Falcon II 64GB Query

[Zman]

Hi,

In June I purchased a Falcon II 64GB SSD as my OS drive for my computer and it has been great, however recently I have had a few problems with it. A few days ago I was writing a microsoft word document and I went to save the file and a error message stated that the file became corrupted and couldn't save the file (the file was being saved to the desktop). I automatically went to check the health status of the SSD in HD Tune Pro 4.5 and noticed the health status as warning and ultra DMA CRC Error Count highlighted in yellow. I have pasted the information obtained from HD Tune Pro and CrystalDiskInfo below. Any help with this problem is much appreciated.

HD Tune Pro: FM-25S2I-64GBFII Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 6 0 0 0 ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 114 0 0 0 ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 209 0 0 0 ok
(B8) End To End Error Detection 158 0 0 0 ok
(C3) Hardware ECC Recovered 0 0 0 0 ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 0 0 0 0 ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 0 0 0 0 ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 199 208 0 27999 ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 73 183 0 9159 warning
(C8) Write Error Rate 195 131 0 388 ok
(C9) Soft Read Error Rate 194 157 0 180 ok
(CA) Data Address Marker errors 138 126 0 50 ok
(CB) Run Out Cancel 51 135 0 46 ok
(CC) Soft ECC Correction 0 0 0 0 ok
(CD) Thermal Asperity Rate 16 39 0 0 ok
(CE) Flying Height 1 0 0 0 ok
(CF) Spin High Current 251 1 0 0 ok
(D0) Spin Buzz 196 0 0 0 ok
(D1) Offline Seek Performance 99 0 0 0 ok
(D3) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok
(D4) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok
(D5) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok

Health Status : warning

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CrystalDiskInfo 3.7.0 (C) 2008-2010 hiyohiyo
Crystal Dew World : http://crystalmark.info/
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) FM-25S2I-64GBFII
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Model : FM-25S2I-64GBFII
Firmware : 1916
Serial Number : DC1610160F1B40204
Disk Size : 64.0 GB (8.4/64.0/64.0)
Buffer Size : >= 32767 KB
Queue Depth : 32
# of Sectors : 125045424
Rotation Rate : ---- (SSD)
Interface : Serial ATA
Major Version : ATA8-ACS
Minor Version : ----
Transfer Mode : SATA/300
Power On Hours : 114 hours
Power On Count : 209 count
Temparature : Unknown
Health Status : Good (99 %)
Features : S.M.A.R.T., 48bit LBA, NCQ, TRIM
APM Level : ----
AAM Level : ----

-- S.M.A.R.T. --------------------------------------------------------------
ID Raw Values (8) Attribute Name
01 0000000000000006 Read Error Rate
09 0000000000000072 Power-On Hours
0C 00000000000000D1 Power Cycle Count
B8 000000000000009E Initial Bad Block Count
C3 0000000000000000 Program Failure Block Count
C4 0000000000000000 Erase Failure Block Count
C5 0000000000000000 Read Failure Block Count
C6 000000006D5F5153 Total Count of Read Sectors
C7 0000000023C6F1CD Total Count of Write Sectors
C8 00000000018481BE Total Count of Read Commands
C9 0000000000B49A8E Total Count of Write Commands
CA 0000000000327DE6 Total Count of Error bits from flash
CB 00000000002E86A3 Total Count of Read Sectors with Correctable Bit Errors
CC 0000000000000000 Bad Block Full Flag
CD 0000000000002710 Maximum PE Count Specification
CE 0000000000000001 Minimum Erase Count
CF 00000000000001FB Maximum Erase Count
D0 00000000000000C4 Average Erase Count
D1 0000000000000063 Remaining Drive Life
D3 0000000000000000 Unknown
D4 0000000000000000 Unknown
D5 0000000000000000 Unknown

[vaca]

Dear Customer,
The HDTUNE has SMART compatible issue with a lot of SSDs due to it use legacy SMART attributes.
There is still no a sandard SMART attribute for SSD to follow.
The CrystalDiskinfo could much correctly monitoring SMART of SSD.
You could try to update firmware to re-initial your FalconII again, it could improve the issue.

[Zman]

Thank you vaca for your reply.

Unfortunately my situation has only got worse over the past week or so.

