Crucial’s M4 SSD is inherently faulty - AVOID

[soccerballtux]

Avoid Cruical M4, it smelled funny when you take it out of antistatic wrap. Its a on going issue that they refuse to admit. Also it just hangs in my case, it refuses to insert itself into a adapter i don't even have yet. selfish ssd.

anyway, Crucial M4 256 been running flawlessly.

Lol

 

[olmer]

Just a bump for those funny guys who like smelling their hardware.

Check Crucial’s original thread, please.

 

[lehtv]

No one's going to bother. If there's something of interest and relevance in threads over at Crucial forums, how about you summarize and link it for us since you've already gone through those threads.

 

[SandEagle]

i got a crucial m4 and i love it. methinks OP works for Kingston.

 

[bryanW1995]

LOL. Naw, OP is probably just very very surprised b/c the m4 was probably the most reliable ssd in 2011. I think that the intel 320 series or samsung 830 will probably be better in 2012, but the fact that we're even having a conversation about it says a lot about the m4.

@OP: Your dogged determination is somewhat admirable. As Vince Lombardi said, "Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser". However, it's probably time that you admit defeat here. You've had this thread up for weeks now, and there have been about a dozen "I love my m4" comments and approximately zero "my m4 failed as well" comments. And Anandtech is not unique in this regard, go check out [h], toms, tpu, newegg, etc etc etc. Even the intel x25m g2 series has about a .5% failure rate per year, you should probably stop posting here and start playing the lottery.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Just had my 256 GB M4 fail (os/primary drive) - loads of pain.

Point is - RMA gives you the same inherently faulty drive expected to survive <6 months. Even used/refurbished - so you cannot say how long it will last and have to back up weekly. Posted just to warn you off - AVOID.

Crucial’s forums (heavily moderated): http://forums.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/0x00000f4-error-on-M4-64GB/td-p/76392

Did you get a replacement?

 

[sequoia464]

I'm one of the funny guys with the smelly hardware, but, the thread over at Crucial's site is interesting.

I'll probably keep an eye on it as I do have a couple of M4's. At this point it seems limited, but if it is a runtime issue, as some are speculating, for drives over 5200 hours it might develop further.

 

[Zorander]

Yes, can OP please explain how the M4 is 'inherently faulty', rather than simply insisting it is (this is how I am perceiving it)?

From the first post, your original drive failed and you had it RMA'd. Did the second drive also fail or are you simply insisting it will fail?

 

[Magic Carpet]

Out of boredom I tried to put my crucial m4 into two different systems, resulting in the same behaviour. It will lock up/disconnect after exactly 60mins. A friend of mine bought the m4 ~1-2 weeks after I did. He ain't suffering from the problems, which makes me think the problem is rather related to high runtimes instead of just windows installation times, which again puts garbage collection once more into the focus as a culprit. Who knows maybe its just a simple counter overflow happening at runtimes above ca. 5200hrs, causing an endless loop and rendering it unresponsive cuz of that.
Hence it would explain why most users are not experiencing the problem YET although they may have bought it in may. They d have to have it running for more than 200 full days which rules out all user that bought it within the last 6-7 months. All others will be only hit, when they reach around 5200hrs~ which obviously is the minority (server and 24/7 home systems)

Interesting.

 

[Coup27]

this thread is jokes.

 

[sm625]

Even the vertex 2 did not have a 5&#37; failure rate. That is an outrageous number. Yet look at the flack they got. The vast majority of these drives have no problems. The M4 wouldnt have one of the best ratings if there really was a problem, unless it is a new problem that just popped up.

 

[bobmitch]

Not to keep beating a thread to death! The one consistent factor with the M4 is that they fail around the 5200 hour mark. I was just days away from upgrading to a 256GB M4 from my Intel 320 series SSD. Just going to wait now and see what shakes out.

 

[bryanW1995]

Interesting. New user, just registered to make the first post that actually agrees with the OP. And like the OP, he provides zero evidence to back up his outrageous claims. Coincidence? Probably.

Is it possible that there is an issue with the m4 at 5200 hours? Sure, but it's also possible that the Mayans were right in believing that a strange planet will sneak up on us in 2012 and kill us all. I think that I'm going to take an "innocent until proven guilty" attitude with the m4 unless/until we start seeing some solid corroborative evidence.

 

[bobmitch]

Only data I have is from other users...

http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/0x00000f4-error-on-M4-64GB/td-p/76392

There is something going on. Look...I want to upgrade to the M4, in particular. Just a bit leery at the moment. When the issue is sorted out...I most likely will. Not pointing fingers...just sharing the info at hand

 

[kami]

The funny thing is I have heard everywhere that besides Intel, who are kinda out of the game now since the only way you can get a decent price on their SSDs is with enormous MIRs, that the M4 was the most reliable drive out there. Everyone also says that OCZ drives are bad and have tons of problems yet I have had none with mine. I think it just goes to show pretty much all SSDs have a certain percent chance at failure and maybe OCZ seems worse just because of the sheer volume of them out there.

 

[Diogenes2]

Only data I have is from other users...

http://forum.crucial.com/t5/Solid-State-Drives-SSD/0x00000f4-error-on-M4-64GB/td-p/76392

There is something going on. Look...I want to upgrade to the M4, in particular. Just a bit leery at the moment. When the issue is sorted out...I most likely will. Not pointing fingers...just sharing the info at hand

But the data is from users with problems, not the overwhelming number of users without problems ....

