external SSD just went dead

[chris.d]

My Setup
Mac mini M2 Pro 2023

16GB RAM

1TB SSD
Ventura 13.3.1


ProTools 23.6.0.110

ProTools Cache 12GB



3x Icy Box IB-1817Ma-C31 external enclosures containing
3x SSD V7 V7SSD2TBNV4E







today i started my mac
i started protools and during use the external drive with the current PT session disconnected for no apparent reason.
Since the disk is gone, doesn't show after reboot not in finder or HD-Utility
doesn't show when i put it in another enclosure, doesn't show on another Mac either.

MAC OS wants me to initialize the disc.




what are my options?

[JFreak]

Unless you have a backup, you have none except starting fresh. SSD may die if just THE bit that carries file system hierarchy corrupts. The drive is able to repair itself with a new format (the damaged bit is left unused) but your files are lost.

Even the highly praised DiskWarrior still does not support APFS for reasons they have not told us. (please correct me if I am wrong, I would be glad proven wrong here)

[chris.d]

i lost 3 hours of work - i back up through carbon copy cloner manually after each session...

[chris.d]

SSD may die


what does that mean?
are we back in early 2000s?


i lost several HDs back then just like that. since 15y i never ever experienced failing of a HD, except for now as i switched to M.2 SSDs

[JFreak]

Not all SSD are made equal. Google for "SSD overprovisioning".

[JFreak]

As always, it is not wise to assume new tech is more redundant than the old. Usually the other way. We are just dying for more speed and therefore willing to accept lower reliability.

I had my first spinning hard drive installed on a PC in 80's, it was a whopping 40MB (could be partitioned as 32MB max) rotating at 3500rpm.

Those slow suckers died young, but we don't remember the days any longer.

[chris.d]

though i'm not the total computer geek, i'm positive that i considered quality when choosing my SSDs


i setup the system with no rush in the last few month, having the old system still working.



i start and try to use the new system just now for real work. Even the lousiest SSD should stay alive for 2 week, shouldn't it?



V7 V7SSD2TBNV4E
how would rate the lifespan of this SSD?

[Rich Breen]

Hardware fails...shrug. SSDs are in general just as reliable as HDDs, but they do tend to fail with zero warning. If it failed after two weeks it's likely defective manufacturing. I'd suggest DiskDrill, though the odds aren't good.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by chris.d

Even the lousiest SSD should stay alive for 2 week, shouldn't it?

Every batch has a lemon.

[Eric Lambert]

Sorry to hear that. I had a very important drive go south a couple months ago and nothing helped. I tried all the usual suspects. Then I tried Disk Drill. The entire process of finding/rebuilding/copying the data took several days to complete but from what I can tell *all* files were copied from the supposedly "unreadable" drive to a brand new one. A real life saver.