120G 540S SSD corrupted, but Smart ID5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct and 232 Available_Reservd_Space always 0

[JWang111]

Hi,

My SSD's life seems end, I used it in Ubuntu and monitored its status by smartctl command, once I found the files could not be written on it, I thought its life was end and also used the Toolbox to confirm.

But during its lifetime, I found that some smart attributes that could indicate a SSD's failure were always 0, that's weird.

I googled a lot and found many people got these values, and people said these values are really crucial. Are these values available in 540S? Screenshots here:

Regards,

Jackie Wang.

[idata]

Hello Jackie,

Thanks for posting in our communities.

The SMART details work for Intel® SSD 540s Series and should reflect the drive status. Please test these recommendations and let us know the results:

- Make sure you have the latest https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/27656?v=t Intel® SSD Toolbox version installed (3.5.2 as of today).

- Update the firmware on the SSD, latest version is 042C. You may use Intel SSD Toolbox or https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26491?v=t Intel® SSD Firmware Update Tool.

If the issue persists, please provide us with the following information and attach the resulting files to your next reply:

- How is the drive connected to the system (directly through SATA, USB adapter, external controller, etc.)

- Intel® System Support Utility report. 1. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/Intel-System-Support-Utility-for-Windows-?product=91... Download the latest Intel® SSU. 2. Select to include "everything." 3. Name and save the report.- Intel SSD Toolbox SMART log. Click on "Export", this will generate a .csv file

The attach button is located at the the bottom right of the reply box:

Best regards,

Eugenio F.

[JWang111]

Hi Eugenio F,

Many thanks for your reply and I did what you suggested.

The Intel Toolbox was up to date(3.5.2), the firmware was updated to 'LSF042C', the drive was connected through SATA directly, but very unlucky those values were still 0 .

In the SSU report I found that the value named 'Vendor Specific' in the Toolbox list (05 which I know is Reallocated_Sector_Ct and FC) showed as their true name , the FC - 'Newly Added Bad Flash Block' which is same as the one in Wiki, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.M.A.R.T. S.M.A.R.T. - Wikipedia , I looked at that description (The Newly Added Bad Flash Block attribute indicates the total number of bad flash blocks the drive detected since it was first initialized in manufacturing), I felt there were sort of relations with Reallocated_Sector_Ct ? (the description of Reallocated_Sector_Ct was found here:https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/solid-state-drives/ssd-540s-series-m2-spec.html Intel® SSD 540s Series (M.2) Product Specification )

The csv file and SSU report attached.

Regards,

Jakcie Wang

[idata]

Hello JackieWang,

Thanks for providing the requested files. As you mentioned, there are some attributes missing from the report. Also, none of them show at least minimal degradation.Please back up the data on your drive and run a secure erase on it. You may use the secure erase feature on the https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000006011/memory-and-storage.html Intel Software Tools, or run a clean all using Microsoft Diskpart* as described here:- https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000022179/memory-and-storage.html Removing Partitions with Microsoft DiskPart*If possible, please test the SSD on a different system and let us know the results.Best regards,Eugenio F.

[JWang111]

Hi Eugenio F,

I tested the drive in Ubuntu16 and CentOS7 by the command ' smartctl -A /dev/sdb', the smart values were same as the Toolbox report.....all 0........

I still got several new 540S SSD to use, but I really need the values of Reallocated_Sector_Ct and Available_Reservd_Space.

Could you please give me some hints about these two values.

Regards,

Jackie Wang