A playback device includes a port configured to receive content from an external memory device, a device memory residing in the device, and a controller programmed to execute instructions that cause the controller to read a read data pattern from the defined region in the external memory device and determine if the read data pattern correlates to an expected data pattern to a predetermined level, wherein the expected data pattern is derived at least in part from a defect map of the defined region. A memory device includes an array of memory cells configured to store at least one bit of data, the array of memory cells being organized into regions, at least one first region of the array of memory cells having stored therein a defect map of the array of memory cells, and at least one second region of the array of memory cells being designated as a defined region having a known defect pattern. A method of validating a memory device includes writing, using a controller in a playback device, a known data pattern to a defined region in the memory device, reading, with the controller, a read data pattern from the defined region, comparing, at the controller, the read data pattern to an expected data pattern, the expected data pattern derived from the known data pattern and a defect map of the defined region, and validating, with the controller, the memory device based upon a correlation result from the comparing.