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Physical flash failures

	Flash memory types
	There are many types of solid state memory, which is based on electronics (no moving parts) as opposed to traditional hard disks (with moving parts). The widespread devices are based on the so called "flash" memory chips, and are collectively referred to as "flash memory". The most common variants include Various memory cards used with digital camera, digital voice recorders, digital media players, PDAs and so on. Variations are Compact flash, SD (Secure Digital), Memory Stick, and so on. USB "sticks", typically up to several gigabytes in size. These are just like a regular removable device attached via USB port.

	Physical flash memory failures
	Typical failure modes, listed in no particular order, are Bad spot on the card (this can be handled with ZAR, esp. if not too many bad spots. Download ZAR now). Bad spot causing the card to lock up. I.e. once you accessed that bad spot, all read attempts fail till a power cycle. Device firmware problem causing the device to report zero capacity. This essentially renders the device inaccessible to any software. Mechanical failure - broken or jammed connection (most common being USB connector bent or broken loose from the USB stick).

	How to confirm a flash memory failure
	The following symptoms are suggestive of a physical flash memory failure Broken connectors or other visible damage. USB stick is not assigned a drive letter in Windows upon insertion. Windows Disk Management indicates a zero size for the device. System locks up when accessing the flash memory unit, requiring a hard reboot (power cycle) to recover.

	Possible corrective actions
	Try complete power cycle - power down the computer, plug the problematic device off the mains, then power back on. Check connections. Remove the device from the slot, then reinsert it. Knowing full well that problematic connections are a widespread problem, check connections again. For a memory card (like Compact Flash or Memory Stick): if a card is inserted into the device (like digital camera), remove the card from the device and use the card reader to read the data. If already using a card reader, you may want to try different card reader. For an USB stick, try different USB port. If practical, try with a different machine.