The South Korean-Hong Kong company Qumo is a popular manufacturer of flash drives, multimedia devices, tablets and other electronics. The products of this company have gained popularity due to their low price and good quality. The company's production lines are located both in Korea and in Taiwan and China.
Flash drives and memory cards produced by Qumo 32gb, 8gb, 4gb fail quite often. This happens due to glitches software, aging and imperfection of equipment, getting wet, etc.
Flash memory, like memory cards, has a certain number of write/read cycles. If the flash drive is used for a long enough time, then broken clusters may well appear. File system errors are also often the cause of failures. They appear during an incorrect shutdown (pulling out the flash drive) or during a power outage.
What to do if flash drives are not detected?
In cases where a flash drive or card is not detected when connected, shows zero memory, or is detected as an unknown device, they need to be restored. For some brands there are special utilities recovery, but Qumo is not one of them. Therefore, to “treat” them you need to use universal programs low-level programming.
- Recovering and saving information stored on damaged media. After running any recovery program, all data on the flash drive or memory card will be lost. Therefore, if this information is important, use the R-Studio program or another similar program before repairing. Use it to create a disk image, scan the amount of information, and then restore everything that can be recovered. R-Studio is a program that is not the fastest in operation, but is capable of restoring as much information as possible on damaged media.
- Take advantage service program, suitable for restoring Qumo cards and flash drives:
- USB Disk Storage Format Tool. An HP program that is perfect for formatting Qumo storage devices.
- EzRecover– universal software tool, among others, capable of repairing the Qumo drive. After installing the program, insert the broken flash drive into your computer and run EzRecover. The program will give an error the first time you run it, but the next time it will definitely detect a flash drive or card and give you the opportunity to restore it.
- Flashnul. This program does not eliminate errors, but simply identifies defective parts of the device and resets the information.
Tips: In fifty percent of cases, an SD card that cannot be formatted on a computer can be formatted perfectly on another device. Try formatting using your phone, camera, or something else. If this works and you can read and format the flash drive in this way, then repeat the formatting on your PC after that.
In particular difficult cases To restore a flash drive or 32gb, 8gb, 4gb cards, you need to open the media case and close the chip contacts. If you do not have such skills, then it is better to leave this work to specialists.
How to recover an SD card or USB flash drive if the computer does not see it, does not read or write data? Problems with flash drives are rarely caused by natural wear and tear. Most often, problems with them are caused by users ignoring the rules safe removal devices, experiments with various software in which these flash drives are involved, as well as their initially lousy quality. Below we will consider a list of possible actions carried out in the Windows environment that can solve the problem, unless, of course, the cause lies in a mechanical failure. And we, friends, will go from simple to complex.
Recovering SD cards and USB flash drives in Windows
- Note: below we will only talk about restoring the functionality of flash drives, but not about saving the data stored on them. This is a separate topic, and there is something about this on the website; you can also use this program for. Most of the methods proposed below for recovering SD cards and flash drives will lead to the loss of their data.
1. Hardware lock
SD cards, MicroSD adapters and flash drives can be hardware protected from writing data or completely blocked even for reading. On such devices there is a lock switch, which must, accordingly, be set to the “Unlocked” position.
2. Problems not related to the drives themselves
Politics may be the cause of problems with SD cards and flash drives Windows security. You need to find out whether access to removable drives is blocked (in whole or in part of writing data to them) by the computer administrator. You also need to check the card reader or ports Computer USB. If everything is fine with the latter, the card reader reads other SD cards, but problems still arise with the flash drive, no matter how you connect it to others USB ports, let's move on.
3. Windows Explorer
Standard formatting tools Windows Explorer can help in simple cases such as unsuccessful writing of data to a flash drive. Or when for some reason a smartphone, tablet, camera or other device cannot cope with this operation regarding SD cards. In any of the current Windows versions In the Explorer window on the drive, call up the context menu and click “Format”.
We leave the original file system and first try a quick format.
If it fails, we repeat the operation, but with full formatting (uncheck the fast box).
