Solid State Drive (SSD), or solid state drive - a storage medium built using NAND flash memory and having a SATA or eSATA interface, designed for storing data in computer systems. SSDs were designed to provide faster data processing and to replace conventional hard drives(HDD). However, as practice has shown, it is too early to talk about a complete replacement of flash memory chips comparable in reliability (and especially durability) to a magnetic surface hard drive it didn't work out. SSD drives quite often fail (failures of the controller, memory chips, failures in the firmware), taking away valuable data. Our laboratory specialists are able to quickly recover data from faulty SSD drives of almost all models and modifications. The equipment at our disposal allows us to work directly with the contents of memory chips, firmware, launch virtual broadcasts and transmit ATA commands through the interface, so we can not only recover information from damaged SSDs, but also repair them. SSD repair in our laboratory it is placed on a separate line from data recovery, as it is associated with complete irreversible loss of data stored on the drive; while data recovery does not ensure further use of the solid-state drive. Repair and data recovery for SSDs - mutually exclusive processes.
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TO this type Malfunctions include: accidental formatting, reinstallation of the operating system, deletion of files, various damage to file systems. The main difference between logical faults is that hard drive fully functional and has no surface defects. Used for data recovery specialized programs and software and hardware systems operating in read-only mode to eliminate destructive influence on the recovered data. As a rule, data can be restored completely.
Hardware faults
Hardware faults are usually called faults caused by the failure of electronic components(controller, memory chips, auxiliary elements) or translation problems. The manifestations of this type of fault are different: the media is not detected by the computer, is detected with a volume of 0 bytes, or asks to be formatted; they have one thing in common: they cannot be solved programmatically - none of the data recovery programs will find anything. The solution is also the same: unsolder the memory chips, read them with a programmer and recreate a virtual translator.
At logical faults, such as deleting files, formatting or reinstalling the operating system, data recovery from an SSD is practically no different from similar work with other media (hard drives, flash drives): access to the contents of sectors is done through the standard SATA interface in exactly the same way software. But if TRIM mode is enabled in advance, data from the SSD is deleted without the possibility of recovery; sectors that previously contained deleted data are simply overwritten with zeros.
At SSD hardware faults(malfunction of the controller or memory chips, damage to the firmware or failures in translation) data recovery can be carried out in two ways: with and without unsoldering the memory chips. Both of these methods don't bring drive into a working state, they are intended only for receiving data from a faulty drive.
Option #1. Unsoldering and reading of SSD memory chips
This option is applicable for relatively old SSDs, having linear translation, which can be applied either taking into account markers from the service area, or taking into account translation tables. The method is unsuitable for controllers that use encryption (for example, SandForce SF2281 and other controllers built on its basis) or complex translation mechanisms.
2. Reading microcircuits. Produced using programmers (PC-3000flash SSD Edition or NAND Reader) with the appropriate adapters (“sockets”): TSOP-48, TLGA-52, TSSOP-56, etc. When working with TLC memory, the PC-3000flash complex has proven itself very well due to its unique algorithms for re-reading numerous bit errors (for the so-called Problem Chips); To study non-standard and new memory chips, it is more convenient to use NAND Reader due to the simplicity and low cost of adapter production (including small-scale production).
3. Analysis of transformations and image assembly. It is produced using approximately the same algorithms as for any flash drives (USB-flash, memory cards, etc.), with some exceptions: the number of memory chips is much larger and the conversion algorithms are much more complex, due to the increased performance of SSDs
Option #2. Construction of a virtual translator in the PC-3000 complex
This option is applicable for new SSDs, the translation algorithms of which are impossible, extremely difficult, or simply impractical to recreate. Data recovery from SSDs using the PC-3000Express complex is currently the only solution for SSDs that use hardware encryption. The method is applicable only for drives for which translation algorithms have been researched (their list is continuously updated with new models), and also if their physical condition allows the SSD to be initialized in technological mode.
