Finally! The real reason why SSDs are disappearing in Windows 11

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Finally! The real reason why SSDs are disappearing in Windows 11

The root issue behind Windows 11 no longer recognizing some SSDs has reportedly been found.

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Over the past month, some Windows 11 users have been running into a problem with disappearing SSDs in both File Explorer and the BIOS, which started after installing the August 2025 KB5063878 update. Last week, Microsoft and Phison both washed their hands of the issue, saying it wasn’t reproduceable and that the issue wasn’t actually connected to the update in question.

Well, the problem may now be solved.

According to both Windows Report and Neowin, new findings from a Facebook group called PCDIY!—a place where Chinese PC hobbyists exchange information—indicate that it isn’t Windows that’s causing the problem but rather preliminary firmware versions on certain SSDs. These unfinished firmware versions, which were never intended for end users, appear to have been triggered by the KB5063878 update and thus began causing the problems described by users.

Phison technicians have reportedly already confirmed this, saying that tests have shown that SSDs that crashed due to the Windows 11 update KB5063878 were using preliminary firmware.

Since all SSD manufacturers that sell products with Phison controllers source their products from the original manufacturer and ship them in bulk using mass production tools, the SSDs shipped to consumers are already using the official firmware. The official firmware has been thoroughly tested and verified and has none of the anomalies that often occur with engineering firmware.

What does this all mean? If you’re using an SSD that’s disappearing after installing the August 2025 Windows 11 update, you should update the firmware. Make sure to back up all the data on the relevant SSD before initiating the firmware update.

Source: Finally! The real reason why SSDs are disappearing in Windows 11 | PCWorld

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Another thing to keep in mind whenever I encounter a windows machine, I guess.

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Mandatory.

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Arch is pretty good though, closer to bleeding edge + aur is nice for extra stuff. Used it for many years. Steam deck is based on that i think.

Now i need something more stable, so Ubuntu LTS.

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My entire homelab and pcs are linux based lol. Arch is my main laptop too and Desktop is CachyOS (arch based) - Gaming Laptop is windoge (ltsc) Work laptop Mac. I hate windoge to the core but have no option to use it because of the mods that I use with the games.
Servers are either Debian or RHEL

Jesus, DO NOT GO WITH UBUNTU.
Atleast try PopOS or Debian ( if not Debian then try Linux Mint Debian Edition LMDE )

TBH - Arch is the way to go. Easy to setup and maintain.

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What a joke of an OS lol. This malware belongs only in a VM.

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This is for work primarily. I need stability and long term support. I am very happy with it too, using it for many years and have upgraded twice without problems.

It works fine, i have used Ubuntu many times and have never had an issue. I did not like snap at first but its fine, i can live with it with fast internet. I am already familiar with it, so no point in using something else.

Arch isnt for work. Its running updates too fast and sometimes critical issues can creep in. Has happened once to me when a very bad ext4 bug slipped through. Also dont want to constantly look at config changes :slight_smile:

Its great, but not for my use case. I dont want to keep testing my code. I do that only when i upgrade to new LTS release.

Its kubuntu technically. Ubuntu + KDE. KDE is great.

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ehhh..

Have a look at PopOS atleast. It is Ubuntu without snaps and useless spying baked in. More stable than Ubuntu.

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Maybe some other day. When everything is working and stable you don’t tinker with it ! I have code that runs every weekday.

What spying ? Its kubuntu technically. Ubuntu + KDE. KDE is great.

When i start gaming on Linux, i will probably try cachyos or bazzite.

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Pop OS is just Ubuntu minus the crazy SNAP - hate those things.
Canonical is just like Microsoft, those telemetries are a security nightmare.
Those out of date packages. Extremely slow and buggy :3rd_place_medal:

Ubuntu server is still miles ahead of their Desktop counter part. Less intrusion and more solid.

CachyOS was technically not meant for gamers but for power users. But gamers found it super responsive and adopted it.

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What is the crazy SNAP all are talking about?

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  • Centralized control to Conanical - Not a linux philosophy (Less control to user and more control to a corporation just like Microsoft - Proprietary )

  • Pollutes lsblk and df

  • Extremely heavy on resources, that cancerous daemon slows down the system

  • Been using Linux from past 20 years and I hate what Ubuntu had done over the years first unity and now this

  • Not real packages duplication of dependencies for in different containers. If there is flaw in one dependency - I can update it all at once on arch or other distros but not in ubuntu. Each app has it’s own version - if that app doesn’t update your entire system is compromised.