Today upon reinstalling windows after using Gparted to secure erase the drive, my computer shut down suddenly and rebooted for no apparent reason. Upon rebooting no boot drive was found. I then proceeded to load the BIOS and it was evident that the SSD was not being detected anymore. Trying different SATA cables didn't help to resolve the issue and the SSD was the only HD not being detected.

I believe this is a problem that I can't rectify and an RMA seems the next reasonable step.

Thanks

[vaca]

Dear Zman,
Please RMA it, we will deliver a replacement ASAP once we receive your SSD.

[Zman]

RMA drive fails

Hi again,

After successfully sending my old drive for RMA the new drive that I have recieved and ran for a month has failed again.

Upon turning my computer on a few days ago I recieved a windows message stating that the drive had failed. Upon checking the health for the drive I have noticed that the number of errors on the drive including offline uncorrectable, ultra DMA CRC error count, write error rate, soft read error rate, data address marker errors and run out cancel have all increased significantly over the course of the day.

The health status of the drive is as follows:

HD Tune Pro: FM-25S2I-64GBFII Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 6 0 0 0 ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 92 0 0 0 ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 47 0 0 0 ok
(B8) End To End Error Detection 182 0 0 0 ok
(C3) Hardware ECC Recovered 0 0 0 0 ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 0 0 0 0 ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 0 0 0 0 ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 94 255 0 12354 ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 132 201 0 6228 warning
(C8) Write Error Rate 190 50 0 199 ok
(C9) Soft Read Error Rate 222 37 0 66 ok
(CA) Data Address Marker errors 41 145 0 25 ok
(CB) Run Out Cancel 26 230 0 23 ok
(CC) Soft ECC Correction 0 0 0 0 ok
(CD) Thermal Asperity Rate 16 39 0 0 ok
(CE) Flying Height 1 0 0 0 ok
(CF) Spin High Current 130 1 0 0 ok
(D0) Spin Buzz 90 0 0 0 ok
(D1) Offline Seek Performance 100 0 0 0 ok
(D3) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok
(D4) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok
(D5) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok

Health Status : warning

Changing sata cables, sata power cables and sata connectors on the motherboard don't rectify the problem and the errors continue to increase.

I have recently upgraded the firmware to 2030. Whilst it did clear the SMART readings, the drive has come up with numerous errors (continually increasing) since installing windows 7 only minutes ago. The SMART readings are presently:

HD Tune: FM-25S2I-64GBFII Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 7 0 0 0 Ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 1 0 0 0 Ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 3 0 0 0 Ok
(B8) (unknown attribute) 182 0 0 0 Ok
(C3) Hardware ECC Recovered 0 0 0 0 Ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 0 0 0 0 Ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 0 0 0 0 Ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 100 14 0 5657 Ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 165 159 0 601 Ok
(C8) Write Error Rate 152 204 0 78 Ok
(C9) TA Counter Detected 168 144 0 6 Ok
(CA) TA Counter Increased 70 227 0 1 Ok
(CB) Run Out Cancel 193 216 0 1 Ok
(CC) Soft ECC Correction 0 0 0 0 Ok
(CD) Thermal Asperity Rate 136 19 0 0 Ok
(CE) Flying Height 1 0 0 0 Ok
(CF) Spin High Current 157 0 0 0 Ok
(D0) Spin Buzz 1 0 0 0 Ok
(D1) Offline Seek Performance 100 0 0 0 Ok
(D3) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 Ok
(D4) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 Ok
(D5) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 Ok

Power On Time : 0
Health Status : Ok

I am unsure whether this is something that can be rectified by myself, however if I was to RMA the drive again I will have spent over $80 in shipping. I am quite disappointed due to the failure of this drive twice under one year.

Thanks

[Tradesman]

Are you running the IDE drivers or AHCI? and are they up to date? Also might check for latest BIOS, manufacturers are trying to keep up w/ the SSD market

[Zman]

I've always run the drive under AHCI with the latest drivers installed. The latest bios for my gigabyte motherboard was downloaded whilst my SSD was sent to RMA.

Cheers

[G.SKILL]

Hi Zman,

Actually this error message is mean this SSD has many bad blocks.
There two meaning about bad blocks.
One is physical damaged and it can't fix by yourself.
The other one is erroneous judgement, this issue can fix via FW1916 clean tool or upgrade to FW2030. But clean tool is better.
According to your screenshot, it is erroneous judgement.
so please don't worry

[Zman]

Thanks for your reply GSKILL.

