SSD manufacturer ‘Phison’ clears its name after Windows 11 bricking panic — 4,500 hours of testing and zero drive failures

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Recently, I wrote about concerns arising from Windows 11’s security update KB5063878 in early October. There were indications that this update might be causing issues with solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disk drives (HDDs), potentially leading to their failure in a few exceptional cases. In these instances, the data on affected drives appeared to be permanently lost.

Sometimes, users encountered situations where their drive became unrecognizable and needed a complete system reboot for it to be recognized again. Phison, a major global supplier of the necessary controllers for these drives, has been suggested as a possible cause for the drive malfunctions.

This situation originated from a user named @Necoru_cat on X after testing 21 various Solid State Drives (SSDs). Initially, Phison acknowledged investigating the reported claims. Now, they have provided evidence that their controllers are not responsible for the Windows storage problems.

Phison’s testing reveals its controllers are not to blame for drive failures

On August 27th, Phison publicly announced their findings to WCCFTech after conducting a thorough examination of its controllers. According to their statement, they devoted approximately 4500 hours to testing SSDs that they suspected might have been impacted by the Windows 11 update glitch. Over 2200 test cycles were executed in this process.

Phison says it was ultimately unable to reproduce any of the results being reported online.

On August 18, Phison learned about the ‘KB5063878’ and ‘KB5062660’ updates on Windows 11 which may have affected several storage devices, including some compatible with Phison. In response to this, Phison invested over 4,500 hours of testing combined on the drives believed to be impacted, running more than 2,200 test cycles. However, we were unable to replicate the reported issue and at present, no partners or users have mentioned that their drives have been affected by this issue.

Phison, in a statement to WCCFTech

Phison assures they will closely watch the situation together with their industry associates and provide their storage clients with recommended best practices. They also clarify that allegations pointing fingers at them as the cause, due to a falsified document circulating among customers, are unfounded (as reported by WCCFTech).

Even though our validation tests haven’t found any issues regarding these Windows 11 updates in relation to high-performance storage devices, we’ve distributed guidelines from the industry to help optimize their performance. We strongly recommend users to employ a heatsink or thermal pad when performing heavy tasks such as transferring large files or decompressing big archives. This ensures that the storage device maintains optimal temperatures, minimizing the risk of thermal throttling and guaranteeing consistent performance over time.

Phison, in a statement to WCCFTech

The document, claimed by Phison to be unrelated, appears official. It primarily assigns fault for the SSD problems and provides a catalog of Phison controller models impacted by Windows 11 24H2 KB5063878 and KB5062660 security updates. The source of this document remains undisclosed, sparking rumors that there may be a larger scheme to harm Phison’s reputation. Nevertheless, extensive testing by Phison will hopefully alleviate suspicions about its controllers being the culprits.

How did these Phison fears get started?

On August 14, the user Necoru_cat (also known as Nekorusukii) shared their results after examining 21 diverse hard drives.

It appears that some drive performances may struggle when handling extensive amounts of data, particularly when files exceed 50GB. This issue seems to be more prevalent when the drive is already more than 60% full.

In simpler terms, a glitch might make drive connections disappear on Windows 11, with data from the SMART system appearing unreadable. This issue can be resolved only after restarting the system. After examining 21 drives, Nekorusukii proposed that a Phison controller may potentially be the culprit behind this problem.

Unfortunately, in one instance, the WD Blue SA510 SSD with a non-Phison controller experienced total failure and the data on it became irrecoverable.

Phison promptly issued a response to Tom’s Hardware after the assertions made by Nekorusukii gained traction.

Phison has become aware of how updates ‘KB5063878’ and ‘KB5062660’ on Windows 11 might be affecting various storage devices, including those supported by us. We acknowledge the inconvenience this may have caused, and we’ve already reached out to relevant industry players. Our dedication remains firm to maintaining our product quality and the prosperity of both partners and users.

At present, we’re examining the potentially affected controllers, and we’re collaborating with our partners in this process. We will keep offering updates and advice to those impacted to offer assistance and guarantee any necessary corrections are implemented.

Phison

NichePCGamer stirred up the debate over SSD failures by mentioning additional drives where they claim users have encountered problems. Still, it appeared that the problem with storage wasn’t extensively prevalent.

A Reddit discussion tackles the issue, presenting views from all angles. Certain users share experiences with troublesome Solid State Drives (SSDs), while some advise caution before making accusations. Given recent developments, it’s noteworthy that Phison has effectively addressed concerns about their reputation.

Given the multitude of Windows 11 users globally, each utilizing various hardware configurations that may impact functionality, there’s a significant chance of misinterpretation arising.

Just as I mentioned earlier, it’s advisable for users to hold off on installing the problematic Windows 11 security update, regardless of failure rate, until a formal solution becomes available.

In other locations, the initial release of the security update for Windows 11 version 24H2, KB5063878, occurred, but it introduced an installation issue specifically concerning the Windows Server Update Service (WSUS). Quickly, Microsoft fixed this glitch in their system.

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2025-08-29 17:10