Understanding my results - Samsung EVO 840 250GB SSD

[happyman]

Hi,

I'm hoping someone can assist me and guide me a little with the results I am having.

I experienced an issue a few days ago where my PC wouldn't boot up - It came up with no devices available although it was recognised in the BIOS.

I ended up doing a chkdsk (with repair option) on the SSD drive and it came back with several errors referencing come files (not important files).

The errors were all - "A disk read error occurred c0000185"

After the chkdsk completed I also did a master boot record repair and rebuild and the PC has started up successfully since.

I installed HD Sentinel and checked on the results:

I'm getting the following warning:

"Problems occurred between the communication of the disk and the host 2069 times.
In case of sudden system crash, reboot, blue-screen-of-death, inaccessible file(s)/folder(s), it is recommended to verify data and power cables, connections - and if possible try different cables to prevent further problems.
More information: https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_ca ... _error.php
The TRIM feature of the SSD is supported and enabled for optimal performance.
The health is determined by SSD specific S.M.A.R.T. attribute(s): #177 Wear Leveling Count

It is recommended to continuously monitor the hard disk status."

The numbers that are changing are for #177 (Wear Leveling Count) and also #199 (Ultra ATA CRC Error Count).

When I installed the software on 24/02/2020 #177 was at 213 and #199 was at 2046.

Each day #177 has increased by one and #199 has increased.

As of today 04/03/2020 #177 is at 214 and #199 is at 2065.

Is this definitely indicating the the SSD drive is failing ?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[hdsentinel]

Yes, it is not rare.
The text description and the page on the displayed link clearly describes the situation:

it is recommended to verify data and power cables, connections - and if possible try different cables to prevent further problems.
More information: https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_ca ... _error.php


> When I installed the software on 24/02/2020 #177 was at 213 and #199 was at 2046.
> Each day #177 has increased by one and #199 has increased.
> As of today 04/03/2020 #177 is at 214 and #199 is at 2065.

As you can see, new and new communication issues detected because of incorrect connection / cable, which can result in damaged files and even unbootable system.

The MOST IMPORTANT in this case suggested by the software: verify connections and cables and try to replace data cable to stabilize the problems first, to make sure that the error counter should not increase further. Current problems will remain displayed - but the most important is that you should not see further increase at attribute #199.

If you continue using the disk while the status is not stable (while the error counter is still increasing) then you risk further data corruption, further damage of the file system and even data loss. Chkdsk is absolutely not recommended in this case. As it attempts to "fix" the file system (not the SSD of course, just the logical volume) it can cause even more problems and damage more files because it may also incorrectly read and "repair" the file system descriptors (which may be more damaged, resulting more data loss).


> Is this definitely indicating the the SSD drive is failing ?

Usually NOT.
Such issues are usually independent from the SSD but more related to the cables, connections or something else which can cause unstable operation (see the recommended page for details, it can be overclock, generic overheat etc.)

You'd need to make sure that the error counter should NOT increase further by checking connections, replacing cables first.
Then you can perform diagnostics, to reveal any possible issues OR confirm if the status is stable by using the tests under the Disk menu.

For example, the Disk menu -> Surface test -> Read test is a good way to perform a complete, safe scan to verify if the complete SSD is readable, there are no problems. If the error counter does not increase during that (so the status is now stable), THEN you can perform chkdsk to repair the partition (if required). But starting chkdsk sooner while the error counter is still increasing lead to bigger problems.

The SSD health because of #177 is slowly but surely decreasing due to the writes. But it is normal for most SSDs, so until the health is generally high (eg. 50% or above) you do not need to worry about it.
If you are interested, please check: https://www.hdsentinel.com/ssd_case_hea ... earout.php
for more details.

[happyman]

Hi,

Thank you for your detailed reply.

I've gone ahead and re-seated the SATA cable but will probably order a replacement just to make sure.

I know it says power cables too, but is the SATA cable the most likely culprit ?

I've just done a read test as suggested and it has all come back as blocks good, with zero against damaged/bad. Does that mean I have resolved the issue with re-seating the cable ? - I didn't think to try the test before re-seating the cable.

Thanks again

[hdsentinel]

> I know it says power cables too, but is the SATA cable the most likely culprit ?

In most cases yes, the SATA (data) cable is the problem, which connects the SSD/HDD to the motherboard.
There may be some situations where the power cable requires attention, usually if a power splitter (SATA -> multiple SATA power) or even more if a 4pin "Molex" -> SATA power converter cable used. It is better to avoid them if possible.


> I've just done a read test as suggested and it has all come back as blocks good, with zero against damaged/bad.
> Does that mean I have resolved the issue with re-seating the cable ? - I didn't think to try the test before re-seating the cable.

This sounds good as generally it confirms that all sectors can be read without problems, so confirms that generally the SSD is working correctly.
The important is that the displayed number of communication errors (the value at attribute #199) should not increase during/after the test: as this would confirm that the connection is now OK and the issue is fixed (no new communication errors reported).

In this case, as you fixed the cable by re-connection (or by replacing if it would be required) then you can manually clear the error counter to remove these previous issues from the text description and be notified about possible new problems only.
This is displayed on https://www.hdsentinel.com/hard_disk_ca ... _error.php
and if you use Report menu -> Send test report to developer option, I can check the status and advise with step-by-step details in your case.

[happyman]

I've just sent through the report by e-mail as requested.

It would be great if you could have have a quick look

Thanks again for your assistance.

[hdsentinel]

Thanks, I received the report, just checked. As I see from the file

"Problems occurred between the communication of the disk and the host 2105 times."

which means 2105 problems now, so we'd need to clear the error counter this way:

1) select the S.M.A.R.T. page and locate the 199 Ultra ATA CRC Error Count attribute.

2) In the Offset column of this line, click on the 0 between the + and -
After the confirmation window, specify -2105 (the reported error count with negative sign).

3) After this window is closed, soon the errors should disappear from the text description and then Hard Disk Sentinel will report only possible new issues.

If there are new issues again, then the status is still not stable.