# Samsung 870 EVO 2TB bad sectors: what should I do?



## Swordmaster512 (Sep 12, 2021)

Hi! Today I noticed in Event Viewer (I'm on Windows 10 latest version) lots of error messages about Device\Harddisk1\DR1 having damaged blocks. I ran chkdsk and discovered that my secondary SSD drive 870 EVO has indeed bad sectors (scan results are attached, language is Italian: basically it says it cannot replace the damaged clusters of affected files). S.M.A.R.T infos reported by CrystalDiskInfo don't point to any drive failure, though. Since I've almost zero knowledge in this matter I wonder what I should do: can I solve the issue by simply secure erasing the drive with Samsung tool (I don't care about saving the data in it) or should I go for a replacement, since the drive is relatively young (I bought it in February) and of course still under warranty?


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 13, 2021)

Health looks like 99%, so should be fine. one of mine is on 92%, not worried


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## GerKNG (Sep 13, 2021)

you have 66 bad blocks already. (having ONE is something that is only acceptable when you are beyond the TBW written on the box.)

save what you can and RMA it.


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## DeathtoGnomes (Sep 13, 2021)

Dont wait for a failure like I did, prepare now even if it lasts a long time.


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## lexluthermiester (Sep 13, 2021)

GerKNG said:


> you have 66 bad blocks already. (having ONE is something that is only acceptable when you are beyond the TBW written on the box.)
> 
> save what you can and RMA it.


I have to agree with this statement.

@Swordmaster512
1 or 2 bad cells is to be expected from the factory, which is why every SSD made has a Z-sectoring scheme built into it. 66 bad cells? That indicates a very serious problem developing within one of the NAND dies. RMA that drive AFTER you copy your data elsewhere and wipe(zero out) all of it's space.

BTW, Welcome to TPU!


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## plastiscɧ (Sep 13, 2021)

normally a SSD ignores bad sectors and put the data elsewhere beside.

my italian is a bit rusty but i read your pictures. so in my opinon 66 sectors is not a SUPER drama. but u had over 100 critical abortions of that SSD. thats the reason why. and beside the test was very long 30 minutes to scan a SSD is not normal. even not a 2TB with 500MB reading..







*The samsung magician software could help through a secure erase.*

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>



according to that i would go to the vendor. u have still limited warranty on it. with the buying receipe. its EU law.

as a hint: the ADATA SSDs are better than this one.

ADATA ASU750SS-256GT-C Ultimate SU750 HardDisk : Amazon.it: Informatica 750er
ADATA su800 Disco SSD da 256GB : Amazon.it: Informatica 800er modell -- top price performance.

*‎Good luck and try to exchange them. I think it is still possible to do that.‎
‎Smaller SSDs are often less fragile and faster, by the way. 2TB is a bit big for my personal taste.‎*
_*‎all the best.‎*_


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 13, 2021)

Back up your data, use Samsung Disk Tools to wipe it, if it has a repair option attempt it othrrwise RMA it


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## AsRock (Sep 13, 2021)

> improperly packaged or shipped, including use of non-qualified shipping container



Better check what they mean by that, they might want you to use the original box it came in.

*








						SSD Product Warranty | Support | Samsung V-NAND SSD
					

Samsung ensures the best quality in all products and services beyond customer expectations. Warranty policy, conditions for Samsung Consumer and Portable SSD.




					www.samsung.com
				



*


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## Jetster (Sep 13, 2021)

Check it with Samsung's software.


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## plastiscɧ (Sep 13, 2021)

GerKNG said:


> RMA


it's a different procedure in case of warranty as in the states e.g.


eidairaman1 said:


> RMA


you are all right but,
boys let him check this, *it's EU law*, depends where he bought it. it's not necessary under circumstances to send it elsewhere. just go to the vendor.


italy is the same market tho


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 13, 2021)

If a sector is the same size as a block, 66 in a 2tb SSD is nothing. lol maybe just me, but if it still worked, i'd still use it till it fails


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## Swordmaster512 (Sep 13, 2021)

Guys, thanks a lot for your answers. I think that I'll try to go to the store where I bought the SSD and see what kind of warranty procedure it applies. I can live without the drive for a while and all things considered I would prefer to have it replaced, if it's not too complicated. 
In the meanwhile I transferred useful data and performed a Secure Erase.


