Apparatus and methods for indicating the health of removable storage devices

A method for indicating health of a removable memory system, the method comprising:

• after the memory system is coupled with a host device, outputting from the memory system a first externally visible or audible health indicator that indicates that the memory system is programmable by the host device;
• tracking a hot count for performing an erase cycle on each memory cell block of the memory system to determine whether the hot count has reached one of a plurality of hot count thresholds;
• if the hot count reaches a first one of the hot count thresholds, outputting from the memory system a second externally visible or audible health indicator that indicates that the memory system is about to be converted to a read only mode;
• and
• if the hot count reaches a second one of the hot count thresholds, outputting from the memory system a third externally visible or audible health indicator that indicates that the memory system is being immediately converted to a read only mode.

A memory system that is removably couplable with a host device, the memory system comprising:

• an external electrical or mechanical interface coupled with a controller;
• a nonvolatile memory array for storing data and coupled with the controller;
• and
• the controller operable to perform the following operations:
• after the memory system is coupled with a host device, outputting a first health status via the external electrical or mechanical interface of the memory system;
• monitoring one or more health metrics of the memory system;
• and
• after a first predefined limit is reached with respect to the one or more health metrics, outputting a second health status via the external electrical or mechanical interface of the memory system, wherein the first health status differs from the second health status.