BSOD firmware fix now available for these WD and SanDisk SSDs, including one for handhelds
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The last thing you want to see on your PC or gaming device is a blue screen of death (BSOD). This means a critical error has occurred in the system which led it to crash entirely. Sometimes, the system restarts after the BSOD but more often than not, the issue isn't resolved and the PC gets stuck in a vicious loop of starting and crashing.
On top of that, there are various reasons for a BSOD to occur and you need to note down the error code and search what that means, why it happened, and what you can do to fix it. An example of this is the “SYSTEM THREAD EXCEPTION NOT HANDLED” among others.
If you've recently come across a BSOD and you're using a Western Digital (WD) SSD, the culprit may be the storage device itself.
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Is your Western Digital SSD causing trouble?
Before you jump to conclusions, your SSD is probably fine; this issue only affects a select number of devices. Luckily, SanDisk (which is now owned by WD) has figured out the issue and proposed a solution.
The reason Windows 11 devices may experience this is due to an issue with the Host Memory Buffer for certain SSD models. This issue may cause a BSOD on the latest Windows 11 24H2 version which rolled out to all users from October 1st. The solution to this issue is a simple firmware update. Before we get to that, it would be better to double-check which SSD you're running and compare it with the ones below as these specific models need a firmware update.
| Name | Model number | Updated firmware version |
|---|---|---|
| WD_BLACK SN770 NVMe SSD 2TB | WDBBDL0020BNC, WDS200T3X0E | 731130WD |
| WD_BLACK SN770M NVMe SSD 2TB | WDBDNH0020BBK, WDS200T3X0G | 731130WD |
| WD Blue SN580 NVMe SSD 2TB | WDBWMY0020BBL, WDS200T3B0E | 281050WD |
| WD Blue SN5000 NVMe SSD 2TB | WDBS3F0020BNC, WDS200T4B0E | 291020WD |
| SanDisk Extreme M.2 NVMe SSD 2TB | SDSSDX3N-2T00 | 731130WD |
So, if you've got any of the listed Western Digital or SanDisk SSDs, you'll need to update its firmware and the BSOD issue should be resolved. Models such as the SN770M are popular with handhelds such as the ASUS ROG Ally and Steam Deck thanks to its smaller form factor. Since the Ally runs on Windows 11, users using this SSD are susceptible to the blue screen error.
How to update the firmware?
SanDisk covered the steps and tools you'll need to update the SSD firmware. We've listed them below.
- Download the Western Digital Dashboard
- Once you've downloaded it, open the DashboardSetup.exe file
- Click on “Install”
- Click on “Finish
Before you update the firmware, it is advised to back up your data on another drive or over the cloud to ensure you don't lose anything important. After you click on “Finish” the dashboard should open and if there is an update available it'll show “Update Available”.
- Click on “Update Available”
- Click on “Update Firmware”
- Click on “Proceed”
After the last step, shut down your device and then start it again, this will apply the update and resolve the BSOD issue.
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