PSA on SanDisk USBs


SpencerJ

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33 minutes ago, SpencerJ said:


custom Unraid engraving 👀👀

If you make them we will buy them!

 

I found one of the dead Blue Kanguru USB drives I was talking about. I used “Uniqueid disk” in CMD and it put out 8 characters and numbers is that enough or do I need something like this {8-4-4-4-12}? (the numbers signify number of characters and numbers)

 

Edit: I found it in device properties for the Kanguru USB. Looks like it has a full unique GUID.

Edited by AlastorX50
Brain fart
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  • 3 weeks later...

I found a relatively simple way of finding the GUID of a flash drive in Windows:

 

1. Get USBDeview (free) from NirSoft here.

2. Run USBDeview and find the flash drive.

3. Double-click on the flash drive and a Properties window will pop up with lots of fields.

4. My GUID comes as 4 digits - 4 digits - 4 digits - 12 characters

   - first 4 digits are VendorID

   - next 4 digits are ProductID

   - next 4 digits and the 12 characters come from the last 16 characters of Serial Number (which is ridiculously long)

 

(This information can also be extracted from just the Instance ID field.)

 

This is basically from looking at just one flash drive, so it's certainly not extensively tested, but this might be one way of checking for useable GUIDs before trying to flash unRAID onto the drive.

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On 1/24/2022 at 2:22 PM, SpencerJ said:

After multiple recent support issues with SanDisk brand USBs, we don't recommend buying SanDisk USBs for Unraid at this point. 

 

Either due to counterfeit devices being sold or a manufacturing change directly from SanDisk, multiple users have attempted to boot SanDisk USBs and found out that they do not register a unique GUID and therefore, cannot be properly licensed with Unraid.

Multiple attempts at contacting SanDisk on this issue have gone nowhere.

 

For a great rundown on the best USBs for Unraid, @SpaceInvaderOne made an exhaustively researched video on the topic:

 

 

(Spoiler) The best 3 flash drives were:

1. Samsung bar plus

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

UK ---- https://amzn.to/3004ooU

DE ---  https://www.amazon.de/Samsung-MUF-32BE4-EU-Flash-Speicherstick/dp/B07CVVHCTG/

 

2. Kingston DataTraveler SE9 G2

USA ---- https://amzn.to/30NhzIZ

UK ---- https://amzn.to/3f4Bp7C

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

(no longer manufactured, new stock likely counterfeit)

 

3. Samsung Fit Plus

USA --- https://amzn.to/3hFboha

UK --- https://amzn.to/39vSsOR

DE --- https://www.amazon.de/Samsung-Flash-Drive-MUF-32AB-APC/dp/B07HPWKS3C

 

BONUS @ich777 recommendation for Amazon.de users:

https://www.amazon.de/Transcend-JetFlash-Extreme-Speed-32GB-USB-Stick/dp/B002WE6CN6

@SpencerJAny chance to update the main post to include Kanguru drives as an option.

 

Mine have been working flawless.

Edited by AlastorX50
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On 3/25/2023 at 5:32 PM, jtech007 said:

I recently had a flash drive scare where I thought my original drive was finally going to die on me. I think it's over 10 years old at the point (4Gb HP). Watched Spaceinvader1's video and found the suggested Kingston and Samsung on Amazon, only to come here after I ordered and received those to see that they are probably counterfeit drives. So, I will be returning both per the suggestions of others. That led me on a search to find a backup for my original drive and I found some 16gb HP drives on sale at Office Depot/Max.  The have a unique GUID and work with Unraid though I had to do a manual install. Also, the website and packaging says it's a 16gb drive, but it shows up in windows as 28.8. They are USB 2.0 drives which I know is prefered. https://www.officedepot.com/a/products/5892874/HP-v150w-USB-20-Flash-Drive/

 

I am going to boot up one on my test server and see how long it lasts. 

Is this HP the flash drive to get? I am about to start a new build. They are in stock and on sale locally. I might just buy 4. 😉

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2 hours ago, Beer40oz said:

Is this HP the flash drive to get? I am about to start a new build. They are in stock and on sale locally. I might just buy 4. 😉

It's a legit drive according to the reports above.

Might as well get a few before they all get phased out.

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On 5/30/2023 at 12:05 AM, Beer40oz said:

Is this HP the flash drive to get?

I have one and it was cheap ($5) and works on a particular Unraid server when no other flash drive I have would work. 

 

I don't know if it is THE flash drive to get for Unraid but it is a flash drive that has a unique GUID and works with Unraid.

Edited by Hoopster
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8 hours ago, SpencerJ said:

Done! Thanks for testing and recommending.

I think the first page is in dire need of revision.

The post needs to be revised in a way that would stress out a point of possibility of getting counterfeits in any brand if shopping online.

In that view singling out SanDisk doesn't make much sense.

 

It's been mentioned numerous times on this very thread that the Sandisk drive failure cases are most likely related to the purchased online counterfeits.

