Firmware Updates for Samsung M.2/PCIe SSDs (where to get and how to do)

System Performance Solid State Drives
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Hello everyone, I have searched for a week and a half a suitable firmware for both versions (AHCI/NVME) of SM951 M.2 SSD. So I discovered that there are different firmwares for this OEM’s piece, we have the originals dispached by Samsung wich puts: 00, 01 at the end of the model number, others from Lenovo with L1, and HP with H1 code at the end. Talking about the firmwares, here’s a table (for the 256GB) describing each model and firmware:

Samsung SM951 Model ---- Firmware ---- Comments

MZHPV256HDGL-00000 ---- BXW2500Q ---- Original (could be a new one or old, only FW shared by both models NVME/AHCI)
MZVPV256HDGL-00000 ---- BXW7300Q ---- Original (new or BXW7000Q old)
MZHPV256HDGL-000L1 ---- BXW24L0Q ---- Lenovo (included in the Firmware utility)
MZVPV256HDGL-000L1 ---- 6L0QBXX7 ---- Lenovo (5L0QBXX7 older firmware)
MZHPV256HDGM-000H1 ---- BXW23H0Q ---- HP (HP Z Turbo Drive G2)
MZHPV256HDGL-000H1 ---- BXW24H0Q ---- HP
MZVPV256HDGL-000H1 ---- BXW74H0Q ---- HP
MZVPV256HDGL-000D1 ---- BXW75D0Q ---- DELL (Latest Firmware for NVME drives)

This is a preliminary list of the SM951 models, don’t confuse with other models like the PM951 or the XP941. These models are similar, but not the same and you have to differentiate between the AHCI and NVME models. The AHCI models start with MZHPV model number, and NVME with MZVPV. I have to point this because you can flash the wrong firmware, also the model and firmware numbers are printed on the label of each unit. I found a utility to flash and BACKUP the firmware on the Lenovo website, and I added the DOS utility from Samsung Magician too. Here’s the file:

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PD: I think that the firmware can be interchangeable, so you can backup your firmware with this utility and post it here. Find the firmware that suits your model and upgrade, as example the BXW2500Q (01/2015) is the latest firmware for AHCI SM951 and BXW74H0Q (09/2015) is for NVME SM951. We’ll develop a firmware database for this particular model specially to fix FUA write error with NVME models, good luck…

Update: There are some errors with the Lenovo utility, it only allows the user to update and backup the firmware in Lenovo systems. This is the error code:"[Update Fail]Error Code8:Invalid argument". So, we need an expert coder like Lordkang or SonicX to MOD this utility to allow us to backup and update the SM951 firmware from other systems. Thank you!!

UDU.jpg



EDIT by Fernando: The thread title has been customized by me to open this thread for Firmware update requests regarding all Samsung M.2/PCIe SSDs.

SM951_firmware_utility.zip (4.82 MB)

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@Stickmode ,
I have a Samsung SM951 AHCHI 512GB Firmware BXW2500Q
I am always asking for is this firmware can be updated.

1) For this model, is it the most up to date version for this model ?

2) I had tried in the past to test what is the Samsung Magician DOS utility, but never succeed it to use it.
What Magician version do you refer ?

3

Hello,
where can you download the firmwares? And can someone explain the advantages of the new firmware? Is the drive getting less hot?
Thanks and kind regards,
Jan

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Well, I have the same model and yes it can be updated to BXW2700Q, BXW27H0Q, or BXW27L0Q. The problem is that we have to find an user with a SM951 AHCI model that has this firmware pre-installed, and tell him to make a backup (with the utility) and post it here in this forum, so we can create a firmware database and help other people with older firmwares update to the latest. Long time ago I saw a SM951 with this firmware on Ebay, but then it was sold. So I recommend to check the drive label and check the firmware printed there before buying. The Samsung Magician (ver.4.9.6) doesn’t support OEM models like this, it only shows the firmware version but it can’t update the firmware, the DOS utility is used to check and backup the firmware (with hidden commands) only if the Lenovo utility doesn’t work. In this case Samsung doesn’t support firmware updates by the user, but they continue releasing new versions of this model with updated firmware (pre-installed).

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As I explained, the firmwares have to be dumped for people that have this firmware pre-installed in their drives using the Lenovo utility, the point is to start backing up the firmware, then posting it here to make a database of those firmwares and use the utility to update your firmware that matches your model. Every firmware update has improvements over the older, for example the pre-installed firmware on 09/2015 is better than the 01/2015 firmware because it has a number of fixes like the temp correction.