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## plastiscɧ (Sep 13, 2021)

Swordmaster512 said:


> Guys, thanks a lot for your answers. I think that I'll try to go to the store where I bought the SSD and see what kind of warranty procedure it applies. I can live without the drive for a while and all things considered I would prefer to have it replaced, if it's not too complicated.
> In the meanwhile I transferred useful data and performed a Secure Erase.






and for more than 1TB i personally would go in the future for an HDD up to 2-4TB++. they are fast as well and for longlife.
SSD are best up to 500-1000GB

look at the ADATA i posted


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## Vya Domus (Sep 13, 2021)

Can't read since it's Italian but 66 bad sectors means 0.03379 MB. I think you guys need to chill.


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## ArdWar (Sep 13, 2021)

I never take a close look at how a SSD is managed, but I always thought that bad sectors are detected and mapped away in the firmware level. It should be invisible to filesystem level check.

The fact that they shows up in filesystem check can be quite concerning, depends on how the mapping is done. Maybe check again and see if the bad sectors still shows up?


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## elghinnarisa (Sep 13, 2021)

I know back in the day bad sectors was like a cancer on mechanical drives. But for SSDs, I don't really know how it works. Does it still spread like cancer?


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## plastiscɧ (Sep 13, 2021)

elghinnarisa said:


> I know back in the day bad sectors was like a cancer on mechanical drives. But for SSDs, I don't really know how it works. Does it still spread like cancer?


no. they just flag the sectors by themselves and put the data aside to the next cluster.


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## lexluthermiester (Sep 13, 2021)

Vya Domus said:


> Can't read since it's Italian but 66 bad sectors means 0.03379 MB. I think you guys need to chill.


Incorrect. The space involved is not the defining factor. I have an SSD that is over 3 years old, has 92% life left and has all of 1(one) bad cell, and it came from the factory that way. 66 bad cells is an unacceptable number for such a new drive and is indicative of a failing component within the drive. It needs to be returned.



ArdWar said:


> I always thought that bad sectors are detected and mapped away in the firmware level.


They are. That's what I meant above by "Z-sectoring". It happens automatically and "should" be invisible to the OS. The fact that @Swordmaster512 is actually seeing 66 bad cells means that all of the Z-sector provisioning has been used up and the bad cells are not being replaced in the drive map with spare good cells. This means the drive is failing and needs replacement, even if drive SMART has not flagged it yet.


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## Shrek (Sep 13, 2021)

Given how solid state drives can just drop out without warning, I'd say it is good to catch things early.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 13, 2021)

I'd have used it till it died. But then i'm not up on the ins and outs of SSD workings


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## lexluthermiester (Sep 13, 2021)

Gruffalo.Soldier said:


> I'd have used it till it died. But then i'm not up on the ins and outs of SSD workings


That's never a good idea, for several reasons.
1. If it fails outside the return policy/warranty time period, you're boned and its on you to buy a new drive.
2. As a drive continues to fail it's going to cause progressively more problems similar to the ones the OP showed in the first post, and really, no one wants to deal with that.
3. If the drive is an OS boot device and you wait until it's on it's last leg, your OS install will likely get corrupted along with your personal files, game saves, etc., thus forcing a fresh install instead of an install migration.

SSDs and mechanical drives have the following in common: They all have a few defects from the factory. No drive is ever perfect. Both types have provisioning for allocation of spare data space. The defects are always invisible to the user/OS until the spare data space sectors/cells are used up. After that point sectors/cells just go bad ,are remarked out of the drive map and are not replaced with spare sectors/cells as there are none left. This will happen naturally as a drive ages and is not indicative of eminent drive failure.

However, in the case of the @Swordmaster512 , the SSD in question is relatively new and should not have used up it's spare cell provisioning yet. For that to have taken place along with an additional 66 cells gone bad is an indicator of something going bad.