Was there a single documented case of recently failed legit Sandisk that's been purchased at a big brick-n-mortar store?

The front page still links the remaining recommended drives to Amazon with their shady third party sellers and practice of inventory intermixing.

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I have had a licensed SanDisk USB for a couple years now and it has worked flawlessly up until a day or two ago. I stumbled across this thread and am wondering if my USB disk fits into this thread's topic. I now am unable to boot via USB on my R720, and am curious what options I Have to regain access to my OS. 

MY drives are all still in working order, is this as simple as licensing a new USB and replacing it, what else should I be looking for in order to access my OS? I am concerned I may be at a loss without being able to restore my access. 

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1 hour ago, SpencerJ said:

SanDisk were the main ones that customer’s were having issues with. 

 

SanDisk and Samsung are currently the two largest brands in the consumer flash memory market.  If you going to sell counterfeits, who would you copy?  There's a lot of counterfeit Gucci and Rolex.  Not many knocking off Casio watches.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Tried latest unRAID USB Flash Creator on Windows 11 and when attaching a SanDisk Cruzer Glide 3.0 64GB I see the 'incompatible' error. I then moved that USB drive to macOS and it sees the GUID allowing me to create the unRAID USB Flash drive without issue. Just sharing my experience with SanDisk.


UPDATE: I re-installed with W10 with all latest updates and same issue, just macOS seems to be able to work.

Edited by Trunkton
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1 hour ago, Trunkton said:

Tried latest unRAID USB Flash Creator on Windows 11 and when attaching a SanDisk Cruzer Glide 3.0 64GB I see the 'incompatible' error. I then moved that USB drive to macOS and it sees the GUID allowing me to create the unRAID USB Flash drive without issue. Just sharing my experience with SanDisk.

The USB creator on windows generally seems to not work. 

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I run a massive Plex server built on Unraid, so in my world, stability is critical. I highly recommend using a USB drive that exclusively uses SLC NAND flash. They're not cheap, but I personally use a 4GB Swissbit drive for my server (link). I've had it in operation for almost two years with zero flash-related downtime.

Here's a link to a few USB drives that should also offer similar reliability. All drives are guaranteed to meet industrial specifications and come with datasheets!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello,

im one of these Noobs who are new to Unraid.

I started my noobness with purchasing first the Unraid basic license by using the Summer Sale.

Then i went to the next market and purchased a tripple pack of SanDisk Ultra Fits - was cheap and i was greedy to start my server.

 

I took one and tried the USB creation tool. The tool didnt work with the stick.

But i did it manually and it worked fine.

 

Then i started the Server and registred the license to the Stick.

It seems to work fine. Unraid is registred to my Name.

 

And now im reading this and im not sure what the problem is.

Is my license now invalid?

Or do i have to replace it with another stick to get safe to avoid being sued by unraid?

 

If i have to replace the stick to avoid being sued by unraid and the new one gets broken in the next 12 months i really have to mail the support to move my license on the replacement?

As i had to red 12x in the docs:
"IMPORTANT: Replacing your Unraid USB Flash Device transfers the license to a new USB Flash Device . Once this done, the previous (old) Flash device is blacklisted and cannot be used with Unraid going forward. This action cannot be undone."

 

So why the 12 month support mail? It gets blacklisted, so when i do 20 changes, 19 sticks get on the blacklist and couldnt used again. But anyway.

 

What i have to do now?
And please write the answer also in the first post.

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3 hours ago, Kasi said:

And now im reading this and im not sure what the problem is.

Is my license now invalid?

Or do i have to replace it with another stick to get safe to avoid being sued by unraid?

 

Why would you think the licence is invalid?    If it works it is valid!

 

The current flash drive gets blacklisted if you transfer the licence to another flash drive, and you would only do this if the current one fails.  You can do one automated transfer every 12 months (if you need one), and if for any reason you need a second one before that you go via support.

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6 hours ago, itimpi said:

Why would you think the licence is invalid?

 see next quote:

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

 found out that they do not register a unique GUID

 

Its not sayin a "missing GUID", it ments its a "not unique GUID".

So when im using a SanDisk and his GUID isnt unique, it could exist more then one stick with the same GUID.
If my tripple pack of sticks has all the same GUID for example (as they are not unique), i could use my licence 3 times at the same time.

So Unraid is running and its refistred but the, combination of the licence key with SanDisk sticks could be illigal (multicopy).

 

6 hours ago, itimpi said:

You can do one automated transfer

So when im doing manual transfers to other sticks i would not to have sending mails with GUIDs?

 

Im asking that, because i want to use Unraid also for my business data (homeoffice) and when my server fails i dont want to mail 3 days around to get it up again (3 day downtime maybe).

I want to take  backup stick 1 or 2 or n    and register it directly to my license for a 10 minute downtime. As its pure luck. Every stick could fail at any time.

