OCZ SSD dead :( what do I do?

[walloyyy]

long time lurker and decided to register after i had some trouble with my computer ((((

I had my OCZ I got from slickdeals a few months ago and now it wont even turn on.. I'm not sure what to do. I sent a RMA request with OCZ and im waiting for a
reply. any tips to revive this baby?

 

[Coup27]

What do you mean "won't even turn on"?

Does the disk appear in BIOS? If it doesn't, I don't think there is anything you can do other than RMA.

 

[Blain]

OCZ SSD dead what do I do?

Follow through with the RMA procedure is all you can do if the drive has died.

 

[Anonemous]

Which OCZ ssd was it? Vertex/Vertex Plus/Vertex2/Vertex3/etc?


1) Register on OCZ forums.
2) Contact the mods there to initiate RMA. (they are pretty good at responding) or
Try to initiate the RMA yourself. (takes longer)
3) Send in drive (8-10$ UPS).
4) Wait 2 weeks.

 

[groberts101]

Anonemous asks a very good question there since 1 SSD(the regular Vertex) that he listed there has a destructive flash available. The Vertex 2/3 will should/could be troubleshooted correctly before fully committing to an RMA though.

Your inquiry time would be better spent at the mfgrs forums as they deal with this stuff often enough to be more efficient at the process. Plus you can familiarize yourself with the ones who may be helping you.

But I'll start you off until you register over there for help.

disconnect drive power for a few hours
reset the boards CMOS
retest device post

further attempts could include unpowering overnight and trying to detect it on another system. If those fail then you have a panic locked drive which will not be recoverable by the end user. All data is gone... RMA only.

PS.. if you did get lucky to get the drive detected again, and some do,.. you should get your critical data immediately and use the Linux tool from the mfgr to force-flash(this overwrites botched firmware code) and secure erase the SSD(this wipes all corrupted mapping) for the best chance of non-reoccurance and avoiding RMA completely.

 

[Phynaz]

1. RMA
2. Do not open replacement box
3. Ebay
4. Buy Intel SSD

 

[God Mode]

1. RMA
2. Do not open replacement box
3. Ebay
4. Buy Intel,Samsung,Crucial SSD

:thumbsup:

 

[Anonemous]

1. RMA
2. Ask for refund from OCZ tech rep.
3. Get refund (waited 2 weeks).
4. Bought Intel SSD on BF.
5. Intel SSD imploded 2 months later (8MB bug).

That's what happened to me.

 

[Obsoleet]

That's what happened to me.

That sucks!! I'd be so pissed off. This kind of stuff is why I lean towards the most reliable drive I can possibly get my grubby hands on. Right now I think Samsung has Intel beat.. I'm sorry to hear you got hit by the 8MB bug. That's bullshit they can't get a drive based on the ancient G2 drives (what I still use) to be 100% bug free.
That said you placed a good bet regardless on the 320. The 510 might be more reliable but it could be because I bet they sold a lot less of those, and it was Marvell based which has a pretty decent reputation as far as controllers go.

 

[Zargon]

OCZ reliability is all about the FW

 

[Claudius-07]

I have only had issues with the OCZ Vertex 2's... all the other OCZ drives I have, are rock solid, dating back to the Core, Vertex, Vertex LE and now Agility 3.

 

[groberts101]

I have only had issues with the OCZ Vertex 2's... all the other OCZ drives I have, are rock solid, dating back to the Core, Vertex, Vertex LE and now Agility 3.

wasn't going to say it.. bit I can't resist.

You do realize that LE uses the exact same firmware as the V2, right? Just a hybrid 1500/1200 controller, is all. Some others had issues with the LE just the same as the V2 since power mgmt was key and you surely had a good config there to keep it running without issue early on.

We call them the "drag racers" of the SF1xxx series and they're still great drives even by todays standards.

 

[walloyyy]

Thanks for all the advice guys I have the Vertex 2. OCZ support told me to just RMA it, the device isn't even recognized on my PC and I changed sata and power cables.

Good thing I have all my docs on a normal hard drive. I'm thinking of picking up a crucial SSD I saw on SD, are those more reliable?

 

[groberts101]

I really like Sandforce drives performance and even I would pick an M4 over a last gen V2. lol

Just too many lingering power transition issues for my taste. And I certainly don't mind living on the edge with 6 of them in R0 for my workstation.

I just call it the way I see it after having tested them since release. Others here will surely try to steer you towards Marvell, Intel, and Samsung as well.

 

[Coup27]

I'm thinking of picking up a crucial SSD I saw on SD, are those more reliable?

