Test USB flash & SSD drives great capacity very cheap up to 128 TB

[Cixert]

H2testw has completed the test on the 1 TiB partition on 16 TB Flash drive.
Despite the message, I think that the operation has been a success. It was expected to fill only 4 MB more.

Media has filled up earlier than expected!
In the beginning there were 1047144 MByte free, but only
1047140 MByte could be written.
Warning: Only 1047144 of 1048577 MByte tested.
Writing speed: 25.2 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

The partition now has 512 KiB free.


Now I am going to verify that the written data is correct with H2testw itself.
It seems that the results are not going to be correct.


If any of you want me to perform another type of test, this is the time to indicate it.
Later I will enter real data into the drive and verify it.

Edited June 23, 2024 by Cixert

[jaclaz]

There are four usual ways these fake drives are made, once said that if a "bulk", "no name", 32 GB  SD card can be found for (say) 5 bucks, when you buy for the same or double price a 2, 4, 8, 16 or 32 TB media you are actually getting at the most the same capacity of 32 GB:

1) simplest, the media has a capacity of 32 GB but the MBR or GPT and the filesystem (volume) on it have been manually modified to appear larger
2) more complex, the controller has been programmed for more or larger chips than those actually available
3) even more complex, the controller has been programmed with mapping the same extents to different addresses, the space simply "wraps around" (multiple times)
4) an even more subtle way of version #3 exists, when the wrap around is not of the whole disk, but is after the normal placement of the filesystem structures

#1 can be detected by a simple CHKDSK, or simply writing to it enough data
#2 can be as well detected by checking the filesystem with CHKDSK or writing to it enough data
#3 is trickier to detect and usually needs a dedicated program, like H2testw, when writing to it enough data, the filesystem structures are overwritten and the volume becomes raw/not accessible anymore.
#4 is really tricky, only using tools like H2testw or writing to the disk special (numbered/identifiable) data patterns they can be detected, otherwise the data in excess will be written just fine (without errors) as the same area is overwritten but the filesystem structures are updated correctly. On a typical NTFS filesystem, if you have the first 10 GB or so (for exFAT even less) set correctly and the rest wrapping around the device will seemingly behave fine, new data will overwrite earlier data without triggering errors.

jaclaz

 

 

[j7n]

You could try writing data at random locations in WinHex and see where it appears, and not incur extra writing cycles. Reading/searching is probably faster. If you buy these fake products, you're giving business to scammers. There are other testers who do it too. There is no brand to harm with negative publicity. They can pop up with another name to sell more.

[Cixert]

On 6/23/2024 at 12:29 PM, jaclaz said:

...if you have the first 10 GB or so (for exFAT even less) set correctly and the rest wrapping around the device will seemingly behave fine, new data will overwrite earlier data without triggering errors.

 

From what it seems, this 16 TB Flash would only have 3.1 GB, unless we multiply 3.1 x 15.3 TB.
H2testw has finished checking the 1TB partition and still says that only 3.1 GB is correctly written, the same as at the beginning of the check.

Warning: Only 1047140 of 1048577 MByte tested.
The media is likely to be defective.
3.1 GByte OK (6685504 sectors)
1019.4 GByte DATA LOST (2137857216 sectors)
Details:0 KByte overwritten (0 sectors)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
1019.4 GByte corrupted (2137857216 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
First error at offset: 0x00000000cb168000
Expected: 0x00000000cb168000
Found: 0x0000000000000000
H2testw version 1.3
Reading speed: 10.7 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

I point out that the "Write+verify" button verifies the written data, but that does not mean that at the end of the test the data is still written.
Once the "Write+verify" test is finished, you must press the "Verify" button, then a process begins that will take even more hours.
I don't know what these 2 values mean:
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
0 KByte aliased memory (0 sectors)
 

On 6/23/2024 at 8:27 PM, j7n said:

... If you buy these fake products, you're giving business to scammers. There are other testers who do it too. There is no brand to harm with negative publicity. They can pop up with another name to sell more.

