Dear SanDisk, You need to respond to this issue.
Firstly, in my own experience I've had no issues with countless 1TB and 2TB models and know others share my experience. However, In the past months there's been countless reports of failures of the Extreme 4TB models (hard to tell if it's just the Extreme models or also the Extreme Pro). Typically, when I start to hear of issues with a device I often think it's anecdotal or just an occasional bad device. But the reports of users having issues have grown significantly and now reports of other models have begun to be more common. It's far beyond just a handful of drives now. If you look at this post on Reddit you will see many first hand reports of issues. Also this other post on Reddit. Reddit isn't the only place I've found reports.
This thread on Twitter shares similar remarks.
There's other threads on Twitter with similar stories. Also, these videos on YouTube report similar issues specifically with the 4TB model.
There's threads on other platforms online as well. It's also worth checking out the recent 1star reviews on BH Photo.
Additionally, I was recently on a job in Atlanta and the local DIT and VTR people were also stating they had been having issues with the drives. Their accounts echoed those I highlighted above. The issues aren't specific to any OS or filesystem and aren't specific to just the 4TB model any longer. Initially myself and others thought it might just be a firmware issue but I found this video on Twitter that implies it could be due to poor soldering of the BGA on the controller chip during manufacturing. This might be true or it could still be a firmware issue its unclear at the moment. It's just clear there's been an issue with a recent production run of these drives. Hopefully we can all learn the root cause of this soon.
Additionally, I was recently on a job in Atlanta and the local DIT and VTR people were also stating they had been having issues with the drives. Their accounts echoed those I highlighted above. The issues aren't specific to any OS or filesystem and aren't specific to just the 4TB model any longer. Initially myself and others thought it might just be a firmware issue but I found this video on Twitter that implies it could be due to poor soldering of the BGA on the controller chip during manufacturing. This might be true or it could still be a firmware issue its unclear at the moment. It's just clear there's been an issue with a recent production run of these drives. Hopefully we can all learn the root cause of this soon.
At this point there's been no statement issued by SanDisk/Western Digital regarding these drives that I'm aware of. Last month a rumor of a recall began on the WD support forums but there's nothing to back that up at this point.
If you have had issues with these models I suggest filling out this form to help gather data to send to SanDisk to pinpoint the affected models and serial numbers.
It should go without saying that the right thing for SanDisk to do is recall all the affected drives and replace them.
For the time being, especially when it comes to 4TB SSDs, I can only suggest the use of Samsung T7 Shield and for greater performance D.I.Y. with Thunderbolt m.2 enclosures using Sabrent or Samsung NVMe SSDs until SanDisk can address the situation.
Always remember; when it comes to data ONE is NONE. Always back up and have AT LEAST one other copy.
