Lolight

The drive is clean and the symptoms were most likely a temporary system state issue. That said, the drive has been in service since July 2017 -- nearly 9 years. At 32GB it's almost certainly planar TLC which is adequate but not the most reliable option long term. Worth running ChipGenius to confirm what's inside. Depending on what you find, sourcing a verified quality legacy MLC drive as a replacement might be the simpler and more reliable path compared to migrating to internal boot -- the USB Flash section guide and MLC companion thread cover exactly what to look for and list specific verified options currently available on eBay. On internal boot -- beta.2 just dropped and the bug backlog is still being worked through. Your pool drives will still be there when stable releases. No need to rush the migration.

The invoice download working confirms your purchase is on record. The order confirmation link error and the missing key file in your account are something support will need to resolve directly -- the account UI clearly isn't surfacing the license correctly for your order. Contact Unraid support at [email protected] with your purchase date, the email address used for the purchase, and the downloaded invoice PDF attached. They can locate the license key manually and send it to you. Once you receive it copy the .key file into the /boot/config folder on your boot drive and the registration page should recognize it immediately.

The process starts with backing up your existing drive through Main --> Boot Device --> Boot Device Backup. Then use the USB Flash Creator -- select "Use custom" option and point it at the backup ZIP file. This copies your existing configuration and license key across to the new drive rather than writing a fresh installation. Boot from the new drive. Go to Tools --> Registration and click Replace Key. This transfers the license association from the old drive's GUID to the new drive's GUID on Lime Technology's license server. The old drive gets blacklisted automatically. The automated transfer is available once per year. If you need another within 12 months contact support directly. Worth checking the USB Flash section guide before selecting your new drive -- it covers what makes a reliable boot drive for always-on server duty.

Samsung's consumer USB drives are actually one of the more commonly recommended but not particularly suitable options for always-on Unraid boot duty -- so the failures you experienced aren't random bad luck or the nature of USB flash generally. The Bar Plus and FIT Plus contain modern NAND that requires continuous idle controller maintenance regardless of how they're mounted or how rarely you reboot. The UPS protects against corruption from power loss but doesn't address the underlying NAND stability issue. The drives that run for decades in Unraid are overwhelmingly older large-node MLC hardware from the 2007-2012 era -- fundamentally more stable NAND that requires essentially zero idle controller activity. The USB Flash section guide in this forum covers exactly why and what to look for. Glad internal boot is working well for you. Worth checking what NAND is in your internal drive -- if it's a modern consumer NVMe the same physics apply in a different form factor. The guide covers that too.

There's no mystery behind why some drives offer long-term reliability while others suffer from disastrous performance. You can easily assess your Verbatim drive's potential longevity by checking its components -- it takes just a few minutes.

Just to clarify -- in your original post you only mentioned rearranging drives and cables, with no mention of introducing any new cables into the modular ports of the PSU. Even if that spare cable is genuinely a Corsair cable, Corsair modular cables are frequently not interchangeable between their own models. The CX, RM, HX and other series have used different pinouts on physically identical connectors at various points, and even different generations of the same model can differ.

To expand on JorgeB's comment above: With USB licensing: Drive 1 -- USB flash drive or DOM, 8GB minimum, boot pool member Drive 2 -- USB flash drive or DOM, 8GB minimum, boot pool member Drive 3 -- existing USB license drive, with no size restrictions, holds the license key as before With TPM licensing: Drive 1 -- USB flash drive or DOM, 8GB minimum, boot pool member Drive 2 -- USB flash drive or DOM, 8GB minimum, boot pool member License -- stored on dTPM or fTPM. As a suggestion, you might want to consider these dirt cheap yet very solid low end industrial drives which are likely to contain 15nm MLC -- eBay item number: 326046070546. If you get them, please run ChipGenius and share the output.

Yes, Tools --> New Config is the correct starting point to reassign your remaining drives and rebuild your array configuration. One thing worth addressing before you do -- that generic USB drive is a liability. Back it up now through Main --> Boot Device --> Boot Device Backup. Then start looking for a replacement while the system is stable -- not when it fails. The USB Flash section guide covers what to look for and the companion thread lists specific verified MLC drives on eBay with item numbers ready to go.

Possibly a failing PSU. If it is then the most important immediate step is to stop using that PSU entirely to avoid killing the remaining drives. Beyond that, professional data recovery is likely the only realistic path since electrically damaged drive PCBs are generally beyond DIY repair unless you can source an identical PCB donor with a matching firmware chip — and even that is hit or miss. The CX450M has had a troubled history on PSU tier lists. Actually this particular model is quite decent overall, rated at C+ on the PSU tier list which is quite OK for a value priced PSU. The only thing is that according to this review it has excessively high OCP on the minor rails https://www.techpowerup.com/review/corsair-cx-m-series-450-w/12.html It is a critical safety compromise. From the review: "OCP on the minor rails is set very high, especially at 3.3V. This is not good at all, as it can lead to damaged components in case something goes wrong."

Those old drives are not HAMR.

