Ssd failure, I don’t know what to do

[AdoringFan]

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”

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.

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

 

[DirtyDingusMcgee]

Have you run chkdsk since you did all this? I bet your file system is funky.

run "chkdsk /f" on the drive from an elevated command prompt (not /r, lets not worry about a sector scan just yet).

Proper shutdown and power off afterwards, then re-seat the drive.

What other storage is in the mix here? Please fill out your system specs.

 

[nageme]

If you don't have backups, first copy all files to another drive.

Then start to the analyze what's going on.
It could be a problem with the hardware the SSD is connected to.

 

[Hardcore Games]

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

 

[Carlyle2020hs]

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/1hqew6m/comment/m9hxhw2

The answer is in there somewhere

 

[efikkan]

To add upon what DirtyDingusMcgee and nageme have already said;
Firstly make sure you have made backups of everything of value, if you are still able to make uncorrupted copies of files, only after you've completed the backup should you start tinkering with the file system.
I usually tell people to have at least 3 copies of anything worth keeping, 3 separate copies. Having multiple devices synced, or devices synced to the "cloud" still counts as only "one copy", as if a file is deleted, modified or corrupted you might accidentally sync the error. So make sure you have or acquire enough devices and/or remote storage to have separate copies before you proceed.

Based on there being no SMART-errors on the device (as far as I can see), I suspect it being one of two errors (or both);
1) A corrupted file system
2) Bad physical contact.

Number 2 is the easiest to eliminate; re-seat the drive (like DirtyDingusMcgee said), or add it to another slot if you can.

As for the file system, I would probably format it regardless, as even if there is a hardware issue with the SSD or other hardware, the filesystem is probably partly corrupted anyways. The number of "Unsafe shutdowns" in CrystalDiskInfo can be an indication of just that. So whenever a file system is corrupted, it's usally easier to start with a clean slate rather than to try to run chkdsk and hope things are fixed (they usually aren't). A prerequisite is that you have backuped all files before you start.

Getting a full list of hardware could be useful. (Also whether the system is overclocked.)

-----

As for what causes such problems, there can be a number of causes; It can be a hard shutdown from an application crashing the computer, power loss, bad connection to the drive, defective drive, defective RAM or defective CPU.
If you have any reason to suspect other hardware faults, I suggest running a memory check and a CPU stress test. I have seen cases of faulty RAM causing file system corruption.

-----

When it comes to addressing your concerns gong forward, I suggest making your setups more robust;
1) Backups (3 independent copies) as said. (I also like to have checksums of files)
2) Having at the very least separate partitions, or preferably a separate SSD for the OS. So having your files on one drive, and the OS and applications on another. The first reason for this is the chance of corruption caused by crashes almost always occur on the OS drive (applies whether it's separate partitions or SSDs). The second reason (which only applies to separate SSDs) is that the OS drives will usually have much more writes, so having a "small" OS SSD will take the hit with most of the wear and tear, and your files sits on a "larger" SSD which will probably last for many years. (I have all 4 of my desktops set up this way; when a SSD goes bad, I just replace it and install the OS, my files are separate )
3) If you experience further problems after the drive is reformatted and have eliminated other hardware problems, then assume there is some funky firmware issue. Unfortunately Samsung 990 Pro are known for such issues.

 

[PowerBuilder]

In most cases this is not a problem, but TLC SSDs can occasionally exhibit unrecoverable instability. This gets worse with increasing write counts (and over time). And there is a high probability of random freezes during brief periods of high load. The freezes can show up as warnings in the Event Viewer. And certain company chipsets with poorly designed storage controllers can exhibit unstable (sudden stuttering) behavior. You may need a fixed driver. Samsung NVMe drivers (version 3.3) are available, but they are no longer being updated and the latest 990 PRO SSDs are not recognized.

 

[eidairaman1]

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

You should back your data up pronto, otherwise you might need to pay a data recovery specialist if you don't back it up.

MDrepairs

We repair and recover data from all types of electronics, check out the link below. Mail-in Your device https://mdrepairs.com/mail-in-repair/

youtube.com

 

[AdoringFan]

Firstly make sure you have made backups of everything of value, if you are still able to make uncorrupted copies of files, only after you've completed the backup should you start tinkering with the file system.
I usually tell people to have at least 3 copies of anything worth keeping, 3 separate copies. Having multiple devices synced, or devices synced to the "cloud" still counts as only "one copy", as if a file is deleted, modified or corrupted you might accidentally sync the error. So make sure you have or acquire enough devices and/or remote storage to have separate copies before you proceed.

You should back your data up pronto, otherwise you might need to pay a data recovery specialist if you don't back it up.

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.

Have you run chkdsk since you did all this? I bet your file system is funky.

run "chkdsk /f" on the drive from an elevated command prompt (not /r, lets not worry about a sector scan just yet).

I tried running it now but got the "Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Chkdsk may run if this volume is dismounted first. ALL OPEN HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE INVALID. Would you like to force a dismount on this volume? (Y/N)"

What other storage is in the mix here? Please fill out your system specs.

Getting a full list of hardware could be useful. (Also whether the system is overclocked.)

my full specs are
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X
RAM: 2x32GB Corsair sticks i think it was 3600MHZ
MOBO: MSI MEG X570 UNIFY
GPU: GIGABYTE RTX3080
Storage:
- My system drive: Samsung 980 PRO 1TB
- some 3TB HDD drive
- some old 1TB HDD drive
- some really old 512GB drive
- the trouble maker Samsung 990 PRO 2TB with heatsink or radiator whatever its called
PSU: Corsair RMx 850W 80 Plus Gold

I didn't overclock anything

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

Yea, I'm not trusting it right now. Someone on reddit told me to try RMA it but the thing is I just might get the same drive back I can't rely on. Any recommendations for new one? I've been thinking about WD SN850X. at this point reliability>specs

https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/1hqew6m/comment/m9hxhw2

The answer is in there somewhere

I don't really mess with BIOS as I'm not really good with it, however in Samsung Magician I've found something this reddit post is talking about?
Should I put the SSD in Full Power mode to prevent it from ever going idle or sleep?

 

[AdoringFan]

I'm BEYOND confused right now.
I ran short and extended scan using samsung magician and everything is fine

Then I ran the full scan and I was expecting for it to show red squares like right after the ssd failure and just freeze never progressing, but this time everything went smoothly for whatever reason.
I did delete and move some files before this attempt at scanning. Could this whole issue lie in some corrupt file?

EDIT: wow i got ahead of myself. Just to be sure I restarted my PC and tried full scan again, it froze and i got bunch of Event Viewer warinings ID 50 and 140

EDIT2: another restart and scan went fine...

 

[nageme]

What are the details in Event Viewer?
What do the SMART stats show now?

Try one or more of:
- Reseating the drive.
- Another slot.
- A different drive in the same slot.
- Memtest86(+).