4. Windows Disk Management
You can try to perform the formatting procedure in disk management. To launch this tool, enter in the system search field:
diskmgmt.msc
In the disk management window, focusing on the size of the drive, we look for it among the disks connected to the computer. And in context menu, called on it, we start formatting.
You can immediately select full formatting.
If the flash drive has a partition structure like a hard drive, you must delete each of those partitions. This is done using the “Delete Volume” option in the context menu.
And then, in place of the resulting unallocated space, you need to create a single partition. To do this, in the context menu on this very unallocated space, launch the operation “Create new volume» and follow the instructions of the step-by-step wizard.
5. Programs for low-level formatting
Standard formatting tools may not help complex cases, for example, when flash drives are displayed (in the same Explorer or Disk Management) as unrecognized devices with a file RAW system. The latter means that either Windows environment does not understand the file system of the drive, or there is no file system as such in principle. Actually, this is what causes problems with a flash drive or SD card when it works on other devices, with other operating systems. In such cases, third-party Windows programs designed for so-called low-level formatting will help restore the flash drive.
In fact low level formatting- This is a procedure that is carried out either in the production conditions of flash device manufacturers, or in serious specialized services. Various types of Windows software that claim to perform this kind of operation actually perform a regular full format, but with mechanisms different from those that apply operating system. Such programs cope well with flash drive problems if these problems arise at the file system level. Let's look at two of these programs.
HDD Low Level Format Tool
http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/
Shareware portable HDD program Low Level Format Tool can format different types storage media, in particular SD cards and USB flash drives. After unpacking the archive with the program, run it and agree to the license terms.
We choose free use.
Directly in the program window we indicate the problematic drive and click “Continue”.
We confirm the decision.
We wait for the operation to complete and check the operation of the media.
SDFormatter
http://flashboot.ru/files/file/355
A completely free small program called SDFormatter is another tool for so-called low-level formatting. Works with both SD cards and USB flash drives. Install SDFormatter into the system, launch it, and indicate the problematic flash drive in the “Drive” column. Click “Format”.
The program wants to make sure that our intentions are serious, click “Ok.”
He asks not to touch the drive while the operation is being performed.
Upon completion, test the flash drive or SD card. If this does not help, repeat the operation with the settings for complete overwriting of sectors (nothing more than full formatting). Press “Option”, select “Full (OverWrite)”. And also click “Format” at the bottom.
If using the above methods it was not possible to revive the flash drive, and it is still under warranty, you need to stop at this stage. And do not take any further action except contact the seller with a request to replace the device. All the actions described below should be resorted to only when, in fact, there is nothing to lose. The instructions below apply to USB flash drives, SD and MicroSD cards. However, in the case of the latter, the likelihood of recovery is extremely low.
6. D-Soft Flash Doctor
D-Soft Flash Doctor performs so-called low-level formatting, and at the same time also detects damaged sectors (cells). Well, and, accordingly, knows how to block them and replace them with backup ones. The program can help when flash drives or SD cards have difficulty reading individual files located on damaged sectors. The program is free and portable. I did not find the official website, but it can be freely downloaded on the Internet.
In the D-Soft Flash Doctor window, the first thing you need to do is run a scan to detect errors.
In my case, there were no damaged (broken) sectors.
But if in your case, friends, the scan results are different and bad sectors are detected, we start the recovery process.
The window for performing this operation promises that the process will not last longer than 10 minutes, but in fact, reassigning bad sectors on a drive with a capacity larger than 4 GB can take quite a long time. So it is better to run the recovery operation at night.
7. Flashing the memory controller
Programs for so-called low-level formatting or their analogues, which in any other form claim to be able to resuscitate all types of SD cards and/or USB flash drives, turn out to be powerless in the event of a software failure of the controller, when it requires flashing. This problem can have different symptoms, but more often it is either the computer does not see the drive completely, or it sees it and can even read the data, but cannot format it by any means. In particular, due to write protection even though the drive is not locked by hardware.
First of all, it is necessary to mention in what cases it is required flash drive controller firmware. The list of such faults is not very long; just below I have made a list of the most common situations when this technique can help in repairing a flash drive. But you should not perceive the technique described here as a panacea for all “diseases”. Each case is individual, but the general methodology is similar, with the exception of some issues that are associated with different controllers, memory chips and a different combination of faults. You can also read others on the blog.
