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I've been using Crucial MX500 disks in Dell hardware for a while now (non-server class disk, I know, I know... we're cheap) with firmware M3CR023. But the latest batch arrives with revision M3CR032 -- this revision can be used in a RAID config (I'm using a PERC H730 or H740) but the RAID controller fails every instance of the drive on warm reboot.

Cold boots seem to re-initialize the drive correctly, and it can then be imported as a 'foreign' config, but warm reboots lead to all disks failing.

Crucial support has been no use whatsoever, and I've been unable to downgrade the firmware using either their Storage Executive software on windows or by unpacking their "bootable ISO" and running the Micro msecli utility under linux. Has anyone else run into this problem with that specific firmware?

s n
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    Are you running the latest FW release available for the controller? I'd wager that everyone using this drive/firmware/controller combo would see the same issue. If this were a drive with Dell-branding and firmware, it would end up getting sorted out by another firmware release (either for the drive or the controller). Dell would be the ones doing all the "digging" into the cause of the problem though. I'm sure you already know, but you're pretty much SOL. Most likely, the SSD firmware introduced something new due to evolving/updating specs, and the controller FW doesn't account for it. – JimNim Apr 06 '20 at 20:43
  • The latest firmware revision M3CR032 just started shipping March 2020, and introduced a new issue that was not there previously. So yeah, Dell would probably troubleshoot but Crucial is just shipping what they ship oblivious to the problem... – s n Apr 08 '20 at 20:24
  • I can confirm this issue - three servers all running MX500 drives with FW M3CR032 and LSI 9361-8i controllers all have this exact same issue. – Dave Redmore Apr 23 '20 at 16:11
  • And Crucial support just told me that the firmware cannot be downgraded - so I have about $4000 worth of MX500 drives that are worthless to me. – Dave Redmore Apr 23 '20 at 19:51
  • Sorry to hear that Dave, I ended up buying Samsung DCT 883's and giving the Crucials to my desktop team. They have no problem with them when attached directly to a SATA port. Not much of a consolation. – s n Apr 24 '20 at 22:05
  • Unfortunately, I can confirm this. I bought mx500's 12 months ago and they worked fine...we went to expand the raid array this week and learned this new firmware causes havoc. – CD Brian Jul 24 '20 at 12:44
  • @CDBrian [update the firmware](https://serverfault.com/a/1035068/197546) to fix the issues – magicandre1981 Sep 23 '20 at 16:53
  • @DaveRedmore also [install the lastest firmware](https://serverfault.com/a/1035068/197546) – magicandre1981 Sep 24 '20 at 15:44

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There is a new firmware M3CR033 to fix RAID issues:

M3CR033 includes the following changes:

  • Fixed SATA protocol error that causes start-up failure on certain data center RAID systems
  • Improved boot time after unexpected power loss
  • Fixed Read DMA command abort after an interrupted Secure Erase

So update the firmware ad look if it fixed the issue.

magicandre1981
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  • At the time of writing (December 2020) no MX500 firmware (M3CR033 or otherwise) is listed on Crucial's website. Apparently [Crucial support via email have confirmed that there's a "problem with the firmware update that should be fixed soon"](https://www.computerbase.de/2020-10/crucial-mx500-ssd-firmware-update-problem/) so it's best not to upgrade yet if your system isn't experiencing a particularly pressing issue. – Anon Dec 08 '20 at 23:00
  • @Anon ok, thanks.I haven't checked the page again and all my new MX500 drives have M3CR02x firmware line not the M3CR03x – magicandre1981 Dec 09 '20 at 06:12
  • @Anon there is now an updated Storage Executive Software, which should offer the M3CR033 firmware. I got a drive last week and it already had the M3CR033 firmware – magicandre1981 Dec 21 '20 at 17:27