Kingston 16GB Memory Sticks - huge problem?

howardb

howardb

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I recently purchased eleven Kingston 16GB memory sticks from 2 different sellers, sealed retail.

I'm having the following problem though and am not sure what is causing it - never seen anything like this before.

I copied some backup data to them (after formatting as FAT32) - when I tried to access the data from either the same PC or any other PC, I get the following showing in Windows Explorer - has anyone seen this before?

kingston_16gb_error1.jpg


It's almost like the file system or data is corrupt. If I try to format/delete the data and start again, the data never deletes - it's currently showing 967GB of data on the stick!? The first of the formatted memory sticks shows 1.55GB used, but there are no files (hidden or other) on the stick. I have tried formatting as FAT32 and NTFS with the same outcome. I have also tried a 3rd-party formatting software (Acronis Disk Diretor), with the same result.

I'm worried that there is something major wrong with these sticks, and don't want to open the others that are still sealed.

Please see the full screendump, showing the problem in Windows Explorer - it does not happen with any of my other 2GB & 4GB memory sticks I use daily.

Am I missing something, or are these sticks borked?
 
Last edited:
I don't know if Kingston also has it but my OCZ stick has a special software to format it clean. If there is no software for it I would return them or RMA them or maybe contact Kingston (forum? or email).
 
Gixxa said:
I don't know if Kingston also has it but my OCZ stick has a special software to format it clean. If there is no software for it I would return them or RMA them or maybe contact Kingston (forum? or email).
Click to expand...

There was no software at all - just blank sticks. Tried the site and no luck either...


Pyro said:
I've got the exact same issue. Discussed here.

Still awaiting feedback on warranty.

What model Kingstons are these?
Click to expand...

Mine are DataTraveller 100, 16GB - they seemed genuine, although looking at the retail packaging now, notice there is a Chinese sticker... if they are fakes, they are damn well done - packaging looks genuine and the price did not ring any bells... !
 
Also sent a message to Kingston Support USA/UK - I am returning all these to the sellers on Monday - just more wasted time... :mad:
Just really glad I didn't sell them on, or worse, use them for data backup! :sick:
 
Just cracked one open - very easy - and this is what it looks like:

kingston_16gb_4.jpg


kingston_16gb_5.jpg


kingston_16gb_6.jpg


kingston_16gb_7.jpg


kingston_16gb_8.jpg
 
Last edited:
Brawler said:
Fakes..
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking, smells of those 120gb Sony flashdisks that came out a few months ago.

Ps. Anyone else have issues downloading the images? Never been to such a slow site before.
 
Sorry for the slow image loading - busy uploading to my server - just fixed the speed by dumping the pics on the myBB photo album...
 
So now how on earth did our resellers get hold of them.
 
Of three 16GB sticks tested with H2testw v1.4, these are the results:

Stick 1:
The media is likely to be defective.
235.7 MByte OK (482728 sectors)
15.3 GByte DATA LOST (32252504 sectors)
Details:0.5 KByte overwritten (1 sector)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
15.3 GByte corrupted (32252503 sectors)
0.5 KByte aliased memory (1 sector)
First error at offset: 0x000000000ebb5000
Expected: 0x000000000ebb5000
Found: 0x000000000ebbf800
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 11.3 MByte/s
Reading speed: 6.03 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

Stick 2:
The media is likely to be defective.
235.8 MByte OK (482984 sectors)
15.3 GByte DATA LOST (32252248 sectors)
Details:0.5 KByte overwritten (1 sector)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
15.3 GByte corrupted (32252247 sectors)
0.5 KByte aliased memory (1 sector)
First error at offset: 0x000000000ebd5000
Expected: 0x000000000ebd5000
Found: 0x000000000ebdf800
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 11.2 MByte/s
Reading speed: 6.04 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

Stick 3:
The media is likely to be defective.
235.8 MByte OK (482990 sectors)
15.3 GByte DATA LOST (32252242 sectors)
Details:0.5 KByte overwritten (1 sector)
0 KByte slightly changed (< 8 bit/sector, 0 sectors)
15.3 GByte corrupted (32252241 sectors)
0.5 KByte aliased memory (1 sector)
First error at offset: 0x000000000ebd5c00
Expected: 0x000000000ebd5c00
Found: 0x000000000ebdfc00
H2testw version 1.3
Writing speed: 12.2 MByte/s
Reading speed: 6.03 MByte/s
H2testw v1.4

They all seem to show only 236MB available memory with 15.3GB non-usable/corrupted memory space!

PS - you can read more about the h2testw program here
 
Last edited:
Brawler said:
So now how on earth did our resellers get hold of them.
Click to expand...

S.A. seems to be the local dumping ground for all these Chinese fakes and other crap the world doesn't want - I'm sure there are other countries, but unfortunately China has the biggest stigma to date!

Gaz{M} said:
According to this slide, that's a 1st generation 8GB samsung chip:
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/products/flash/downloads/Nand_Flash.pdf
Click to expand...

Interesting reference doc - will come in useful when checking old memory sticks...
 
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