[OPLINTECH] SSDs have quit working?

[Chad Neeper]

Well, if it weren't for the fact that you swapped the Kingston SSDs out for
Intel SSDs and still experienced the same problem inside of a month, I'd
have thought that perhaps the Kingston SSDs had failed. I had a bad rash of
too-short-lived SSDs for a year or so period that spanned manufacturers and
form factors (2.5" and M.2)...implying that there was perhaps a bad run of
chips from a chip manufacturer that was sold to more than one SSD
manufacturer. However, assuming the May 2018 Kingstons were replaced with
brand-new Intel SSDs than then also experienced the same problem, I'd say
you've probably mostly-ruled out failed SSDs as the root cause of your
problem.

One thing further you may can/should do is to try to definitively determine
if the SSDs are failed. One thing you can try is to take a "failed" SSD and
attach it to a known-working computer either via a SATA->USB adapter (or
M.2->USB adapter...whatever your formfactor/interface is) and see if you
can reliably still access the drives without trying to boot from them. (You
could also simply put them on a secondary SATA (or M.2) interface in the
working computer.) If you're able to access the files from the "failed"
SSDs, then probably your SSDs are actually fine and you can start looking
elsewhere:

"Elsewhere" could perhaps be software (malware?) that's corrupting the boot
loader saved on the SSDs or maybe something that's corrupting the
firmware/UEFI info. If you're re-installing your OS from scratch each time
you put a new SSD in a computer, then it's *probably* not software causing
the problem (unless the bad software is getting re-installed each time) and
so maybe you're looking at a firmware/hardware problem. Maybe verify that
your boot order is correct in the firmware. Check to see if the SSD, once
it has "failed", is still detectable by the firmware. (If not, is the
interface/cable you're using on the motherboard marginal...maybe try a
different cable/interface if you can.)

If this were one machine, I'd look harder at the hardware, but it's
suspicious that several computers have experienced the same failure at
exact the same time. That implies some sort of external *event* occurred
that is the root cause of the problem. (ie: a power surge damaging multiple
computers in an identical way...that's probably a stretch, or malware
spreading and infecting multiple computers near simultaneously, etc...some
specific cause than can span multiple computers at the same time.) If it
were just a bad run of hardware, they might fail within a small time frame,
but I wouldn't expect three SSDes or motherboards to fail in the same way *on
the same day or even a day or two apart*, even if purchased at the same
time. (It could fail identically over a period of a few months or weeks,
but the same day/week would be very unlikely with a bad run of hardware.)

Nothing very obvious with this type of problem as you described it...You're
just left with trying to use clean troubleshooting steps:  Keep cutting the
problem in half until you have your answer. Is it software or hardware? If
you can definitively rule out software (perhaps boot record corruption in
this case), then you can focus on hardware/firmware...so does the problem
stay with the motherboard, or does it follow the SSD? If you can rule out
the SSD's, then you can focus on the motherboard...etc.

HTH a tiny bit,
Good luck!

______________________________
*Chad Neeper*
Senior Systems Engineer

*Level 9 Networks*
740-548-8070 (voice)
866-214-6607 (fax)

*Full IT/Computer consulting services -- Specialized in public libraries*


On Mon, Sep 9, 2019 at 10:28 AM Lynne Welch via OPLINTECH <
oplintech at lists.oplin.org> wrote:

> Hello colleagues,
>
> We have 5 HP Pro 3500 Series MT desktop units used by the public. All
> bought at the same time with the same specs from the same people. In April
> or May 2018 we replaced the hard drives with Kingston SSDs so they would be
> faster.
>
> Early in August 2019 we came in one day and OPLIN 1 and 2 were just fine,
> but 3, 4, and 5 showed "Cannot boot". I've attached a screenshot.
>
> New Kingston SSDs did not solve the problem, so we replaced them with
> Intel SSDs in OPLIN 3 and 4 last Thursday. We re-installed the original
> hard drive in OPLIN 5 since we could only get 2 Intel SSDs.
>
> Today OPLINs 3 and 4 show the same "cannot boot" error, while 1 and 2 (on
> the original Kingston SSDs), and 5 (on the original harddrive it came with)
> are humming along just fine. Argh!
>
> We are at our wit's end, especially with school starting back up. Any
> suggestions?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Lynne
> --
> Lynne Welch – Herrick Memorial Library of Wellington, Ohio USA
> tel 440-647-2120 email welchly at herrickliboh.org
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