    These are just some things.

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I use kubuntu, so unity specific stuff does not apply.

That does leave snap, but i can live with it. It does not impede my day to day work and i update it once in a while. No problem with performance, my work applications do not depend on any thing from snap directly. I do use pycharm, but it has worked fine. That and firefox which is also fine.

I am not in IT ( I had a coding job long ago but i left that), so i only need it configured for my usage and definitely want package stability, which is the main reason i shifted. Suddenly python version updating for example would cause me a lot of work, which i prefer to delay to once in 2 years or so.

My system does not listen to incoming ports from internet.

Whats this exactly, i dont have multiple versions of a program with their own dependency tree on my system. Except snap i guess. I dont have any need either. How does this work ? Whats a container.

I am guessing this is some IT related stuff.

Anyway, ill look at this next time i want to update to latest Ubuntu LTS. I have my own applications and they have to be tested and fixed each time i do a major upgrade due to changes in python and python packages and some other tools.

I also use AWS + its own linux. That works fine for my use too + same python version + version match python packages via pip. I did not have to use Ubuntu, and AWS linux is cheaper and probably faster. Windows is so expensive in comparison lol, often around 2x.

What OS do you recommend that has package stability ( only security updates, kernel hwe updates are ok ) + with KDE + LTS. Will upgrade say once in 2-3 years. I dont want a rolling distro.

pop might be ok i guess, it seems to be based on ubuntu LTS and has kde. But 24.04 is still in beta, wtf ? so its support window will be smaller. as it almost 1-2 years behind ubuntu. My guess is that its ok for KDE as they will just get the packages from ubuntu.

Only advantage over ubuntu then is lack of snap ?

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If you are using snap for package install - each application you install via snap has it’s own dependencies which is different from your core system utilities.

You can use Massgrave - no need to pay.

Never used it. Must be for specific usecase they developed. Will check it.

I recommend 2 specific for your use case - Debian with KDE - Rocksolid.
2nd would be RHEL or use can use Alma/Rockylinux

better on system resource, less bloatware, more secure, behaves like Linux,

Technically you can use CachyOS with LTS kernel too. I have hardened kernel and LTS as well on my main desktop. I have KDE. Update it once a week.

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yeah, so firefox and pycharm will have that. Thats how it works, its annoying but useful for those who need it. There is lack of choice as i would prefer firefox from apt, but now with time i dont mind it.

None of the applications that i depend on, for my applications,come from snap. So it does not matter. pycharm i use, but its not used in runtime.

I meant windows + AWS. For some reason its often 2x, atleast for Mumbai servers.

They offer it as cheapest option and i assume it has the best performance too as they can optimize it. Worked fine for my use case, but not a desktop os.

LTS kernels are fine, what i dont want is a package that i depend on suddenly having a major version change, esp python.

Anyway, ill look at it later thanks.

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What is the mail that comes with Firefox? Can we transfer from Gmail to Firefox mail without any hassle?

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Pop OS, Nobara OS are good for gaming because of inbuilt gaming apps while Cachy OS needs the gaming apps to be installed.
Bazzite is for gaming only but I don’t like it’s themes.

Anyway we can change themes in Linux distros?
Can we do this in Bazzite?

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That is the beauty of Linux. You can try it. The way I use it is Distro Agnostic. But if it works for you then it is just fine. You can always try it on a spare hard disk if you like or on a vm.

well you can choose to not update an application, although not recommended but you can. Also, downgrade if you think it broke something.

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That is one click install on the cachy hello menu and a one click pacman command.
PopOS is not meant for gaming, you will loose alot of performance.

Yes, you can change themes. You can customize to your liking. You can even look at Garuda Linux - arch based - Indian developer/maintainers - some good themes. It is called “Ricing” in linux nerd terms

It is hard to do it in Bazzite because of it’s immutable nature. Your main system files are readonly, you would have to do lots of tinkering to achieve that. Normal KDE themes would work though.

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Did anyone checked AnduinOS - Ubuntu based + GNOME but lot of resemblance to Windows