Flash longevity

[Eric Smith]

Jay wrote:
> It wasn't a swap partition I created in flash. It was an OS
> install partition (to install the OS FROM, not to). I was learning the
> intricacies of "label & newfs" at the time, and had quite a few attempts
> in a short interval but the lexar drive died. This happened again to a
> second one in short order.

Strange.  I've done a lot of that sort of thing on Sandisk CF and SD
cards with no trouble.  And I have used a 2GB Sandisk CF as a swap
partition on a laptop for more than nine months with no observed ill
effects.

> Then again, maybe I just had two bad devices in a row.

Possible, but seems unlikely.  I'm not sure how else to explain it
though.  Overwriting an entire partition in a CF multiple times to
do installations *from* shouldn't cause any significant wear.

Eric