PSA on SanDisk USBs

[Apoceclipse]

I'll keep that in mind on my next purchase. Personally, I've been running an almost 10 year old 4GB sandisk in my server for over 3 years now. Unfortunate that you always have to mindful of counterfeits. 

[enJOyIT]

I can say that the Transcend JetFlash 600 USB-Stick is a reliable (MLC chips) option aswell.

UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Transcend-JetFlash-Flash-USB2-0-connector/dp/B002QCAN9S

US: out of amazon stock

DE: https://www.amazon.de/Transcend-JetFlash-Extreme-Speed-32GB-USB-Stick/dp/B002QCAN9S

[Wolbaz]

Having not read this post and having a failed USB with no time to wait for a new one, I went to Target and got a https://www.target.com/p/sandisk-cruzer-glide-flash-drive-64gb-usb-2-0/-/A-14396471

 

Confirmed this one is working, but I did have to partition out a couple gigs so I could format as fat32

[tech3475]

On 3/5/2022 at 1:58 PM, Wolbaz said:

Having not read this post and having a failed USB with no time to wait for a new one, I went to Target and got a https://www.target.com/p/sandisk-cruzer-glide-flash-drive-64gb-usb-2-0/-/A-14396471

 

Confirmed this one is working, but I did have to partition out a couple gigs so I could format as fat32

Just use a third party format utility such as minitool partition wizard free to format above 32GB on Windows or IIRC via cmd.exe but it can only do a ‘full’ format above 32GB.

[tech3475]

Any other recommended low profile USB drives, since apparently the Samsung have issues?

 

I’m planning on setting up another server but my preferred USB port has height restrictions.

[ChatNoir]

21 minutes ago, tech3475 said:

Any other recommended low profile USB drives, since apparently the Samsung have issues?

 

I’m planning on setting up another server but my preferred USB port has height restrictions.

Don't have much Unraid experience with small form factor flashdrives. I do know that they tend to get quite hot for no reason and that is not great for reliability.

If you can, I think it would be better to use an adapter USB2 motherboard header to USB A and a regular flashdrive.

 

One example (never tried this one myself) : 

https://www.amazon.fr/ASHATA-Extension-Expansion-Equipment-Accessories/dp/B088TP9M2F/ref=sr_1_5?__mk_fr_FR=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=ETW5AIGQHPY3&keywords=usb+header+to+usb+A&qid=1649232527&sprefix=usb+header+to+usb+a%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-5

[tech3475]

24 minutes ago, ChatNoir said:

Don't have much Unraid experience with small form factor flashdrives. I do know that they tend to get quite hot for no reason and that is not great for reliability.

If you can, I think it would be better to use an adapter USB2 motherboard header to USB A and a regular flashdrive.

 

One example (never tried this one myself) : 

https://www.amazon.fr/ASHATA-Extension-Expansion-Equipment-Accessories/dp/B088TP9M2F/ref=sr_1_5?__mk_fr_FR=ÅMÅŽÕÑ&crid=ETW5AIGQHPY3&keywords=usb+header+to+usb+A&qid=1649232527&sprefix=usb+header+to+usb+a%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-5

 

I’ve actually been using an older SFF Sandisk cruzer fit for a few years now, haven’t had any issues myself…..so far.

 

The main issue is that it’s going inside my old HP server (which has an internal USB-A) where there are no spare headers and I have plans for the rear ports. I might be able to rig something up or squeeze a ‘normal’ one in, but just buying an SFF drive was the easiest solution.

[SpencerJ]

Update to OP to include AmazonDE links. Thanks @ich777

[Can0n]

On 1/24/2022 at 10:58 PM, johnwhicker said:

I have the SanDisk 64GB Cruzer Fit USB 2.0 Flash Drive - SDCZ33-064G-G35 in both of my unRaids and they run rock solid.

 

Are you saying I should switch to something else?

me too was about to post a link 4 plus years on the same Sandisk Cruzer Fit without need for replacement "knock on wood"

[Belgeron]

I'm also running on SAN Disc Ultra Fit 32GB https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B077VXV323/  without any problems now for over 1,5 years.

[DKGE]

Could the ID's length be an issue?
When I compare an old USB with a new SanDisk, the ID is significantly longer.
Is this simply implying that the registration system may be altered to accept larger values, or is it hard coded to accept a specific length that will take time to update? (If this is the case)
They may have done this because they sell so much that they ran out of ID's. (Speculation)
 

Old:
RAW: USB\VID_1F75&PID_0916\1312135xxxxxxx
KEY: 1F75-0916-0013-12135xxxxxxx
 

New:
USB\VID_0781&PID_55A3\0101147C35A976FD52B1F0199797C694A41619D7A357B13D2E429939B36B4352D9D40000000000000000000094xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Would be the key:
0781-55A3-0001-01147C35A976FD52B1F0199797C694A41619D7A357B13D2E429939B36B4352D9D40000000000000000000094xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[HDT]

I'm using a Samsung BAR Plus 32GB.  How long does it take to create the bootable USB?  Mine seems to be taking forever... stuck on:

 

Quote

Syncing file system...

