128 Warp V.2 won't format or reinstall [Archive]

bwong83

04-08-2009, 10:15 PM

I bought a Dell M1330 last year and got a Warp 2 SSD 128 Gig drive for my birthday last month, I installed Vista on it and ran fine for 2 weeks.

Now it is dead, it won't boot so I tried reinstalling Vista and XP neither would work. It won't see the drive, but I can hook it up to an external SATA enclosure and see all my data intact, but now I cannot even delete files off the drive... I can't even format it!

HELP PLEASE!!!!!

Thanks in advance

bwong83

04-09-2009, 12:19 AM

Ok, update I tried using a knoppix disk and mounted the /dev/sda2 which is the windows filesystem, I can't even do a touch, it says it is read only. I can't even try mounting with a rw to invoke it.

I also cannot fdisk and delete the partition.

earls

04-10-2009, 03:46 PM

You were using your computer as normal for two weeks, then through no fault of your own the computer simply refused to boot one day?

That's odd the drive "functions" but doesn't seem to respond.

Have you had any luck since posting?

http://www.hddunlock.com/download/

Will NOT work with external enclosures.

http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2006.04.12-HDD-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

Low level format... Reset the drive to "new." You will lose EVERYTHING. WILL work with external enclosures.

bwong83

04-10-2009, 08:48 PM

Thanks I'll give the low level format tool a try. At this point I am willing to try anything, I don't know why it just locked up and became a read only drive.

And yes all I had done on it was surf the internet and setup my outlook for email, I turned the laptop off and last Sunday I needed to work on my taxes, turned the system on and it wouldn't boot after that.

bwong83

04-13-2009, 07:53 PM

Hi

So I let the low level format run, it said it was completed successfully but my data still exists on the drive! What to do now?

earls

04-14-2009, 03:23 PM

Hi bwong83,

At this point I would begin to pursue warranty or rma unless you're insistant upon getting to the bottom of the problem. It appears to be a hardware malfunction to me.

bwong83

04-14-2009, 08:27 PM

There is only one problem, there is private data on the drive, and I cannot send it in. I hate the fact that I won't be able to get a new drive, but I'd rather not give out private data.

AGlobalThreatsK

05-04-2009, 01:43 AM

When you try to install windows, is the drive visible in the BIOS? Have you tried reinstalling windows on this SSD in a different computer?

If you can see the disk in an external SATA enclosure, then it will be in Disk Manager. Can you use Disk Manager to format the disk? You may have to set the drive to active after it has been formatted.

bwong83

06-28-2009, 12:15 PM

The drive is visible, my coworkers and I tried reinstalling on separate computers with an external enclosure one of us had. Disk manager says its formatting but when you look at the drive after it is still full of data, in fact I can still look at the data. It does stop reading after a while and you need to plug it back in and you'll see the data again.

AGlobalThreatsK

06-29-2009, 11:54 PM

It stops reading after a while? Is the OS and/or SSD idle during this time?

I had the same problem before being able to see the data after formatting, however I ignored this and after installing an OS everything was fine and back to normal, the XP partition was aligned at 128 sectors like I specified before formatting.

If the drive is recognized in device manager and you can see the data, have you tried turning off the pc, unplugging all the other drives (Except the DVD drive) and installing windows then? Making sure BIOS is setup correctly to accept USB HDDs/USB Devices.

Have you checked for any BIOS updates for the original computer this was used in?

bwong83

11-12-2009, 07:04 AM

The OS doesn't load, there a boot issue, its not a bios issue, as I am using the old 2.4 inch regular drive again. I still have the drive, personally i'd like a new one, BUT! I cannot just send it in for warranty, hence why i've left it sitting in my office at work. If Patriot has a bay area office I could meet them and show them the issue and let me destroy it in front of them to get a new one, I'd do it.

Patriot_Ben

11-12-2009, 05:39 PM

The drive does not boot but the data still is accessible?

We are located in Fremont but I don't believe we have much of an open door policy.

Furthermore I'm not sure how much that would help though if you were able to come in. Honestly, our Northern California facility doesn't have any kind of proprietary tools or software for SSD test. Chances are we have access to the same basic SSD software available to the public.

All bad RMA'd drives we test get sent back to the manufacturer overseas. Have you tried contacting a data recovery center? They are usually good with retrieving data on a deep extraction level. Maybe they would be able to do the opposite and destroy stubborn data on a deeper level?

Good Luck.

bwong83

11-12-2009, 11:12 PM

The problem is the data is permanently written on the drive, but theres a problem with booting and writing to the drive. We've done some deep formatting on it and it still retains all my previous data. I cannot reinstall over the data now.

I cannot send it off to overseas or give it to anybody because it has a lot of private data on there. I have work and personal data on it. The reason I wanted to show it in person was so hopefully I could just prove that it is broken and get a replacement. As oddly as it sounds.

Patriot_Ben

11-13-2009, 06:51 PM

The reason I wanted to show it in person was so hopefully I could just prove that it is broken and get a replacement. As oddly as it sounds.

At most, you might be able to come in to get a new drive. However, your defective drive will be sent to the manufacturer regardless. Unfortunately there is no way of getting around this. Inventory-wise, we need to be able to take a drive in order to issue one out. I can do what I can here to ensure you that we won't look at the drive or data, but I can't guaruntee you what will become of it when it is out of our hands.

magic-man

02-13-2010, 06:59 AM

I don't know what this will do to the warrantee (you would have to ask)... BUT... There is a way to erase / scramble the data on the drive. Don't know if it would mess up the firmware (probably) rendering it a total brick (DEAD).

In GSA we pass entire laptops (including the SSD or hard drive(s) through a degaussing coil. U can do this with the SSD and it should erase / scramble it. It is worth a try IF Patriot agrees.:D

Patriot_Ben

02-16-2010, 11:28 PM

bwong83

03-09-2010, 11:14 PM

If there is a way to scramble the data, I'd love to do it. I'd love to replace this SSD drive, it was a gift from my dad for my birthday and I'd love to have it again.