Firmware update now available - Addresses Bad Context 13x Error

[Alan_F_Intel]

Status:

Intel has posted a firmware update for the Intel® SSD 320 Series (firmware 4PC10362) which addresses the Bad Context 13x Error being discussed on the Communities site and elsewhere. You can download the new firmware here:

http://www.intel.com/go/ssdfirmware www.intel.com/go/ssdfirmware

Also posted at this link are Read Me, Release Notes, and SSD Firmware Update Tool Guidelines which provide detailed firmware update instructions and other relevant information such as the most current firmware revision available.

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

In order to provide the best user experience, Intel always recommends users download and install the latest firmware. As with any storage device, Intel recommends users frequently back up their data and periodically check for firmware updates. The http://www.intel.com/go/ssdtoolbox Intel® SSD Toolbox provides a host of utilities to monitor your SSD, including displaying detailed information such as the currently installed firmware revision.

What should I do if I have already experienced this issue?

If you have already experienced a drive failure or encounter this problem before the firmware update was 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 new firmware. The 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" caused by 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,

Alan

NVM Solutions Group

[idata]

Hi All,

Get a new 320 120 Gb SSD (not installed yet) and flashed it succesfully with the new FW.

This week i'm getting my new laptop (Elitebook 8740w) for my work, so i'm preparing for installation, which take me lots of time to finetune it etcetera. Of course i will keep OS and Data seperated (2nd drive).

Now i've read some new problems after the new FW-release. I'm curious -> Is it still advisable to use this SSD?

I think for myself i install (basic) anyway and test it for a couple of weeks, see if any problems arise.

Regards

Eric

Netherlands

[idata]

What is advisable nowaday's.....

Last saturday I finished the installation of a factory new 80GB 320 SSD in my new Lenovo X210i notebook. (had it on the shelf for 4 weeks waiting for the new firmware to arrive)

1. First applied the new firmware on the new unformatted SDD, out of the box.

2. Placed the unformatted SDD in my X201i notebook and reinstalled the factory supplied W7-32bit SW + Lenovo SW.

3. Applied all the W7 maintenance including SP1 + follow on.

4. Applied all the Lenove Driver/tools maintenance.

5. Installed all my user sw products + their data.

All together 10 hours intensive SW installation work. Notebook is now in production for 2 day's and no problems so far.

So I took the jump and now I keep my fingers crossed combined with a recent backup on a switchable 2.5" hdd!

[idata]

I update my 64x 320er Series 160GB SSDs. First 8 pieces are stress testing now for 2 days in Raid10 ( Adaptec 5805 ) with bonnie++. Also i plug out the power cord while stress testing to simulate an power failure. But no one of the 8 SSDs have the 8MB failure. With the old firmware after 2h stress testing with bonnie++ the first SSDs getting broken. For us it seems that the firmware update had solve our problem. I think its to early to say everything its okay, but it looks good.

[idata]

Thank you for your efforts, this is valueable information.

[CWete]

@desiderius

Could you keep us posted about your testing?

Have any drives failed thusfar?