SSD undetected? (linux users)

[Quinn_Dougherty]

sn850s have a problem that over on WD’s community forum, that seems like it hasn’t been resolved for a year.

Some windows users have been able to install needed firmware for this ssd on their frameworks, or something to this effect

I’m finding that in a GUI-less nixos installer (see here) lsblk is only aware of of my usb stick that has the .iso on it. and df -h has shows more available space than the stick, but way less than 2 Terrabytes which is the size of my SSD.

BIOS view doesn’t show anything related to SSD, the number 2000 GB, etc.

EDIT: I should mention I double checked that the SSD is physically snug in the hardware slot for it. After I first had this problem I shut down, unplugged, and cracked the thing open to remove it and put it back. Problem persists.

[Fraoch]

[knocking on wood] I haven’t had this problem. But yes, firmware updates are impossible in Linux. WD absolutely ignores Linux.

I wrote a guide to get Windows (not Windows To Go) running off a USB drive:

Install Windows to USB with Ventoy

I tried out @David_Rasch’s excellent guide to installing the Windows-only Framework BIOS updater for Linux users here: And inspired by this success, I tried to run the WD Dashboard software to update the firmware in my WD SN850 SSD I have installed. Unfortunately WD Dashboard doesn’t run this way. It cannot run by command line, it needs to install to a GUI and since the Windows installer doesn’t have this type of environment, it errors out with a “this version of Windows is not supported” er…

and it will allow you to run WD Dashboard and update your drive firmware, but it will mess with your Linux install so be prepared.

There does not seem to be any other way to update the firmware. WD hides the firmware files.

[Quinn_Dougherty]

Interesting. Though it might turn out that it’s not a firmware situation.

[Quinn_Dougherty]

@Carlos_Fernandez_San

Yes. Last time someone (here) didn’t see his SSD on the BIOS the SSD was faulty and replacing it fixed the problem.

Went to microcenter and got a Samsung 980 Pro. Didn’t work.

@Carlos_Fernandez_San What threads can I read about this?

[Quinn_Dougherty]

lmao sorry everyone this was user error. I didn’t have it physically snug in the slot enough in the chassis. I’m on my feet now.

[Fraoch]

Hey, easy enough to solve, no damage done and nothing to pay to fix it!

[0xRick]

Has anyone tried using Samsung 980 Pro instead?

[noa_shiruba]

I also have the same WD SSD, with no issues in Linux - I am not sure what you would need to update the firmware for.
As for it now showing in the BIOS screen, apparently it doesn’t show on the released versions. There is a new beta of the BIOS that will show it, though. From the notes:
Show detected PCIe NVME and USB storage list on BIOS boot page

[Chiraag_Nataraj]

@0xRick

Has anyone tried using Samsung 980 Pro instead?

I’m currently using the 970 EVO which works well, FWIW. Didn’t want to go with the 980 b/c of concerns around heat buildup (my personal rule of thumb is: if the thing comes with a heatsink and there isn’t enough room to fit it in, don’t bother with the version without the heatsink since it will likely thermally throttle anyway). Maybe my rule of thumb is too ‘conservative’, but I doubt that my bottleneck will ever really be the storage or the write speeds anyway (much more likely to be either the CPU or the network).

[NepNeko]

Not sure if it is my case. Samsung 980 Pro 500 GB did not detect at first-time install but after a few tries. It can be detectable after jumping back and forth during the windows installation. My thought is that an NVME related problem may be the protocol, driver, or something else. On the other hand, Samsung 980 1 TB did not have any issues. So, maybe it is the HBM problem? If more information is needed for my case. Please let me know.