When to use the flash drive controller firmware technique:
- Zero capacity of the flash drive, incorrect volume (2\4\8\16 KB\MB) instead of the normal size;
- The drive is not detected on different PCs;
- When connecting a disk, the “insert disk” error appears;
- Error “Disk not found in device”;
- Error “The disk is write protected”;
- Read/write errors occur, and there is no way to copy or write data to the flash drive. It may be that data is written but not opened from the flash drive;
- When connected to a PC, the flash drive is detected for a long time with errors “Error “Code 10”, Error “Code 43” and the like.
I may not have mentioned everything here. If anyone has any additions, write your case in the comments, and I will try to promptly make adjustments to the materials.
We move on to preparatory work on the flash drive for its further flashing (the controller itself is being flashed). We will assume that we have decided that there are no other options except flash drive controller firmware We don’t have any left and this is the last chance to repair a precious flash drive (road like memory, large volume, beautiful case, etc.)
Flash drive controller firmware (work stages):
1) Determination of the flash drive controller
Here we have only 2 options for determining the manufacturer and model of the controller. The first option is the most banal - open the case (if this is structurally possible). To do this, you need to open the flash drive casing and remove the drive board from there. For the most part, all USB flash drives are the same internally, with the exception of monolithic flash drives. As an example, I took a photo of the general view of the flash drive board and controller (using the example of a photo of a flash drive from free sources).
The visual method is very simple and most accurate, since programs for determining pid&vid devices are not always accurate. If it is not possible to look at the controller visually or there are difficulties in disassembling the case, then we have a direct path to programs for determining pid and vid flash drives.
Important: In cases where the flash drive is not detected on the PC, the controller can only be identified by visual inspection.
Determining the controller by PID and VID
2) Selecting a utility for the controller
The next step is to search for a specialized utility for flashing the flash drive controller. We already have the VID and PID values, so we can start looking for a utility for the controller. To find the required utility, I use the service http://flashboot.ru/iflash/.
After pressing the search button, it offers us more than one result. The thing is that such a controller, as in my case, is used in flash drives different manufacturers and with different sizes. When searching, pay attention to the UTILS (utilities) field, where you need to look for exactly the result where the name of the utility is displayed. You don’t have to pay attention to the size of the flash drive - this is not a critical parameter. You can also search for a utility by the name of the controller, which can greatly speed up the search for the required utility.
P.S. practice shows that sometimes it's worth a try different versions utilities for the same controllers.
The search result gave us one more or less suitable option(highlighted in red in the screenshot) – utility SMI SM3257AA.
To download the utility, you can use the same site http://flashboot.ru/files/. In the search bar you need to enter the name of our utility - SMI SM3257AA. As a result, 2 results were found. You need to download both, since there is a chance that one of them will only help solve our problem.
But, there is one thing. We know for sure that the exact name of our controller is slightly different from what we found. On the controller body and program USB Flash Info showed that the correct name of the controller SM3257ENAA, not SM3257AA. To clear our conscience, let's check the utility database to see if there is a utility for such a modification. Search dropped 2 utility options.
Most likely, the utilities that I found when searching for SM3257AA and ENAA have the same core. In practice, it may turn out that they are no different, but there is still a possibility that you will need to try all 4 specials found. utilities. I recommend downloading all 4 programs at once.
I downloaded all 4 pieces, but decided to start with the utility SMI SM3257ENAA MPTool V2.03.58 v8 K1129 (11/11/29 Build). Let me get ahead of myself - I managed to reflash the flash drive controller with this utility, and I did not check others.
Now I will briefly describe the procedure for flashing the firmware of the SM3257ENAA controller.
— Unpacked the archive and launched the shortcut sm32Xtest_V58-8
We launch the utility and see that our patient flash drive is not visible in it (see screenshot).
— To identify our flash drive in the program, press the button “ Scan USB (F5)”, as a result of which the program “sees” the usb device.
To start the process of flashing the flash drive controller, you need to click the Start button in the utility menu (before clicking, you need to select the desired flash drive). After pressing the button, the firmware process will begin.