The PC-3000Express complex allows you to produce not only data recovery with SSD, but also implement repair solid state drives. However, the possibilities of repairing SSDs, as well as recovering data from them, are limited to a certain list of both faults and controllers used. Considering that SSDs, like any other drives built on NAND flash memory, fail due to wear of the memory cells, repair using software methods is usually useless, and by replacing memory chips it is impractical, since its cost is comparable with the cost of a new working drive.
1. Connection to the PC-3000Express+SSD complex. To operate via the SATA interface, the drive can be connected to one of the ports of the complex with the PC-3000Express switching to SSD operating mode.
2. Transfer to test mode. If manual transfer is possible (by installing the appropriate jumpers), the drive is transferred to the technological mode necessary for working with SSD software. Our equipment supports a wide range of families and models of solid-state drives, translation options and on-the-fly assembly.
3. Construction of a virtual translator followed by creating a sector-by-sector copy in Data Extractor. Virtual translation of the contents of SSD memory chips is designed to transfer the decrypted contents of memory chips in the order necessary to build a virtual image, from which data will subsequently be obtained in the form of files and folders
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Greetings to all Khabrovsk residents!
Today I propose to talk a little about recovering information from faulty SSD drives. But first, before we get acquainted with the technology for saving precious kilo-mega- and gigabytes, please pay attention to the diagram below. On it we tried to rank the most popular SSD models according to the likelihood of successful data recovery from them.
As you might guess, drives located in the green zone usually have the fewest problems (provided the engineer has the necessary tools, of course). And drives from the red zone can cause a lot of suffering to both their owners and restoration engineers. If such SSDs fail, the chances of getting back lost data are currently too small. If your SSD is located in or near the red zone, then I would advise making a backup before each brushing of your teeth.
Those who have already made a backup today, welcome to cat.
A small caveat should be made here. Some companies can do a little more, some a little less. The results illustrated in the chart represent an industry average as of 2015.
Today, there are two common approaches to recovering data from faulty SSDs.
Approach #1. Reading dumps of NAND flash chips
Solving the problem, as they say, head-on. The logic is simple. User data is stored on NAND flash memory chips. The drive is faulty, but what if the chips themselves are fine? In the vast majority of cases this is true, the microcircuits are operational. Some of the data stored on them may be damaged, but the chips themselves function normally. Then you can unsolder each chip from printed circuit board drive and read its contents using the programmer. And then try to assemble a logical image of the drive from the received files. This approach is currently used in data recovery from usb flash drives and various memory cards. I’ll say right away that this is not a rewarding job.Difficulties may arise even at the reading stage. NAND flash memory chips are available in different packages, and for a specific chip, the programmer may not include the necessary adapter. For such cases, the kit usually includes some universal adapter under soldering. The engineer is forced, using thin wires and a soldering iron, to connect the required legs of the microcircuit to the corresponding contacts of the adapter. The task is completely solvable, but requires direct hands, certain skills and time. I’m not very familiar with a soldering iron myself, so this kind of work commands respect.
Let's also not forget that in an SSD there will most likely be 8 or 16 such chips, and each one will have to be unsoldered and counted. And the process of reading a microcircuit itself cannot be called fast either.
Well, then all that remains is to assemble an image from the received dumps and it’s done! But this is where the fun begins. I will not go into details, I will describe only the main tasks that the engineer and the software he uses must solve.
Bit errors
The nature of NAND flash memory chips is such that errors are bound to appear in the stored data. Individual memory cells begin to be read incorrectly, and consistently incorrectly. And this is considered the norm until the number of errors within a certain range exceeds a certain threshold. Correction codes (ECC) are used to combat bit errors. When saving user data, the drive first divides the data block into several ranges and adds some redundant data to each range, which allows you to detect and correct possible errors. The number of errors that can be corrected is determined by the power of the code.The higher the code power, the longer the sequence of assigned bytes. The process of calculating and adding the mentioned sequence is called encoding, and correcting bit errors is called decoding. The encoding and decoding circuits are usually implemented in hardware within the drive controller. When executing a read command, the drive, along with other operations, also corrects bit errors. The same decoding procedure must be performed with the resulting dump files. To do this, you need to determine the parameters of the code used.
