We can do nothing else than you.
I received my PM961 today with ancient firmware (dating back to Jan 2017), so I flashed a more recent firmware onto it. A few findings (my own interpretation, only valid for PM961):
The drive I received is a MZVLW128HEGR-000L2 128GB, with stock firmware 4L1QCXB7. Looks like to be OEM’d by Lenovo. Seems like some vendors use different firmware for 128GB / 256GB / 512GB / 1TB. E.g. CXB7 indicates 128GB / 256GB FW, CXY7 indicates 512GB / 1TB.
I’m focusing on CXB7, as I own the 128GB model.
I was able to find following Lenovo 128GB PM961 firmwares:
- 1L1QCXB7
- 4L1QCXB7
- 5L1QCXB7 (latest released, build date around 16th Nov 2018, found in fwsddt03.exe)
HP:
- CXB70H1Q
- CXB73H1Q (latest released, build date around 18th May 2018, found in sp87543.exe)
Samsung Reference Firmware (couldn’t find any publicly available firmware):
- CXB7001Q
- CXB7201Q
- CXB7401Q (latest release for 128GB, build date should be around Jan 2018)
Dell:
CXB72D1Q
CXB73D1Q
Cisco:
CXB70K1Q
In order to flash with "Samsung SSD DC Toolkit for Windows", you need to install Samsung NVMe drivers (e.g. by choosing .inf manually). Then, you should be able to update the firmware with following command:
"Samsung_SSD_DC_Toolkit_for_Windows.exe -d 0:c -ND -p yourfirmware.bin -a 1 -s 1 --force"
Whereas "-d 0:c" points to your NVMe device (this is fine, if you only have a single M.2 drive / slot), "-ND" stands for "NVMe download firmware", "-p yourfirmware.bin" path to your firmware, "-a 1" stands for action 1 (0: just flash firmware, don’t commit, 1: commit after reset), "-s 1" stands for "firmware slot 1". Some devices might support holding more than 1 firmware - my device doesn’t, so "-a 1 -s 1" is the only sane option for me. In case you have a device with more than 1 firmware slot (probably enterprise), you can switch between firmwares with the "-NC" command.
"Samsung_SSD_DC_Toolkit_for_Windows.exe --help" will list all available commands and further help you.
TL;DR: I have crossflashed my Lenovo OEM 4L1QCXB7 128GB PM961 to HP’s CXB73H1Q firmware without issues. Flashing also deleted S.M.A.R.T. data (not a big deal on a new device, but fatal on years+ old device). Afaik, updating to newer firmware mainly addresses issues with Linux, where this device can suddenly disappear during energy saving and cause freezes / crashes. If you want the absolute latest, grab the 5L1QCXB7 instead.
Btw.: when trying to flash incompatible firmware, the Toolkit will report: "successful firmware download, but the storage controller itself refused to flash". So, breaking your device will need some work.
Good luck!
Update: I’ve added Dell and Cisco OEM firmware versions. However, I had no luck finding any publicly available binaries. Just references.
Other than that, I’ve noticed the HP firmware has some sort of signature verification. I can’t flash back the Lenovo firmware (5L1QCXB7) - eventhough it’s made for this device. Looking up the firmware update process on https://nvmexpress.org, it says on page 231:
4L1QCXB7 didn’t had this verification process. So, I don’t think 5L1QCXB7 has it aswell. Might be safer to update to 5L1QCXB7 instead of the HP firmware, which is also more recent. Though, other than that, I have no issues so far (Linux and Windows).
Hey guys!
I just bought a PM981 NVMe 1TB Samsung SSD (MZVLB1T0HALR-00000 || 100%/100%) and my Windows 10 occasionally freezes. The way it freezes is also strange. The sound acts strange and then the screen freezes, but I can use my mouse, I can move it and it responds, but it does not respond to anything else! Not even my keyboard.
I tried everything, checked my memory, CMOS clean (I have an ASRock Z370 PRO4 with updated BIOS), checked the SSD’s integrity and everything was fine. I think I need a firmware update, could you help me find one?
Oh, and before this, I had a PM951 512GB SSD and everything was fine! I also set the “turn off hard disk” to never in the advanced power saving options!
@promartin :
Welcome to the Win-RAID Forum!
I doubt, that Samsung offers a Firmware for an NVMe SSD, which has been only sold to OEMs (and not to consumers directly).
Can you check the health of the SSD by running Samsung’s Magician tool?
Regards
Dieter (alias Fernando)
@Fernando
Thank you! 
I couldn’t check the SSD with Samsung’s Magician tool, because there is no option for that there, at least for me 
But here is 2 other software I used to check my SSD’s health
(CrystalDiskInfo)
(Hard Disk Sentinel)
It’s all 100%, so yeah… :’(
Any other ideas would be appreciated!
Thank you in advance
------------UPDATE------------
I found 2 firmware!
the EXA74D1Q (which I think is the most recent)
and the EXA7301Q
LINKS FOR THEM: PM981 firmwares
If I try to install any of it, it says this:
What can you guys make out of this? 