After completing the firmware operation, in the upper right corner we will see the word OK on a green background (see screenshot).
This completes the process of flashing the flash drive controller. Within 10-20 seconds, our flash drive will appear in My Computer, clean and without any files, since low-level formatting of the drive occurs during the firmware process.
For any questions regarding this article, write in the comments.
Restoring USB flash drives has its own characteristics. Good news: These devices, unlike SD cards, are repairable. Therefore, if you cannot exchange a flash drive under warranty, why not take advantage of the 60-70% chance to have it repaired.
The article will discuss various cases, typical problems problems associated with the failure of flash drives, and solutions for them.
Recover data or repair a flash drive?
These are not the same thing, although the concepts are interrelated.
The main task that the repair solves is to restore the functionality of the flash drive so that it:
- was defined as a storage device in Disk Management,
- was correctly defined in Explorer,
- read and wrote data.
As a result of repair usb flash drives It’s easy to lose all the data on it, but it will still be writable and readable.
File recovery is only possible on a working USB flash drive.
The main reasons for failure of a USB flash drive
How to understand that a USB flash drive needs repair:
- When a flash drive is connected, the LED on its case does not light up;
- The device is not recognized on another computer/laptop;
- The flash drive is defined as unidentified usb device.
Damaging a USB drive is as easy as shelling pears. Like any physical device, flash memory is subject to external influences (shock, thermal effects, water ingress, etc.). In addition, there are a number of software errors due to which the flash drive does not work.
The contacts of the USB connector are damaged
Often, the problem lies in a damaged contact between the controller and the USB connector.
How to check. To check the flash drive for this problem, test it on another computer. Alternatively, insert another flash drive (if available) into the USB port of the same computer.
If other flash drives can be read on a PC without problems, the problem is probably in the current storage medium.
If you are unable to read data from a flash drive only on this computer, the problem may be in the USB sockets motherboard PC or laptop.
How to fix it.
- Here is a link to a third-party guide on how to repair a USB connector: DIY USB connector repair on a laptop.
- If you don't want to fiddle with wires, it's better to give away a PC or flash drive with a broken usb port for repairs. The approximate cost of USB replacement is $20–50.
Hardware/mechanical problem: controller damaged
Most often, everything depends on the flash drive controller, which is the main link in the operation of the drive. The controller contains important microcircuits, and disconnecting a contact or burning out a leg will make data recovery on a flash drive very problematic.
How to fix a flash drive.
- Replace the controller yourself (which is unrealistic at home).
- Take the USB drive to a service center - but repairing the flash memory will cost a lot of money. You won't find a controller for a USB flash drive on sale. The laboratory can find a donor flash drive and “transplant” the faulty controller.
- If the data stored on a flash drive is vital and you would like to recover it, the laboratory may use an expensive hardware and software system to retrieve the data bypassing the hardware controller.
You can find out the cost of services directly from specialists at a flash drive repair company in your city. It can start from $30 and go up to $500 - 1000.
Reflashing a damaged flash drive
The USB flash drive contains firmware - microcode with service data. If damaged usb firmware The flash drive inevitably stops working.
How to fix it. Such a flash drive cannot be formatted using ordinary universal software like SDFormatter; it will require complete “trephination” - flashing. This will require proprietary utility from the manufacturer.
However, you can reflash the flash drive only by finding out the name of the controller. The difficulty is that manufacturers, as a rule, use different types and models of controllers and can implement not only their own, but also other people’s developments. Therefore, it is not always possible to immediately determine the type of flash memory controller.
Fortunately, there are special programs that allow you to determine the VID&PID* type for Transcend drives, Silicon Power etc.; We will list them with a link to the installers.
(* VID – manufacturer identifier, PID – device identifier.)
After the warranty repair, all the photos on the smartphone and on the SD card disappeared.
Answer. A very vague question. Warranty repairs were carried out on what - mobile device or memory cards? All your claims against the performers are governed by your contract.
Regarding data recovery on SD card, please use specialized applications, to which, in fact, this site is dedicated.
A 2GB flash card from an old Nokia phone, the phone sees the flash drive perfectly, the tablet and other phones do not see it. My equipment sees other people's flash cards.