These Barracudas carry a laser warning indicating HAMR technology -- the same Mozaic platform Seagate uses for Exos. The physical hardware points to the same underlying drives: a 30TB 10-platter Exos with one or two defective head pairs gets firmwared down to 24TB or 22TB; a 28TB 8-platter Exos that fails speed specs but has intact heads ships as a 28TB Barracuda. Different failure modes, different salvageable capacities -- all landing under the Barracuda label. It's standard binning practice, just applied to a full drive platform rather than a chip. You're right that Barracuda isn't rated for NAS -- but that rating reflects warranty tier and workload/speed qualification, not fundamentally different hardware. Seagate hasn't clarified any of this publicly, which is telling in itself. Whether you'd trust one in a NAS is a personal risk call, but "completely different drives" isn't accurate at these capacities.

Don't know all details. The official Unraid documentation specifically states "Ensure only one key file exists in the config folder". https://docs.unraid.net/unraid-os/system-administration/maintain-and-update/changing-the-flash-device/

The EGUID error is a key file placement issue. Your syslog confirms you purchased an Unleashed license -- so the file should be named Unleashed.key inside the /boot/config folder on the drive. With the drive accessible from another computer navigate to that folder and verify the file is present and correctly named. If it's missing, download it directly from account.unraid.net and place it there manually. Support will tell you the same thing -- straightforward fix once the file is confirmed present. HWiNFO won't add anything beyond what ChipGenius and Flash Drive Information Extractor have already provided -- it only shows VID, PID and serial number with no visibility into the controller or NAND. Nothing useful there. On H2testw -- Windows only, and only worth running if you're planning to redo your Unraid installation afterwards. The test fills the entire drive with data which will overwrite your OS files, configuration and license key completely. Since your drive is now set up and working there's no practical way to run the speed test without destroying what's on it.

Appreciate the share! Seeing a Swissbit SLC here is a treat. The price is obviously overkill for a desk-side server, but for anyone running Unraid at a remote site this is the play. When a "truck roll" to go swap a failed consumer drive costs more than the hardware, paying for industrial SLC is just smart business. It’s the ultimate buy once, cry once boot drive.

An excellent find! Did you buy it last Friday? 🙂 I think it was the only 4GB Optima Pro that remained unsold on eBay for the last month or so. Both drives utilize the Phison PS2231 controller and identical firmware, but they differ in their Toshiba MLC NAND nodes. USA Model (91005813F-4GB-U) -- 70nm NAND (TH58NVG5D4CTG20) with 2KB pages. This node offers a theoretical advantage in random/small writes and superior long-term data retention due to larger physical cell size. China Model (91005813F-4GB-C) -- 56nm NAND (TC58NVG5D1DTG20) with 4KB pages. This node is theoretically more efficient for sequential writes, as it processes twice the data per program cycle. In an Unraid boot environment, performance differences are expected to be negligible, likely within a 1–3 MB/s range. The drives report different IDs (154B:0015 vs. 0930:6545) due to separate manufacturing and supply chain modes. VID 154B (PNY): This drive was assembled at PNY’s New Jersey facility. The factory received populated PCBs likely of the same exact origin as in the Chinese drive and performed final assembly, including soldering the USB connector. Consequently, the controller was programmed with PNY’s native Vendor ID. VID 0930 (Toshiba): This is a white-labeled (rebranded) Toshiba OEM build. PNY likely contracted a Chinese facility already mass-producing Toshiba-branded drives -- VID 0930 is exclusive to Toshiba. PID 6545 identifies the Toshiba TransMemory series. To maintain production efficiency, PNY utilized the existing at that assembly line Toshiba firmware configuration rather than re-flashing to PNY identifiers. In short, the different VID and PID reflect supply-chain logistics, not meaningful differences in component quality, core performance or long-term reliability for Unraid use. Both are excellent boot devices. If you have a chance sometime, would you mind running a quick H2testw write/read test on your drive and sharing the speeds? I’d love to see how the 70nm version performs compared to the 56nm one. Also would you mind if I posted your drive’s full component output in the existing thread right under my China drive output (for easy comparison)? I can edit my original post to keep everything neatly together. Let me know if that’s okay with you.

Don't... I'd advise to check the guide first.

With the dedicated boot pool option in beta.2 eliminating the forced data partition — does the 16GB minimum size requirement still apply to USB drives and DOMs used as dedicated boot pool members, or can smaller drives now be used?

Your confusion is understandable. In basic terms -- USB flash drives consist of two major components: controller and flash. It's the controller chip that generates heat even when there is nothing being read or written to the drive. Modern drives come with much more powerful controllers compared to the legacy ones. That extra processing power comes at the cost of additional heat. Controllers do many things: error correction, wear leveling, bad block management, garbage collection...Just to name a few. Legacy drive controllers are quite simple -- they're not capable of doing much; however, stable NAND does not require advanced features. Low NAND maintenance activity results in minimal heat. Those drives can last decades in the Unraid environment. Modern drives are the complete opposite -- unstable NAND requires lots of housekeeping by the controllers. Constantly active controllers mean lots of heat. BTW, you consistently mention the correct people and channels. Could you please share your sources? I'd love to learn from them as well.

