Another day, another huge Windows 11 24H2 update bug, this time causing the dreaded Blue Screen of Death
Users have been complaining about a new, very specific issue with the Windows 11 24H2 update. This time it concerns Western Digital SSDs, more specifically owners of the SN770 and SN580. The bug has caused crashes and Blue Screens of Death, and it’s not yet clear how many of these will be affected as the rollout of the 24H2 update continues.
Owners of Western Digital’s SN770 and SN580 SSDs started noticing the crashes over a week ago. At first it wasn’t clear what caused this, but the common denominator was that they started after installing the 24H2 update. Users made several attempts to resolve the issues and a workaround was found.
The details
The problem is caused by the way the SN770 and SN580 handle data. These SSDs are DRAM-less. DRAM is Dynamic Random Access Memory and is used for storing and quickly retrieving metadata about stored files. If an SSD doesn’t have DRAM, that means it has to rely on an NVMe feature, Host Memory Buffer (HMB), where that metadata is stored in your PC’s main memory.
Normally the SSDs ask your PC to allocate 64 MB of HMB to store temporary information, but with the update the SSDs ask for up to 200 MB, sending the system into a frenzy from which BSOD is the only possible escape.
DRAM-less SSDs are usually affordable, budget drives. They are cheaper to make and also use less power, making them suitable for laptops and mobile phones. They also usually have a smaller form factor, because the DRAM chip makes the SSD larger.
Performance takes a hit for this saving. Accessing memory via HMB introduces latency, especially in read and write operations. Drives of this type are also prone to more problems, as improperly managed HMB can cause, yes, you guessed it, BSODs. And maybe they don’t last that long either; their cells wear out faster and do not benefit from DRAM’s ability to erase old data and make way for the new (garbage collection).
User issues
As early as September 10, members of the WD community forum shared news about the bug. One user wrote:
After installing Windows 11 24h2, I got this in the event viewer:
The driver detected a controller error on DeviceRaidPort1.
Blue screen and restart.
WDSN580 2TB. Firmware has been updated to 281040.
WD Dashboard shows drive status 100%.
Any solution?
edit: Since I bought my PC 6 months ago, I haven’t had any problems with Windows 23h2. Installed 24 hours today and after 10-15 restarts I got 4-5 blue screens with the same error message “The driver has detected a controller error on DeviceRaidPort1”.
Another user in the same topic wrote:
Hey man, I’ve been looking everywhere for info on this. I just got a new pre-built PC running Windows version 24H2. I have a WD blue SN 580 2 TB NVME and keep getting blue screens when restarting the PC or opening certain files in the file explorer. the event logs leading to the blue screen in the event viewer show the same event ID 11 stornvme and volmgr error. You say the main reason is the new Windows update? would it be wise to revert or have you discovered anything since your last post?
Then on October 8, a WD community forum member posted a possible solution, apparently complaining about the lack of response from Western Digital and Microsoft:
While we still don’t have an official answer from either WD or MS, there is a solution!
Thank you @nissel! This will create two registry entries. If you want to delete them again, delete them manually or use this: Registry file to remove the HMB policy entries · GitHub 22. Apparently for some devices it is sufficient to simply disable HBM: Windows registry disables HMB · GitHub 19.
Does Microsoft deserve this hate?
Of course, no major OS updates are without problems. Windows 10’s now infamous KB5001330 April 2021 update caused a slew of crashes, performance issues, and the long-dreaded BSODs. There were installation errors, missing files, performance drops in games, system crashes and more. So so far the bugs in Windows 11 24H2 aren’t nearly that bad.
Microsoft and Western Digital are aware of the issue and patches and firmware updates are likely on the way. It remains to be seen whether more users with similar SSDs will encounter the same problems.
Whatever exciting bugs are still in the new version of Windows 11, we are here to tell you about them.