6.2.1 .xsession-errors

**krishna.murphy** · 08-09-2010, 07:08 PM

Originally Posted by utu

@mecho, re your post #27

Is there any way to know how many writes have been made
to a flash card? Or how many are left?

FWIW - I found an article online a while back (ZDnet) that referenced a study of flash memory durability, stating that "cheap" flash didn't do well, but "name brand" device wear not only exceeded the usual life expectancy (100,000 cycles), but in fact showed no signs of wear - even far beyond that point. Those quality devices have built in anti-wear write algorithms and will seemingly live forever (almost.)

Cheers!
Krishna

**utu** · 08-09-2010, 07:20 PM

@krishna

Hi, Krishna.

I was hoping one of you smart folks knew some magic command
that would tell me how many write cycles I have left before
my SD Card self-destructs.

On HDD's there is some 'smart' logic that gives you some idea
of the health of an HDD. I was hoping something like that
applies to flash as well.

My SD Cards cost $7 each, so it's not a crucial item. I just
like to be prepared.

mecho is working hard to conserve his write cycles. That makes
me think perhaps I should worry too.

**mecho** · 08-09-2010, 10:08 PM

There is no way really to find out the write cycles of usb flash drives. For this to be possibles they should have some kind of s.m.a.r.t capability built in similar to the hard drives. As Krishna said there are flash drives that can withstand even more then 1 000 000 cycles, but I doubt mine is one of them

. There 2 types of flash memory MLC and SLC - SLC being much faster and having longer life, but more expensive. I can not find what type I have

And because my laptop has very bad hard drive I use flash 100% of the time - my OS is on it, and I use the HDD only for back-ups and permanent storage

**krishna.murphy** · 08-10-2010, 04:00 AM

@ utu:

Hopefully you got a name-brand; AFAIK, they put their effort into making the SMARTs on the flash keep the flash chip going - and going, and going...

Cheers!
Krishna

**utu** · 08-10-2010, 03:22 PM

The attachment, if all goes well shows SanDisk examples
of Flash Card lifetimes in decades, centuries and millenia.

Cheers

**utu** · 08-10-2010, 03:29 PM

@mecho & krishna

Oops, my bad.
File too big for upload.
Go to SanDisk site and look for WPaperWearLevel1.0-1.pdf.
This is a 138k pdf file.

Some neat equations, too.

**utu** · 08-10-2010, 03:39 PM

19.5k is a pretty stingy limit for pdf files.
Who do we know in management we can complain to?

**krishna.murphy** · 08-10-2010, 08:00 PM

Originally Posted by utu

@mecho & krishna

Oops, my bad.
File too big for upload.
Go to SanDisk site and look for WPaperWearLevel1.0-1.pdf.
This is a 138k pdf file.

Some neat equations, too.

I don't see anything with that name, anywhere on the web (except in this post!) Perhaps you could send the link.

Cheers!
Krishna

Edit/p.s. I eventually found it here, for the reading pleasure of all.