SSD wear_leveling_count firmware bug?

Question

Hi,I have two identical late 2013 27" iMacs with 256GB Samsung SSDS.Both insist that the SSD will be EOL soon, Windows and Disk Utility complain about SMART errors:smartctl -a /dev/disk0173 Wear_Leveling_Count     0x0036   087   087   100    Old_age   Always   FAILING_NOW 13031154781293- Win 7 in Bootcamp warned about the SMART error- Disk Utility in OS X suggests to replace the SSD- Wear Level Count is allegedly depleted although not that much data has actually been written to the drive (11 TiB)- all other SMART values/tests show no problemHere&#x27;s a link with more technical details suggesting there may be a bug in the firmware:https://forum.hddguru.com/viewtopic.php?f&#x3D;10&amp;t&#x3D;31501&amp;mobile&#x3D;mobileThe first one started reporting the failure a few months ago and has been working fine ever since. The second one just reporting the issue two weeks ago.I have several other Macs (Macbook Air x2, MacBook Pro) where no such problem is showing.Does anyone have the same problem? Since Disk Utility does not actively notify about the issue I think others may have this problem, too without knowing.Here&#x27;s one smartctl report from the more worn out iMac:smartctl 6.3 2014-07-26 r3976 [x86_64-apple-darwin14.3.0] (local build)Copyright (C) 2002-14, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D; START OF INFORMATION SECTION &#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;Model Family:     Apple SD/SM/TS...E/F SSDsDevice Model:     APPLE SSD SM0256FSerial Number:    S18WNYAD617995LU WWN Device Id: 5 002538 655584d30Firmware Version: UXM2EA1QUser Capacity:    251,000,193,024 bytes [251 GB]Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physicalRotation Rate:    Solid State DeviceDevice is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]ATA Version is:   ATA8-ACS T13/1699-D revision 4cSATA Version is:  SATA 3.0, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 6.0 Gb/s)Local Time is:    Mon Apr 25 15:46:47 2016 CESTSMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.SMART support is: Enabled&#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D; START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION &#x3D;&#x3D;&#x3D;SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: FAILED!Drive failure expected in less than 24 hours. SAVE ALL DATA.No failed Attributes found.General SMART Values:Offline data collection status:  (0x00) Offline data collection activity  was never started.  Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.Self-test execution status:      (  16) The self-test routine was aborted by  the host.Total time to complete Offlinedata collection: (    0) seconds.Offline data collectioncapabilities: (0x5f) SMART execute Offline immediate.  Auto Offline data collection on/off support.  Abort Offline collection upon new  command.  Offline surface scan supported.  Self-test supported.  No Conveyance Self-test supported.  Selective Self-test supported.SMART capabilities:            (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering  power-saving mode.  Supports SMART auto save timer.Error logging capability:        (0x01) Error logging supported.  General Purpose Logging supported.Short self-test routinerecommended polling time: (   2) minutes.Extended self-test routinerecommended polling time: (  10) minutes.SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 40Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x001a   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   000    Pre-fail  Always       -       0  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   097   097   000    Old_age   Always       -       12947 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   096   096   000    Old_age   Always       -       3633169 Unknown_Attribute       0x0013   253   253   010    Pre-fail  Always       -       2375460851456173 Wear_Leveling_Count     0x0036   087   087   100    Old_age   Always   FAILING_NOW 13031154781293174 Host_Reads_MiB          0x0022   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       17198560175 Host_Writes_MiB         0x0022   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       11704663192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0012   099   099   000    Old_age   Always       -       79194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   055   055   000    Old_age   Always       -       45 (Min/Max 12/79)197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0022   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x001a   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0240 Unknown_SSD_Attribute   0x0022   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       0SMART Error Log Version: 1No Errors LoggedSMART Self-test log structure revision number 1Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error# 1  Short offline       Aborted by host               00%         7         -SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS    1        0        0  Not_testing    2        0        0  Not_testing    3        0        0  Not_testing    4        0        0  Not_testing    5        0        0  Not_testingSelective self-test flags (0x0):  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.If anyone from Apple&#x27;s reading this: Could you forward this thread to an Engineer?Thanks,Johannes

_alexmyself · Answer

No solution as of 17 dec 2017... macbook pro late 2013 256gb, no more possible to update due to this ssd smart problem.Many many people with this problem..Actually i&#x27;ve seen so many mac models / variants from so many differents production years with that problem that i&#x27;m close to stop with macs.No other harddrive option as it&#x27;s a specific form/connector, price at apple for this is...at least dissuasive..And even letting price apart, to replace is not easy because of the so many reports..everything tends to tell to replace won&#x27;t fix anything, and how long those stupids &#x27;anormals&#x27; ssd things will be available?....Two apple ssd replacements &#x3D;&#x3D; easy used &#x27;with normal parts&#x27; computer from many places around the web..Drives me looking hard at thinkpads actually.