Looks like it might be time to replace my first SSD?

[ViviTheMage]

I have been having odd locks ups, started replacing hardware, and decided to buy this SSD LIFE program to check the life of the SSD ... looks like I am dead!

I ran it on my OCZ Agility 2 and it looks much better :

I might just have to pick up another OCZ Agility or something, damn solid2 dead only after 3 years, 1 month AFTER the warranty was up! UGH.

Anything I can do with this SSD? Or is it junk?

 

[jordanecmusic]

Exactly why I dont use ssd

 

[ViviTheMage]

3 years is not bad, but still surprised the agility 2 has a longer life.

 

[VirtualLarry]

A 128GB SSD, dead, after 2.5TB of writes? I doubt it.

Look at my thread, I'll add a pic, I've written almost 8TB to it, and it's only at 76% life.

And my SSD is only 30GB!

http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33154070&postcount=18

 

[groberts101]

Anything I can do with this SSD? Or is it junk?

There certainly is. DL the 1.7 destructive flasher here.. http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/f...-Agility-Solid2-Onyx-1-7-Destructive-updaters.. and totally disregard that utility.

In fact.. I can't even remember how many original Vertex drives I've seen that will reach 0% and then start all over again at 100%. There are even a couple of old threads over their that had people panicking about that particular utility and even the author himself chimed in to explain that the algorithms used(while based on the smart data) will only give estimates based on GB written over a particular timespan and then average them out for the expected lifespan numbers. So, if you use the piss outta the drive for 2 weeks and then watch the expected life fall?.. you can see it level out and go right back up if you let it sit idle(such as an unused spare would be) for the next month.

Now don't get me wrong here.. you very well may need to back that data up and take extra precaution.. but out of hundreds I've seen post with concerns?.. only a handful(less than that actually) have actually died after these types of utilities pointed to that possibility.

D-flash will reset the smart data and you can surely go on about your business knowing that you have only scratched the surface for what amount of PE/c that drive will have left. Hope that helps reduce the concern.

PS. I have 10 of those drives and they have been beaten SEVERELY during testing and huge vid ripping/encoding sessions(like 100GB PER session at times). Even though I have no absolute way to know how much data some of the drives have written so far(due to d-flashes wiping the smart data clean).. I can conservatively say that some will have near 20TB worth of writes so far. And they will continue to write at least 2-3 times more when you consider that the PE/c ratings are only based on the MINIMUM amount of PE/c available.. not the actual amount that can be written. Look at extreme forums testing and you will see that aside form some controller panic locks and other failures?.. PE/c is not even a valid concern unless these things are put into 24/7 servers where data sets are huge and constant.

 

[ViviTheMage]

A 128GB SSD, dead, after 2.5TB of writes? I doubt it.

Look at my thread, I'll add a pic, I've written almost 8TB to it, and it's only at 76% life.

And my SSD is only 30GB!

I don't doubt it, but maybe this drive is crap? I replaced it and all of my computer issues went away... ie constant lock ups.

I would pay $200 a year for a new SSD, then go back to mechanical as my main drive jordanecmusic, they are THAT worth it.

 

[groberts101]

again.. you only have a corrupted drive.. not a dying drive.

 

[ViviTheMage]

How can I correct it? Is it even possible?

 

[sequoia464]

You would do well to pay attention to groberts101 advice on this.

 

[ViviTheMage]

There certainly is. DL the 1.7 destructive flasher here.. http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/f...-Agility-Solid2-Onyx-1-7-Destructive-updaters.. and totally disregard that utility.

In fact.. I can't even remember how many original Vertex drives I've seen that will reach 0% and then start all over again at 100%. There are even a couple of old threads over their that had people panicking about that particular utility and even the author himself chimed in to explain that the algorithms used(while based on the smart data) will only give estimates based on GB written over a particular timespan and then average them out for the expected lifespan numbers. So, if you use the piss outta the drive for 2 weeks and then watch the expected life fall?.. you can see it level out and go right back up if you let it sit idle(such as an unused spare would be) for the next month.

Now don't get me wrong here.. you very well may need to back that data up and take extra precaution.. but out of hundreds I've seen post with concerns?.. only a handful(less than that actually) have actually died after these types of utilities pointed to that possibility.

D-flash will reset the smart data and you can surely go on about your business knowing that you have only scratched the surface for what amount of PE/c that drive will have left. Hope that helps reduce the concern.

PS. I have 10 of those drives and they have been beaten SEVERELY during testing and huge vid ripping/encoding sessions(like 100GB PER session at times). Even though I have no absolute way to know how much data some of the drives have written so far(due to d-flashes wiping the smart data clean).. I can conservatively say that some will have near 20TB worth of writes so far. And they will continue to write at least 2-3 times more when you consider that the PE/c ratings are only based on the MINIMUM amount of PE/c available.. not the actual amount that can be written. Look at extreme forums testing and you will see that aside form some controller panic locks and other failures?.. PE/c is not even a valid concern unless these things are put into 24/7 servers where data sets are huge and constant.

major time warp!

How does this help though? If I reset the SMART data, that just corrects his utility's showing of my lifespan, correct?

I ask, because I have had this odd issue where my PC will lock up hard, out of the blue..frequently. I replaced mobo, reformatted, memory, PSU, video cards, etc over the passt 6 months, and the issue persists. I replace the SSD SOLID2 and everything is a-ok....so far.

 

[groberts101]

not sure what else I can say that I haven't already said. d-flash the drive to get rid of ALL data and firmware corruption issues that may be present. The tools used to read that smart data are nealry as useless as the smart data itself.