There is always something going on, if it is only one unhappy customer. The most activity will be at the manufacturer's web site.


The enthusiast and review sites like AnandTech, are the places where you need to look for trends in pervasive problems..

 

[Makaveli]

But the data is from users with problems, not the overwhelming number of users without problems ....

There is always something going on, if it is only one unhappy customer. The most activity will be at the manufacturer's web site.


The enthusiast and review sites like AnandTech, are the places where you need to look for trends in pervasive problems..

How dare you bring logic into this.

 

[groberts101]

But the data is from users with problems, not the overwhelming number of users without problems ....

There is always something going on, if it is only one unhappy customer. The most activity will be at the manufacturer's web site.


The enthusiast and review sites like AnandTech, are the places where you need to look for trends in pervasive problems..

while we're on the subject of "logic" here. Wouldn't the info found here be nearly the same as that found on a mfgrs website?.. from the very same.. "end user"?

Granted that there is a certian level of tact/bias/censorship involved with the member posts and mfgr backed replies from payed staff.. but the level of techinical discussions/troubleshooting usually go far beyond these forums.

I personally always trust mfgrs website before any other 3rd party sites where speculation and conspiracy theories are far quicker to seep into discussions of problems(although, I will concede that extreme forums and a few others have a few heavyweights that seem to know their stuff and spill it with out much bias either way). I trust all the "newegg experts" about as far as I can throw them too(despite the fact that they do show trends at times). lol

 

[Lotheron]

To be fair to the OP even though it borders on trolling, the issue only happens once a drive hits 5200 hours of powered on time. I'm sure many of those in this thread, like myself, have experienced a faultless drive because I'm no where near 5200 hours of powered on time.

However, as I have found other threads in other hobbyist forums other than crucial reporting the same issue, I must say that I am worried that it might be a more widespread issue.

So I guess can anyone here report that their drive is over 5200 hours and working as it should?

 

[groberts101]

the guys over at extremeforums who do the nand life testing have gone far beyond that number without failure. There is some rumbling of potential corner case issues ocurring and possibly only the 128GB models being affected.. IIRC.

A few of the heavyweights around other forums are also digging deeper through internal contacts to see what they can find out as well. Corsair will also be pulling affected units back towards engineering to see if they can pin-point something. Only time will tell as things unfold.

 

[Xnebia]

M4 voted best SSD in 2011 by a few tech web sites, also hear of a lot less people having issues with the M4 than other ssd's. Crucial stands behind their products 100%, if you have issues with it send it back and get a replacement or a refund. If you buy a SSD at a similar price point though, there is a good chance the nand flash is from micron or IMFT, so you'll still be sporting them.

 

[ikachu]

I've been posting in the thread on the Crucial forums but to summarize I ended up RMAing my 128gb M4 drive. I didn't look at the SMART stats when I had it but I did some math based on when I put my PC together and the fact that I leave it running 24/7 and it definitely failed right around the 5200 hour mark.

 

[Mem]

M4 voted best SSD in 2011 by a few tech web sites, also hear of a lot less people having issues with the M4 than other ssd's. Crucial stands behind their products 100%, if you have issues with it send it back and get a replacement or a refund. If you buy a SSD at a similar price point though, there is a good chance the nand flash is from micron or IMFT, so you'll still be sporting them.

I'm very happy with my M4 64GB SSD,as to faulty SSD well can anybody here name one brand of any hardware that has never gone or be faulty?...we all know the answer to that,that's why you have warranty with the product.

I'll say Crucial have very good customer support in my experience(had to RMA one memory stick years ago ,got a new replacement within 4 days and that's with me losing my invoice).

 

[Lotheron]

the guys over at extremeforums who do the nand life testing have gone far beyond that number without failure. There is some rumbling of potential corner case issues ocurring and possibly only the 128GB models being affected.. IIRC.

A few of the heavyweights around other forums are also digging deeper through internal contacts to see what they can find out as well. Corsair will also be pulling affected units back towards engineering to see if they can pin-point something. Only time will tell as things unfold.

This has nothing to do with data usage but actual hours powered on, if that's what you're talking about.

I'm very happy with my M4 64GB SSD,as to faulty SSD well can anybody here name one brand of any hardware that has never gone or be faulty?...we all know the answer to that,that's why you have warranty with the product.

I'll say Crucial have very good customer support in my experience(had to RMA one memory stick years ago ,got a new replacement within 4 days and that's with me losing my invoice).

I love my 128GB M4, no one is disputing that it's easily one of the best.

However, now that the drive has been out for a while and people are getting 5200+ hours on them, there is a few reports of failures. I'm not going to go out and say it's widespread, but it could be. And that's what makes me a little worried, to be honest, even though I'm no where near that time use.

That being said, I have hopes that crucial will get to the bottom of it and is able to issue a firmware update that addresses the problem, if there is one.

 

[aigomorla]

lol crucial sucks man!!

the drives are so fast that they make u EXPECT more...
So its BAD!! cuz it spoils you silly left and right... and u just want more!!

<sarcasm>

i have used quite a bit of crucial drives.
I know crucial sucks when you RAID them... they have issues in R0.
<not sarcasm>

But as a standard solo boot drive, i have yet to see flaws with them. If you had that many failures i feel sorry for you, you just got uber unlucky, and i think others stole your luck when it came to the drives.

They are Quick as hell, even my friends who see's my load times on games which takes FOREVER (shogun2) are sick with envy.

:\