This is what I have already expected. This tool doesn’t support Samsung SSDs, which were only delivered to “Original Equipment Manufacturers” and not to public.
This verifies, that they don’t match your specific SSD.
I see, thank you! 
EDIT by Fernando: Unnneeded parts of the fully quoted post removed (to save space)
@promartin does the badge on your PM981 really say MZVLB1T0HALR-00000 or is it MZVLB1T0HALR-000D1? The “D1” in EXA74D1Q indicates, you’re using a Dell OEM firmware. I couldn’t find any newer Dell OEM firmware for your drive. The “EXA7301Q” you found, looks like to be a Samsung firmware. Nice find!
For your drive, I’ve also found this (Lenovo): https://support.lenovo.com/de/de/downloads/ds119265
The compatible firmware is “4L2QEXA7_NF_ENC.bin”. Firmware has been added / build around Feb 2018. You can either try flashing with your utility or using Lenovo’s. If you want to try out Lenovo’s utility (Samsung Re-Drive):
1. Extract fwnv28.zip and open up fwwinsd.pro in a text editor.
2. Search an replace the first two items (“SAMSUNG MZVLB1T0” and “3L2Q”) in
"SAMSUNG MZVLB1T0",“3L2Q”,“4L2Q”,“TINYCORE”,“nvmeredrive_v2_2_3_3_x86”,“4L2QEXA7_NF_ENC.bin”,“L”,"SAMSUNG"
to match your drives information. My wild guess is:
“SAMSUNG MZVLB1T0”,“EXA7”,“4L2Q”,“TINYCORE”,“nvmeredrive_v2_2_3_3_x86”,“4L2QEXA7_NF_ENC.bin”,“L”,"SAMSUNG"
3. Run fwwinsd.exe as Admin, pick your drive and click “Start Update”.
4. Your PC will reboot into a Linux environment and automatically flash your drive
5. It will tell you right away, whether flash was successful or not
6. If you’re stuck in a boot loop, enter BIOS and manually re-set “Windows Boot Manager” as your primary Boot device
It’s very possible, Dell has implemented a firmware signature check / verification, which will make sure you can only flash Dell signed firmwares - just like my HP PM961 firmware. Other than that, I think either updating your NVMe drivers (latest is 3.1 from https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/mi…download/tools/) OR completely falling back to Microsoft’s NVMe driver (by uninstalling / removing Samsung’s NVMe driver) might fix your issues. Also, make sure you’ve setup AHCI in BIOS instead of RAID.
@tolga9009 Hi! It says MZVLB1T0HALR-000D1 as you can see on this picture:
I don’t know if the Dell OEM firmware is good news or not, I’m a noob here 
I found that EXA7301Q firmware on some Chinese site, when I dived deep inside the internet. So I figured I would upload it to you guys, maybe it will help you out or I don’t know 
I tried using fwwinsd.exe before, but it keeps saying "No new drive"
I’ll try your instructions tomorrow, it seems promising!
If it’ll fix my issue I don’t know what I’m going to do 
At your second step, you said I’ll have to change
“SAMSUNG MZVLB1T0”,“3L2Q”,“4L2Q”,“TINYCORE”,“nvmeredrive_v2_2_3_3_x86”,“4L2QEXA7_NF_ENC.bin”,“L”,“SAMSUNG"
to match my drives information, soooo since I have a MZVLB1T0HALR-000D1 and an EXA7 firmware, I’ll have to change it to
"SAMSUNG MZVLB1T0HALR-000D1”,“EXA7”,“4L2Q”,“TINYCORE”,“nvmeredrive_v2_2_3_3_x86”,“4L2QEXA7_NF_ENC.bin”,“L”,"SAMSUNG"
right?.. I won’t have to change anything else?
Also, what if Dell implemented a firmware signature check / verification on my NVMe and I won’t be able to flash it? I saw something about signatures on this forum. I read something what @Fernando said here about modifying the INF files of the related 32/64bit drivers to make them compatible with the NVMe Controller of the PM981 SSDs.
And at the very first page of that thread in the second post at the “L. Samsung NVMe Drivers” section under spoiler tag I can see a lot of drivers, and I downloaded the mod+signed one just to check what it contains, and inside the .rar file I can see two folders. Certificate and Driver. Will those help me bypass the verification problem if Dell implemented a firmware signature check, or I’m completely lost?
Sorry for these questions, I’m really trying, I’m just afraid I might screw up something bad
Yes, it looks like your NVMe drive is OEM’d by Dell. Manufacturing date is Oct 2018, so I doubt there is any newer Dell firmware out there. I still think, you might have driver / Windows issues, rather than an NVMe firmware issue. The official NVMe driver (File: Samsung_NVM_Express_Driver_3.1.exe) from Samsung didn’t need any manual edit in my case (PM961) - I expect it to run just as fine with the PM981. The mod+signed drivers date all the way back to 2017 (version 2.x), whereas the latest drivers are 3.1 (updated in Jan 2019).