@Gruffalo.Soldier
No offense to you of course, but waiting for a drive to just die is not wise if you care about your investment/money.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 14, 2021)

lexluthermiester said:


> That's never a good idea, for several reasons.
> 1. If it fails outside the return policy/warranty time period, you're boned and its on you to buy a new drive.
> 2. As a drive continues to fail it's going to cause progressively more problems similar to the ones the OP showed in the first post, and really, no one wants to deal with that.
> 3. If the drive is an OS boot device and you wait until it's on it's last leg, your Windows install will likely get corrupted along with your personal files, game saves, etc., thus forcing a fresh install instead of an install migration.
> ...



I rarely have cash to buy new, so mostly i use CEX, which is relatively cheap. Most expensive drive in my current rig is a WD blue 4TB with DOM of 06/21 which was only £80. But i understand if you're paying for say a 4TB NVME which ain't cheap, if it fails inside the warranty period, to return it.


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## Swordmaster512 (Sep 14, 2021)

So the store where I bought the drive told me to contact Samsung directly. I wrote an email to their Memory Support (Hanaro) attaching the screenshot of chkdsk analysis and they replied with an automatic message that asks for further information, among other things a screenshot of Samsung Magician Diagnostic Scan results. After the Secure erase, though, both chkdsk and Diagnostic Scan don't find anything wrong with the SSD. Again I'm sorry for the noob question, but since the drive is now completely empty should I fill it with data in order to make visible the bad blocks? Results of complete diagnostic scan in Samsung Magician:


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## Deleted member 24505 (Sep 14, 2021)

Could it have been a chkdsk glitch?


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## Swordmaster512 (Sep 14, 2021)

Gruffalo.Soldier said:


> Could it have been a chkdsk glitch?


Don't know, before formatting I had run it twice with identical results.

However, S.M.A.R.T. in Magician reports this:


Maybe this is sufficient to prove drive failure?


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## Shrek (Sep 14, 2021)

What happens if the computer crashes or there is a power cut? I assume there can be data corruption even if the drive is just fine.


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## Swordmaster512 (Sep 14, 2021)

Andy Shiekh said:


> What happens if the computer crashes or there is a power cut? I assume there can be data corruption even if the drive is just fine.


Well, to be fair, in the last week I've had issues with electricity with lots of sudden power cuts...


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## Zareek (Sep 14, 2021)

I would say if there are no longer any issues, it could have been some sort of glitch. Fill it back up and keep an eye on it. Do regular backups, maybe more than usual. Only store things you can afford to lose on it for a while.

I'm not sure how good Samsung support is in Italy but here in the US it is amazing! I recently RMAed an 860 EVO drive with a physically broken SATA connector. It was already a few years old and had some wear on it. I assumed they would charge me something to repair a broken connector. Samsung paid for overnight shipping both ways. They sent back a refurbished drive with zero wear on it.


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## Jetster (Sep 14, 2021)

Told you, hardware manufactures will only take results from their software
Crystal disk cannot possibly keep all the specs from every manufacture. Therefore will give faults warnings at times.


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## chrcoluk (Sep 15, 2021)

On ssd's reallocated sectors in my experience can happen due to external issues.

I would replace the cable, make sure its securely connected both ends, and if you have non stock voltages and/or overclock's consider reverting them, then monitor to see if they increase.

Also test your ram (properly using either karhu, hci or google stressapp).


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## R-T-B (Sep 15, 2021)

Swordmaster512 said:


> Don't know, before formatting I had run it twice with identical results.
> 
> However, S.M.A.R.T. in Magician reports this:
> View attachment 216930View attachment 216931
> ...


Yes.  That qualifies for a warranty return.


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## lexluthermiester (Sep 16, 2021)

Swordmaster512 said:


> Don't know, before formatting I had run it twice with identical results.
> 
> However, S.M.A.R.T. in Magician reports this:
> View attachment 216930View attachment 216931
> ...


Yeah, that's just more evidence of a failing drive. That's Samsung's own utility giving those failure indications.



R-T-B said:


> Yes.  That qualifies for a warranty return.


Absolutely!