Thats not quite a fair question. As roberts as said, the 1st gen sandforce drives are not really reliable. the m4 is a current generation drive which is a lot more reliable than a 1st gen sandforce.

Personally if you want one of the most reliable current generation SSDs in the industry it would be a Samsung 830 series. They're also not far from being one of the fasted as well.

 

[walloyyy]

Just wanna update you guys I got a replacement drive and its working fine. Too cheap to upgrade right now lol.

 

[iluvdeal]

Was this replacement drive a brand new drive or was it a refurb? I know for hard drives they can refurbish RMA'ed drives and use them as warranty replacements later on, I'm wondering if the same thing happens with SSDs.

 

[Charlie98]

Just wanna update you guys I got a replacement drive and its working fine. Too cheap to upgrade right now lol.

Just curious... did they trade you Vertex2 for Vertex2?

 

[thelastjuju]

Even a minimal amount of research should have shown you that OCZ SSD drives are by far and bar none the least reliable..

Then again most people don't even need SSD drives. Most of you will only see increased boot times and their windows index score go higher..

 

[groberts101]

Even a minimal amount of research should have shown you that OCZ SSD drives are by far and bar none the least reliable..

Then again most people don't even need SSD drives. Most of you will only see increased boot times and their windows index score go higher..

LOL.. I think you need to do less reading and apply a bit more hands on type "research" then. I have 18 OCZ drives now and they all work perfectly fine. And 6 of those Vertex 2's are in R0 for nearly 2 years striaght now.

And the second comment about "what we need" or see as a benefit from using SSD?.. is really quite hilarious when you consider that even my 10 and 12 year old can tell the difference in basic gaming/surfing when comparing to an HDD. And try and do 5 things all at once with an HDD?.. forget about it.

 

[thelastjuju]

LOL.. I think you need to do less reading and apply a bit more hands on type "research" then. I have 18 OCZ drives now and they all work perfectly fine. And 6 of those Vertex 2's are in R0 for nearly 2 years striaght now.

And the second comment about "what we need" or see as a benefit from using SSD?.. is really quite hilarious when you consider that even my 10 and 12 year old can tell the difference in basic gaming/surfing when comparing to an HDD. And try and do 5 things all at once with an HDD?.. forget about it.

Okay, so I should ignore OCZ's unusually high failure rates and just buy them all to see for myself? Given the chance, I buy the MOST reliable products, not what are obviously the LEAST reliable.

Also, there is NO difference in gaming OR internet usage with an SSD drive, so you don't even know what the hell you are talking about, and a 10 year old's opinion means nothing to me.

Multitasking? AGAIN.. NOTHING.. I repeat, NOTHING to do with SSD benefits, so thanks for proving my point tough guy.

I guess I too would have to find all sorts of ways to convince myself 16x SSD drives were worth it though.

 

[groberts101]

Okay, so I should ignore OCZ's unusually high failure rates and just buy them all to see for myself? Given the chance, I buy the MOST reliable products, not what are obviously the LEAST reliable.

Also, there is NO difference in gaming OR internet usage with an SSD drive, so you don't even know what the hell you are talking about, and a 10 year old's opinion means nothing to me.

Multitasking? AGAIN.. NOTHING.. I repeat, NOTHING to do with SSD benefits, so thanks for proving my point tough guy.

I guess I too would have to find all sorts of ways to convince myself 16x SSD drives were worth it though.

LOL.. I had to reply just to get that one framed up for all to enjoy.

LOL.. what are ya?.. 13?

and this???..

Multitasking? AGAIN.. NOTHING.. I repeat, NOTHING to do with SSD benefits

priceless

 

[Charlie98]

I think he's calling you out, G...

But that's OK, if he sticks with his HDD, that will leave more SSD's for us.

 

[zCypher]

Just outta curiosity, where are these "OCZ failure rates" from? Link please.
The only links I've seen posted so far, only have to do with RETURN rates which are NOT the same as failure rates by any stretch of the imagination.

Also, I noticed a hilariously dramatic increase in web browsing and multitasking performance when moving from HDD to SSD. I guess some people just won't notice the difference and could be using a Pentium 233 with 128MB RAM running Win95 and be happy though.

 

[Sunburn74]

Vertex 2s have been extremely problematic drives. I've read a ton of reports on the web of mysterious failure to be recognized by bioses typically after about 6mo to 1 year. I'm not surprised at all and would ask OCZ to exchange the vertex 2 for an agility 3 or try to sell off the vertex 2.