Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

I bought 2 brandless SSDs from China; and tried to Format them to Ext4. They were 15TB+. The other is definitely bad; had an Input/Output Error. This one also looks out-of-order ― just wanted to make sure that what is written there in the end, about missing software - is just a generic suggestion, and can't really be true. Am I correct?

<i>Filesystem volume name:   <none>
Last mounted on:          <not available>
Filesystem UUID:          6e11e9b3-1b53-41ba-815a-c06cec9125b4
Filesystem magic number:  0xEF53
Filesystem revision #:    1 (dynamic)
Filesystem features:      has_journal ext_attr resize_inode dir_index filetype extent flex_bg sparse_super large_file huge_file dir_nlink extra_isize metadata_csum
Filesystem flags:         signed_directory_hash 
Default mount options:    user_xattr acl
Filesystem state:         clean
Errors behavior:          Continue
Filesystem OS type:       Linux
Inode count:              511991808
Block count:              4095922944
Reserved block count:     204796147
Free blocks:              4063385684
Free inodes:              511991797
First block:              0
Block size:               4096
Fragment size:            4096
Reserved GDT blocks:      47
Blocks per group:         32768
Fragments per group:      32768
Inodes per group:         4096
Inode blocks per group:   256
Flex block group size:    16
Filesystem created:       Wed Nov  2 16:31:47 2022
Last mount time:          n/a
Last write time:          Wed Nov  2 16:32:21 2022
Mount count:              0
Maximum mount count:      -1
Last checked:             Wed Nov  2 16:31:47 2022
Check interval:           0 (<none>)
Lifetime writes:          31 MB
Reserved blocks uid:      0 (user root)
Reserved blocks gid:      0 (group root)
First inode:              11
Inode size:	          256
Required extra isize:     32
Desired extra isize:      32
Journal inode:            8
Default directory hash:   half_md4
Directory Hash Seed:      9a8b5054-d1ad-4a2f-a442-a7311fc95f7c
Journal backup:           inode blocks
Checksum type:            crc32c
Checksum:                 0x4cdabd24</i>

<i>dumpe2fs 1.45.5 (07-Jan-2020)
dumpe2fs: Corrupt extent header while reading journal super block</i>

<i>Unable to read the contents of this file system!
Because of this some operations may be unavailable.
The cause might be a missing software package.
The following list of software packages is required for ext4 file system support:  e2fsprogs v1.41+.</i>

Dividing number of blocks by block size, I get 1 TB. BarryK had some cheap usb sticks that were overstated size-wise. Not sure how you proceed.

@ozsouth - the system and Gparted showed it was 15T. Anyway - my question is ― can it be true that The cause might be a missing software package.? Otherwise I'll need to try to replace them both.

Seems very weird (atleast to me). Maybe, the drive has MBR (should be GPT), does it?

NEVER buy any flash media that lacks a reputable brand, let alone one that is brandless.

Unless your information/data (and your time & effort) is worthless (it may exist today and disappear/evaporate/rot tomorrow and/or fast today, slow tomorrow; I have proven and tested it enough)

1. I only use SAMSUNG because it manufactures its own flash and is #1 in the www (world wide world)
2. SAMSUNG offers a 5-year warranty
3. I ALWAYS use f2fs for Puppy (f2fs is optimized for flash and developed by SAMSUNG, make sense?)
4. Our Puppy deserves a good "home", are you with me (and Puppy)?

What Puppy version are you using, doing these checks?

The one check says it is missing the e2fsprogs.

So make sure that is installed in the Puppy you are using.
If not it should be available from Puppy Package Manager.

I always run the e2fsck to check file systems.
That is the full program and it will auto pick the best option for the check.

If these are really 15TB size drives.

I would run Gparted.
Make a new partition table.
Make sure to select GPT for the type

Then partition and format.

To start, I suggest only making one small partition 1TB in size or smaller.
Do nothing with the rest of the unallocated space.
If it is a 15TB drive, there should be a lot of unallocated space not used.

Try using the drive and see what happens.

There are reports of no name drives from China, being advertised as much larger than they really are.

These drives could actually be only 1TB drives.

@user1234:

Maybe, the drive has MBR (should be GPT), does it?

How do I check?

@sonny: I totally understand what you are saying, and normally I follow the same rule ― a few however(s) though:
• There's hardly an alternative. In Ebay, when searching by price lowest first ― the closest branded one was 1TB, and it was about 8 times more expensive. And 1TB is nothing for me. The most I can think that I can do ― is to buy 4TB+ HDDs; which will still be quite expensive; and only a temporary solution, because I will need more later.
•# Some of the sellers have quite a high rank; so they'll probably at least replace it with something that works.
• The main point - is that I wanted to have 2 ― 1 for a backup. As long as it at least works in the first place (in Gparted, and being able to copy files to it) ― there's hardly a chance that both will breakdown at the same time. I can even buy a third one, potentially.