Answer. If other flash cards do not open on your, as you say, old Nokia, it is most likely because the phone simply does not support new technologies. Review the documentation and specifications for your device. Perhaps it's time to upgrade your hardware?
My 32GB micro flash drive broke in half. How can I recover information on this flash drive? Please tell me where and who can help me, how to fix the flash drive?
Answer. Alas, this flash drive cannot be repaired or at least somehow reanimated. If the firmware on your flash drive crashed, then you could give it some chance of recovery. As for physical damage, it all depends on the damage. If the flash memory chips are intact, you can read the data through a PC 3000 Flash reader, etc.
Only possible solution(if the files are not particularly important) – purchase a new microSD card.
The flash drive does not open, does not appear as a removable disk, and does not appear in the device manager. Physical impact is excluded, because There are three such flash drives, different people worked with them.
Answer. You haven't specified the type of memory you are working with. In any case, if a flash drive or SD card does not open, I would advise checking the operation of the flash card on other devices. Test it on other phones or devices that you can connect it to. If it is an SD card, try connecting it to your PC via a card reader.
Check if the connected device is detected in Device Manager. If yes, use any disk partitioning program or standard using Windows, or proprietary software available on the flash drive developer’s website to format the flash drive in NTFS or FAT.
While formatting the flash drive (transcend), the flash drive was pulled out from the PC. It was clear that it would no longer work, a check confirmed this. The computer does not detect the flash drive, the indicator blinks all the time, it is not in “my computer”, it is in the device manager, it says that it works fine, it is defined as a storage device. Help me restore the transcend flash drive!
Answer. The file table on your flash drive is probably damaged. You can still restore the operation of a flash drive if you create a partition on it and format it. You can revive a flash drive, as already mentioned, using specialized utilities like Acronis Disc Director, etc., but it is best to use the TestDisk application to partition and restore a transcend flash drive.
The flash drive was encrypted in TrueCrypt, I reinstalled the OS, mounted the flash drive, the files were displayed, but when I tried to open them, it gave me an error - access denied. Tell me, is it possible to save information if the flash drive is not detected after encryption?
Answer. You will need a client program to work with Truecrypt. Alas, on at the moment The truecrypt.org website is unavailable and the project itself is closed. So try to find the application somewhere on the Internet. After this, when opening files, you will be required to enter a password to access your files.
The flash drive is reset and the system requires formatting the flash drive, but I need to save very important and expensive files. Help!
Answer. Under no circumstances agree to format your flash drive! Instead, use data recovery software and try to recover the missing partition on your storage device. You can safely copy all saved information to hard drive and then search among these rubble for exactly what you need.
There is a JetFlash Transcend 8GB flash drive. No longer determined by the system. I formatted it with JetFlash Online Recovery and it deleted all data from the flash drive. Is it now possible to recover the Transcend flash drive, that is, the data on it?
Answer. The Unformat program is suitable for restoring a Transcend flash drive. The chances of recovery depend on the depth of formatting. Anyway, use the deep scan option. Alternatively, try Recuva with a similar scanning option.
Good day!
If your flash drive begins to constantly fail: it is not formatted, when connected to a computer it often freezes, when copying files to it errors occur, but it has not been subjected to mechanical stress - there is a CHANCE for restoring its functionality!
It would be nice if, when connecting a flash drive, it was at least somehow detected, for example: a connection sound is made, the flash drive is displayed in "my computer", the LED on it blinks, etc. If the computer does not see the flash drive at all, then first I recommend reading this article:
In general, it is impossible to give universal instructions on how and with what program to do what to restore a flash drive! But in this short article I will try to give an algorithm that will help even novice users to understand the problem and solve it.
Restoring a flash drive // step by step
Controller Model Definition
By the will of fate, it turned out that I had one flash drive, which Windows refused to format - an error occurred "Windows can't complete formatting". The flash drive, according to the owner, did not fall, no water got on it, and in general, it was handled quite carefully...
All that was clear after examining it was that it was 16 GB, and its brand was SmartBuy. When connected to a PC, the LED lit up, the flash drive was detected and visible in the explorer, but it did not work properly.
