Consensys has confirmed that it will soon release a fix for the MetaMask browser extension due to issues with high disk activity affecting users' solid-state drives.
Overview of the MetaMask Issue
Users of MetaMask reported that the extension was writing hundreds of gigabytes of data daily to their solid-state drives without user interaction. One user, known as ripper31337, indicated that after installing the extension on Chrome-based browsers, the disc writing occurred continuously in the background. The abnormal writing rate was recorded at five megabytes per second, totaling 500 gigabytes daily and 25 terabytes over three months.
Consensys Response to User Complaints
A Consensys representative stated that the team is actively investigating the issue and an imminent fix is in the works. 'While browser extension wallets do normally write state to disk, which is expected behavior, we’ve noticed recent observations of unusually high disk activity,' the spokesperson mentioned. The company is exploring strategies for reducing state size and the frequency of data writes.
Duration of the Problem
The issue with high disk activity was first reported by the user ripper31337 on June 24, but another user, under the nickname Quanquan, flagged a similar problem in a review on May 9. They noted that their SSD wrote 100GB of data in one day with the MetaMask extension enabled but unused, raising awareness of the issue among other users who began sharing their experiences.
Consensys is continuing to work on resolving the MetaMask issue that many users have flagged as critical. A prompt fix is expected to help alleviate the stress on solid-state drives and prevent further deterioration.
