>From both my own (short term) experience and from what&#39;s being written on this list, I&#39;m getting the impression that the USB drive may be costing more than it&#39;s worth. <br>
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I have in only about 3 months experienced multiple probe issues due to USB drives and there have been multiple threads on this list which suggest that I am far from alone. <br>
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I will go so far as to suspect that a substantial number of disconnected and abandoned probes have similar issues, but the hosters may be unwilling or unable to spend the necessary time to investigate and resolve them. <br>
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If the main reason for the drive is to cache data during unavailability of the command and control center, this may not be worth the effort. <br>
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I would suggest making the drive optional. That may mean fewer data points from and/or fewer UDMs possible on those probes without a functioning drive. But it may also mean a couple thousand probes more connected and therefore available for measurements at all. <br>
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I&#39;m not saying that probes should not ask for their drives to be fixed/replaced, but it should not be a requirement for the probe to run. One might give an incentive to hosters to run their probes with functioning drives by giving less credits for connected probes without a drive. <br>
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Any thoughts?<br>
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Michael<br>
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Sent from a mobile. Please excuse my brevity. // M: +49-163-6866568