SmartBuy 16 GB - "experimental" non-working flash drive
To restore normal operation of the flash drive, you need to reflash the controller chip. This is done with special utilities, and for each type of controller there is its own utility! If the utility is chosen incorrectly, then with a high degree of probability you will completely ruin the flash drive... I’ll say even more, for one model range flash drives - there may be different controllers!
Each device have their own unique identification numbers - VID and PID , and the flash drive is no exception. To select the correct flashing utility, you need to determine these identification numbers (and the controller model based on them).
One of the most simple ways Find out the VID, PID, and model of the flash drive controller - use special utilities. One of the best of its kind is .
Flash Drive Information Extractor
Small free utility, to get maximum information about the flash drive. No need to install it!
The program will determine the model of the USB flash drive, model and type of memory (all modern flash drives are supported, at least from normal manufacturers)...
The program will work even in cases where it is not defined file system flash drives when the computer freezes when connecting the media.
Information received:
- controller model;
- possible options for memory chips installed in the flash drive;
- type of installed memory;
- maximum current consumption declared by the manufacturer;
- USB version;
- the full physical volume of the disk;
- disk space reported by the operating system;
- VID and PID;
- Query Vendor ID;
- Query Product ID;
- Query Product Revision;
- Controller Revision;
- Flash ID (not for all configurations);
- Chip F/W (for some controllers), etc.
Important! The program only works with USB flash drives. MP3 players, phones and other devices - it does not recognize. It is advisable, before starting the program, to leave only one flash drive connected to the USB ports, from which you want to get maximum information.
Working with Flash Drive Information Extractor
- We disconnect everything that is connected from the USB ports (at least all drives: players, external hard drives etc.).
- Insert the flash drive to be repaired into the USB port;
- We launch the program;
- Press the button "Get information about the flash drive" ;
- After some time, we get maximum information about the drive (see screenshot below).
- If the program freezes- don’t do anything and don’t close it. Remove the flash drive from the USB port after a couple of minutes, the program should “hang” and you will see all the information that it managed to pull out from the flash drive...
Now we know the information about the flash drive and we can start searching for the utility.
Information about the flash drive:
- VID: 13FE; PID: 4200;
- Controller model: Phison 2251-68 (second line in the screenshot above);
- SmartBuy 16 GB.
Addition
You can reliably determine the controller model if you disassemble the flash drive. True, not every flash drive case is collapsible, and not every one can be put back together later.
Usually, to open the casing of a flash drive, you need a knife and a screwdriver. When opening the case, be careful not to damage the inside of the flash drive. An example of a controller is shown in the screenshot below.
Disassembled flash drive. Controller model: VLI VL751-Q8
Addendum 2
You can find out the VID and PID of a flash drive using the device manager (in this case, you don’t need to install anything). True, in this case we will not recognize the controller model, and there is some risk that VID and PID it will not be possible to accurately identify the controller. And yet, suddenly the above utility freezes and does not provide any information at all...
How to find a utility for flashing a flash drive
Important! After flashing the flash drive, all information on it will be deleted!
1) Knowing the controller model, you can simply use search engines (Google, Yandex for example) and find what you need.
The operating algorithm is as follows:
- We go to the site:
- Enter yours VID and PID into the search bar and look for it;
- You'll likely find dozens of lines in the results list. Among them you need to find a line that matches: controller model, your manufacturer, VID and PID, flash drive size .
- Further in the last column you will see the recommended utility. By the way, please note that the version of the utility also matters! All that's left is to download the necessary utility and apply it.
After you find and download the required utility, run it and format the media - in my case, you only had to press one button - Restore .
Formatter SiliconPower v3.13.0.0 // Format and Restore. An end-user utility designed for both low-level and high-level (FAT32) formatting of flash drives on Phison controllers of the PS2251-XX line.
After a couple of minutes of blinking the LED on the flash drive, it began to work normally, messages from Windows about the impossibility of formatting no longer appeared. Result: the flash drive was restored (became 100% working) and given to the owner.
That's all, actually. I would be grateful for any additions on the topic. Good Luck!
