Question File system problems with Sandisk Portable SSD ?

[Freedomfish]

Hi there

On your homepage you selected the SanDisk Pro-G40 SSD as the best portable SSD (https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/sandisk-pro-g40-ssd-review)
It seems that some SanDisk Extreme Pro units and the Pro-G40 have file system problems (see link).

USB-SSDs von Sandisk: Ausfälle häufen sich

Bei einigen externen SSDs von WD und Sandisk droht Datenverlust: Die Speichermedien haben Probleme mit ihren Dateisystemen.

www.heise.de

Have you some information about this issue?

Best

Bruno

 

[Ralston18]

@Freedomfish

Non-English link and does not seem to translate.

Please replace the link with an English language link.

 

[Freedomfish]

Here ist the english translation, there is no english language link.

Many Sandisk external SSDs produced since the end of 2022 are not running reliably. Since the beginning of the year, more and more reports have been increasing that operating systems can no longer access the disks. The stored data is practically no longer accessible.

The hardware does not seem to be broken per se. Instead, there are problems with the file system, regardless of the format and the operating system. For example, the SSDs say goodbye under Windows with FAT formatting, but also under macOS with HFS+. There are numerous reports on Reddit and .

The Arstechnica, The Verge and Petapixel websites also . In all cases, Sandisk ignores press inquiries and public contributions. Also a request by heise online on the 10. August has remained unanswered.
Insufficient firmware updates

On a support page, the Sandisk native Western Digital (WD) only that several external SSDs need a firmware update because they can "disconnect it unexpectedly from the computer." The company does not write anything about the possible data loss. On the page WD also lists its own SSD:

Sandisk Extreme Portable 4 TByte (SDSSDE61-4T00)
Sandisk Extreme Pro Portable 4 TByte (SDSSDE81-4T00)
Sandisk Extreme Pro Portable 2 TByte (SDSSDE81-2T00)
Sandisk Extreme Pro Portable 1 TByte (SDSSDE81-1T00)
Western Digital My Passport 4 TByte (WDBAGF0040BGY)

On the page you can use the search field to see if your own serial number is affected. The information provided by a distributor and user reports indicate that the problem occurs with models that have been produced since November 2022. According to reports, Sandisk's Pro-G40 also seems to be affected.

Meanwhile, the firmware update does not seem to create reliable remedy. The current versions have been available since May, but since then the problem reports are still frequenting – including people who have updated the firmware update.

 

[Ralston18]

I suggest commenting directly in the article.

Only fair to let the author be aware of your concerns and questions.

 

[Freedomfish]

O.k. I will do so.

 

[fzabkar]

It doesn't make sense to attribute file system problems to an SSD. An SSD only understands sectors. It is file-system-unaware.

That said, a user won't notice if a file has been corrupted by bad data until they try to open it. However, a problem with the file system's metadata will become evident very quickly. This may be the reason that people are attributing the corruption to the file system.