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Used SSD Issues - Fixable or Refund?

MavericK

MavericK

Zero Cool
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Sep 2, 2004
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Hey guys,

Bought a gently used SSD on eBay (I know, eBay is shit, couldn't find one elsewhere) to match my other one for RAID 0. They are Samsung 830 256GB. When I plug in the new drive, Windows hangs at boot (with no change to AHCI vs RAID mode in BIOS). I also notice that it shows up as an "ATA Locked Disk" in Intel RST at boot. Okay...weird. So I pull the drive, get into Windows and pop it into a USB dock. Windows will see the drive, but when I try to initialize it says "Data error (cyclic redundancy check)". I would run chkdsk but obviously, the disk isn't even initialized so I can't even do that. Any ideas? Is the drive fixable or is it borked?
 
Thanks for the link. Unfortunately, there is no partition to run chkdsk on, and creating a partition is not possible (gives the CRC error).

I have also tried loading the drive in GParted and it gives a disk read/write error when trying to create a partition table.

Weird thing is, SMART checks out and a short self-test completes without error. I am stumped.
 
I think the drive is security locked. I am not sure how or if it is possible to get around this without knowing the password to unlock.

BTW you security lock a drive when you perform a secure erase.
 
I suspected that as well, but the Samsung SSD software had no way to lock or unlock it that I can see.
 
You can check and do this with hdparm under linux however again if you do not know the password I am not sure you can unlock.
 
Well even in Samsung SSD Magician it can see the drive (though booting with the drive connected causes Windows to take about 10x as much time to load), but it can't perform any functions on it. Under the Secure Erase option it says the drive is locked, but offers no way to enter a password.

I tried some suggested fixes like disconnecting and reconnecting the drive with the PC on, but no luck. Tried multiple SATA cables, ports, and even USB connectivity, on multiple PCs. No joy.
 
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I've tried just about everything I can think of. Unless anyone else has any ideas I think I will just return for a refund.
 
contact the Ebay seller and ask how they erased the drive.

Also, why do you need raid 0 SSD drives?
 
And even if you use RAID0, there is no reason to buy a used, much slower drive than what you can get today. The drive will have the same number of sectors as any other 256GB drive. The only advantage would be to have the same page size, but I doubt you optimized your setup around that (if it even makes sense).
 
I've been in touch with the seller...other than the things mentioned, he has no idea.

As for why RAID...cheaper, will double my storage space, a bit faster, etc. Though I am considering biting the bullet and going for a 512 GB drive.

Haven't tried booting into DOS but I've tried everything possible in Linux and no luck.
 
and Raid 0 data loss, a speed increase you will not notice for %99 of the things you do unless you do a lot of large raw file edits / moving around.

just install it as a 2nd drive and use it that way and install stuff on it as needed since %99 of apps/games let you choose where to install it.
 
Good points. I didn't realize how minimal RAID 0 speed differences were for SSDs, I guess.

Data loss isn't an issue since all I install are the OS, apps, and games, so if I lose those files I can just re-download/reinstall. But it sounds like it might just be better to add a newer drive in addition to the one I have and screw the RAID 0.
 
Good points. I didn't realize how minimal RAID 0 speed differences were for SSDs, I guess.
Click to expand...

The problem RAID0 only improves large sequential performance. And that most applications even games do not read or write GBs at a time sequentially.
 
Yeah I think I will ditch that idea.

I was looking at a 512 GB drive...is there any major real-world difference between a Corsair MX100 and a Samsung 850 Evo or something like that for primarily gaming? The price difference is pretty big but spec-wise it doesn't seem that different.
 
MavericK96 said:
Yeah I think I will ditch that idea.

I was looking at a 512 GB drive...is there any major real-world difference between a Corsair MX100 and a Samsung 850 Evo or something like that for primarily gaming? The price difference is pretty big but spec-wise it doesn't seem that different.
Click to expand...

850 Evo will be a little faster but not to a noticeable degree. MX100 may be more reliable due to using MLC flash rather than TLC, though Samsung's 3D NAND is supposed to make up for this. Too early to tell. But either drive should be fast and reliable enough.
 
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