[SOLVED] Question about unpowered SSD data loss..

[Ollie_7]

So, i just found out that SSDs can lose data over time if left unpowered. Is that just data loss, or does the drive get damaged!? For example, about 13 months ago I put a 1TB WD Blue into my PS4. I played The Witcher 3 for a month and it hasn't been turned on since (i don't leave it on stand by either). Actually, I think it was turned on once for a couple mins when i was trying to sync it's controller to my PC. Anyways, if i want to use my PS4 (I do) and i notice problems, would a simple format work or is the drive toast?

I also have an old Crucial 275GB (MX300?) in my PS3 that hasn't been even been plugged in for almost 2 years now... I assume thats lost all my saves :/

Cheers

 

[fzabkar]

Scan the entire drive, but don't write to it. If the SSD controller struggles with any flash blocks, it will use its ECC logic to transparently correct them and refresh them, assuming they can still be corrected.

 

[Ollie_7]

Scan the entire drive.. with?

 

[fzabkar]

I think HDDScan should scan the entire user area, but not the overprovisioned space.

You could run the Extended Self Test using GSmartControl. I would think that it should exercise the whole drive. It's read-only, so there is no risk to your data. It continues to run in the background after you exit GSmartControl, and you can continue to use your computer while the test is running. In fact I'm running it now.

 

[Ollie_7]

Thanks. Too lazy to take each console apart. Heh.

I booted them both up and everything appears fine. For the PS3 i backed up my saves to usb and then formatted it. Put the saves back on and am now redownloading the few PSN games i had. Will do the same for the PS4.

Is it enough to just power them on for a while, every month or so, from now on?

 

[Maxxify]

Data can last a while on SSDs without power, the exact duration depends on a variety of factors. Modern controllers have methods of scanning for stale data with technologies like SmartRefresh (Phison) which "scans the NAND for errors when idle." What fzabkar is suggesting is that you essentially read the entire drive in order to induce correction - with a certain threshold of errors the data will be refreshed (rewritten). However, the idle technologies used on modern drives most likely just sample data (i.e., a page) from each block to determine if the block needs to be rewritten (this is known as sampling and is used for other things, like determining if ECC is required when copying SLC to TLC). With an older 1TB WD Blue 3D SSD that would only be 1/768th (i.e. pages/block) of the drive - this would not take a lot of idle time. Keep in mind the drive also keeps a block table (e.g. for wear) which has access characteristics (i.e. "last accessed") which can also be used by the drive to determine which blocks have to be checked - although obviously it's all in this situation (although past states can be part of a bias for checking, let us not get too technical). The suggestion above is mainly to ensure a full check is done.

 

[hotaru.hino]

So, i just found out that SSDs can lose data over time if left unpowered. Is that just data loss, or does the drive get damaged!?

It's just data loss.

Is it enough to just power them on for a while, every month or so, from now on?

You don't have to turn it on that frequently. A JEDEC SSD specification slide deck says that a consumer grade SSD should be able to retain its data for 1 year unpowered if left in a 30C environment (which is pretty warm all things considered)

However if you're concerned about the data on it, back it up using the console's backup utility over an external drive. Do not clone or make a disk image of the drive, as Sony encrypts the contents of the drive to the console and possibly between a unique key between the console and the original drive.

 

[Ollie_7]

Redownloaded all of my PS3 stuff. Backed up my saves and formatted the PS4. I reinstalled the saves and played the console for a few hours. Everything seems okay. I will just turn them on every couple of months from now on. Thanks guys

 

[Ollie_7]

Thanks for the info on my first thread/question. I am now wondering, does this possible data loss include a game console's internal storage? For example, I haven't turned on my WiiU or 3DS in probably 2+ years. I think they both use eMMC. My 360 Slim 4GB i havnt turned on in maybe 4 years.. Are their nands likely borked?

Cheers 🙂

OG thread: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...npowered-ssd-data-loss.3754144/#post-22638102

 

[Ollie_7]

Thanks to whomever moved my post to the bottom of a solved thread so that nobody will ever see it. Super neato.