8/13 Update on "Bad Context 13x Error" for Intel SSD 320 Series

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Status:

Intel has reproduced, identified root cause, and developed a firmware update which addresses the Bad Context 13x Error being discussed on the Communities site and elsewhere.

Response plan:

The new firmware update is in final validation testing and is targeted for release on Intel® Communities within the next two weeks. Intel takes firmware updates and issues of reliability very seriously and is taking extra steps to support a smooth release. We appreciate your patience.

What should I do if I have not experienced this issue?

To minimize occurrence, if a system requires a shut down, Intel recommends using that system's standard power shut down sequence. As with any storage device, Intel recommends users frequently back up their data. Download and install the new firmware when it is available. As with our previous firmware updates, a secure erase is not required.

What should I do if I have experienced this issue?

If you have already experienced a drive failure or encounter this problem before the firmware update is released, please contact your Intel representative or Intel customer support (via web: http://www.intel.com/ www.intel.com or phone: http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/contact/phone www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/contact/phone) for an SSD replacement. An alternative option is to use the Intel ® SSD Toolbox or similar tools to perform a secure erase in order to restore the SSD to an operational state; all data will be erased. After secure erase, update your SSD with the upcoming firmware. The pending firmware update will not recover user data.

Background:

For users unfamiliar with the issue, an Intel SSD 320 Series drive may exhibit a drive capacity of 8MB and an electronic serial # field containing a message of "BAD_CTX 0000013x" due to an unexpected power loss under specific conditions. Once this error occurs, no data on the SSD can be accessed and the user cannot write to or read from the SSD.

Rgds,

Scott

Intel Corporation

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"defective hardware" is the new deus ex machina term used to deflect responsibility in this case. It has everything included into its meaning - the neglection that it could be a firmware error, the neglectionthat it could be a fault in the controller, the neglection that it could be a build error. No - none of that, it must be "defective hardware", and of couse - those effected must be "edge cases" because otherwise "we would have heard somehow".

And yes, the error code is the same, but the prublem must be a totaly different one - and its certainly not intels fault, that they've stated that they have fixed the 13x error, because of course they must have ment this one occurence, the one where they might have fixed the problem - of course this is all very unclear, because the rate of failures reported in this forum hasn't changed much since the firmwareupdate (which would only be applied by less than one percent of buyers - a perfect sample case for a placebo that fixes the reproducability in one malusage case at most).

Oh yes, and the strange decision to only show error codes in the firmwareupdate tool up to two digits less than are required to identify the 130x error is also an occurance of chance, of course - and with this new Windows toolbox whith this shiny new features - the problem must be alsmost solved, of course - but please backup anyway...

Language is such a beatiful playground. Too bad none of that changes the underlying fact that the 13x problem still persists, regardles of firmwareupdate or not, and that Intel PR went into silent mode shortly after news outlets pushed the generalized "all is fixed" stories -

But wait, let me not be unfair to one group of users - the ones who like to switch their laptops on and off, at a rate of several hundred bootcycles per minute - they might have recieved an extensive update to the longevity of their device. Consumers rejoice.

Just, don't buy the 320 drives. Realy. The problem rendering your stored data useless isn't solved.

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Fault appears to be a problem in the SMART. We can currently recover these drives using standard NAND flash recovery techniques.

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What are standard NAND flash recovery techniques?

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this is the third time since using the 320 ssd that i freaked out and it can't be coincidence:

first, i never had a crash on this 320 (300gb) i bought and installed on the 1ste of august this year

but today was the 3rd time i experienced the same 'problem'

the 'problem' is that on booting the system (a dell m6400 precesion laptop) the bios reports that the disk can't be found and that i have to reseat the disk and power off the system in order to be able to boot again... this happened after windows 7 x64 installed updates on shutdown of the system

so these updates must do something that makes the boot from the ssd fail (when this happens the disk 'light' also stays on until power off - in which case my heartbeat doubles)

what i don't understand is that by simply powering down and waiting some minutes and booting again all seems normal...

anyone that can confirm this behaviour?

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I just got exactly the same problem.

After running windows update on the last shut down, my system fails to boot with my 320 (600GB) SSD.

It also fails to complete the firmware upgrade. I run a lenovo W520.

It would be good if anyone else experiencing this problem also posts here so we can establish this as a common failure pattern ( If it is ).

Regards

Per