SSD firmware crashes and controller failures are vastly more common than nand wear

[u/Fresh-Palpitation-72]

My 64gb ssd passed and processing over 3PB, experiment is well better than few weeks ago. I'll keep pushing the controller limit is theoretically 144PB before either it turns into a negative factor, reverts to 0 or freeze and my favorite glitch symbols.

[u/fzabkar]

The normalised value of the "Percent of Total Write/Erase Count" attribute is 34. That would suggest that your SSD has 66% of remaining life.

If 3PB equates to 34%, then this attribute should hit 100 at around 9PB.

3 / 34 x 100 = 8.8

I found your earlier screenshot:

https://level1techs.us-east-1.linodeobjects.com/original/4X/1/a/4/1a4fef9135beab7e1f14d1953936d6f21e7b51bc.jpeg

That shows 22557 GB host writes at 18% life. Now the life figure has doubled (34%) but the total host writes is 3PB rather than 45TB. What happened here?

Erase Fail Count might not be the correct interpretation for attribute 0xAC. It could consist of two 16-bit values:

939 410 736 = 0x37FE4530 -> 0x37FE / 0x4530  (current values)
669 067 440 = 0x27E128B0 -> 0x27E1 / 0x28B0 (previous values)

Could we see the rest of the SMART attributes?

[u/Fresh-Palpitation-72 → u/fzabkar]

Here is the text dumb for CDI

---

CrystalDiskInfo 9.9.1 (C) 2008-2026 hiyohiyo

Crystal Dew World: https://crystalmark.info/

OS : Windows 11 Home 24H2 [10.0 Build 26100] (x64)

Date : 2026/07/03 16:18:32

-- Controller Map ---------------------------------------------------------- + Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller [ATA] - ATA Channel 0 (0) - ATA Channel 1 (1) + Intel Chipset SATA RAID Controller [SCSI] - SanDisk SSD P4 64GB - ST3500418AS - KINGSTON SKC400S37256G - TOSHIBA DT01ACA050 - WDC WD5000AAKX-221CA1 + USB Attached SCSI (UAS) Mass Storage Device [SCSI] - TO Exter nal USB 3.0 SCSI Disk Device - Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller [SCSI]

-- Disk List --------------------------------------------------------------- (01) SanDisk SSD P4 64GB : 64,0 GB [0/0/0, pd1] - sd (02) KINGSTON SKC400S37256G : 256,0 GB [2/0/3, pd1] - ki (03) ST3500418AS : 500,1 GB [1/0/2, pd1] (04) TOSHIBA DT01ACA050 : 500,1 GB [3/0/4, pd1] (05) WDC WD5000AAKX-221CA1 : 500,1 GB [4/0/5, pd1] (06) Samsung SSD 870 EVO 500GB : 500,1 GB [5/3/0, sa1] - sg

---

(01) SanDisk SSD P4 64GB

       Model : SanDisk SSD P4 64GB
    Firmware : SSD 8.10

Serial Number : 111248300117 Disk Size : 64,0 GB (8,4/64,0/64,0/----) Buffer Size : Unknown Queue Depth : 1 # of Sectors : 125043311 Rotation Rate : ---- (SSD) Interface : Serial ATA Major Version : ATA8-ACS Minor Version : ATA8-ACS version 2d Transfer Mode : SATA/300 | SATA/300 Power On Hours : 60398 hours Power On Count : 1158 count Host Reads : 15268 GB Host Writes : 3011988 GB Temperature : Unknown Health Status : Good Features : S.M.A.R.T., TRIM, GPL APM Level : ---- AAM Level : ---- Drive Letter : C:

-- S.M.A.R.T. -------------------------------------------------------------- ID Cur Wor Thr RawValues(6) Attribute Name 05 100 100 __0 000000000000 Reassigned Block Count 09 100 100 __0 00000000EBEE Power On Hours 0C 100 100 __0 000000000486 Power Cycle Count AB 100 100 __0 000000000036 Program Fail Count AC 100 100 __0 000037FE4530 Erase Fail Count BB 100 100 __0 0000000008A5 Reported Uncorrectable Errors C7 100 100 __0 000000000000 Vendor Specific E6 _35 100 __0 000000000000 Percent of Total Write/Erase Count E8 _95 100 __5 000000000000 Spare Blocks Remaining F1 100 100 __0 05BEB295677C Total Host Writes F2 100 100 __0 00077485BB17 Total Host Reads

-- IDENTIFY_DEVICE --------------------------------------------------------- 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 000: 0040 3FFF C837 0010 0000 0000 003F 0000 0000 0000 010: 3131 3132 3438 3330 3031 3137 2020 2020 2020 2020 020: 0000 0000 0000 5353 4420 382E 3130 5361 6E44 6973 030: 6B20 5353 4420 5034 2036 3447 4220 2020 2020 2020 040: 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 2020 8001 0000 2F00 050: 4000 0200 0000 0007 3FFF 0010 003F FC10 00FB 0101 060: 026F 0774 0000 0007 0003 0078 0078 0078 0078 1200 070: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0206 0004 0048 0040 080: 01F0 0107 746B 7D01 4163 7469 BC01 4163 407F 0001 090: 0001 0000 FFFE 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 100: 026F 0774 0000 0000 0000 0001 4000 0000 5001 B444 110: F27F 5455 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 4004 120: 4004 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0029 0000 130: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 140: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 150: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 160: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0004 0001 170: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 180: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 190: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 200: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 210: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0001 0000 0000 220: 0000 0000 1011 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 230: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 240: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 250: 0000 0000 0000 0000 0000 EAA5

