Sticky Post

TEAMGROUP

My workstation (WS) is running out of space, so I bought, which seemed a good deal, a TEAMGROUP 256GB UBS drive and 512GB SSD. I plugged in the 256GB USB drive and started to move my files from my WS. The total for the transfer was 50GB. The transfer got to 35GB and failed. ARGH!!! 🤬 The USB drive would not eject, the computer still saw the drive as being “busy”. I left the WS with the USB for almost twelve hours, in crossing my fingers the transfer would complete. After twelve hours, I tried to eject the USB, I still got a message the device is busy. I shutdown the WS, removed the USB drive, restarted the WS and plugged the USB drive. The USB drive was not recognized. ARGH!!! 🤬 I tried to plug in on another WS. The result was the same, the devices was not recognized. ARGH!!! 🤬 I just lost all those files that were transferred. ARGH!!! 🤬 I tired to mount on a Linux system and the drive is not recognized. ARGH!!! 🤬

So I decided to test the 512GB SSD. The results:
Average writing speed: 78.36 MB/s
Data OK: 476.91 GB (1000161310 sectors)
Data LOST: 8.24 MB (16866 sectors)
Corrupted: 51.00 KB (102 sectors)
Slightly changed: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Overwritten: 8.19 MB (16764 sectors)
Average reading speed: 237.13 MB/s

The drive is brand new and has bad sectors. 😱

I Google’d if bad sectors on an SSD drive can be repaired or marked bad:

No, bad sectors on an SSD generally cannot be repaired; once a sector becomes bad, the drive’s firmware automatically marks it as unusable and redirects data to a good sector, effectively “hiding” the bad sector rather than fixing it; if you notice a significant number of bad sectors, it’s usually a sign that your SSD is failing and needs to be replaced.

I tried running the same test on PNY64GB USB drive:
Average writing speed: 8.75 MB/s
Data OK: 57.76 GB (121133312 sectors)
Data LOST: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Corrupted: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Slightly changed: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Overwritten: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Average reading speed: 37.43 MB/s

Ran a test on a Kingston M.2 drive:
Data OK: 931.48 GB (1953455616 sectors)
Data LOST: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Corrupted: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Slightly changed: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Overwritten: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Average reading speed: 734.70 MB/s

Tested a Western Digital My Passport drive:
Average writing speed: 42.47 MB/s
Data OK: 1.82 TB (1953455616 sectors)
Data LOST: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Corrupted: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Slightly changed: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Overwritten: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Average reading speed: 81.64 MB/s

I exchanged the TEAMGROUP SSD 512GB drive, and ran a test on the replacement drive:
Average writing speed: 79.39 MB/s
Data OK: 476.92 GB (1000171258 sectors)
Data LOST: 2.88 MB (5894 sectors)
Corrupted: 6.00 KB (12 sectors)
Slightly changed: 0.00 Byte (0 sectors)
Overwritten: 2.87 MB (5882 sectors)
Average reading speed: 384.08 MB/s

The reading is much faster on the USB C port than on the USB 3.0 port. But again, brand new drive with bad sectors.

The warranty on the 512GB SSD drive is “3-YEAR” and the USB256 is “LIFETIME WARRANTY”. I do not care about the warranty, I care about my data! The hardware might get replaced, but my data is lost. I just want dependable drive, that when new, does not have bad sectors.

Four things I learned from this time wasting event. First, test the device prior to use. Second, never move data. Copy the data, and once verified, delete the original. Third, backup data. Forth, I get what I pay for, and stay with Western Digital, Kingston, PNY, Lexar and Crucial. Brands that have I have tested and proved to be reliable with no bad sectors.

I have a RAID5 and RAID10 and should have used those to copy the files over to. The hard lessons are always the one that teaches best.

RAIDs are not backups, as all drives will eventually fail. This lesson has thought me that I might have to do a cloud subscription for backup, or get rid of my data 😂.

I would just like to add. I do have two other drives (TEAMGROUP EX2 1TB 3D NAND), which TEAMGROUP no long sells, that are in use and I am unable to test.

🤞(Crossed Fingers)😂

Focus

Just say no to …

Since I wrote myself a self contract, holding myself accountable, and glancing at the contract from time to time, has helped me to remain focused in doing what is necessary to achieve my goal and keeping me focused in studying for the Security+ certification.

Reboot

The beginning of the month, the end of the first quarter of the year. What have I completed? Not much!. What is that saying, “If I keep doing what I have been doing, I will keep getting what I have been getting.” I have been getting not much.

With that in mind, I decided that I will restart fresh. I will stay on course with an end in mind. Just like going on vacation, I plan to reach my destination, enjoy, and then return. I have been jumping from one thing to the next without completing anything. I have the shiny object syndrome, also known as the squirrel syndrome. I am, right now, a generalist, a jack of all trades, master of none. My salary shows this. I believe that money, which is a number, shows how well I am doing in life. The higher the number, the better I am in life, and the opposite is true. What I mean by how I am doing in life, I mean how valuable I am to the market called employment. Although being broad in knowledge and skills is good in general, not in the work force/job market. A good example would be a doctor. An eyes, throat, and nose doctor is a generalist, although they specialize in general ailments. These type of doctors are great in what they do. But if there something that is beyond their capability in providing a solution to an illness, these doctors usually refers the patient to a specials. This is similar to the Help desk/Service desk in Information Technology (IT). The Service Desk is the first tier of troubleshooting an issue and escalates to the second tier, if necessary. The second tier will escalate to the third tier, if also necessary. The higher the tier the more specialized the knowledge. So with that in mind, I am focusing on on subject to completion.

Before this month is ends, I will have my CompTIA Security+ certificate. I have been kicking the can on this certification, and now I am going acquire this certification. I am dedicated to acquire this certification within two weeks. I know I can do this, if I stay on schedule and focused. I will prove myself right!

I have written a self contract holding myself accountable.

On that note… Time to get studying!