[Arm-netbook] #2- "MLC NAnd" corrupts-on-read how oft? Would your's have "ECCs", and use them to boot correctly?

[Sam Pablo Kuper]

On 08/09/16 03:18, chadvellacott at sasktel.net wrote:
>    The questions in THIS "e"mail, are regarding the "MLC NAnd" mentioned
> (as planned in the computer-cards via "Crowd Supply") in the
> "Q/A"-section on the campaign-page-
> https://www.crowdsupply.com/eoma68/micro-desktop
> 
> [...]
> 
> Links-
> 
>    a little info' on corruption, and on patented ]:^[ work to solve it-
> https://storagegaga.wordpress.com/category/data-corruption/
> 
>    a little on how "NAnd-flash" works, and file-systems-
> http://www.linux-mtd.infradead.org/doc/nand.html
> 
>    more on how it works and how it can get corrupted-
> http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1279762
> followed by pages 2 to
> http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1279762&page_number=4
> 
>    some research on read-disturbs and mitigation-
> https://users.ece.cmu.edu/~saugatag/papers/15dsn.pdf
> 
>    detailed comparison of "MLC" and "SLC", with advice on how to use both-
> https://cdn.selinc.com/assets/Literature/Publications/White
> Papers/0015_NANDflash_IO_20141211.pdf?v=20151004-191546
>   (There should be a single space between "White" and "Papers".)
> 
>    booting "Allwinner" chips-
> http://linux-sunxi.org/BROM

Thanks for collating these links.

Bunnie Huang and Xobs have also been doing some work on flash memory.

Their key quote, as mentioned in the write-up below: "with flash memory
you are not really storing your data; what you are storing is a
probabilistic approximation of your data."

(Plus, they demonstrated that your SD card can MITM you.)

Modern computers may be astoundingly portable and inexpensive, but they
are, as yet, far from being perfectly reliable or secure.

https://threatpost.com/flash-memory-cards-contain-powerful-unsecured-microcontrollers/103366/