Would it be possible to play the game off a USB Flash Drive?

[Coldfire]

No, I did not. Do you have a good link on it?

You could have just googled it ~.~

Here's a quote from a technical note:
"Read Disturb: A read disturb error occurs when one or more bits are changed during a
READ operation. Read disturb errors occur within the block being read, but on a page or
pages other than the page being read. Performing a high number (hundreds of thou-sands or millions) of READ operations on individual pages before an ERASE command
for the block containing those pa ges can exacerbate this error."

[Soukyuu]

You could have just googled it ~.~

Googling doesn't automatically equal in a good explanation of the matter.

Here's a quote from a technical note:
"Read Disturb: A read disturb error occurs when one or more bits are changed during a
READ operation. Read disturb errors occur within the block being read, but on a page or
pages other than the page being read. Performing a high number (hundreds of thou-sands or millions) of READ operations on individual pages before an ERASE command
for the block containing those pa ges can exacerbate this error."

From what I'm reading here, this error occurs when you try to read and write simultaneously, with writing disturbing reading. So my argument stays valid, FFXIV only reads from the flash drive unless it's
a) patching the files (no read operations to disturb)
b) saving logs or macros (which are not stored on the flash drive but in the my documents folder)
c) downloading patch files (see b)

[Coldfire]

From what I'm reading here, this error occurs when you try to read and write simultaneously, with writing disturbing reading.

That means you didn't understand it.

[Soukyuu]

That means you didn't understand it.

That means you didn't explain it good enough. Shall we continue?

[Coldfire]

That means you didn't explain it good enough. Shall we continue?

I didn't explain anything. I gave you the definition of a flash memory manufacturer.

[Soukyuu]

Assuming a "read disturb" really occurs if you "read too much" as that quote implies, wouldn't that be a huge flaw of both flash drives and SSDs? It doesn't make sense. If it's really a flaw of this technology, then they must have something to counter it, like a read/write cache.

Still, a read disturb looks like a form of read error - it doesn't wear out the flash chip itself, only the data on it.

edit: look at this, slide 19: http://download.micron.com/pdf/prese...ruths_nand.pdf

Read disturb is handled by ECC - not an issue to the user and does not damage the cells.

Now, the question is, do flash drives have ECC built in? Cheap ones certainly do not, but I can imagine SSDs and more expensive flash drives having it.

edit2: those slides are pretty interesting if you want to know more about NAND (flash) memory...

[Coldfire]

That's what the "ERASE" is for. New SSDs refresh the data on themselves periodically to avoid this error. A flash drive usually doesn't have this feature. Flash drives are supposed to be used as data storage for rarely accessed data and not stuff like operating systems or games.

[Soukyuu]

Wait, you're mixing 2 things together there. Read disturb != data retention, ERASE is to get rid off the voltage cause by read disturb, but it erases the cell = data loss. The ECC is what is used to recover from a read disturb, and that's what most flash drives won't have.

So:

• you are right that installing FFXIV on a flash memory will wear the data out, with files becoming corrupted over time, requiring you to rewrite them (wearing out one more cycle of the memory)
• my argument of playing FFXIV from the flash drive is valid, the chip won't be worn out from read access. The wear starts only if you start re(writing) data on it.
• according to the slides, you have 100k reads on each file (10k for MLC) before read disturbance starts showing up

[Coldfire]

The ERASE is the 2nd step done to reduce the risk of a read disturb. 1st you read the data into a memory, 2nd you delete the old data, 3rd you write the data back. That's why I said "refresh". At least read the full posts and not just the first sentence -_-

[Soukyuu]

Why don't you read my post completely? Nothing of what you said in your last post makes the 3 points invalid - and yes, I've read it completely.

Where in that post should I've read that ERASE is a part of refresh? You claim ERASE is there to reduce read disturb, which isn't the case, ERASE on it's own is doing only what it should - erasing data. Without explaining what you mean you then proceed to talking about refreshing data.

Instead of acting all annoyed about my replies, you should work on thinking your posts through before clicking on submit, and practice posting in a neutral tone. Thank you.