I think that the stores that are selling these products are primarily responsible for scamming people.
The first people interested in reporting this are the legitimate manufacturers, Kingston, Sandisk, Crucial...
If they don't care, there is little we can do.
Anyway, anyone can write a letter to Aliexpress giving them the link to this post and informing them that they are scamming buyers.
If after sending the letter they do not remove these products, there is judicial proof of fraud.

I am now going to do tests with real data.

Edited June 25, 2024 by Cixert

[Cixert]

Before testing with real data, I have carried out a third test with the 12TB SSD drive with H2testw.
This time there was no error in the writing phase with verification and I stopped the test at 592 GB.


However, upon subsequent checking, H2testw says that only 48.2 GB are successfully recorded.

Later I tested it with real data.

SSD 12TB
-Trying to format from the Windows Seven menu gives an error.
-Everything over 48.2 GB is recorded defective.

FLASH 16TB
-Any file larger than 1 GB is recorded defectively.
-Recorded files less than 1 GB are replaced with new ones less than 1 GB.
-Some defragmenters show the drive others do not. The ones that show the drive do not give an error when defragmenting.
-Chkdsk from Windows Seven does not complete the operation and leaves the disk defective. This automatically changes the disk drive name to:
RD3:ChipsBnkFlashReader (4GB)

CONCLUSIONS:
SSD 12 TB really has a size of 48.2 GB.
FLASH 16 TB really has a size of 3.1 GB.

Now I'm going to open the drives and see what's inside.

Edited July 7, 2024 by Cixert

[Cixert]

As @jaclaz said inside there is an SD card reader, with an SD card.
While the size is different.

SSD 12 TB
Its opening has been complicated, the trick consists of introducing a screwdriver between plastic and metal on the connector side by hitting a hammer very carefully.
Then you have to pull up with the screwdriver.
It cannot be done on the opposite side since there is a lid.
The unit is sealed with silicone, even the card is sealed with silicone.

















Flash 16 TB
Its opening has been very easy, I have only had to throw slightly with an pliers and the circuit has left the capsule.










Now I extract the SD cards and introduce them to my SD card reader.

SSD 12 TB
- Introduced the card in my reader Windows says:
Generic-Multi-Card (121MB)
- I have not yet managed to format this card in my reader, the cyclical redundancy error occurs.
I am surprised to say 121 MB (no 128 GB). It looks like a 64GB SD card.

Flash 16 TB
- Introduced the card in my card reader, Windows says:
RD3: Generic-Multi-Card (4GB)

- Once the card is formatted when it is reintroduced in the flash 16 TB marks the correct size, 3.1 GB

It is clear that these products are a scam and that the price is very expensive for what it really is.

Apparently the trick is introduced into the SD card and not in the reader.
The reader works correctly with any card.
What surprises me is that now these drives work properly at Windows XP.
So I would like to know why with false size data Windows XP does not recognize these units and yes Windows Seven.

Edited July 6, 2024 by Cixert

[Cixert]

I receive a drive that says it has 128 TB, I have opened it and it contains an 8GB SD card.
CHKDSK & Victoria test do not give errors with 128 TB.
To format the card to its true capacity the trick is not to perform any operations on the original drive. You just have to remove the SD card and insert it into another SD card reader, then any partition program will indicate the real capacity and say that the card is not yet formatted.

 

[Cixert]

I receive 3 drives in 3 envelopes inside a larger envelope.



One drive with supposed capacity 64 TB, truly contains an 8GB SD card, this card is not even fixed with a sticker or silicone.





The other 2 drives are a surprise, in theory I had requested 2 drives with a capacity of 2 TB to check if this was real. I opened them expecting to find an SD card but I found that these are 2 Flash drives with a chip.







Its true capacity is 7.4 GB & 6.9 GB.





I have not yet attempted to format them to their true capacity and I am not sure how I could do that.
If no other option works, I will try with RMPrepUSB.

Edited July 22, 2024 by Cixert