YSK those free USB sticks in your drawer are somehow crappier than you thought

DannyMac@lemmy.world to You Should Know@lemmy.world – 124 points –
Those free USB sticks in your drawer are somehow crappier than you thought
arstechnica.com

Many have microSD cards soldered to their circuit boards.

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Reminds me of the time when I bought a stack of microSD cards and readers from alibaba. About half of the cards and readers were dead on arrival, and the remaining ones died within a few years.

Now I’ve learned my lesson. This is what happens when a company outsources quality control to the customer.

I had a less technical savvy coworker putting together a raspi for something, emulation I think. And he was notoriously cheap, he told me he got a micro SD from China for a suspiciously low price.

Well during this endeavor, he would keep asking me about random errors he was seeing. And I kept saying bro it is that cheap SD card you bought. He wouldn’t hear it.

Eventually, he tried out another SD card and sure enough, no more weird errors.

Power sources is another one. The errors caused by a slightly broken PSU can be really mysterious.

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