I've panic locked 8 of these drives to date and all others that have had these types of issues in the past are running right straight to an RMA. Well.. not this guy.. and I keep my money in my wallet by simply d-flashing the drives back to life without any issues after the fact.

FWIW.. most of my issues stemmed from voltage fluctuations, chipset loading from using 6 of them in R0, and hellacious amounts of testing and abuse. All drives are functioning even better than they were when new at this point and some compatible models(certain nand configs) are even flashed to turbo versions now.

So, again.. bite the bullet and wipe them back to fresh with this latest firmware. Filesystem and firmware corruption will be eliminated and you'll be back to fresh. Who the hell cares what smart says if it's been proven to be so wrong,.. right? lol Just know that, and as I said earlier, these drives will go FAARRR beyond that paltry amount of writes you have logged so far. Way beyond.

I'll also add that you may have a bad/weak cable.. voltage fluctuations.. too many power transitions(sleeps/hibernates).. and even insufficient volts to the SB on your board. We must keep in mind that not every system is identical and even slight variations or those systems which tend to live on the edge of specs can and often do push these controllers over the edge on ocassion. In fact.. I can kill them at will if I so choose. Just let my laptop run completely out of juice during a hibernate?.. and goodbye charlie.. "no boot device available".

Even if that happened though?.. I d-flash.. I reimage.. I reboot... then I simply move on with my life and learn what not to do in the future. I would suggest that you do the same. Good luck with it all.

 

[bradley]

These drives don't report smart data correctly. Once upon a time, my Solid 2 had TWICE the writes as yours and displayed 1% remaining health. Eventually the counter reset itself and started back at 100%.

I then upgraded from 1.5 to 1.7, and not only did speed improve but write amplification. It has been merrily chugging along at 99% ever since. Groberts is right and was nice enough to help you.

Here's what it looks like after a destructive flash. I was just about to throw this drive into an HTPC. Remember this is the same drive reporting 1% at one time.

My advice is to destructively flash 1.7. Just make sure to research the flash first in the OCZ forum, because the process is slightly convoluted. Then your instability might be remedied with a simple clearing of your CMOS and resetting of the BIOS. Good luck.

 

[ViviTheMage]

not sure what else I can say that I haven't already said. d-flash the drive to get rid of ALL data and firmware corruption issues that may be present. The tools used to read that smart data are nealry as useless as the smart data itself.

I've panic locked 8 of these drives to date and all others that have had these types of issues in the past are running right straight to an RMA. Well.. not this guy.. and I keep my money in my wallet by simply d-flashing the drives back to life without any issues after the fact.

FWIW.. most of my issues stemmed from voltage fluctuations, chipset loading from using 6 of them in R0, and hellacious amounts of testing and abuse. All drives are functioning even better than they were when new at this point and some compatible models(certain nand configs) are even flashed to turbo versions now.

So, again.. bite the bullet and wipe them back to fresh with this latest firmware. Filesystem and firmware corruption will be eliminated and you'll be back to fresh. Who the hell cares what smart says if it's been proven to be so wrong,.. right? lol Just know that, and as I said earlier, these drives will go FAARRR beyond that paltry amount of writes you have logged so far. Way beyond.

I'll also add that you may have a bad/weak cable.. voltage fluctuations.. too many power transitions(sleeps/hibernates).. and even insufficient volts to the SB on your board. We must keep in mind that not every system is identical and even slight variations or those systems which tend to live on the edge of specs can and often do push these controllers over the edge on ocassion. In fact.. I can kill them at will if I so choose. Just let my laptop run completely out of juice during a hibernate?.. and goodbye charlie.. "no boot device available".

Even if that happened though?.. I d-flash.. I reimage.. I reboot... then I simply move on with my life and learn what not to do in the future. I would suggest that you do the same. Good luck with it all.

I will definitely be trying it. For reference, I did get the sata6 crucial SSD, and been rock solid with the same setup.

For shit sake, I will do your method, and use taht drive for a few days, see if the issue is gone too, I would be curious....and hey, at least I can sell it .

thanks again, I will try to remember to update this thread with my results!

Bradley, I am taking his advice, it just didn't make sense that "just clearing SMART data" would fix it...but worth trying. I installed 1.7 the week it came out for the solid2, I wonder if that is about the time my issues arose actually.

 

[imaheadcase]

Exactly why I dont use ssd

eh? Oh nm you don't know what you are talking about.

 

[billyb0b]

Exactly why I dont use ssd

You also should never be above ground considering there's a chance that some space junk, frozen poop from an airplane, and/or a meteor could land on you and kill you. Live 100+ feet underground to be safe.

...... your comment is asinine

 

[bryanW1995]

Don't forget cosmic rays. And holes in the ozone layer. Also, I find that all the hottest chicks hang out more like 500 feet underground.

 

[exdeath]

Exactly why I dont use ssd

Heres a few other things you might have interest in:

 

[RaistlinZ]

I'll add some...

:biggrin:

 

[bryanW1995]

Heres a few other things you might have interest in:

That tv set looks just like the one that I nailed with a baseball bat (thrown like a spear of course) when I was 5 years old. Well, except for the huge round crack in the upper right hand corner. And the secondary cracks that spread from the big round one. The sears guy couldn't stop laughing when my mom asked him if it was covered by warranty. We kept it until I graduated from high school. Eventually, you kind of get used to not having 10% of your screen available.

 

[ViviTheMage]

hahaha, this thread has gotten good.

 

[Anteaus]

Exactly why I dont use ssd

I think the more appropriate comment would have been, "Exactly why I don't use ssd at this time."

SSDs or some derivative of it are the future. Mechanical drives are just too slow. Early hard drives had problems also and we all know how that turned out. I think we are on the eve of a major evolution in storage digital storage capabilities.