Ssd failure, I don’t know what to do

[lexluthermiester]

I got Samsungs 990pro 2TB SSD about 1.5 year ago. As soon as I installed it I made sure to update to latest firmware as I was aware of issues.
I never had problems with it.
It is not my system drive I just keep a lot of work stuff there, games and programs I use.

I got new laptop so I wanted to sync files between pc and new laptop and I decided to try IDrive cloud. I downloaded the app and tried to setup cloud folder on my SSD.

I was trying to rearrange some files using an app for managing files (Eagle app), so I could sync them to the cloud.
Basically I just moved about 100gb of files in one go from one folder to another (within the same SSD) and my pc froze for a minute. Moving files failed and when I tried opening files that are on this drive it wouldn’t let me.

Restarted my PC and the SSD was not found in the explorer, restarted again and it came back.
Tried running Samsung Magician diagnostic full scan it showed 5 red squares very soon and stopped progressing. Restarted again, did short scan and everything was ok but when I tried full scan it was going good for a while but ultimately few red squares appeared and progress froze

Eagle app never failed me before, I don’t know if it’s IDrive fault since I wasn’t syncing any files at that time.

I tried backing up files I needed into a cloud but it failed, when I looked into event I had plenty of errors event id 51 and 140.
When I tried to backup on external drive I was getting “a device which does not exist was specified”

View attachment 397733

Restarted my pc AGAIN. Couldn’t open files as it was saying they were corrupted,

I ran CrystalDiskInfo and suddenly everything started working, I was able to open files and I managed to do backup on some of important files to external drive.
crystal disk said my drive is fine and is at 100% health.

View attachment 397734
I tried running fallout 4 I have installed on my drive and it crashed in the same place (no errors in event viewer) but on 3rd try I was able to play for few hours and it was running fine.


I’m pretty spooked now, I don’t know what to do and if I can trust this drive again. Someone on Reddit told me to rma it but I don’t even know how long it can take.
Is my SSD broken? What else should I do?

Samsung magician and my Ssd firmware is up to date

Copy everything you don't want to lose to another drive ASAP!

Sorry for late reply everyone and thanks for many replies, I was backing up most important files and didn't want to touch my PC at all at that time.
I was able to make 3 backups because I'm paranoid at this point, 1 cloud and 2 external drives.

Ah, nice!

Next shut off your PC, unplug the SSD and then plug it back in. Sometimes reseating electronics resolves a bad connection issue. If the problem persists, buy a new drive as soon as you can and be ready to do a fresh install of Windows.

EDIT: sorry for repeating what others have said, didn't see it before posting a response.

 

[Athlonite]

Don't buy a new one at this stage contact SamSung about RMA as it's still under warranty they'll cover it and should send out a new one to replace the dodgy one

 

[nageme]

As for reseating, I really really don't like messing with the inside of the PC since its quite operation for me to do with all the cables in inaccesible area but I will try.
My motherboard has 3 m2 slots and I would try the empty one, but that would mean removing my GPU—which I’m scared to break, lol.

You're going to have to do it anyway if you think of replacing the drive.
FWIW, your 0x0E "Media and Data Integrity Errors" stat shows 0 in both earlier and later screenshot.
And I do see people on the web report that this value can increase.

I can't say for sure, but I think this may suggest the problem is external to the drive. For example:
The interface/connector, or the motherboard or external NVMe controller, or a general computer stability problem (see the tests I suggested before, like Memtest86).

I don't have any other pc to test the ssd on.

Unfortunate. Maybe an external enclosure?

Are there any safety steps for reseating the drive? Do I have to dismount it in someway from the Disk Managment before I shut down and unplug everything? I mean sort of like "Ejecting" external drive?

No need to do anything in software. If your computer is off, it's off. Next reboot it won't know you did anything.
And if the drive is disconnected the next power on, Windows would just detect the change.

 

[efikkan]

If I may add;
In case you might try to RMA the SSD, are there any personal data you might want to wipe first?
If so, after a fresh reboot, is there a tiny window where you can successfully write to the drive before it disconnects?

 

[AdoringFan]

Oh man, looks like I’m extremely unlucky…

I got the Sn850x from Amazon because I need storage now and it’s hard to trust failing drive despite troubleshooting.

