SF514-54T SSD bad blocks will not allow system image backup

I have a new Swift 5 bought on 2/11 . It's great but I found a problem when trying to do a system image backup - using multiple tools - Windows own system image backup, urbackup etc. No backup will complete because of bad blocks. My understanding of SSD's is that this should not happen because the firmware should deal with it. Certainly, I've never had a problem with other SSDs.

The 256GB SSD is showing 5 bad blocks in different locations. This is a special batch of SSD's supplied to Acer by Kingston : https://www.kingston.com/us/embedded/design-in-ssd so it is not detected by Kingston's own SSD tools to check it out or check the firmware. I changed the bios to access via AHCI and the kingston tools still cannot access the drive. These design-in components seem restricted in some way.

Macrorit scanner clearly shows the 5 bad blocks, CrystalDiskinfo shows the drive to be healthy 100%. chkdsk /f/r/x has no effect whatsoever.

I'm concerned therefore it's a problem with the SSD firmware. I've raised a support ticket with Acer because I think being able to do a system image backup (and restore) is pretty important for any business user.

Anyone with similar experience or who has a way to deal with these drives?

Thanks

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Acer-Samuel

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billsey

Have you tried to scan for errors using the Windows utilities? Often you'll have to do a restart to get full access without other tasks interfering, but it should map the bad sectors as bad and recover the files if possible. Once they are mapped the backup should complete. Once the backup is complete you should be safe to contact Acer support for warranty replacement of the bad drive.

a_nd_s

Neither chkdsk or powershell repair-volume have any effect on this.

tobias3

Since you are already using UrBackup... have you tried the repair method described here: https://blog.urbackup.org/319/how-to-handle-data-error-cyclic-redundancy-check-system-error-code-23

a_nd_s

I already tried the Urbackup Scrub Disk function, found the files affected ( they were in dropbox ) and I've removed the files, in fact I'm clearing all files I can to archive them in case reformatting is the only option. After removing the offending files I ran the scrub disk again however this time it complained about 2 bad blocks ( not 5 ) but I could not get it to list the files, it just got stuck. All this time the SMART data shows the disk fine and the available spare amounts are 100% so the disk itself does not see these.

Acer support have only recommended 'reset my PC' which is like saying reformat and reinstall, but I have to get all data off it first. This assumes the drive controller will behave properly and deal with the bad blocks when that is done of course.

billsey

@a_nd_s it's sounding more and more like you're either dealing with a failing SSD or a failing connection between the SSD and motherboard. That could explain why the symptoms aren't consistent. If the drive is OK and it's the MB or connector then moving the drive to an external enclosure long enough to recover your data might be a worthwhile thing to try before sending it in to Acer for warranty repair. If the drive is failing then you might have to bite the bullet and just get what you can access off before sending it in. Either way it'll likely need to go off to them for repair.

a_nd_s

Well I managed to get the bad blocks cleared. Firstly I shrank the C: partition with Minitool Partition Wizard and created a new partition. Copied all my Onedrive, Dropbox and email accounts (50GB in total) over to it and deleted them from C:. Then I wiped all free space on C: with zeroes using cipher /w:c at the command prompt. Now no bad blocks are detected and I can backup the system drive. Crystal disk info shows no change the available spare was 100 before and 100 after. So these drives are a bit strange w/r to SMART data.

I think what happened at some point was a drive controller error that somehow led to the bad blocks, writing over them forced the drive to do something about it. I think the disk is ok, but I think I would rather Acer had used a SSD that reported more information and allowed a manufacturer SSD utility to talk to it. These are locked down industrial SSDs.

Anyway, emergency over, thanks to everyone who responded. Much appreciated. Now I have image backup etc, I'll consider changing the drive in due course if anything else happens.

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Acer-Samuel