If Dell implemented a firmware signature check, it only affects upgrading the NVMe firmware - not the NVMe driver you install in Windows. If they activated it, you won’t be able to flash Lenovo / HP / Samsung firmware onto it. As these drives have not been "hacked" afaik, it’s currently impossible to bypass firmware verification, in order to flash alternative firmwares. The only option left would be JTAG (and soldering), which is a whole other topic on its own (and I don’t have the expertise to cover it).
Unfortunately, playing around with SSD firmware is already dangerous, let alone crossflashing. I cannot guarantee anything and you should always have the possibility of hard bricking your drive in mind. Therefore, I really recommend exhausting all your other options (reinstall Windows, try Intel RST installed / uninstalled, try AHCI / RAID mode, Microsoft NVMe / Samsung NVMe drivers etc.) - your issue can probably be tracked down by the Windows event manager. My wild guess would be RAM issue or driver issue, rather than a faulty NVMe firmware.
If you still want to try out flashing the Lenovo firmware (which will most probably fail to flash, due to Dell firmware signature check, therefore not harming your NVMe): you need to edit
"SAMSUNG MZVLB1T0","3L2Q","4L2Q","TINYCORE","nvmeredrive_v2_2_3_3_x86","4L2QEXA7_NF_ENC.bin","L","SAMSUNG"
into
"PM981 NVMe Samsu","EXA7","4L2Q","TINYCORE","nvmeredrive_v2_2_3_3_x86","4L2QEXA7_NF_ENC.bin","L","SAMSUNG"
"Start Update" button will get ungrayed. Good luck!
@tolga9009
I think I tried everything, used every BIOS option that may have any effect on the boot drive but no luck. I even updated the driver to Samsung NVM Express Driver 3.1, still no luck.
The strange thing is that the Even Manager doesn’t show anything strange, It says there were a critical error but that’s because I restarted the computer without letting it properly shut down.
I’ll try to reinstall Windows 10 now, and I’ll let you know if that helped!
Thank you!
Good morining everyone, I have a problem with a ‘‘bricked’’ MZVPV256HDGL-000L7 device. The reason it got bricked is unknown to me, probably it has been seated in a not compatible MacBook Pro and therefore it doesn’t work anymore. When I want to erase everything on it it says Disk Number: 0:c | Model Name: SAMSUNG MZVPV256HDGL-000L7 | Firmware Version: ERRORMOD
Is it possible to revive this module and when yes how could this be done ? Thank you very much in advance for your help.
@belcampo - maybe some help here, or this is one of the guys who sold you the drive? In this forum, lots of google results for ERRORMOD, so other threads here may help too
https://forums.servethehome.com/index.ph…00.14667/page-3
@Lost_N_BIOS Thanks, I already had read that forum, but AFAIK no ‘solutions’. I had ‘a little’ hope someone over here might have a/the solution. I bought it about 1 year ago via Ebay, no idea who that was and regarding the possible cost of sending it back to China probably doesn’t make it a ‘sensible’ solution to me. I think to remember that someone lost his BIOS during testing, on this forum, but was able to put the BIOS back on the then bricked device. I’ll search a little further, but many thanks anyway. If I would have another/same device would a dd if=/dev/nvme0 of=/dev/nvme1 solve the problem ? In linux everything is a file, so in theory this should/could solve the problem, or am I completely wrong ?
I thought it looked like they solved it on the page I linked, or maybe next one, no? I thought at least someone solved it for a single run, but it locked again each time he rebooted after fixing.
Yes, motherboard BIOS can be fixed easily with programmer, SSD not so much. Maybe if you had another dead drive, that you know died in some other way, you could pull the FW chip off it and replace here, but even then I’m still uncertain this would solve it.
I don’t know if your command would work or not?
Hey @tolga9009 @Fernando !
I just got my replacement PM981, which BEHAVES the same way! 
So I tried to update its firmware in a desperate attempt and it said
Firmware update was not processed because software condition is not ready to update due to some reason.
I guess it has that Dell firmware signature check?
hi buddy, can you please send me the link of firmware for the 128gb PM961 MZVLW128HEGR-000L2 128GB, because i’ve tried to search it but don’t find it, please, i will thanl you a lot.
hi, can you please send me the Link because i can’t find any firmware for this PM961
Hi, my 3.84TB PM983 M.2 specifically model MZ1LB3T8HMLA-00007 just entered into ERRORMOD firmware version and shows as an 1GB drive.
Do you have any insights about how I can recover the data? Very much aprpeciated, thanks!!
Someone might have already answered this, but I looked through this thread and found something that was as far as I’ve gotten so far
I’ve got a Samsung PM961 512gb (MZVLW512HMJP-00000) The Firmware is CXY7101Q and as far as I understand it, this is a Samsung original OEM (not branded) And there was someone saying something about a Firmware for 128GB version with firmware version CXY7401Q which seem to be in the same serie as mine. Anyone who could tell me how to find a later firmware for this drive and how to update my drives?