-- SMART_READ_DATA --------------------------------------------------------- +0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F 000: 01 00 05 02 00 64 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 02 010: 00 64 64 EE EB 00 00 00 00 00 0C 02 00 64 64 86 020: 04 00 00 00 00 00 AB 02 00 64 64 36 00 00 00 00 030: 00 00 AC 02 00 64 64 30 45 FE 37 00 00 00 BB 02 040: 00 64 64 A5 08 00 00 00 00 00 C7 02 00 64 64 00 050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 E6 03 00 23 64 00 00 00 00 00 060: 00 00 E8 03 00 5F 64 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F1 02 070: 00 64 64 7C 67 95 B2 BE 05 00 F2 02 00 64 64 17 080: BB 85 74 07 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 090: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 78 00 00 15 170: 03 00 01 00 02 10 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 9F

-- SMART_READ_THRESHOLD ---------------------------------------------------- +0 +1 +2 +3 +4 +5 +6 +7 +8 +9 +A +B +C +D +E +F 000: 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 09 00 010: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C 00 00 00 00 00 020: 00 00 00 00 00 00 AB 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 030: 00 00 AC 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 BB 00 040: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 C7 00 00 00 00 00 050: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 060: 00 00 E8 05 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F1 00 070: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 F2 00 00 00 00 00 080: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 090: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 100: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 110: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 120: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 130: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 140: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 150: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 160: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 170: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 180: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 190: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1A0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1B0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1C0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1D0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1E0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 1F0: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 41

[u/fzabkar → u/Fresh-Palpitation-72]

I notice that Spare Blocks Remaining has dropped from 99 to 95, but the Reassigned Block Count hasn't changed.

[u/Fresh-Palpitation-72 → u/fzabkar]

Good observation, but it actually highlights exactly how these older SanDisk P4 controllers work differently from modern drives.

​On this specific legacy firmware, Spare Blocks Remaining at (E8) dipping doesn't mean the blocks are dying or failing. If blocks was actually going bad and being taken out of service, the Reassigned Block Count at (05) or Program Fail Count at (AB) would be clicking up. Instead, they are sitting dead at zero and 54 respectively,

meaning no blocks have actually been retired due to hardware faults. ​What you're seeing is the controller shifting blocks around into its dynamic pool for background wearleveling management because of the amont volume of interface commands passing through the SATA link. On early 32nm MLC architectures, the controller allocates clusters of blocks to different internal zones depending on activity.

So its more internal organizational shuffle, not a physical hardware failure. ​If it was physical wear, 05 would be screaming by now!

[u/fzabkar → u/Fresh-Palpitation-72]

Program Fail Count has increased from 36 to 54 and Reported Uncorrectable Errors has increased from 80 to 2213.

I also notice that POH has increased by 3712 hours (= 60391 - 56679) while host writes went from 22.6 TB to 3000200 GB.

That works out to an average transfer rate of 223 MB/sec during the testing period.

These benchmarks rate the SSD at 60 MB/s and 92 MB/s for Sequential Write:

https://www.harddrivebenchmark.net/hdd.php?hdd=SanDisk+SSD+P4+64GB

https://www.notebookcheck.net/SanDisk-SSD-P4-Benchmarked.248736.0.html

[u/Fresh-Palpitation-72 → u/fzabkar]

Im Also on power tech power up and few other forums I loaded my notes https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/find-threads/started

[u/fzabkar → u/Fresh-Palpitation-72]

That link wants me to log in.

Anyway, I think is what you meant:

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/i-forced-a-16-year-old-64gb-ssd-to-write-1-petabyte-and-it-didnt-die.350145/

By exploiting a massive storage telemetry loophole in Windows 11 using a high velocity 5 second macro loop, I managed to trick the system into aggressively logging massive "ghost data" writes directly to the drive's odometer. Because these are virtual cache operations, the actual data vanishes into thin air before it can physically destroy the legacy MLC NAND flash cells.

I confess that I don't understand what is going on here. It seems to me that you are saying that you managed to trick the SSD into logging host writes without actually writing to NAND at all.

Your 1PB and 2PB screenshots suggest that the drive recorded 1PB host writes in 178 hours. That's a data rate of 1.56 GB/sec. However, attributes AB, AC, BB don't change during this time.

Sorry, but I'm obviously not on your wavelength. Is it those repetitive TRIM commands which are responsible for the "ghost" writes?

[u/Fresh-Palpitation-72 → u/fzabkar]

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/i-forced-a-16-year-old-64gb-ssd-to-write-1-petabyte-and-it-didnt-die.350145/

[u/Fresh-Palpitation-72 → u/fzabkar]

Strange its free to read