I took your advice and I used the FW1916 clean tool. After using the clean tool I reinstalled windows 7 on the SSD, however the drive is still giving me errors. After checking the SMART values, the drive is once again showing the health status as "warning". The SMART data is as follows:

HD Tune Pro: FM-25S2I-64GBFII Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 6 0 0 0 ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 0 0 0 0 ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 1 0 0 0 ok
(B8) End To End Error Detection 165 0 0 0 ok
(C3) Hardware ECC Recovered 0 0 0 0 ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 0 0 0 0 ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 0 0 0 0 ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 26 242 0 111 ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 246 210 0 263 warning
(C8) Write Error Rate 29 239 0 1 ok
(C9) Soft Read Error Rate 65 146 0 2 ok
(CA) Data Address Marker errors 50 31 0 0 ok
(CB) Run Out Cancel 130 30 0 0 ok
(CC) Soft ECC Correction 0 0 0 0 ok
(CD) Thermal Asperity Rate 136 19 0 0 ok
(CE) Flying Height 1 0 0 0 ok
(CF) Spin High Current 139 0 0 0 ok
(D0) Spin Buzz 0 0 0 0 ok
(D1) Offline Seek Performance 100 0 0 0 ok
(D3) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok
(D4) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok
(D5) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok

Health Status : warning

[G.SKILL]

Hi Zman,

if you use FW 1916 clean tool properly, ID C7 should be zero.
Could you use clean tool again.
if it still shows "warning", please RMA this SSD.

[Leo]

My Falcon II 64 status

For what it's worth.

I been using this drive since December 2009. To this date I haven't had any issues with the component.

Here is a current status screen shot:



C7 increases by about 30 with daily usage.

[Zman]

Hi again GSKILL,

I used the FW 1916 clean tool again and indeed the C7 value cleared as shown below:

HD Tune Pro: FM-25S2I-64GBFII Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 12 0 0 0 ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 0 0 0 0 ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 1 0 0 0 ok
(B8) End To End Error Detection 165 0 0 0 ok
(C3) Hardware ECC Recovered 0 0 0 0 ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 0 0 0 0 ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 0 0 0 0 ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 22 0 0 0 ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 0 0 0 0 ok
(C8) Write Error Rate 22 0 0 0 ok
(C9) Soft Read Error Rate 0 0 0 0 ok
(CA) Data Address Marker errors 0 0 0 0 ok
(CB) Run Out Cancel 0 0 0 0 ok
(CC) Soft ECC Correction 0 0 0 0 ok
(CD) Thermal Asperity Rate 16 39 0 0 ok
(CE) Flying Height 1 0 0 0 ok
(CF) Spin High Current 3 0 0 0 ok
(D0) Spin Buzz 0 0 0 0 ok
(D1) Offline Seek Performance 100 0 0 0 ok
(D3) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok
(D4) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok
(D5) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok

Health Status : ok

I then proceeded to run a benchmark on the drive and to my surprise the SMART values again came up as "warning"; as seen below:

HD Tune Pro: FM-25S2I-64GBFII Health

ID Current Worst ThresholdData Status
(01) Raw Read Error Rate 8 0 0 0 ok
(09) Power On Hours Count 0 0 0 0 ok
(0C) Power Cycle Count 1 0 0 0 ok
(B8) End To End Error Detection 165 0 0 0 ok
(C3) Hardware ECC Recovered 0 0 0 0 ok
(C4) Reallocated Event Count 0 0 0 0 ok
(C5) Current Pending Sector 0 0 0 0 ok
(C6) Offline Uncorrectable 1 173 0 1399 ok
(C7) Ultra DMA CRC Error Count 103 121 0 813 warning
(C8) Write Error Rate 83 243 0 10 ok
(C9) Soft Read Error Rate 210 94 0 6 ok
(CA) Data Address Marker errors 66 4 0 0 ok
(CB) Run Out Cancel 66 4 0 0 ok
(CC) Soft ECC Correction 0 0 0 0 ok
(CD) Thermal Asperity Rate 16 39 0 0 ok
(CE) Flying Height 1 0 0 0 ok
(CF) Spin High Current 3 0 0 0 ok
(D0) Spin Buzz 0 0 0 0 ok
(D1) Offline Seek Performance 100 0 0 0 ok
(D3) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok
(D4) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok
(D5) (unknown attribute) 0 0 0 0 ok

Health Status : warning

Is this normal as Leo suggested or is this of concern?

Thanks again for your support