@bigpup:

Puppy version

:
Fossapup64 9.0.5

The one check says it is missing the e2fsprogs.

That was directly from Gparted, error after formatting to ext4; using this guide; right at the end of the whole procedure.

So make sure that is installed in the Puppy you are using.

Searching in PPM ― it says e2fsprogs_1.45.5 is installed.

To start, I suggest only making one small partition 1TB in size or smaller.

I'll try that. So I'll be able to allocate the rest later?

Flash media is “not” a storage, mechanical media is. Use an HDD as your back up.

To start, I suggest only making one small partition 1TB in size or smaller.

I'll try that. So I'll be able to allocate the rest later?

Yes.

Any unallocated space can be formatted and partitioned later.

Maybe, the drive has MBR (should be GPT), does it?

How do I check?

With Gparted running and the drive as device selected to work on.
Gparted ->

To start, I suggest only making one small partition 1TB in size or smaller.

I'll try that. So I'll be able to allocate the rest later?

Yes.

Any unallocated space can be formatted and partitioned later.

Maybe, the drive has MBR (should be GPT), does it?

How do I check?

With Gparted running and the drive as device selected to work on.

Gparted -> View -> device Information

Look at what it says is the partition table.

Both are bad. One of them is totally bad; can't create a Partition-Table; gives an Input\Output Error right away. The other - I started from half of the whole size, and continued to halve it - until the biggest size without an error ― and it was about 30GB. Adding another 30GB partition - finished with an error; and another one - resulted in a more severe error, which deleted everything already made in Gparted, or made Gparted close if I just closed the error message.
@sonny

Flash media is “not” a storage, mechanical media is. Use an HDD as your back up.

Please explain. It's suppose to be SSD. Do you think it's not? How to check it's actual quality; is there a program?

https://www.partitionwizard.com/clone-d ... orage.html
'A worthy data deserves a worthy medium.
(SSDs are harder to choose than HDDs, unless you're willing to spend more money, which is the point)

MrAccident wrote: ↑Sun Nov 06, 2022 12:54 pm

Both are bad. One of them is totally bad; can't create a Partition-Table; gives an Input\Output Error right away. The other - I started from half of the whole size, and continued to halve it - until the biggest size without an error ― and it was about 30GB. Adding another 30GB partition - finished with an error; and another one - resulted in a more severe error, which deleted everything already made in Gparted, or made Gparted close if I just closed the error message.
@sonny

Flash media is “not” a storage, mechanical media is. Use an HDD as your back up.

Please explain. It's suppose to be SSD. Do you think it's not? How to check it's actual quality; is there a program?

It's most likely looping on itself which is why its nuking itself. You could try using dd to determine the exact size but I'm not sure whether it'll be tricked too.
Actually there's a utility called f3 - Fight Fake Flash.
https://www.shellhacks.com/check-real-a ... e-sd-card/
P.S Why it is complaining on the 2nd one is because you likely had the operation loop around multiple times, causing overwriting.

@Phoenix:
How to install it? $ sudo apt install f3 of course, doesn't work.

Why it is complaining on the 2nd one is because you likely had the operation loop around multiple times, causing overwriting.

I don't understand this.

Use PPM. Puppy doesn't have Apt installed by default.
What I mean, is that your computer has been tricked into thinking that there is 2TB of space or so, so it tries formatting this space. But the hardware that has been adjusted, will loop around causing overwrites. So if it only has 32GB of space and you try creating a file 64GB, it'll loop around twice, in the process destroying any data or stop with an error.

@Phoenix - OK, I installed f3_7.2-1 from PPM. I've used the first command from the webpage - $ lsblk ― and here's the result:

root# $ lsblk
bash: $: command not found

Maybe I'm suppose to launch the program first, or something?

Hi @MrAccident,

remove the $ sign:

root# lsblk

I would be interested to know how much you paid for your "15 TB" SSD's?

peace

First command - "Check the real size of the USB flash drive:"
First SSD:

root#  sudo f3probe --destructive --time-ops /dev/sdb
F3 probe 7.2
Copyright (C) 2010 Digirati Internet LTDA.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.

WARNING: Probing normally takes from a few seconds to 15 minutes, but
         it can take longer. Please be patient.

Bad news: The device `/dev/sdb' is damaged

Device geometry:
	         *Usable* size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks)
	        Announced size: 15.26 TB (4096000001 blocks)
	                Module: 16.00 TB (2^44 Bytes)
	Approximate cache size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks), need-reset=no
	   Physical block size: 4.00 KB (2^12 Bytes)

Probe time: 4'57"
 Operation: total time / count = avg time
      Read: 2.77s / 353 = 7.8ms
     Write: 4'55" / 463 = 637.2ms
     Reset: 0us / 0 = 0us

Second SSD:

root#  sudo f3probe --destructive --time-ops /dev/sdb
F3 probe 7.2
Copyright (C) 2010 Digirati Internet LTDA.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.

