When SSDs are not that solid

[ignatzatsonic]

Appears to be happening to a particular brand.

https://blog.algolia.com/when-solid-state-drives-are-not-that-solid/

"As it turned out, the lost data was always 512 bytes, which is one block on the drive."

"The system was issuing a TRIM to erase empty blocks, the command got misinterpreted by the drive and the controller erased blocks it was not supposed to. Therefore our files ended up with 512 bytes of zeroes, files smaller than 512 bytes were completely zeroed."

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

From what I've been reading elsewhere, it's happened only on servers and Linux systems (so far).

 

[GokAy]

Would this be fixable with a firmware update? I guess I would have lost something by this time? A little bit more than 2 months with this 850 Pro 512GB. Anyway to check in Windows?

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Over on Overclock Forums, they've been reporting that this hasn't happened on any Windows machines, just servers using Linux. There was an update a while back that was bricking the 850 Pros but Samsung pulled that sucker right away (another reason to wait before applying any updates to anything). I don't think it was a recent update and I don't know if one would fix this or not. The Sammies that have had this problem were in a commercial server using Linux, something the Sammies were never designed for; they are a consumer drive.

 

[mjf]

... they are a consumer drive.

Are there industry SSDs? I don't understand the firmware/OS interactions. I had assumed there weren't any - probably a wrong assumption. I was going to put linux on a spare 840 EVO but may rethink.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

... they are a consumer drive.

Are there industry SSDs? I don't understand the firmware/OS interactions. I had assumed there weren't any - probably a wrong assumption. I was going to put linux on a spare 840 EVO but may rethink.

Yes, they are called Enterprise SSDs and many of them cost a pretty penny.

You might hold off on Linux on an EVO although I believe it's only the 850s that are having this problem. Of course, the 840 EVOs had their own problem.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

Here is a link to one of the threads about this over at Overclock.net.

Whoops, found another link. This one sounds more dire, especially since it seems Samsiung isn't the only one with the problem.

 

[mjf]

"Come in Spinner" - an Australian in joke.

"Of course, the 840 EVOs had their own problem." Is this the type of issue:
Second patch for ongoing 840 EVO SSD performance issues being prepped by Samsung | ExtremeTech

Samsung's not looking good at this rate. What's your favorite SSD???

 

[ignatzatsonic]

What's your favorite SSD???

This Crucial owner says Intel. Used to own one. The connectors failed, and I replaced it with a Crucial, saving a fast 10 or 15 dollars. Probably not one of my best moves.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

..."Of course, the 840 EVOs had their own problem." Is this the type of issue:
Second patch for ongoing 840 EVO SSD performance issues being prepped by Samsung | ExtremeTech...

Yep.

...Samsung's not looking good at this rate. What's your favorite SSD???

Uhhh...Samsung? All seriousness aside, I have a 128GB Samsung 840 Pro that has been running pretty much 24/7 for the past 28 months without a hitch and two 840EVOs in two of my notebooks. I haven't had any problems with the EVOs, either (but, then again, they get really light usage). The only reason I don't have an 850 is they weren't out yet when I bought my last EVO.

 

[Brds7t7]

I have two 840 EVO's and can't say I've ever had any performance issues... Yet!? I've always kept them on the latest firmware as I've heard they've had problems with theirs.
I haven't used one on Linux though.
If this is a widespread problem then Samsung really needs to sort it out once and for all. They're great performers for their cheap price, but nobody will buy them if they're always worried their data will be at risk.

 

[margrave]

And I was about to buy one. I was listing the size of the various folders on C:, to see what could be moved to D: so as to make C: fit into a 512 GB SSD. And now this bit about data on SSD that live a precarious live as now-you-see-it-now-you-don't. Sux.

 

[RoasterMen]

I cant imagine using SSD drives which will fail horribly (You won't even know, it could be even the best ones out there). So yeah, whatever people says about its performance, I am still going for a mechanical one.

 

[whs]

I just lost a 120GB OCZ Vector after about 20 months of usage. No idea what caused it but the thing is dead. That is the second SSD that died on me since 2008. Since all my PCs run on SSDs, that's not too bad.

 

[mjf]

I just lost a 120GB OCZ Vector after about 20 months of usage. No idea what caused it but the thing is dead. That is the second SSD that died on me since 2008. Since all my PCs run on SSDs, that's not too bad.

I think it's pretty bad. Any idea what's going on to cause the failure?
Thank goodness for system images.

 

[whs]

Michael, I have no clue why it died. A couple of days ago it just dropped dead. I have submitted a claim to OCZ because that Vector has a 5 year warranty. So there are chances I will get my money back.

In the meantime I installed a new Kingston SSD (that was the cheapest here in Germany). I checked the Vector with a few enclosures but it is definitely dead. I suspect the internal controller but I guess we will probably never know for certain.

And you are right. I had an image from a couple of days ago. So getting back up was no problem.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I cant imagine using SSD drives which will fail horribly (You won't even know, it could be even the best ones out there). So yeah, whatever people says about its performance, I am still going for a mechanical one.

ALL drives, SSD or HDD, will eventually fail so there is no point in shooting yourself in the foot. There are good, not so good, and bad brands with both. Keep in mind, the only reports of the data loss problem with the Sammy 850s is from a commercial server using Linux. Windows users have nothing to worry about and I have yet to hear of enthusiasts using Linux having the problem.

Some people had trouble with slowing in the 840 EVOs but many more did not. I'm running two of them and I haven't had a problem (yet). There are firmware updates available but I'm a firm believer in if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

 

[Indianatone]

I have had 3 or 4 Seagate 1TB /2TB drives fail over the last few years. All went within a few hours and Hard Disk Sentinel - HDD health and temperature monitoring warned me before the drives became unreadable. All you can do is make sure you have a back up. Drives fail SSD or Spinning rust. I had issues with a Samsung SSD twice I got a dud. One just kept disappearing from the system causing BSOD, the other one became read only after a few days. Could have been the motherboard as I RMA and got a refund and eventually gave away the board. I bought 3 x 256 Gb Toshiba, 1 x 256GB Crucial and 5 x Kingston 120GB and never had an issue. The Kingston drives are not as fast but in their PC applications (Notebook, 2 x Media PC and 2 of my desktop PC) I use for various tasks. The Toshiba drives are in my main PC's dual booting 7 & 8.1 and one Toshiba in Tammy's fast PC.

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

...All you can do is make sure you have a back up...

This is the key statement!

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

The original blog post has been updated and the problem is not being caused by what they thought it was. Samsung is investigating the problem but it appears to be unique. Looks like this may be another false alarm, like the other one about SSDs losing data over time.