Memory chip page format
The unit of reading and writing for memory chips is a unit called a page. For modern chips, the page size is approximately 8 KB or 4 KB. Moreover, this value is not a power of two, but a little more. That is, inside the page you can place 4 or 8 KB of user data and something else. The drives use this redundant part to store correction codes and some service data. Typically a page is divided into several ranges. Each range consists of a user data area (UA) and a service data area (SA). The latter stores correction codes inside itself that protect this range.All pages have the same format, and for successful recovery it is necessary to determine which byte ranges correspond to user data and which are service data.
Scrambling VS Encryption
Most modern SSDs do not store user data in clear text; instead, it is pre-scrambled or encrypted. The difference between these two concepts is quite arbitrary. Scrambling is some kind of reversible transformation. The main task of this transformation is to obtain from the source data something similar to a random sequence of bits. This transformation is not crypto-proof. Knowledge of the conversion algorithm allows you to easily obtain the original data. In the case of encryption, knowing the algorithm alone does not give anything. You also need to know the decryption key. Therefore, if the drive uses hardware data encryption and you do not know the encryption parameters, then you will not be able to recover the data from the read dumps. It's better not to even start this task. Fortunately, most manufacturers honestly admit that they use encryption.Moreover, marketers managed to turn this criminal (from the point of view of data recovery) functionality into an option that supposedly gives a competitive advantage over other drives. And it would be okay if there were separate models for the paranoid, in which there would be high-quality protection against unauthorized access. But now, apparently, the time has come when the lack of encryption is considered bad manners.
In the case of scrambling, things are not so sad. In drives, it is implemented as a bitwise XOR operation (addition modulo 2, excluding “OR”), performed on the original data and some generated sequence of bits (XOR pattern).
This operation is often denoted by the symbol ⊕.
Because
Then, to obtain the original data, it is necessary to perform a bitwise addition of the read buffer and the XOR pattern:
(X ⊕ Key) ⊕ Key = X ⊕ (Key ⊕ Key) = X ⊕ 0 = X
It remains to determine the XOR pattern. In the simplest case, the same XOR pattern is used for all pages. Sometimes the drive generates a long pattern, say 256 pages long, then each of the first 256 pages of the chip is added with its own piece of the pattern, and this is repeated for the next groups of 256 pages. But there are more complicated cases. When each page individually generates its own pattern based on some law. In such cases, among other things, you still need to try to unravel this law, which, to put it mildly, is not easy.
Build the image
After all the preliminary transformations have been completed (correcting bit errors, eliminating scrambling, determining the page format and, possibly, some others), the final stage is assembling the image. Due to the fact that the number of rewrite cycles for chip cells is limited, drives are forced to use wear leveling mechanisms to extend the life of the chips. The consequence of this is that user data is not stored sequentially, but is scattered chaotically within the chips. Obviously, the drive needs to somehow remember where it saved the current block of data. To do this, it uses special tables and lists, which are also stored on memory chips. The set of these structures is usually called a translator. It would be more accurate to say that a translator is a kind of abstraction that is responsible for converting logical addresses (sector numbers) into physical ones (chip and page).Accordingly, in order to assemble a logical image of the drive, you need to understand the format and purpose of all translator structures, and also know how to find them. Some of the structures are quite voluminous, so the drive does not store it entirely in one place, but it also ends up scattered in pieces throughout different pages. In such cases, there must be a structure that describes this distribution. It turns out to be a kind of translator for a translator. They usually stop there, but you can go even further.
This approach to data recovery makes it possible to completely emulate the operation of the drive at a low level. This explains the pros and cons of this approach.
Cons:
- Labor intensity. Since we are completely emulating the drive, we will have to do all the dirty work for it.
- Risk of failure. If it is not possible to solve at least one of the assigned tasks, then there can be no talk of restoration. And there are many options: the inability to read microcircuits because the programmer does not support them; unknown correction codes; unknown XOR pattern; encryption; unknown translator
- Risk of ruining the drive even more. In addition to shaking hands, the risk is the heating of the memory chips itself. For worn-out chips, this may result in additional bit errors.
