# SSD failure. Oh no, not again!



## AudioLoco (Nov 24, 2020)

Oh no, not again!

So I just had the second main system HD SSD failure in 3 months. Never happened before in 20 years.

Last time I didn't even have a proper HD backup and had to spend almost a week re-installing everything (idiot).
If the backup I did this time around works, I should be OK.
But still, its a total bummer.
(I also luckily have a second my computer already ready for action, but it doesn't have every single license....)

Anyhow my question would be, is there anything that in your experiences may be a common cause this problem? Like bursts of wrong voltage sent from a faulty motherboard or something like that? I am a bit limited with my PC knowledge, I admit.

It is a 4 year old PC, Windows 10, latest version, which has served me really well until now.
It starts, and after the motherboard view appears it just blinks, instead of starting Windows, until I power off.
I started from the BIOS and re-assigned the HD correctly as I have done other times and still nothing.
The same thing happened last time and it worked fine once I changed the HD.

Specs:
Asus X299 Intel X299 TUF MK2 Chipset
Intel Core i7 7800X Skylake-X, 6 Core 12 Thread 3.5Ghz (4.0Ghz Turbo)

Any suggestion to what to look for before proceeding to change the main HD again would be ace, and would really help with my stress levels. :-(

Thanks so much in advance!


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## José Herring (Nov 24, 2020)

Are you sure it's the drive an not the connection?

I had a computer that wouldn't boot up, kept giving me OS erros, "can't find the OS" or something like that. Turned out not to be the drive by the SATA slot had gone bad. Changed the port and it's been fine since.

And, yes. Thanks for the heads up. I have cloning software but rarely use it. I'm going to try and clone my drive more regularly.


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## AudioLoco (Nov 24, 2020)

A-HA!... Thanks for the suggestion! Now that i think about it, it happened to me once on a Mac that a connection was the problem. Will try fiddling with that before changing the HD....

And, yes, don't be like me!
Do clone often. I always used to think "it's not going to happen, I will do the cloning next week".... I guess I learned the hard way.
I constantly backup projects, so I didn't lose any meaningful data whatsoever, still the long installation work, and finding the license codes and downloading installers, not fun.... and the stress...

Thanks again.


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## kitekrazy (Nov 25, 2020)

Give us an update. I don't mind SSD for an OS but I'm still cautious about spending money on larger ones for storage. I've been using WB Black 2TB HHD drives for years an finally one where the warranty expired in 2012 finally showed signs of needing replaced.


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## steveo42 (Nov 26, 2020)

kitekrazy said:


> Give us an update. I don't mind SSD for an OS but I'm still cautious about spending money on larger ones for storage. I've been using WB Black 2TB HHD drives for years an finally one where the warranty expired in 2012 finally showed signs of needing replaced.



I had 2 Seagate drives with manufacture / warranty expiration dates about 30 days apart. Both failed within 30 days of each other. Needless to say, Seagate has been on my naughty list for years. I use WD Black and various different brand SSD.


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## jcrosby (Nov 27, 2020)

AudioLoco said:


> Oh no, not again!
> 
> So I just had the second main system HD SSD failure in 3 months. Never happened before in 20 years.
> 
> ...


I've only experienced it on one drive. (Of 8 or so?) Are you filling these up near capacity by any chance? As far as I understand it no matter how new and robust an SSD is, the reality is it still needs some space to do proper garbage collection. Without proper garbage collection bad blocks can develop.


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## d.healey (Nov 27, 2020)

What does the S.M.A.R.T info report?


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## AudioLoco (Nov 29, 2020)

Thanks to everybody who took the interest in my depressing problem during these distracting BF times....

So, Josè Herring was on it... I changed the power cable, not the data one, of the offending HD and, for now it is all working again...

(Still I am cautious in my relief as it once randomly did this again, only to work perfectly later on...
There might be still some issue crawling around in the dark....)

Thanks again everyone and especially Josè! Much appreciated!

Now back to making music and trying out my new BF acquisitions...


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## vitocorleone123 (Nov 30, 2020)

AudioLoco said:


> Now back to making music and trying out my new BF acquisitions...



And the drive cloning?


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## Quasar (Nov 30, 2020)

kitekrazy said:


> Give us an update. I don't mind SSD for an OS but I'm still cautious about spending money on larger ones for storage. I've been using WB Black 2TB HHD drives for years an finally one where the warranty expired in 2012 finally showed signs of needing replaced.


I'm sort of the same way. 4TB SSD might be $500-600, and that's a lot of failed storage if it goes boom. I have a Crucial 250GB for OS and a couple of Samsung 1TB for libraries, but still record to and store on HDD.

I trust Samsung, Crucial and WD. I don't get Seagate anything because the failure rates (in aggregate) tend to be higher across the gamut of storage devices.


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## AudioLoco (Nov 30, 2020)

vitocorleone123 said:


> And the drive cloning?


What cloning?! I'm like a gold fish in these cases...


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## AudioLoco (Nov 30, 2020)

jcrosby said:


> I've only experienced it on one drive. (Of 8 or so?) Are you filling these up near capacity by any chance? As far as I understand it no matter how new and robust an SSD is, the reality is it still needs some space to do proper garbage collection. Without proper garbage collection bad blocks can develop.


Hey no it was the system HD which was not even half full....
That is a good advice though, my data drives are never more then 70% full...


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## telecode101 (Nov 30, 2020)

you should look up the model of it and install the software tool that monitors the life expectancy of the SSD. they all have a tool. you should monitor it and replace it when its show errors of any kind. a SSD will usually die really quick. those drives are usually rated for only X number of writes. there are also occasionally issues with particular drives made in the factories in particular months and drives failure rate is unusually higher than normal. it's rare, but it does happen. good luck.


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## d.healey (Nov 30, 2020)

telecode101 said:


> a SSD will usually die really quick.


How long is really quick?


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## Quasar (Nov 30, 2020)

d.healey said:


> How long is really quick?


On a timeline of 1 to 10, in which 1 = the origin of the 3rd Sumerian Civilization, 5 = the Pax Romana and 10 = the Ryzen 5000 series release date, probably pretty damn quick.


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## telecode101 (Nov 30, 2020)

d.healey said:


> How long is really quick?



it depends on all sorts of things. i believe what is *supposed* to happen is it should go into read only rot mode and then fail. enough time for you to get your data off it. either way, its a good idea to backup the data. the little piece of software from the vendor that monitors the ssd is the thing that should tell you its about to fail.









Bit Rot: How Hard Drives and SSDs Die Over Time


Computer storage is both a blessing and a curse. We can store terabytes of photos, documents, and more at home. But that data is more precarious than we might assume thanks to a phenomenon known as bit rot or data degradation.




www.howtogeek.com














How Solid-state Drives Work


We know your digital life is important to you --all those apps, files, photos and music. But here's the 50-million-dollar question: Is a solid-state drive or a hard disk drive the right technology for the job?




computer.howstuffworks.com





(that reminds me, i should check my backups tomorrow. my stupid time machine keeps complaing its out of disk space)


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