Kingston: SSD A2000 bug fixable with update 

The Kingston A2000 has problems with the energy-saving mode under Linux. The manufacturer has provided an update for this with firmware version S5Z42109, which should fix the problem.

Update required

According to reports, there are problems with the SSD under Windows 10, further it can lead to crashes of the Linux operating system when using the Kingston A2000. The firmware version S5Z42109 is supposed to fix these problems now. Kingston provides the update via its own Windows 10 tool SSD Manager. There is no corresponding software for Linux here, for this the Windows 10 installation with Microsofts Media Creation Tool is a good choice. The installation is also possible for a short time without a paid license of Windows.

Cause in APST

The manufacturer unfortunately does not go into more detail about the problem in its Changelog (PDF). There seems to be a bug in the “Autonomus Power State Transition” (APST) function. This function manages the NVMe protocol for the power-saving mode.

Quirk entry prevents power saving mode

However, it is known that a Quirk entry is currently present in the Linux kernel versions 4.14.221, 4.19.175, 5.4.97 and 5.10.15. This entry prevents the Kingston A2000 SSD from switching to power-saving modes. Thus, the idle power consumption can be increased, but it has an impact on the stability. If the bug is fixed by the update to the new firmware version S5Z42109, the temporary solution on the kernel level can also be removed again.