Which bit about power-on-hours in the SMART attribute standards is so difficult for Sandisk to understand?
I have software on my system to measure and monitor my disk usage and reliability, and I am expecting Sandisk to have firmware that is professional and reliable enough to actually measure the hours it is powered on. My worry, is that if they cannot get something as simple as counting hours correct, how much can I rely on any of the other SMART data that this drive provides?
My data is valuable to me. I want to be able to trust the devices and the manufacturers of those devices that I store my valuable data on.
So, I disagree completely about there being nothing to worry about.
Furthermore, Sandisk’s technical support response makes this substantially worse:
- They said that the drive was NOT SUPPORTED on Linux systems and only Windows despite this not being mentioned in either advertising or the product specifications;
- They never gave any explanation as to why this was wrong or whether it was “normal” or exceptional;
- They disregarded the SMART data I sent them, and refused to consider it;
- They told me to put the drive in a Windows machine and use their software to check the SMART data and the firmware level - and when I did the SMART data was the same and the firmware was up to date (as expected on a drive that was only 2 weeks old);
- I have no idea why Sandisk support couldn’t confirm that the firmware level I told them was up to date and made me jump through hoops. I can only assume that they consider their role to be avoiding RMAs rather than fixing issues or helping customers.
- They eventually agreed that the data was indeed incorrect;
- They advised me to return the product as defective to the retailer I bought it from for a full refund, and the courier has literally just collected it for return and refund.
As a consequence, I will:
- Never trust Sandisk SSD devices with my data
- Never purchase another Sandisk SSD
- Recommend to others to avoid Sandisk SSDs too.
But if John Jacobb cares so little for his data that he is willing to store it on disks with functionally defective firmware that is entirely his choice.
