Data corruption problems with numerous USB to IDE/SATA adapters

I recently went to my local Microcenter to purchase an USB to IDE/eSATA adapter so I can backup some large file installs before doing a brand new full install on my new Dell 14z laptop (which is kick-butt).

I ended up purchasing the bottom of the line Inland Pro IDE/SATA/USB harddrive adapter for 14.99. According to the Microcenter salesperson, they hadn't had any returns on it. I figured that it was so cheap, how could I lose?

It turns out plenty.

Earlier, I had looked at some reviews on Newegg.com on the Rosewill RCW-608 USB to IDE/eSATA adapter and how data was being corrupted on very large files (>2GB). The author suggested doing an MD5 test on very large files to confirm that the data was indeed being corrupted.

Out of curiosity I did exactly what the author of the review suggested by copying a very large ISO file I had (7 GB) to the old Barracuda drive now available via the USB port. To my surprise, the calculated MD5 on the file in my local hard drive and the old Barracuda were showing different MD5s even though the file sizes were exactly the same. How could it be?

It turns out that the data corruption problem is prevalent across all cheap USB to IDE adapters that are built around the JMicron JM20337. A blog post by someone employed by Samsung ran across the same problem but, I guess being an engineer, they actually opened the adapter and started sniffing for trouble. According to the blog, the data corruption problem is due to a resistor being placed in the reference design provided by JMicron to their OEMs.

In most (if not all) these adapters, the fix involves removing a surface mounted resistor that is named R15 that is marked "472". In the case of the Inland Pro IDE/SATA/USB harddrive adapter, it did not have an R15 but instead had an R13 that looked like it was in the same place as the other blog posts.

With a soldering iron and a little patience, I removed the surface-mounted resistor and I'm happy to report that from all my tests, it looks like this fix has solved the problem of corrupted data on IDE drives.

Note that removing this resistor has some type of effect on SATA drives with respect to detection of disconnection but in my case I didn't care since I was just trying to re-use an old IDE drive. As with any hardware mod, your mileage may vary and this absolutely destroys your warranty on the device.

I thought this might be helpful.

Prosper.com is open again!

Prosper.com is finally open again for lending.  Prosper.com is a peer-to-peer lending platform where lenders compete to lend money to borrowers based on their credit rating.  Before Sept. 2008, prosper.com was open to lenders in most all 50 states. However, since their reappearance, they will allow only lenders from California.  Somehow, California's Dept. of Corporations is letting Prosper.com have lenders in California. Apparently, other states are too skittish at the moment.

I've been lending in Prosper.com since the summer of 2007. Yes, I along with just about everyone in Prosper.com have lost money and I have not been happy with Prosper's lack of vigor in chasing after bad loans.  

However, I get what I deserved. A third of my portfolio was 'D'-graded loans of which a big chunk of those have gone bad. The better graded loans definitely performed better. Even after all my losses, my current expected portfolio return is 2% which is not bad given the economic conditions we are under.

Even given my not-so-great experience as a lender in Prosper.com, I'm still excited by its prospects. Prosper.com is now re-opening with a whole new set of features such as limiting borrowers in their "peer-to-peer" lending marketplace to only those that have a credit rating of 660 and above. This is similar to what LendingClub.com does since they limit their lending to only the best prospects.

However, that's not what really excites me about Prosper.com.  It is their "Open Market" initiative that really makes them interesting.  In it, I can buy loans that were created by financial institutions. Unlike financial instruments such as credit-default-obligations which created very opaque financial structures, I have a lot of the same information about the loan itself that I had on the "peer-to-peer" side.  What you don't get on the "Open Market" side is the description provided by the borrower and any questions and answers they may have answered which I found to be very helpful.  That missing piece of information is likely not as useful since the financial institution probably asked similar questions themselves.

Another very interesting aspect of the re-launch is the upcoming existing loans trading platform. This allows me to either sell my loans at a discount to other lenders so I can effectively "cash-out" or I can buy already-seasoned loans from other lenders (i.e. originators) and just take their position in the loan.

Now, if they only would start allowing lenders in Kansas to start lending again...

GUIs - Take Two

Today I came across a very interesting article posted by Joel Spolsky in his blog. Joel has one of my favorite blog sites on the Internet that deal with the business of software development (JoelOnSoftware.com).

In this latest article (maybe not... I see he's got a later one), he talks about how the next version of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are going to come from the optimization/compilation of the Javascript language. Based on previous history, he makes a very good argument that the company that has the most developers will end up owning the user interface space. That's exactly what happened to Windows.

He eludes that Microsoft is working on a strategy that will bring it back into the center of the GUI universe through a combination of compiled JavaScript support at the browser and a sophisticated "Ajaxy library that includes all kinds of clever interop features". Could this be Microsoft's Silverlight? I thought that was supposed to be the Flash killer...

Joel runs a company that makes money selling AJAX-based development tools. On top of that, Joel is an ex-Microsoftie so he probably has some type of inside knowledge on this stuff (probably even well-placed sources). I think he may be hearing some grumblings.

What do you think?

Why Your Company Needs Product Management

If you are in the software development business, Pragmatic Marketing has written an excellent article on Product Management.

Ten trends to watch in 2006

I subscribe to McKinsey's Quarterly Online. It's a pretty interesting journal that covers some interesting business topics. Here's a interesting article from McKinsey's Quarterly that summarizes what they think are the top macroeconomic, environmental, social issues, and business and industry developments for the next 20 years or so.

Knowledge Management on Steroids

I just finished viewing a fascinating set of video case studies on Autonomy, an enterprise search and retrieval engine. The Autonomy search engine can scan through multi-lingual, unstructured databases and documents and mine them for useful knowledge content. After viewing case studies, the Autonomy folks have stumbled unto a better search method than what's available from Google itself, the 800-lb gorilla of search engines.

Though the companies' website downplays the technical background, sources indicate that the heart of the Autonomy search engine is based on bayesian statistical methods.

If you're responsible for doing any type of knowledge management in your organization, I highly recommend you review the Autonomy website and see how some very capable companies (Ford, Ove Arup, Belga) create knowledge management systems based on Autonomy.