Longer and longer backups, on flash memory...

[BlueLiner]

Hello,

As an FFS user for over a year, I regularly synchronize data from my PC to the flash memory of a USB stick and to that of my cell phone.

Particulars :

- Smartphone: Samsung SM-N960F
- USB key: SanDisk 128GB, files synchronized in an encrypted virtual disk, created with VeraCrypt.

My problem: When I synchronize to my smartphone, I've noticed for several months that the backup takes longer and longer to “start”. Nothing happens for almost 1mn30s before the sync finally happens. And it's getting worse with time. On the attached screenshot, you can see a wait of 1mn45s before synchro takes place...
And we're talking about a sync of just a few Megabytes...

On the USB key, the problem is similar, but manifests itself differently: the synchro takes place very quickly on the virtual disk, but then, writing to the key takes a very long time. This can be seen in the Task Manager. Recently, it took me almost 10 minutes to synchronize 2 gigabytes... which is unusually long for my USB key.
As with the smartphone, this problem appeared gradually over time.

I suspected wear and tear on the flash memory, perhaps because FFS was forcing synchronization on the same flash memory cells... so I redid the entire backup in another folder (on the smartphone)... but that didn't solve anything.
I didn't try this on the USB key.

Does anyone have any idea what's going on?
Thank you in advance for your feedback!

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

[xCSxXenon]

For the smartphone, MTP is likely they root issue, and MTP sucks
viewtopic.php?t=8728

For the USB drive, it could have failing NAND, failing controller, or the VeraCrypt layer is causing an issue.
How you tried with another USB key with a new VeraCrypt setup?

[Greg12]

Agreed.

You might want to, with some test files, make sure your USB stick isn't going bad on you. If and when you can, think about switching to a small external SSD drive. 100x faster.

Here is an example of a fast SSD made in to flash drive form factor. https://a.co/d/f7vJq8c

Trying xCSxXenon suggestion of cx file explorer is an easy way to do a comparison test over wifi. The link has other options too.

You can turn your cell phone into a simple FTP server, SFTP server or even an SMB server. xc app ftp is by far the simplest to implement. SFTP is if you require a more secure environment.

If you have an available port on your router like I do you can use a $10 from Amazon gigabit Ethernet dongle with a USB C Port that plugs into the bottom of your phone and lets you transfer files over ethernet speeds but you'll still need to turn the phone into a server using one of the above apps. Wi-Fi is plenty fast for me and what I normally do.

[BlueLiner]

Thanks for the feedback!

For the smartphone, I wouldn't have thought of that solution... thanks for the info! Unfortunately for me, the synchro was only of interest if I could do it via USB cable. I've switched to an online solution...

I recreated a VeraCrypt file on another USB key (same size in GB, in ExFat) and synchronized with FFS: the duration was normal.
However, when I created a second VeraCrypt file on the original USB key, I had the same problem when I synchronized with FFS: double the time as on the other USB key, especially on certain files, and 2 minutes more of activity on the USB key after the end of the sync (visible in the task manager).
It must be the USB key...

Thanks for the info!

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)