Subject: Re: Sync option destroys flash!
From: "Michael H. Warfield" <mhw@wittsend.com>
Reply-To: mhw@wittsend.com
To: Lennart Sorensen <lsorense@csclub.uwaterloo.ca>
Cc: linux-kernel@vger.kernel.org, mhw@wittsend.com
In-Reply-To: <20050513180915.GH23488@csclub.uwaterloo.ca>
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Organization: Thaumaturgy & Speculms Technology
Date: Fri, 13 May 2005 14:21:23 -0400
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On Fri, 2005-05-13 at 14:09 -0400, Lennart Sorensen wrote:
> On Fri, May 13, 2005 at 01:53:48PM -0400, Michael H. Warfield wrote:
> > 	Yeah, I've heard that claimed but a real problem is that nobody can
> > tell which ones do or don't until you've got a crispy chip.  I've looke=
d
> > and I haven't been able to find a single reference on any that you migh=
t
> > pick up at Best Buy or Fry's.  I've never seen one that has it written
> > on it that it has any sort of wear leveling like that.  But I guess we
> > don't all buy our flash drives at an industrial supply house (forget
> > Tiger Direct or CDW either - consumer grade).  I would bet that most
> > people don't even REALIZE that flash has a limited life and wears out.

> I believe any flash with a sandisk controller in it will do pretty good
> wear leveling (I think all the ones labeled sandisk have their
> controller, although they don't all have sandisk flash chips).  The
> controller is what does the wear leveling.  At least for CF and SD this
> is what they do.

	Funny you should mention SanDisk.  Maybe the newer ones have gotten
better but the CF cards I used in my PDA were mixes of the SanDisk 128
Meg and SimpleTech 128 Meg.  Burned up several before I realized it was
the nightly backup program that was eating them and I didn't notice any
difference between the brands.  I don't know what controller was in the
SimpleTech CF cards.  Any way to tell short of dismantling them?

	:

> Len Sorensen

	Mike
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