CompactFlash, SD, MMC, USB flash storage. Anything that does not have moving parts inside.
Yesterday, 11:27
Hi all,
Looking for help with a Phison E8 NVMe SSD that I came out of a Konica Minolta MFP/copier (data security kit drive), model printed as PHPCM256GFNTH-BCA0, P/N 511-200219309. Original reported firmware was E8FT10.7. Controller PS5008-E8, NAND is Toshiba 64L BiCS3 TLC (confirmed via flash ID dump: 98 3C 98 B3 76 72 08 0E, 4 channels, 8 CE, interleave 2, DRAM 256MB).
Background / what I've tried:
Drive was completely dead to any I/O — MP tool ISP burner sequence consistently failed at Check Burner Mode → Need Run On Burner Mode, even using a universal E8/E12/E13/E18 "reinit" tool (wrapper around a DLMC-class utility).
Traced this to the Phison NVMe 1.2 Storport Miniport driver (Patriot's Feb-2018 package) not being loaded — Windows 10 kept defaulting to the standard Microsoft NVMe class driver, which the reinit tool can't use for its vendor commands. After forcing the Phison driver in via testsigning + disabling the vulnerable driver blocklist (Code 48), the tool could finally see the "Reinit" option and complete the ISP handshake successfully.
Ran the full reinit sequence with two different generic E8 firmware images (E8FT11.0 from mid-2017, then E8FM12.2 from 2019) — both completed cleanly: ISP Burner Success → Erase All Block Done → ISP Program Flash → Write Infoblock → Preformat Done → Update FW Success.
After a full cold boot (real power cycle, not just VM reset — this is running in an Unraid VM with full PCIe passthrough, IOMMU group isolated, vfio-pci confirmed), the drive enumerates fine as NVMe (nvme id-ctrl/id-ns work, correct size reported, nsattr shows Not Write Protected), but every write is rejected:
Windows: diskpart → clean succeeds, but convert gpt/convert mbr fails with "Incorrect function"
Linux (Unraid host, native driver): nvme format /dev/nvme0n1 -s 0 → NVMe status: Access Denied: Access to the namespace and/or LBA range is denied due to lack of access rights(0x286)
Same result with raw dd/wipefs — kernel log shows critical medium error ... sct 0x2 / sc 0x86 on every write LBA
Ruled out TCG Opal/Pyrite: sedutil-cli --scan reports the drive as not Opal-compliant, --isValidSED and --query both return "Invalid or unsupported disk".
The reinit tool's UI only exposes a single "Reinitial" function — no separate Format/Secure Erase/PSID menu, even though strings inside the .exe reference many more DLMC-class functions (Secure Erase, User Data Erase, Set/Check/Revert PSID, DLMC Preformat, etc.) that don't appear to be wired up in this particular build.
Question: Given this is very likely an ex-Konica-Minolta copier drive, is this consistent with a copier-specific security/lock feature (ATA-Security-style password or a Phison vendor-specific equivalent) that survives a normal Erase All Block + reflash because it lives in a reserved area outside the user LBA range? If so, is there a known unlock procedure/tool for Konica-sourced Phison E8 drives specifically, or a fuller MPTool/DLMC build for E8 that exposes the additional functions I'm seeing referenced in the reinit exe's strings?
[spoiler=Initial ISP Burner Fail — before driver fix]
[21:23:44] Check Running Mode
[21:23:44] Handshake 5008
[21:24:12] Dump ID Page
[21:24:12] Read System Info
[21:24:12] Read Infoblock
[21:24:12] ISP Burner
[21:24:12] Check Running Mode
[21:24:12] Jump To Boot
[21:24:17] Program Burner
[21:24:17] Jump to Burner
[21:24:20] Check Burner Mode
[21:24:20] Need Run On Burner Mode
[21:24:20] ISP Burner Fail
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Successful reinit after loading Phison NVMe 1.2 Storport driver (E8FM12.2)]
[19:15:29] Check Running Mode
[19:15:29] Handshake 5008
[19:15:37] Dump ID Page
[19:15:37] Read System Info
[19:15:37] Read Infoblock
[19:15:37] ISP Burner
[19:15:37] Check Running Mode
[19:15:37] Jump To Boot
[19:15:42] Program Burner
[19:15:42] Jump to Burner
[19:15:45] Check Burner Mode
[19:15:45] Dump System Info
[19:15:45] ISP Burner Success
[19:15:45] Erase All Block
[19:15:45] Erase All Block 0%
...
[19:15:59] Erase All Block 100%
[19:15:59] Erase All Block Done
[19:15:59] ISP Program Flash
[19:16:00] ISP Jump To FW
[19:16:00] Write Infoblock
[19:16:00] Preformat
[19:16:00] Preformat 100%
[19:16:00] Preformat Done
[19:16:00] Update FW Success
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Original NAND/flash-ID dump (E8FT10.7, before reinit)]
Model : PHPCM256GFNTH-BCA0
Fw : E8FT10.7
P/N : 511-200219309
Bank00: 0x98,0x3c,0x98,0xb3,0x76,0x72,0x8,0xe - Toshiba 64L BiCS3 TLC 16k 256Gb/CE 256Gb/die 2Plane/die
Controller : PS5008-E8
Flash CE : 8
Flash Channel : 4
Interleave : 2
DRAM Size,MB : 256
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=Post-reinit write attempts — all rejected with Access Denied]
DISKPART> clean
DiskPart a réussi à nettoyer le disque.
DISKPART> convert gpt
Diskpart a rencontré une erreur : Fonction incorrecte.
$ nvme format /dev/nvme0n1 -s 0
NVMe status: Access Denied: Access to the namespace and/or LBA range
is denied due to lack of access rights(0x286)
kernel: nvme0n1: I/O Cmd(0x1) @ LBA 0, 992 blocks, I/O Error (sct 0x2 / sc 0x86)
kernel: critical medium error, dev nvme0n1, sector 0 op 0x1:(WRITE)
[/spoiler]
[spoiler=sedutil-cli — ruling out TCG Opal]
C:\...>sedutil-cli.exe --scan
Scanning for Opal compliant disks
\\.\PhysicalDrive1 No PHPCM256GFNTH-BC 11.0
C:\...>sedutil-cli.exe --isValidSED \\.\PhysicalDrive1
\\.\PhysicalDrive1 NO --- PHPCM256GFNTH-BC 11.0
C:\...>sedutil-cli.exe --query \\.\PhysicalDrive1
Invalid or unsupported disk
[/spoiler]