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## Mussels (Sep 16, 2021)

I've only ever seen SSD's go from working to dead, never an in between

if samsungs utility shows errors, then samsung should be fine with a warranty return


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## lexluthermiester (Sep 16, 2021)

Mussels said:


> I've only ever seen SSD's go from working to dead, never an in between


It doesn't happen very often, but I've seen enough examples to have been able to recognize the OP's problem.


Mussels said:


> if samsungs utility shows errors, then samsung should be fine with a warranty return


Samsung is likely to actually want that drive back to do diagnostics. They'll want to know what was going wrong and if it's potentially systemic. My guess? One of the NAND packages has a defective cell layer, either from a problem with the chemistry formulation, a problem with the layer application process or perhaps even an oxidation contamination.


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## Jetster (Sep 16, 2021)

Contact Samsung again and see what they say. Let us know


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## Swordmaster512 (Sep 16, 2021)

Yesterday, after I sent them all the information they required (various screenshots of Magician, photos of the drive and of a proof of purchase), RMA was approved: they sent an RMA form I had to fill out, which I immediately did, and soon after they contacted me again providing a shipping label and arranging a courier pick up for today. So if everything goes well the SSD will be on his way to their centre in the Netherlands already today.
I must say that up until now everything went pretty smoothly, in particular I appreciated the fast response time of the support. Anyways, I'll keep you guys updated. Thanks again to all of you!


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## lexluthermiester (Sep 16, 2021)

Swordmaster512 said:


> Thanks again to all of you!


You're very welcome! Glad we could help and that things with Samsung went smoothly for you!


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## Swordmaster512 (Sep 25, 2021)

Quick update. On Wednesday the replacement drive arrived: since then I've been using it continuously and everything is fine. Wrote this post just to express my satisfaction with the RMA service, the procedure was pretty simple and they completed it in a very short time. Thanks again everybody!


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## Mussels (Sep 25, 2021)

Awesome, sometimes customer service actually goes well and it's amazing


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## lexluthermiester (Sep 25, 2021)

Swordmaster512 said:


> Quick update. On Wednesday the replacement drive arrived: since then I've been using it continuously and everything is fine. Wrote this post just to express my satisfaction with the RMA service, the procedure was pretty simple and they completed it in a very short time. Thanks again everybody!


Good to hear! Glad you got things sorted and that we could help you arrive at a solution. Don't be a stranger!


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## eidairaman1 (Sep 25, 2021)

Swordmaster512 said:


> So the store where I bought the drive told me to contact Samsung directly. I wrote an email to their Memory Support (Hanaro) attaching the screenshot of chkdsk analysis and they replied with an automatic message that asks for further information, among other things a screenshot of Samsung Magician Diagnostic Scan results. After the Secure erase, though, both chkdsk and Diagnostic Scan don't find anything wrong with the SSD. Again I'm sorry for the noob question, but since the drive is now completely empty should I fill it with data in order to make visible the bad blocks? Results of complete diagnostic scan in Samsung Magician:
> 
> View attachment 216888


Just like a HD it marks the sectors bad and hides them to prevent use.


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## Zareek (Sep 28, 2021)

Swordmaster512 said:


> Quick update. On Wednesday the replacement drive arrived: since then I've been using it continuously and everything is fine. Wrote this post just to express my satisfaction with the RMA service, the procedure was pretty simple and they completed it in a very short time. Thanks again everybody!


Awesome, I'm glad to hear Samsung stands by their products in markets besides the US as well as they do here in the US.


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## las (Sep 28, 2021)

Andy Shiekh said:


> What happens if the computer crashes or there is a power cut? I assume there can be data corruption even if the drive is just fine.


Not really unless you use RAPID mode, which you should never do.

If you bench with RAPID mode enabled you are benching your RAM instead of SSD. And data gets stored in RAM first, meaning if you crash with data in RAM it might not have been saved to the actual SSD.

RAPID mode is pure marketing BS. Made for benchmarking/reviews. It does nothing for real world usage.


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## 95Viper (Sep 28, 2021)

Swordmaster512 said:


> Quick update. On Wednesday the replacement drive arrived: since then I've been using it continuously and everything is fine. Wrote this post just to express my satisfaction with the RMA service, the procedure was pretty simple and they completed it in a very short time. Thanks again everybody!


Closed


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