Intel 540s periodic refresh blocks broken?

[andrey_v1]

ssd have old partitions and old files around 4-5 years old on them. These partitions have enough free space (spare blocks, never touched). I tried ddrescue on these partitions&files, the reading's speed was very slow compared to another fresh partitions, 33mb/sec average with often drops to 0. Some files had badblocks around some tens.

Smart values:

E9 - 100%

F9 - 3.5Tb on 1tb ssd

Spare blocks - 100-300Gb were never used.

My questions:

1) Why didn't the firmware refresh degraded blocks on such huge period?

2) What does mean huge smart BB counter with thousands value after reading old partition? I have badblocks, but not so much. Are the data still consistent with exception known badblocks?

3) Why didn't the firmware refresh degraded blocks after 5+times readings in row?

4) Is it warranty case?

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello, andrey_v1.

Thank you for your reply.

I see two new comments from you, but if there was another post in which you included the information we requested in our first post, we would appreciate it if you re-post it to continue with the troubleshooting.

We will follow up with you again on Tuesday, the 20th of July 2021, if we do not receive an answer from you. Please, let us know if you would like to schedule a different date for the follow-up.

Best regards.

Josh B.

Intel® Customer Support Technician.

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello, andrey_v1.

The behavior you are describing has not been reported as an issue by any other customer. 

Problems related to the BB Uncorrectable Error Count can be solved by backing up your information and performing a low-level format on your SSD.

As mentioned in the When to Run a Low-Level Format or Secure Erase on Intel® Solid State Drives and Tools to Use article:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000006198.html

Please use the recommended tools in this article, and after that, we would appreciate it if you provide us with the following information by using our tools:

1- We would appreciate it if you can provide us with the system details by extracting the SSU logs.

A- Go to https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25293/ (for Windows*) and to https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26735/ (for Linux) download the software.

B- When you finish downloading it, open it.

C- Attach the file generated by the tool in your reply.

2- We would like to check the SMART attributes of your Intel® SSDs and review them to see if they show any error, using this system or another system that recognize the drives:

*Please extract the following logs by using the Intel® Memory and Storage Tool:

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/29337/Intel-Memory-and-Storage-Tool-CLI-Command-Line-Inter...

- SMART attributes: intelmas show -smart -intelssd “SSD_index”.

-The SSD information using show -all command from Intel MAS CLI: intelmas show -all -intelssd “SSD_index”.

A complete User Guide is available below. Replace the “SSD_index” with the actual index number of your SSD.

User Guide:

https://downloadmirror.intel.com/30059/eng/Intel_Memory_And_Storage_Tool_CLI_User%20Guide-Public-342...

Video on Intel® SSD Firmware Update and Health Monitoring Using Intel® Memory and Storage Tool (Intel® MAS)

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057393/memory-and-storage.html

Based on the Intel® Memory and Storage Tool CLI Release Notes, page 14, in the Intel® SSD 540s Revision History section:

https://downloadmirror.intel.com/30556/eng/Intel-MAS-CLI-1.9-Release-Notes-342335-011US.pdf

We will follow up with you again on Tuesday, the 20th of July 2021, if we do not receive an answer from you. Please, let us know if you would like to schedule a different date for the follow-up.

Best regards.

Josh B.

Intel® Customer Support Technician.

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello, andrey_v1.

Greetings from; Intel® Memory and Storage support.

We were reviewing your community thread, which is related to Intel® SSD 540s Series. We would like to know if you were able to check the previous communication.

We will follow up with you again on Thursday, the 22nd of July 2021, if we do not receive an answer from you. Please, let us know if you would like to schedule a different date for the follow-up.

Best regards.

Josh B.

Intel® Customer Support Technician.

[andrey_v1]

My previous message was restored and contains enough information:

1) firmware version was initial from manufacture

2) SSU contains: "Not Available", very helpful information.

3) Smart was already posted with model

Spoiler

INTEL SSDSC2KW010X6 

ID Attribute Description Threshold Value Worst Data Status
05 Reallocated Sector Count 0 100 100 839 OK: Always passes
09 Power-On Hours Count 0 100 100 501 OK: Always passes
0C Power Cycle Count 0 100 100 4326 OK: Always passes
AA Available Reserved Space 10 98 98 0 OK: Value is normal
AB Program Fail Count 10 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
AC Erase Fail Count 10 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
AE Unexpected Power Loss 0 100 100 246 OK: Always passes
B7 SATA Downshift Count 0 100 100 1 OK: Always passes
B8 End-to-End Error Detection Count 90 100 100 0 OK: Value is normal
BB Uncorrectable Error Count 0 100 100 20310 OK: Always passes
BE Airflow Temperature 0 36 52 28, 52, 36 OK: Always passes
C0 Unsafe Shutdown Count 0 100 100 246 OK: Always passes
C7 CRC Error Count 0 100 100 59 OK: Always passes
E1 Host Writes 0 100 100 5.45 TB OK: Always passes
E2 Timed Workload Media Wear 0 100 100 0 OK: Always passes
E3 Timed Workload Host Read/Write Ratio 0 100 100 0 OK: Always passes
E4 Timed Workload Timer 0 100 100 0 OK: Always passes
E8 Available Reserved Space 10 94 94 0 OK: Value is normal
E9 Media Wearout Indicator 0 99 99 0 OK: Always passes
F1 Total LBAs Written 0 100 100 5.45 TB OK: Always passes
F2 Total LBAs Read 0 100 100 23.29 TB OK: Always passes
F9 Total NAND Writes 0 100 100 3645 GB OK: Always passes
FC <vendor-specific> 0 100 100 6 OK: Always passes

[JosafathB_Intel]

Hello, andrey_v1.

Thank you for your reply.

To further assist you with the behavior you are reporting. We need a complete set of logs extracted using our Intel® tools. These logs are necessary as part of our troubleshooting process.

1- The SSU logs will provide us further information about the SSD detection by the operating system (OS), and the environment details to try to reproduce your SSD behavior in our lab. 

The How to get the Intel® System Support Utility Logs on Windows* article provides you with a step-by-step guide on how to do it on a Windows* OS.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057926/network-and-io.html

2- Please export the SMART logs as shown on the Video on Intel® SSD Firmware Update and Health Monitoring Using Intel® Memory And Storage Tool (Intel® MAS) on the 6:46 Exporting SMART Log. 

We need the complete, unmodified set of logs, to better understand your drive status.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000057393/memory-and-storage.html

If you have any problem following that guide or you are using the CLI version of the Intel® MAS, follow the Intel® Memory and Storage Tool: Quick Tips on How to View Drive Details, Update Firmware, and View/Export SMART Logs guide.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000055927/memory-and-storage.html

We will be looking forward to your reply including this information.

We will follow up with you again on Tuesday, the 27th of July 2021, if we do not receive an answer from you. Please, let us know if you would like to schedule a different date for the follow-up.

Best regards.

Josh B.

Intel® Customer Support Technician.