I installed it and of course it doesn’t get recognised in the disk manager thing, also it doesn’t show up in BIOS, I installed Samsung back to the same slot and it shows up so I don’t think the slot is faulty.

 

[Ruru]

Might want to look at a new SSD as this one is definitely dodgy

Exactly. And a SSD can die without giving any warning signs, HDDs usually degrade what comes to their condition before fully breaking.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Oh man, looks like I’m extremely unlucky…

I got the Sn850x from Amazon because I need storage now and it’s hard to trust failing drive despite troubleshooting.

I installed it and of course it doesn’t get recognised in the disk manager thing, also it doesn’t show up in BIOS, I installed Samsung back to the same slot and it shows up so I don’t think the slot is faulty.

So you at least have a working drive now, yes? Have you tried both drives in another slot?

 

[AdoringFan]

So you at least have a working drive now, yes? Have you tried both drives in another slot?

Not really,

Samsung the one that failed, sometimes works sometimes it doesn’t. I got new sn850x 4tb, put it in the same slot and it doesn’t get detected in bios or disk management although samsung works with this slot.
I just got the m2 to USB adapter
- Samsung ssd gets recognised
- Wd sn850x pops up in disk manager but when I try to initialize it it throws “The request failed due to a fatal device hardware error.”, and same goes for connecting it to other laptop

Really losing my mind right now…

EDIT: forgot to add I updated bios and running on latest version

 

[lexluthermiester]

Really losing my mind right now…

EDIT: forgot to add I updated bios and running on latest version

So did you try an different M.2 slot(if your mobo has more than one) with both drives?

 

[AdoringFan]

So did you try a different M.2 slot(if your mobo has more than one) with both drives?

I was holding of with it till last moment because GPU cables were hard to remove but I did it

It has 3 m2 slots
1 where my system drive is
2 under gpu
3 below Gpu

Tested 2 and 3 and still nothing for sn850x

Kept sn850x in 2 while Samsung was in 3
and it only detects samsung

I tried forcing the pcie lanes from auto to gen 4 in bios, and all available configurations 8x8 8x4x4 4x4x4x4 and… sn850x never shows up only Samsung

 

[qxp]

One more possibility - the drive is fine, the memory or cpu is faulty and you get occasional memory errors. Checking drive or copying lots of files runs into a memory error and the OS thinks something is wrong with the drive and disables it.

If you have another computer (like a notebook) try checking the drive there.

 

[AdoringFan]

One more possibility - the drive is fine, the memory or cpu is faulty and you get occasional memory errors. Checking drive or copying lots of files runs into a memory error and the OS thinks something is wrong with the drive and disables it.

If you have another computer (like a notebook) try checking the drive there.

I did try the m2 adapter to a laptop but it also throws “The request failed due to a fatal device hardware error.” when I try to initialize it

 

[lexluthermiester]

I was holding of with it till last moment because GPU cables were hard to remove but I did it

It has 3 m2 slots
1 where my system drive is
2 under gpu
3 below Gpu

Tested 2 and 3 and still nothing for sn850x

Kept sn850x in 2 while Samsung was in 3
and it only detects samsung

I tried forcing the pcie lanes from auto to gen 4 in bios, and all available configurations 8x8 8x4x4 4x4x4x4 and… sn850x never shows up only Samsung

It might be a irritation but you need to rule out the current active M.2 slot by testing the drive that doesn't show up in another slot. If in that slot both drives show up, then you will know that either a setting concerning that slot is not set properly, or the slot has gone bad physically.

3 below Gpu

Try that, it'll be easier and will still be bootable.

I did try the m2 adapter to a laptop but it also throws “The request failed due to a fatal device hardware error.” when I try to initialize it

Given this you might have a bad drive or you might have a drive that needs a specific set of settings. Does the drive show up in the Device Manager? If so, have you created a partition for it yet? Brand new drive are often completely blank with not partitions defined.

 

[AdoringFan]

Does the drive show up in the Device Manager? If so, have you created a partition for it yet? Brand new drive are often completely blank with not partitions defined.