SM951.jpg
SM951.jpg1552×505 135 KB

SM951_3.jpg
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PD: Another example could be someone with BXW23H0Q firmware could update to BXW24L0Q, all firmwares are similar and the utility already has this file included, you have to check the middle numbers because the last digits only represent the OEM manufacturer (Samsung, Lenovo, HP).

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@Stickmode ,
Thanks for the reply.
The pre-installed FW on the SM951 AHCI 512GB I have is dated 2015-06.

Please, can you explain in detail what is the FW tool you provided ?
How to use it in detail ?
Is it a W10 x64 compatible tool ?

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Sure, first the SM951 model numbers are in sequence. What it means is: you have to follow the firmware numbers and its date, don’t take in consideration the last digit numbers that are from the manufacturer, but the firmware is the same like BWX27L0Q is the same as BWX27H0Q (only differs the manufacturer). The sequence what means is the date of the firmware from the older to the newer as BWX2300Q is older than BWX2500Q. Do you get it?.
Second, the Lenovo firmware update utility allow us to update the firmware and is for WINDOWS, the issue we have is: the tool doesn’t allow to BACKUP the firmware for systems that aren’t from Lenovo. So, we need urgently an expert CODER to unlock this feature, and allow us to backup the firmwares wich we need to start developing the firmware database. For example, I’d backup my BWX2500Q firmware to post it here and allow someone with older firmware upgrade it with this firmware. Do you know what I mean?.
The Magician DOS can backup the firmware, but it uses HIDDEN COMMANDS to do so, if not an error appears and the utility closes. Again, we need a CODER to reveal these commands and finally backup the firmware.

PD: This is the only forum that have this topic around the web, you won’t find another like this even searching for weeks. I have been contacted by a member of "Overclock.net:SM951 owners club", and they plan to help us making the firmware database. We just have to wait for them…

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So your saying you can flash a non-Lenovo firmware but just can’t back it up? Or perhaps you installed a non Lenovo oem drive and wish to back up the firmware??

Couple ideas… perhaps install the m.2 drive in a clone via a pcie adapter card and use any software tools that may be out there to rip the firmware. Or perhaps mod the backup tool by negating the line of code that checks for manufacturer and see if that works. Problem is if it’s compiled code that would be tough to do vs modding a script…

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Thanks for your response Davidm71, exactly; the Lenovo firmware utility allows to update the firmware, even if your system isn’t from Lenovo (SSDs included), the backup process is different if your system isn’t Lenovo, then you can’t backup your firmware. Only if you’re using a Lenovo system you can do that, and that is exactly what we wanted to do. Take a look of the files inside the package, and you’ll see three executable files FWWinup.exe, FWWinup_11.exe, and FWWinup_11a.exe witch are related to the Lenovo utility. If you use 7zip you can uncompress these files and see different codes inside in HEX. I think one of these has the Device address to detect the flash ROM inside the drive controller and the scripts to backup (dump) and flash (update) the firmware.

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@Stickmode ,
On my PCs (non Lenovo) when I try to start any of the 3 executable files you refer nothing happen…
I would like to see first if this Windows tool does detect a SM951 AHCI device, and does able to display what is the current FW.

Please, can you provide a screenshot of what you get when you start this tool ?

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Yes, the tool is "fwwinsd.exe" wich is a GUI with dependency to the three files. So, to run the utility it needs the other files in the same folder, also the "fwwinsd.pro" file too. You can see the picture in the first post. The drive is detected, but cannot update the firmware because there isn’t a newer firmware in the FW folder.

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@Stickmode
Thanks for the reply.

I am sorry, the folder content is not as you describe, no “fwwinsd.exe” file, no fwwinsd.pro" file ?
[[File:lenovoTool.PNG|none|auto]]

The link provided gives an incomplete software tool.
Here is the link I found:
FWSD36

Here is my screenshot:

FWSD36_LENOVO.PNG

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Ok, I’ll update the content folder. Yes, the FWSD36 is the main archive because this utility not only allows us to update SM951 drives, but other drives too. So, I just extract the contents related to the SM951, if you check the “fwwinsd.exe” and “fwwinsd.pro” are already there. Also, you can mod the “fwwinsd.pro” due this file is in reality a config file where you can customise the Lenovo utility settings. As I did, I greyed-out the “start-update” button. But, in this case I’ll downgrade to BXW24L1Q firmware wich is the only firmware available with this utility. That is why we need to dump (backup) the current firmware of our SM951 drives to more firmwares be available for flashing (update).

