My Cousin also bought a Sandisk Extreme and emailed the author of Tweaktown. He forwarded the email exchange to me, with names and contact information removed. Chris seems like a really good guy.
From: redacted@unknown.com
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2012 6:31 PM
To: redacted@unknown.com
Subject: Question RE: Sandisk Extreme Firmware
Hi Chris,
First off, great job on your article of the TRIM bug affecting Sandforce based Solid State Drives.
It was with anticipation I read your followup article on new 5.03 based firmware which sounds like it solves TRIM issues with Sandisk drives; unfortunately Sandisk does not seem able to release this to their actual users. The Sandisk forums (http://forums.sandisk.com/t5/SanDisk-Extreme-SSD/bd-p/ExtremeSSD)) has many stories of people asking Sandisk support when an updated firmware will be released and not receiving a reply.
Since you appear to have access to Sandisk support channels in a way mere consumers do not, would you have any pull in helping users determine when they will receive any kind of official support from Sandisk in this matter? I like my drive and it enjoy its speed, but I am concerned I have an orphaned product which will grow continuously slower while Sandisk looks the other way either leaving the SSD business altogether, or Sandisk ignores us, discontinues this model and replaces it with something that actually works and ignores affected users.
Thank you in advance. I had not read Tweaktown before your article on Sandforce controller TRIM issues, I must say I am an avid reader now.
Subject: RE: Question RE: SanDisk Extreme Firmware
From: Chris Ramseyer <redacted@unknown.com>
Sent: Sep 27, 2012 4:02 PM
To: redacted@unknown.com
Hello,
Thanks for reaching out. I can assure you that with SanDisk owning a NAND fab they won’t be leaving the SSD business anytime soon.
I haven’t spoken with my contacts at SanDisk about the issue since the 5.0.3 drive arrived but I can tell you that SanDisk is going over the firmware closely. As you may of read, 5.0.3 came and it had a small issue with the WHQL certification. 5.0.4 fixed that issue and manufactures have it in testing now. I didn’t find anything wrong with either 503 or 504 but that WHQL cert is a big deal for companies selling to the major OEMs (Dell, HP and so on). Actually, I take that back, the high queue depth random read speeds are down especially on the 120GB drives but it isn’t a big deal because regular users aren’t going to see a queue depth of 32 too often.
It’s my understanding that 5.0.5 is set to release to manufactures the first week of October. I’ve heard it only adds support for more flash types but I’ve also heard it’s a performance increase release. I’ve got reports for both so hopefully both are accurate. SanDisk is a company that doesn’t want to deal with monthly releases so I’d say they are waiting for 5.0.5 to come in, then go through validation.
I would send you the FW if I had it but SanDisk’s legal team made them flash a drive and send it to me. They are being very tight with the FW for sure. Hopefully they get it all worked out with 5.0.5 and get it to you guys. I’ve seen the thread in the SanDisk forums and check in on it from time to time. Hang in there and I’ll apply a little pressure tonight and try to get SanDisk to help their enthusiast users out with a “beta” release that covers them with the lawyers.
Best Regards,
Chris Ramseyer
Storage Product and PSU Editor
Tweak Town Pty Ltd
+1 ###.###.### (Cell)
[-]
Subject: Re: RE: Question RE: SanDisk Extreme Firmware
From: redacted@unknown.com
Sent: Sep 27, 2012 4:12 PM
To: Chris Ramseyer <redacted@unknown.com>
Thanks for the speedy reply.
It doesn’t really alleviate my concerns though, because it would mean TRIM still won’t be supported for at least another month. I think in light of this I’d be better off returning it and going with an Intel.
Thanks again.
