPS 8960, Samung SSD 990 PRO 4TB, firmware update fails
XPS 8960
I have the Dell XPS 8960 and got the Samsung SSD 990 PRO with Heatsink 4TB: every time I boot my PC, the Samsung Magician pops up notifying me of an update, however when I try to apply this I'm getting a message that the update failed to update the firmware:
Has anyone run into this problem and how to resolve this?
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GSDoes
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December 19th, 2023 16:29
Vic384
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December 20th, 2023 01:49
@GSDoes I don't know why Samsung Magician fails to update the firmware but there is an alternative. If you go to: https://semiconductor.samsung.com/us/consumer-storage/support/tools/
there is an NVMe SSD-Firmware Installation Guide that uses another installation method using a firmware ISO available on the same page. I have never had an issue using Samsung Magician to update firmware but if you feel this update is important enough you can try this other method. By the way, Samsung Magician can only update SSD firmware on Windows & Mac PCs so other OSs have to use this other method.
One possible reason Samsung Magician may not work is that SATA operation should be set to AHCI. In the Samsung Magician manual under General Limitations, #6 says
RAID on mode in SATA configuration is not supported by Samsung Magician...".
(edited)
RoHe
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December 20th, 2023 20:43
To add to what @Vic384 said, do NOT simply change BIOS from RAID to AHCI because you'll make the PC unbootable.
If you decide that changing to AHCI is necessary/useful, there is a correct way to do it without losing all your data or requiring a re-install of Windows and apps...
Vic384
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December 20th, 2023 23:14
If you want to switch Windows from RAID to AHCI, here is the procedure: https://triplescomputers.com/blog/uncategorized/solution-switch-windows-10-from-raidide-to-ahci-operation/
Even though the title says Windows 10, as far as I can tell, the procedure is the same for Windows 11.
GSDoes
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February 5th, 2024 17:23
Switching the BIOS from RAID to AHCI resolved the Samsung update problem for me.
RoHe
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February 5th, 2024 19:41
Glad you got it sorted.
JerryK5
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September 8th, 2024 18:36
@Vic384 Just worked for me in an XPS 8960 Windows 11. I upgraded to 11 Pro to gain convenient control over bitlocker. After switching from RAID to ACHI, I was able to update firmware on a 2 TB Samsung SSD in Samsung Magician. Then I used a trial version of Macrium Reflect 8 to clone the Dell OEM 1 TB boot SSD to the 2 TB Samsung SSD. Then I removed Dell OEM 1 TB SSD and installed a 4 TB Samsung SSD. Everything is working perfectly. Thanks for posting this arcane and non-intuitive information!