Flash memory failure...
Discussion
I've just been having a chat with someone about flash memory failure / data loss. Apparently it's very common (I know this sort of industry preys on fear, like with AV), but was just curious how many people have experienced it...
So;
a) Have you experienced it on a digital camera card, or a "pen" drive...? (including accidental formating!)
b) whether they believed they had aided that problem (dropped it in water, left it in the sun, went in the washing machine)
c) whether they managed to recover the data themselves, or required an external company to retrieve it? (or simply didn't bother!)
So;
a) Have you experienced it on a digital camera card, or a "pen" drive...? (including accidental formating!)
b) whether they believed they had aided that problem (dropped it in water, left it in the sun, went in the washing machine)
c) whether they managed to recover the data themselves, or required an external company to retrieve it? (or simply didn't bother!)
Edited by Podie on Wednesday 19th July 11:21
Yes, a fair few times
Yes, ranging from washing machines (The USB drive survived this quite nicely, the SD card less so) to death by crushing (put USB drive on sill, shut door)
Yes, as I regard flash memory as convenient transport, not archival storage.
However, this may change when I get a flash based UMPC later on in the year.
Yes, ranging from washing machines (The USB drive survived this quite nicely, the SD card less so) to death by crushing (put USB drive on sill, shut door)
Yes, as I regard flash memory as convenient transport, not archival storage.
However, this may change when I get a flash based UMPC later on in the year.
Never had a card/pendrive spontaneously lose data, but I have had various problems over the years with smartmedia and (less frequently) SD cards becoming corrupted due to iffy read/write hardware - was always able to recover the card data with low-level tools though, and in all but one instance I was also then able to reformat (SD) or reinitialise the CIS (I think that's what it's called anyway-the bit of "smart"media cards that is notorious for being trashed) and return the card to normal.
Did manage to completely trash a SM card by forgetting to put it in its protective case before sticking it in my trouser pocket and then climbing over a set of railings... crunch!
Did manage to completely trash a SM card by forgetting to put it in its protective case before sticking it in my trouser pocket and then climbing over a set of railings... crunch!
Flash memory has a generally advised maximum number of write cycles, usually around 100. Although cheaper stuff can be as low as 10 and some will go up to 10,000 although rare.
A new type of memory called MRAM has been released, which has the storage capability of a hard drive (not capacity as yet), but the access/write time approaching SRAM (what is generally used in l1/l2 cache in your microprocessor). And importantly 1. no degredation over multiple read/write cycles as above and 2. Additionally no fade loss as per normal ram requiring refreshing of the ram.
A new type of memory called MRAM has been released, which has the storage capability of a hard drive (not capacity as yet), but the access/write time approaching SRAM (what is generally used in l1/l2 cache in your microprocessor). And importantly 1. no degredation over multiple read/write cycles as above and 2. Additionally no fade loss as per normal ram requiring refreshing of the ram.
annodomini2 said:
Flash memory has a generally advised maximum number of write cycles, usually around 100. Although cheaper stuff can be as low as 10 and some will go up to 10,000 although rare.
You're either reading some ancient datasheets, or you're looking at figures for embedded flash inside microcontrollers and other programmable devices. The type of flash used in data storage devices typically has a lifespan of at least 100,000 cycles, with 1,000,000+ not being unusual.
twister said:
annodomini2 said:
Flash memory has a generally advised maximum number of write cycles, usually around 100. Although cheaper stuff can be as low as 10 and some will go up to 10,000 although rare.
You're either reading some ancient datasheets, or you're looking at figures for embedded flash inside microcontrollers and other programmable devices. The type of flash used in data storage devices typically has a lifespan of at least 100,000 cycles, with 1,000,000+ not being unusual.
I checked and you are correct, please ignore my above statement.
Podie said:
Blimey... more common than I thought it seems...
You're only getting yes replies though... I'll add
a) No
b) No
c) No need
I have a buffalo pendrive that is about 4-5 years old, the case is broken and its been fairly abused and still works now. It's not used so much anymore, it's only 128mb
Edited by size13 on Wednesday 19th July 16:00
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