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1. PC Components
2. Storage
3. SSDs
SanDisk Extreme Pro Failures Result From Design and Manufacturing
Flaws, Says Data Recovery Firm
News
By Anton Shilov
published 12 November 2023
It doesn't look like a firmware fix will be enough.
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SanDisk
(Image credit: Attingo)
A new report from a data recovery company now points the finger at
design and manufacturing flaws as the underlying issue with the
recent flood of SanDisk Extreme Pro failures that eventually spurred
a class action lawsuit. It became clear in May that some of Western
Digital's SanDisk Extreme Pro 4TB SSDs suffered from sudden data
loss; at this point, the company promised a firmware update to owners
of the 4TB models. However, the 2TB and 3TB models also suffer from
the same issue, and Western Digital did not promise any firmware
updates for these drives.
Markus Hafele, Managing Director of Attingo, a data recovery company,
told FutureZone that the problem lies in hardware, not firmware,
which could explain the lack of corrective firmware updates for those
models and SanDisk's continued silence about the source of the
issues.
A Hardware Problem
Sandisk
(Image credit: Attingo)
Attingo, which has been in the data recovery business for over 25
years, normally sees these failed SanDisk Extreme Pro SSDs at least
once a week. The problem appears to be rather complex. According to
Hafele, the components used in these SSDs are too big for the circuit
board, causing weak connections (i.e., high impendence and high
temperatures) and making them prone to breaking. He also says that
the soldering material used to attach these components is prone to
forming bubbles and breaking easily.
It remains unknown whether the cause is cheap solder, the
componentry, or both contribute to the issues observed. However,
newer revisions of these SanDisk Extreme Pro SSDs seem to have been
modified with extra epoxy resin to secure the oversized components.
This suggests that Western Digital might know about the hardware
problems. Nevertheless, these newer models are still failing, thus
sending data recovery service customers to firms like Attingo.
According to the head of Attingo, the issue seems to be
affecting multiple product lineups, including both SanDisk Extreme
Portable SSD as well as the SanDisk Extreme Pro Portable SSD.
A Strange Attitude?
Western Digital's handling of this situation, especially in
communicating with customers and the media, can easily be criticized.
Our colleagues from The Verge first reported back on August 8 that
Western Digital's SanDisk Extreme 3TB SSDs can suddenly lose data,
requiring expensive data recovery services to recoup precious files --
if you're lucky. As it turns out, one of The Verge's editors lost a
video stored on one of these drives and, after a quick investigation,
discovered that he is far from alone with this problem. He noted that
people continued losing data on 2TB SSDs after May, which is when
Western Digital promised a firmware update for the 4TB drives.
To follow up on its investigation, the Verge quizzed Western Digital
about the recurring issue with its Extreme Pro SSDs but did not
receive a response as of August 19, 2023. The website asked WD why
storage that could potentially lose data was suddenly on sale at
several retailers and whether the company planned to offer free data
recovery services to its customers. The editors also questioned
whether Western Digital proactively warned users about the possible
issue.
NAND memory-based drives can lose data due to multiple factors.
Sometimes, the flash drive itself might have manufacturing defects
that can cause data loss. This is more common with low-quality or
counterfeit drives, but this is certainly not the case with the
SanDisk Extreme Pro products bought from prominent retailers like
Amazon. Worse yet, these external SSDs are aimed at professionals.
While one of the issues is that some of Western Digital's SanDisk
Extreme Pro suddenly lose data, another is that the company hasn't
communicated well about the problems. We have contacted Western
Digital once again for comment and await a response.
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Anton Shilov
Anton Shilov
Social Links Navigation
Freelance News Writer
Anton Shilov is a Freelance News Writer at Tom's Hardware US. Over
the past couple of decades, he has covered everything from CPUs and
GPUs to supercomputers and from modern process technologies and
latest fab tools to high-tech industry trends.
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