 

 

I originally was using a SanDisk 8GB USB 2.0 and it was done in only a few minutes.

 

SOLVED:

Edited May 25, 2022 by HDT

[craigr]

I've been using the same Sandisk Cruzer Fit's in two servers for over a decade now.  Low profile and no problems.  I've built unRAID servers for many friends too and use them or the FIT Plus every time.  I ALWAYS buy my flash drives directly through Samsung's web site or from Amazon when Amazon is the seller because Amazon is authorized by Samsung.  No third-party sellers EVER!  Way, way, waaaaay too many counterfeits.

 

Right now, only the 64GB Sandisk Cruzer Fit is sold directly by Amazon as the seller; makes me very suspicious of the smaller ones:

https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-64GB-Cruzer-Flash-Drive/dp/B07MDXBTL1/

I am pretty sure the drive is discontinued now.

 

The Fit Plus is my other go-to drive, have it in quite a few other servers:

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/usb-flash-drives/usb-3-1-flash-drive-fit-plus-32gb-muf-32ab-am/

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D7P4SY4/ 

 

 

[HDT]

Just a warning, I bought this drive and now it went bad:

 

1. Samsung bar plus

USA ---- https://amzn.to/32TtQyp

 

Maybe, it's a counterfeit because I bought it from Amazon.  I'm new to UNRAID and still in the process of getting everything set up, it's been about 11 days so far. 

 

It's probably a better idea to buy it directly from Samsung:

• https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/usb-flash-drives/usb-3-1-flash-drive-bar-plus-32gb-champagne-silver-muf-32be3-am/

Edited June 5, 2022 by HDT

[ghost82]

3 hours ago, HDT said:

Maybe, it's a counterfeit because I bought it from Amazon

I don't think so...if you look close you can see it's sold by Samsung store on Amazon.

Although there could be a possibility to have counterfeit things from amazon (especially from amazon wharehouse, "second hand"), it's quite reputable company.

[primeval_god]

21 hours ago, ghost82 said:

I don't think so...if you look close you can see it's sold by Samsung store on Amazon.

Although there could be a possibility to have counterfeit things from amazon (especially from amazon wharehouse, "second hand"), it's quite reputable company.

It has been suggested earlier in this thread that counterfeit devices may end up intermingled with legitimate devices due to how Amazon controls products in their warehouses. See comment below.

 

On 1/25/2022 at 2:50 PM, Dephcon said:

unfortunately, the amount of counterfeiting at amazon on sandisk/samsung SD cards and now apparently USB Keys is brutal.  typically the most popular brands are targeted due to higher volume.

 

For those curious, at amazon warehouses they store their own stock and stock from 3rd party resellers in the same bins, so the counterfeit items with the same SKU dilute amazon's legit stock.

[ghost82]

20 minutes ago, primeval_god said:

due to how Amazon controls products in their warehouses

I agree, but this is for amazon warehouse, not amazon, i.e. object returned by other people and sold again. If bought "new" from amazon there should be little risk.

[jbartlett]

5 hours ago, ghost82 said:

I agree, but this is for amazon warehouse, not amazon, i.e. object returned by other people and sold again. If bought "new" from amazon there should be little risk.

 

From my understanding, returns that the seller doesn't want back are frequently stacked onto a pallet and then sold as-is as a kind of "Mystery Box" without the buyer knowing what they are getting.

[lsaranto]

On 1/29/2022 at 4:29 PM, SpencerJ said:

Yep, as long as the flash drive produces a unique GUID, you are fine. 

I have to disagree with this. I have a Sandisk Blade drive that worked fine for 5-6 weeks. Then it became blacklisted showing all zeros in the GUID. If I reboot, it works fine and shows a valid GUID and the license is ok. It seems to lose the GUID again in 12-24 hours.  I'm now flashing a second Blade. We'll see how long this one lasts.

 

I originally had one of those Sandisk Fit drives. It started to act up in march after about two years. First the whole system would appear to be crashed. It's a headless system so I don't know if it would have been possible to access it locally, but I was not able to access it remotely (SSH, webUI, dockers, VMs). Sometimes it appeared that some network services kept working. My guess is, if there was an open network connection, it might stay running, but it was not possible to make new connections. After a reboot, the boot process would hang when it tried to read the root image from the flash drive. Full shutdown would result to a successful boot and perfectly running system for a few days or even weeks. Then another crash.