It only shows up when I’m using m2 to usb adapter, I can’t create the partition because the fatal error pops up on the very first step when I try to initialize it. Same error on pc and laptop

EDIT: I took the sn850x to my local IT guys and they said it’s dead dead and to return it.
bruh

 

[Athlonite]

EDIT: I took the sn850x to my local IT guys and they said it’s dead dead and to return it.
bruh

Don't be disparaged it can happen to the best of us stuff sometimes gets out of the factory dead I'd do as you IT guy has sais return it for a new one and if you get another dead one get your money back and shop somewhere else

 

[lexluthermiester]

EDIT: I took the sn850x to my local IT guys and they said it’s dead dead and to return it.
bruh

At least you figured that out quickly! As Athlonite said, but let it get you down, it happens to everyone sooner or later. Send it back and get s new one.

 

[AdoringFan]

sometimes gets out of the factory dead

it happens to everyone sooner or later

Yea, the IT guy said its the first dead on arrival WD drive he has seen.

Now if the amazon return goes smoothly fingers crossed, Should I go for the same WD again or should I pick something else? What do you think?

EDIT: thinking about trying out sn850x again or kingston fury renegade

 

[qxp]

Yea, the IT guy said its the first dead on arrival WD drive he has seen.

Now if the amazon return goes smoothly fingers crossed, Should I go for the same WD again or should I pick something else? What do you think?

I have several Samsung drives in desktops, notebook and USB enclosures.

Models:
Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 2TB (several, including notebook where it gets hot as well as USB enclosure)
Samsung SSD 990 PRO 4TB (2x, desktop + USB enclosure)
Samsung SSD 870 QVO 8TB (this one is SATA, 1x)

My first drive was 970 EVO (non-plus) model, for which Samsung had heat-related recall. Looks like the subsequent drives had smaller heat dissipation and good heat management.

 

[lexluthermiester]

Should I go for the same WD again or should I pick something else? What do you think?

I would. The chances of getting two DOAs in a row is very small.

sn850x again or kingston fury renegade

Either of those will be excellent as well.

 

[AdoringFan]

I would. The chances of getting two DOAs in a row is very small.

Probably, however it will always be in the back of my mind that I might have done something wrong to kill it. I'm really careful with all the tech and expensive stuff, I've never even cracked phone screen. I just assume that IF second one turns out to be also dead - it would be pretty awkward talking to amazon support again and look like I'm just breaking them as a hobby

 

[qxp]

Probably, however it will always be in the back of my mind that I might have done something wrong to kill it. I'm really careful with all the tech and expensive stuff, I've never even cracked phone screen. I just assume that IF second one turns out to be also dead - it would be pretty awkward talking to amazon support again and look like I'm just breaking them as a hobby

It could be a bad run. It could also be a repackaged return.

Decided to do a quick search for sn950x - have you seen this:

Discussion - Warning about WD SN850x NVMe drives

I've gone through three of these drives now on two different AMD systems with two Windows installs. The first two drives I wrote off as compatibility issues with my Zen 3 X570 setup, something wrong with the NVMe slot, etc. But I'm on X670E now with a brand new 2TB SN850x drive with a fresh...

forums.anandtech.com

 

[AdoringFan]

Decided to do a quick search for sn950x - have you seen this:

Yes I've also found some other post with WD issues, but well... plenty of them will obviously turn up once you start looking for them. I guess if I get a new one, I will try the m2 adapter on a laptop before putting it in my PC just to make sure.

 

[qxp]

Yes I've also found some other post with WD issues, but well... plenty of them will obviously turn up once you start looking for them. I guess if I get a new one, I will try the m2 adapter on a laptop before putting it in my PC just to make sure.

The discussion there points towards a driver issue. If that is the case getting a new drive will not help. If you want to, you can try using Linux to check the drive you have.

For example, Kubuntu can be installed on a USB stick and run from that stick. Slower than SSD of course, but usable.

The command to print out drive information is:

sudo smartctl -a /dev/nvmen1
if you drive is installed in M.2 slot and shows up as drive 1. Otherwise try /dev/nvmen2

To run a short test do

sudo smartctl -t short /dev/nvmen1

Wait and then check again with smartctl -a

For long test supply -t long, walk away, come back later and use smartctl -a

 

[eidairaman1]

It only shows up when I’m using m2 to usb adapter, I can’t create the partition because the fatal error pops up on the very first step when I try to initialize it. Same error on pc and laptop

EDIT: I took the sn850x to my local IT guys and they said it’s dead dead and to return it.
bruh

You are unlucky for sure, i almost started thinking your motherboard was toast