Intel Halts SSD Sales Due to Data Loss Errors
source: http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news...oss+Errors.htm
Quote:
Intel Halts SSD Sales Due to Data Loss Errors
Problem only emerges under one certain condition, but it was enough to force Intel to halt shipments.
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August 3, 2009
By Andy Patrizio: More stories by this author:
Intel has halted shipments of its new X25-M and X18-M solid state-disk drives (SSDs) after discovering a problem that could cause data corruption. The new drives were the result of a joint venture with Micron Technology and used a new 34 nanometer manufacturing process that was supposed to offer more storage density at a lower cost.
Unfortunately, that also opened things up to a problem. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) found that if a user sets up a BIOS (define) password on the SSD, then disables or changes the password, the contents of the drive become corrupted and irretrievably lost.
This problem only occurs when a password is used, so for customers who already have a drive, Intel says don't set up a password until it can issue a firmware update in the next few weeks. The update will come from Intel's support page.
Intel said it has found the cause and a fix is under way, but it felt it best to remove unsold drives from the marketplace. "It made sense to pause shipments and implement the changes ourselves and via customers versus asking consumers to do so. Keep in mind the fix has been identified and validation is undergoing completion over the next week," said an Intel spokesman in an e-mailed statement to InternetNews.com.
First from the joint venture
The new X25-M and X18-M SSDs are the first under a joint venture with Micron to use Micron's 34nm lithography. Previous generations of Intel SSDs were based on 50-nanometer lithography technology. This new design makes for a 25 percent reduction in latency, Intel claims, plus the ability to perform up to 35,000 read IOPS (I/O Operations Per Second).
The new drives have been on the market for less than a month. The 80GB X25-M sells to resellers for $225 and the 160GB X18-M sells for $440.
This is not the first time Intel's X25-M and X18-M SSDs have had problems. The first generation of drives released last year suffered from fragmentation issues, which resulted in performance degradation over time. Intel issued a firmware upgrade to fix that problem.
Intel Halts SSD Sales Due to Data Loss Errors
Problem only emerges under one certain condition, but it was enough to force Intel to halt shipments.
Share this Article
Digg Del.icio.us Newsvine Facebook Google LinkedIn MySpace Redit Slashdot StumbleUpon Technorati Twitter Windows Live YahooBuzz FriendFeed
Print this Article
Comment on this article
Email this Article
August 3, 2009
By Andy Patrizio: More stories by this author:
Intel has halted shipments of its new X25-M and X18-M solid state-disk drives (SSDs) after discovering a problem that could cause data corruption. The new drives were the result of a joint venture with Micron Technology and used a new 34 nanometer manufacturing process that was supposed to offer more storage density at a lower cost.
Unfortunately, that also opened things up to a problem. Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) found that if a user sets up a BIOS (define) password on the SSD, then disables or changes the password, the contents of the drive become corrupted and irretrievably lost.
This problem only occurs when a password is used, so for customers who already have a drive, Intel says don't set up a password until it can issue a firmware update in the next few weeks. The update will come from Intel's support page.
Intel said it has found the cause and a fix is under way, but it felt it best to remove unsold drives from the marketplace. "It made sense to pause shipments and implement the changes ourselves and via customers versus asking consumers to do so. Keep in mind the fix has been identified and validation is undergoing completion over the next week," said an Intel spokesman in an e-mailed statement to InternetNews.com.
First from the joint venture
The new X25-M and X18-M SSDs are the first under a joint venture with Micron to use Micron's 34nm lithography. Previous generations of Intel SSDs were based on 50-nanometer lithography technology. This new design makes for a 25 percent reduction in latency, Intel claims, plus the ability to perform up to 35,000 read IOPS (I/O Operations Per Second).
The new drives have been on the market for less than a month. The 80GB X25-M sells to resellers for $225 and the 160GB X18-M sells for $440.
This is not the first time Intel's X25-M and X18-M SSDs have had problems. The first generation of drives released last year suffered from fragmentation issues, which resulted in performance degradation over time. Intel issued a firmware upgrade to fix that problem.
Comments
http://www.engadget.com/2009/07/27/b...-launch-party/
The data loss title is a bit misleading as it only affects Windows users who set BIOS passwords on the drive, which is an unlikely occurrence.
They said a patch would be out within a fortnight so it should be anytime now and shipments will start back up. I wouldn't say this issue was as bad as the fragmentation issue they had last generation, which was also fixed with a firmware update.