WARNING: Probing normally takes from a few seconds to 15 minutes, but
         it can take longer. Please be patient.

Bad news: The device `/dev/sdb' is damaged

Device geometry:
	         *Usable* size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks)
	        Announced size: 15.26 TB (4096000000 blocks)
	                Module: 16.00 TB (2^44 Bytes)
	Approximate cache size: 0.00 Byte (0 blocks), need-reset=no
	   Physical block size: 4.00 KB (2^12 Bytes)

Probe time: 116.5ms
 Operation: total time / count = avg time
      Read: 0us / 0 = 0us
     Write: 115.8ms / 512 = 226us
     Reset: 0us / 0 = 0us
r

Next command - "Fix Fake SD Card - Check the actual capacity of the SD card:"
First SSD:

root#  sudo f3probe --destructive --time-ops /dev/mmcblk0
F3 probe 7.2
Copyright (C) 2010 Digirati Internet LTDA.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.

f3probe: Can't open device `/dev/mmcblk0': No such file or directory

Second SSD:

root#  sudo f3probe --destructive --time-ops /dev/mmcblk0
F3 probe 7.2
Copyright (C) 2010 Digirati Internet LTDA.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.

f3probe: Can't open device `/dev/mmcblk0': No such file or directory

I would be interested to know how much you paid for your "15 TB" SSD's?

For 2: US $71. I actually purchased 2 10TB SSDs; but they turned to 16TB fake ones, if it matters.

So do the tests show that both have 0 real capacity? Cause with Gparted - I was able go create a 30GiB partition. Or maybe I'm suppose to create a partition first, and then check with f3?

They are unmounted first, right? F3probe operates directly on the device so no need for a partition.
For your SD Cards you have gotten the wrong path so you'll need to double check that.

From https://fight-flash-fraud.readthedocs.i ... fake-drive, damaged mean it is seriously failing.
If it still fails entirely (toast) after checking whether its unmounted, has been replugged, etc... then don't use any of it.

If if works and you 'fix' it back to the correct size, test it again via f3write and f3read twice on a partition, because you want to make sure it's not going to fail after you've 'fixed' it.

MrAccident wrote: ↑Sat Nov 05, 2022 12:24 am

@user1234:

Maybe, the drive has MBR (should be GPT), does it?

How do I check?

IN a terminal, enter fdisk -l or if you know the device's entry (for example if it is on /dev/sdb), then you ALSO could be specific with fdisk -l /dev/sdb

Hope this helps

MrAccident wrote: ↑Fri Nov 04, 2022 6:07 am

I bought 2 brandless SSDs from China; and tried to Format them to Ext4. They were 15TB+. The other is definitely bad; had an Input/Output Error. This one also looks out-of-order

What method are you using to connect them to your PC?

@Phoenix:

They are unmounted first, right?

Yes.

For your SD Cards you have gotten the wrong path so you'll need to double check that.

What do you mean? I haven't specify any path.
@greengeek:

What method are you using to connect them to your PC?

A USB cable.

Both are probably just bad; one certainly is; and I can't even see the other now, when I connect it.

MrAccident wrote: ↑Fri Nov 18, 2022 7:46 am

A USB cable.
Both are probably just bad; one certainly is; and I can't even see the other now, when I connect it.

Possibly try the usb cable in different ports. Some usb ports do not supply enough power to keep the SSD happy.
If that does not work maybe try using a powered usb hub and connect the SSD cable to that instead of direct to the PC usb port.

Also - is this usb cable a usb to sata adapter? If so the controller in the cable could be bad. Do you have a good SSD to compare performance?

@greengeek - I tried both USB ports. Each one of them has a different cable. I also use Puppy LiveUSB and an external HDD with these ports. All the problems were consistent for each one of the 2 SSDs ― they are bad.

It's safe to say that these SSDs aren't going to hold up at all, so probably you'll have to get a refund and recycle these SSDs.

I recall seeing somewhere that there is a way to reprogram storage devices that have been designed to spoof their size. Before hitting these SSDs with a hammer maybe see if their controllers can be reprogrammed somehow.
(I seem to recall a post from rcrsn51 but not sure. Will post back if I can find some info)

@greengeek:

...there is a way to reprogram storage devices that have been designed to spoof their size. Before hitting these SSDs with a hammer...

I think that that's what was suggested to me here, with f3. One of the drives ― can't be formatted at all; right away there's an input/output error. The other had about 30GiB ― but had many problems, including with f3; and I don't really need a 30GiB drive.
I think we're beating a dead drive here.
@Phoenix:

you'll have to get a refund...

I'm trying.