The movie clip in post 1 is showing that. The sticks could fail every 24h.

 

If i have to expect a longer downtime i couldnt use unraid for important data. And then i have to take an other solution in general. Bye bye 50$ but i dont get fired and my boss has not to pay penaltys of serveral thousand $.

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OK

https://docs.unraid.net/unraid-os/manual/changing-the-flash-device/
"Using the Flash Creator" and "Manual Method" are both using the "online automated method" so i have to expect longer downtimes on the second stick fail in 12 months.

 


Bye bye Unraid for homeoffice/business content. Or i have to buy a second server. Very "green" solution. Thumbs up.

 

Is there a way to transfer the License to an other media type like external SSD or HDD which should lasts longer?

Edited by Kasi
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Have you checked the GUID’s on the flash drives you have.    If they are genuine I would expect each drive to have a unique GUID despite the fact they were supplied as a 3-pack.

 

in the case of the manufacturer NOT giving each drive a unique GUID you tend to find that you cannot register them in the first place as it is highly likely someone else has already registered a drive with that GUID.

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1 hour ago, Kasi said:

Bye bye Unraid for homeoffice/business content. Or i have to buy a second server. Very "green" solution. Thumbs up.

The obvious thing to do in such a case is to have a spare licensed flash drive as the licence is tied to the flash drive - not to a particular server.   You can then simply copy the config folder belonging to any live drive to make it a pick up the configuration required.

 

another possibility is temporarily use a trial licence until you can get a new key.

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4 hours ago, Kasi said:

Its not sayin a "missing GUID", it ments its a "not unique GUID".

So when im using a SanDisk and his GUID isnt unique, it could exist more then one stick with the same GUID.

 

If you have the same GUID on multiple flash drives, they are most certainly counterfeit and not from SanDisk.

 

GUID stands for "Globally Unique Identifier", the equivalent of a serial number.  The GUID is programmed into a small NVRAM that is part of the flash drive's controller chip.  SanDisk will generate a different GUID for each flash drive it manufactures.  Someone making fake drives likely won't be bothered to do this, as it costs more time and money to do so.

 

Sorry you got burned by buying a not genuine part.  Earlier you said you bought the 3-pack for cheap.  Now you understand why it was inexpensive.

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2 hours ago, itimpi said:

Have you checked the GUID’s on the flash drives you have.

no, i have just installed unraid on of them, manually (without the creator - the creator doesnt worked with the stick but the manually installation and registration in Unraid did fine - no problems)

In Unraid the stick has a number under the point GUID. But is this unique or not? no plan - this thread sais in the first post that it could not be unique (that is what im understanding)).

 

Im just reading here in the thread that SanDisk "that they do not register a unique GUID" (post 1) so the GUID has not to be unique on SanDisk - thats what im understanding. There is not standing "SanDisk has no GUID so dont take it" or "Our tool has Problems with SanDisk sticks, so do it manually". It sais they do "not register a unique GUID". And this sais to me they are registering

something but not a GUID, so it could be a licence problem. And a license Problem could bring me to court, so im asking here:
My SanDisk Stick seems to work. But do i have to replace it per default to avoid a sued by unraid?

Nothing less, nothing more.

My unraid system works fine on SanDisk but is this legal for your company?

 

In case thats just the creator tool doesnt get the GUID and so it doesnt work with the tool -> do it manually, worked fine

 

2 hours ago, itimpi said:

You can then simply copy the config folder belonging to any live drive to make it a pick up the configuration required.

Yes , and then i have to contact the support if this happens more often then one time in a year.

As every way (tool or manually) uses the "online automated method".

And if this happens two times in a year, i have a downtime till the support activates my second replacement. And downtime could get very expensive in my case. So its not a simple "Copy and use the new one" system. Its a "Copy and wait for support" system

 

1 hour ago, ConnerVT said:

If you have the same GUID on multiple flash drives

dont know, im just reading here "dont take Sandisk"

 

1 hour ago, ConnerVT said:

GUID stands for "Globally Unique Identifier",

i know, but this thread in generally sais it could be not unique ("not register a unique GUID") so their or mine GUIDs are GIDs without U.

 

1 hour ago, ConnerVT said:

Sorry you got burned by buying a not genuine part.  Earlier you said you bought the 3-pack for cheap.  Now you understand why it was inexpensive.

the sticks do what they are supposed to. They are working, my unraid is running on a SanDisk Ultra Fit 3.2 Gen1. All is working.

Its just this thread wich let me struggle if my licence in combination with this stick could be illigal.

 

But if you say: "OK, your stick is running and it seems to be licened, then all is OK we dont bring you to court you could life your life without a sued by us" everything is fine for me.

 

Again, i dont have a Problem with SanDisk - my server/stick is running and seems to be registred correctly.

Im reading here in this thread that Unraid has a Problem with SanDisk.

So numbers wich are not GUID where registred abut they are not GUIDs -> "not register a unique GUID"

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