Samsung EVO 870 - problems solved ?

[TracingArcs]

Hi All. A simple question. I'm tempted to update a Crucial 1TB SSD to  2TB Samsung EVO 870. This is my D drive (samples) out of three C - OS (Samsung 860 500)/D (Crucial MX500 1TB Samples - NI etc)/  E - Crucial MX500 1TB - none Kontakt full libraries etc.

I had been aware of lots of issues with the 870EVO's (Mainly 4TB and about 2021-22 I think). Has anyone bought a 870 in the last year and is it ok?. It's on sale for £109 so much cheaper than usual. Just a bit concerned that things have not been addressed. And there is a lot of conflicting info out there.

Many Thanks in advance.

[Amberwolf]

What specific things are you worried about?   

I have a couple of 1TB 870 Evos bought around a year apart (june22 and oct 23) from here https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08QBJ2YMG 

I bought the first one to clone my laptop's regular spinny type 1TB hdd to, and then keep the spinny one in a drawer as backup and use the faster SDD, but I was never able to get any of the free cloning software to actually work.  Failures were various, from not even being compatible with SSDs (which doesn't make sense; it's just files I'm dealing with!) to being unable to complete the clone (with no useful error messages or codes).   I'm sure there's software I haven't tried yet; somewhere I have a list of ones I did try but don't recall ATM, it was a while back now; I had given up on trying a couple months after the first purchase, though I retried the same things after getting the second one from a super-deal offer. 

(the stuff  for cloning and monitoring that came with (on!) the drive from Samsung doesn't apparently work with SSD's, which is *****; neither does any newer version of any of the Samsung software I tried since, which is even more *****--if they sell SSDs they ought to include software for them that works with them). 

The spinny source drive passes the tests I can throw at it, but I haven't yet found something that can do a real test of the SSDs; they just look at it's SMART and say "sure, its' ok" and won't do an actual test, or else just says "sorry, I don't do SSDs".  

The SSDs format (even full version) fine, and I can write and read the entire drive fine just copying files to and from it till it's full. 

 

So...there doesn't appear to be anything wrong with the drives, just that I can't use them for the purpose I intended.  (I have not had the money, time, and energy to try a different brand of drive yet, because I don't expect to get different results as I still haven't found the reason the clone doesn't work with the softwares that will even try.   

I expect the problem has to do with the way I have to connect the drives up--the internal laptop SATA connector is only for one HDD, and the optical drive bay connector, even with an adapter, is not able to talk to anything other than an optical drive--the laptop firmware simply isn't created to allow it (which seems ***** to me, as it prevents using that drive bay for extra storage instead of the almost-useless optical drive (these days).    So I have to use a USB external SATA adapter for one of hte drive (tried it both ways, too), and I have several--some on a cable, some in a case, and a couple in desktop holders reminiscent of the personality-imprint-chair usage in Dollhouse.  

I was recently advised of a program called Macrium Reflect Free, so I have to look into that; if I'm lucky it will be compatible with the SSDs and correctly work to create a full image of the spinny to the ssd.   

 

 

That said, I have run across more than one webpage that discusses failures of the controller chip used in SSD / NVME drives, and there is one called "Phison PS311" that turns up in failures more often than any other by quite a lot.  This page https://www.exalab.cz/en/blog/explanations-and-tips/ssd-controller-failure-satafirm-s11-sataburn-s11-data-recovery

says "Among the SSD models with the Phison PS3111 controller, which may be affected by the SATAFIRM S11 or SATABURN S11 issue, are Apacer AS340 or AS350, Gigabyte GSTFS31, GOODRAM CX300, GOODRAM S400U, GOODRAM IRDM, Lite-On MU3, Lite-On PH4, Lite-On PH6, Patriot Burst, Patriot Spark, Seagate One Touch, Silicon Power Slim S55 or S60, Silicon Power S56, Smartbuy Revival 2, or S11T. Please note that this list is not exhaustive, and some brands may use this controller under their own designation." 

 

Edited November 24 by Amberwolf

[TracingArcs]

Have to say that when I cloned my OS HDD to the Samsung EVO 860 about 2.5 years ago. I used the Samsung Magician software to do so. And it went without a hitch.

Just read about a high failure rate just after the pandemic of the EVO870s (mostly 4TB). Due to shortages of materials and sourcing from outside their usual channels.

Samsung never commented.

[Amberwolf]

11 hours ago, TracingArcs said:

Have to say that when I cloned my OS HDD to the Samsung EVO 860 about 2.5 years ago. I used the Samsung Magician software to do so. And it went without a hitch.

Then I'd guess my issue is specific to the laptop.  I'd have to take both drives out and put them in a desktop motherboard with enough SATA HDD connections to mount both simulaneously directly to it and retry.

 

11 hours ago, TracingArcs said:

Just read about a high failure rate just after the pandemic of the EVO870s (mostly 4TB). Due to shortages of materials and sourcing from outside their usual channels.

Samsung never commented.

It's certainly possible--quite a few manufacturers did stuff outside their normal ways since that started (some still are, and some have had to redesign products because of "permanent" unavailability of some components).

None of them are likely to publicly discuss any of that; it might open them up to legal issues (don't know how) and that's a can o worms companies never want to open.

[Joseph Gresham]

I’ve heard the recent 870 EVOs are fine, especially the 2TB models. the issues were mostly with older batches and larger capacities like 4TB. For £109, it’s a solid deal—probably worth the upgrade!