SSD failures with Phison controllers on Windows 11 are related to firmware and BIOS

Reports have been circulating online about a Windows 11 issue that appeared after the recent KB5063878 and KB5062660 updates, causing some SSDs using Phison controllers to fail. While many users have blamed Microsoft for the issue, Phison has said that the problem lies in earlier versions of the firmware and BIOS, The Verge reports.

"Many of the reports originate from media testing conducted on hardware running early versions of firmware and BIOS. These versions are performance preview drives and are not identical to those provided to end users through official distribution channels. We have observed that outdated firmware is still being used on some SSDs and we encourage any reviewers facing this to leverage updated channel firmware readily available through manufacturer-provided update utilities," Phison US President Michael Wu said in a statement to The Verge.

The SSD failure issue gained traction after YouTuber JayzTwoCents released a video about errors caused by Windows updates. The creator demonstrated a Crucial T500 SSD failing after a Windows update, but did not specify which BIOS or software version he was using. Even so, Phison was able to reproduce the issue, which was also reported by the PCDIY! community, and found that it was related to the engineering system firmware.

"Phison examined the exact SSDs used in the PCDIY! testing and determined PCDIY! was utilizing an engineering preview firmware, which is not the final firmware used in the Corsair Force Series MP600 SSD 2TB and other drives with the E16 controller available for sale to consumers on the market," Wu explains.

Phison also ran the same tests on consumer SSDs and found no failures or malfunctions. Microsoft also said late last month that it had found no connection between Windows updates and drive failures. However, despite this statement, many users blamed the operating system developer.