Config.JPG

Config.jpg




What this code line means:
#### Samsung SM951 256GB #####
“SAMSUNG MZHPV256HDGL-000L1”,“BXW22L0Q”,“BXW24L0Q”,“BXW24L0Q_0116_DL.ENC”,“fwwinupdater_v11.exe”,"",“S”,“Samsung”
;
; #### Samsung SM951 512GB #####
“SAMSUNG MZHPV512HDGL-000L1”,“BXW22L0Q”,“BXW24L0Q”,“BXW24L0Q_0116_DL.ENC”,“fwwinupdater_v11.exe”,"",“S”,“Samsung"

If we have for example the MZHPV256HDGL-000L1 model with firmware BXW22L0Q or BXW24L0Q then update to BXW24L0Q_0116_DL.ENC firmware file, using the “fwwinupdater_v11.exe”, I don’t know the ,” “, signal maybe is the interface found, and the “S” the command to flash the firmware.
So, if I want to downgrade my firmware to BXW24L0Q then I mod this line like this:

“SAMSUNG MZHPV256HDGL-00000”,“BXW2500Q”,“BXW24L0Q”,“BXW24L0Q_0116_DL.ENC”,“fwwinupdater_v11.exe”,”",“S”,"Samsung"
And the Start button greyed-out, do you get it?

The exe file that does all the work is “fwwinupdater_v11.exe”, wich is a flashing tool and as every flashing tool it uses commands to flash and BACKUP the firmwares, this is the file we need to be modded by an expert coder to find the BACKUP COMMAND that allows us dump the firmware of our SM951 drives.

PD: I’ll try other methods to DUMP (Backup) the drive firmware like: FlashRom, Flash, Uniflash, Flasher, and Winloader. If I have success I let you know, if you know any method that works post your results here in this forum’s topic.

Update: No luck, these tools doesn’t work with NAND flash located inside the Samsumg UBX controller. It needs a special code interface to dump the firmware, I discovered another tool “NVMEPCISSD.EXE” on the Dell forums that allows to backup the firmware, but only works with NVME drives not AHCI. I’ll let you know if it works.

Thank you!!

14

Happy new year everyone!!

I’m still waiting for our friends of Overlockers.com to help us find a way to dump the firmware. So, I need the help of everyone in this forum for clues of how to do this job, what utilities we need, and the help of an expert coder to create a utility for this purpose or moddify the “firmwareupdaterv11”, with your help we’ll get the firmwares as soon as possible.

Thank you!!

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@Stickmode Hello. I have a friend with Lenovo laptop. I would like to help out and get his firmware. What’s the procedure to back it up?
Thank you

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@kochevnik :
Welcome at Win-RAID Forum!
I hope, that you will get the requested informations from our Forum member Stickmode.
Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)

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Hello Kochevnik, tell your friend to open a ticket from Lenovo tech support. Telling them that he has a NVMe SM951 M.2 SSD (MZVPV256HDGL-000L1), and he’d use the FWSD36 firmware update utility to update his M.2 drive, but first he’d like to BACKUP his firmware. How to do that with this firmware update utility.
The reason I’m asking you this, because this tool updates the firmware of our drives, but we need the latest firmwares first to upgrade our drives. We have to DUMP the firmware and start sharing it to make a firmware database, due Samsung doesn’t officialy support this drive model and they will never do. Only third parties like Lenovo, HP, and Dell could offer firmware updates; but these firmwares also work with standard drives with the same model number.



Thank you!!

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Hi Fernando, thanks to be here in this forum’s topic. I’d like to ask you about "fwwinupdater_v11.exe" utility wich is the core to update the firmware of our SM951 drives. As I know every firmware update tool can upgrade the firmware and also backup this, if so there is a command to backup hidden in this tool. We just need to discover it, how to do that?, as I’m a nebbie coder I need your help or someone that can help us discover this command to finally start to update our drives.

Greetings

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@Stickmode :
Usually you will get the different command paramerter options of Firmware Update Utilities listed by entering a hyphen (or a slash) and a question mark behind the exe file.
Command example: xyz.exe -?

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The tools you linked have no way to read from the NAND flash they can just "Download" aka flash a firmware file in chunks to the controller.
Is there any proof that lenovo offers a possibility to backup the old firmware ?
Because having the decompiled C code in front of me that seems unlikely…