 

As these Sandisk Blade drives (16 GB) did ok in the SpaceInvaderOne's video I bought a few of them from Amazon.de. IIRC, there was also some availability issues with the drives that did better in the test. Sadly I missed this post.

Edited June 9, 2022 by lsaranto

[ConnerVT]

On 6/9/2022 at 4:29 AM, lsaranto said:

I have to disagree with this. I have a Sandisk Blade drive that worked fine for 5-6 weeks. Then it became blacklisted showing all zeros in the GUID. If I reboot, it works fine and shows a valid GUID and the license is ok. It seems to lose the GUID again in 12-24 hours.  I'm now flashing a second Blade. We'll see how long this one lasts.

 

This is a very peculiar failure.  The GUID (really a UUID) is one of the data that is flashed to ROM, typically on the flash drive's controller chip.  To be readable sometimes, and not readable others, is very uncommon.  Usually it works, or it doesn't.

 

So it looks as there are 2 possibilities:

1.  You have a genuine Sandisk product which suffered an infant mortality failure.  It happens.  This is the first I have ever heard of a drive behaving like yours, so you may have been unfortunately very unlucky.

2.  You have a counterfeit drive made of some very dodgy materials.  This is much more likely.

 

Counterfeit drives were much more common 10 years ago, and typically were flashed (and sold) having a greater capacity than they actually contained.  16GB/32GB drives that really only had 4 or 8GB of memory.  Then, there were only a few companies pumping out most of the memory chips, so it could be profitable to be sleazy.  Now there are a number of Chinese fabs manufacturing memory.  They are about one technology behind the established fabs (Micron, Samsung, Kioxia, etc) and their yields (% of good chips/die) tend to be less.  So perhaps instead of saving money on how much memory there is, they are going the trade name counterfeiting route by buying cheaper products to put inside the red/black plastic case that says Sandisk.

 

There are a number of tools out on the Internet, for testing if a flash drive is what it says it is, and even to reflash some common controller ROMs.  The question becomes how many hours of your time is it worth?

[Lolight]

I've noticed something that I haven't seen mentioned anywhere on this board.

I've used a utility named UsbTreeView to compare my Kingston DataTraveler (by Shenzhen ...) against Sandisk Cruiser Fit. https://github.com/MarkoMarjamaa/UsbTreeView

To my surprise I've found a big difference in the Demanded Current metric.

I've also noticed a big performance difference: Kingston is about twice as fast at writing.

 

P.S. found a site talking about demanded current:

"The first category is a USB device which draws 100 mA or less. This sort of device needs no switching because every device is allowed 100 mA as soon as it is plugged in. There used to be a rule that when the USB device was put to sleep, it would have to reduce its current below 100 mA, but so many devices failed to implement this correctly that USB 2 relaxed the rules significantly."

http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/Designing_USB_Devices_for_proper_current_and_MaxPower

 

Makes me wonder... If the drive's elevated current consumption (by design), combined with a failure to switch into the sleep mode is what makes USB drives fail prematurely.

My Kingston stays barely warm to touch while plugged in and not actively used.

Sandisk seems to be much warmer under the same conditions.

Of course, it could be due to the the size difference (surface heat dissipation).

 

Edited September 29, 2022 by Lolight

[harley dmello]

Very true..... This also happened with me. When I was using the Sandisk USBs most of the time it got corrupted and the issues with the Malware was also very often.

[unraider2334]

I never buy flash drives or other small electronics (chargers etc) from Amazon now. It doesn’t matter what store or seller you choose, your odds of getting a fake are just too high. I’ve had fake USB, fake chargers, even fake water filters show up despite trying my best to buy from the official store on Amazon. 
 

they simply don’t care and mix inventory so fake and real are all mixed together.  
 

now I go to best buy or Costco. Never had any issues with anything I bought at a real store. 

[SnakeZZ]

On 1/24/2022 at 8:22 PM, SpencerJ said:

DE ---  https://www.amazon.de/Kingston-DataTraveler-USB-Stick-USB3-2-32GB/dp/B08KHTRF61?th=1

 

For me, the above Link actually goes to a product called

"Kingston DataTraveler Kyson USB-Stick USB3.2, 32GB"

 

It seems to be a different product than the one mentioned ("Kingston DataTraveler SE9 G2").

 

Does anyone have experience if this is a good stick for Unraid?

[thedutchguy]

You can also get the Transcend JetFlash 170 (in stock at RS online). its a 1GB stick with SLC memory. specifically made for industrial use. in practical terms it will never wear out.

Edited January 24, 2023 by thedutchguy