My system is rebooting to a “Default Boot Device Missing or Boot Failed” message

November 23 2021 4:44am

We've seen a compatibility issue on some firmware versions of Western Digital WD_BLACK SN850 SSDs where the system will blue screen or reboot to a blue screen that states “Default Boot Device Missing or Boot Failed”.

If you see this issue, you can resolve it by updating your SN850 firmware:

  1. Download Western Digital Dashboard: https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=279
  2. Run the installer to install the Dashboard.
  3. If the "Firmware Version" shows that there is a warning of a newer firmware available, update it by clicking on "NEW FIRMWARE AVAILABLE"

Seen on firmware versions:

  • 614600WD