The ten drives strategy works -- genuinely. If you're comfortable with the maintenance overhead of replacing drives every year it's a valid approach. No need to read any further. To your actual question -- removing counterfeits entirely, what's left? Think of NAND generations like city infrastructure. Older large-node NAND from 2007-2011 is like wide roads with generous lanes -- traffic flows freely, maintenance is minimal, the system runs reliably for decades. Modern QLC NAND is like the same roads rebuilt at a fraction of the width to fit more lanes -- traffic still moves but requires constant traffic management, lane corrections and active intervention just to prevent gridlock. That management overhead never stops regardless of how quiet the roads are. A 2008 drive in your always-on server is pretty much idle between reboots. A modern drive is running its traffic management system continuously -- generating heat and accumulating wear whether you're using it or not. Authenticity and brand don't change which kind of roads are inside the drive. Production era does.

The brand ownership point is accurate -- SanDisk and WD share manufacturing relationships, PNY and Verbatim have overlapping supply chains. That's genuinely useful knowledge for some purchasing decisions. For Unraid boot device selection it's the wrong variable though. The question isn't which brand to trust -- it's what NAND type is inside the drive regardless of brand. A genuine authentic WD drive manufactured yesterday contains the same small-geometry NAND as a genuine authentic SanDisk manufactured yesterday. Both will generate the same continuous idle controller heat in always-on server duty. Both come from reputable sources. Neither counterfeit concern applies. Neither is suitable for long-term always-on boot duty. The Pepsi vs Coke framing works when the products are genuinely equivalent. USB flash drives aren't equivalent across production eras -- a genuine 2008 PNY Attache and a genuine 2024 PNY Attache contain fundamentally different storage technology with fundamentally different reliability characteristics in always-on conditions. That's not brand preference -- it's physics. The backup solution framing is fair as far as it goes -- recoverable failures are less catastrophic than unrecoverable ones. But preventable failures are better than recoverable ones. The guide's point isn't that USB failures are catastrophic. It's that they're predictable and avoidable through hardware selection -- which makes the backup solution a safety net rather than a substitute for getting the hardware right.

When it arrives and you run ChipGenius could you post the full output here along with the full model name, P/N from the packaging and the country of manufacture if it's printed there? "Flash Drive Information Extractor" output would also be a bonus. The reason — there's a companion thread in the USB Flash section documenting verified NOS MLC drives with confirmed specs. A 2007 copyright PNY Attache variant with confirmed components would be a useful addition to that reference for anyone else shopping for the same hardware on eBay.

To clarify for @imrobertcampbell -- the "constant use" isn't about read/write activity from the OS. It's about the drive being powered on continuously in an always-on server environment. Modern consumer USB flash drives use NAND at very small node geometries -- the same technology as budget SSDs. At those geometries the controller has to continuously scan cells, correct errors and refresh charge states regardless of whether anyone is reading or writing to the drive. That maintenance workload generates heat around the clock even when the drive appears idle from the OS's perspective. The counterfeit concern is real but secondary. A genuine modern SanDisk from a reputable retailer still contains the same small-geometry NAND that makes it unsuitable for always-on duty. Authenticity doesn't change the underlying physics. NewDay's explanation is correct — the drives that survive years of always-on server duty are overwhelmingly from the 2007-2011 era when larger node geometry produced inherently more stable NAND that requires minimal controller maintenance at idle. The USB Flash section guide covers the full technical explanation and verification methodology if you want the complete picture before your solution comes together tomorrow.

I'm not OP. I bet he was pointing out his recent discovery of the fact that SanDisk is by far the most counterfeited brand in the world. While Kingston and others are also heavily counterfeited, SanDisk wins by a large margin because of its stronger brand premium and broader global recognition. Also SanDisk's proprietary controllers significantly complicate the discovery of fakes. ChipGenius and similar tools often (always) fail or give incomplete information. This is one of the main reasons SanDisk drives are both highly counterfeited and much harder to verify compared to most other brands. SanDisk fakes are particularly insidious: counterfeiters can hide behind the "proprietary controller = unknown info" behavior that real SanDisk drives also exhibit. The only way to detect the worst of Sandisk fake drives is by capacity verification with tools like H2testw, f3, FakeFlashTest. The problem is that most of modern fakes deliver full capacity on inferior components - cheap controllers paired with rejected/down-binned NAND.

Good find on the PNY Attache. Since you're on a trial the sequence is slightly different from a paid license transfer — trials can't be transferred, only paid licenses can. Cleanest path: Back up your current SanDisk drive through Main --> Boot Device --> Boot Device Backup. Use the USB Flash Creator on the PNY drive -- select "Use custom" and point it at your backup ZIP file. This migrates your entire configuration across automatically. Boot with the PNY drive. Purchase the license and register it on the PNY drive through Tools --> Registration. The SanDisk gets left behind rather than blacklisted -- trial licenses don't trigger the blacklist mechanism that paid license transfers do. One question — have you already purchased the PNY drive? If not share the eBay listing here for a quick check. The specific model and production era matter -- not counterfeit risk with genuine NOS drives, but making sure the listing is actually the right vintage rather than a later production drive described loosely as old stock.