- Time and cost of work
- Wide range of tasks. All that is needed from the drive is working memory chips. It doesn't matter what condition the other elements are in.
Approach #2. Technological mode
Very often, SSD developers, in addition to implementing the operation of the drive according to the specification, also provide it with additional functionality that allows you to test the operation of individual drive subsystems and change a number of configuration parameters. Commands to the drive that allow this to be done are usually called technological. They also turn out to be very useful when working with faulty drives whose damage is of a software nature.As mentioned above, over time, bit errors inevitably appear in memory chips. So, according to statistics, the reason for leaving building SSD in most cases, it is the appearance of uncorrectable bit errors in service structures. That is, on physical level all elements work fine. But the SSD cannot be initialized correctly because one of the service structures is damaged. This is the situation different models SSD is treated differently. Some SSDs go into emergency mode, in which the functionality of the drive is significantly reduced; in particular, the drive returns an error to any read or write commands. Often, in order to somehow signal a breakdown, the drive changes some of its passport data. For example, Intel 320 series instead of its serial number returns a string with an error code. The most common faults are from the “BAD_CTX %error code%” series.
In such situations, knowledge of technology teams comes in very handy. Using them, you can analyze all service structures, also read the internal logs of the drive and try to find out what went wrong during the initialization process. In fact, most likely this is why techno-commands were added, so that the manufacturer had the opportunity to find out the reason for the failure of their drives and try to improve something in their operation. Having determined the cause of the malfunction, you can try to eliminate it and bring the drive back to life. But all this requires truly in-depth knowledge of the device architecture. By architecture here I mostly mean the drive’s firmware and the service data it operates on. Only the developers themselves have this level of knowledge. Therefore, if you are not one of them, then you either must have comprehensive documentation for the drive, or you will have to spend a fair amount of hours studying this model. It’s clear that developers are in no hurry to share their work and there is no such documentation in the public domain. Frankly speaking, I doubt that such documentation exists at all.
Currently, there are too many SSD manufacturers, and new models appear too often, and there is no time for detailed study. Therefore, a slightly different approach is practiced.
Among the technological commands, the commands that allow you to read pages of memory chips are very useful. This way, you can read entire dumps via the SATA interface of the drive without opening the SSD case. In this case, the drive itself acts as a programmer for NAND flash memory chips. In principle, such actions should not even violate the terms of the warranty on the drive.
Often the handlers for techno-commands for reading memory chips are implemented in such a way that it is possible to leave bit error correction, and sometimes data decryption, on the drive side. Which, in turn, greatly facilitates the data recovery process. In fact, all that remains is to figure out the translation mechanisms and, one might say, the solution is ready.
In words, it’s over, it all just sounds. But developing such solutions takes a lot of man-hours. As a result, we are adding just one SSD model to support.
But the data recovery process itself is greatly simplified! Having such a utility, all that remains is to connect the drive to the computer and run this utility, which, using techno-commands and analysis of service structures, will build a logical image. All that remains is the analysis of partitions and file systems. Which can also be a difficult task. But in most cases, the built image allows you to restore most of the user data without much difficulty.
Cons:
- Complexity and cost of development. Quite a few companies can afford to maintain their own development department and conduct this kind of research.
- Solutions are individual.
- Limited range of tasks. This approach is not applicable to all drives. The SSD must be physically intact. Also, it is rare, but still happens, that damage to some service structures eliminates the possibility of restoring user data.
- Simplicity.
- In some cases, it allows you to bypass encryption. In fact, the approach to data recovery using technological commands is currently the only known way to recover data from some drives that use hardware data encryption.
Conclusion
In war, all means are good. But personally, I prefer the second approach as it is more thin instrument. And the most promising, since the increasingly widespread use of hardware encryption eliminates the possibility of restoring information from “raw” chip dumps. However, the first approach also has its own niche of problems. By and large, these are the tasks that cannot be solved using the technological functions of the drive. First of all, these are drives with a hardware malfunction, and there is no way to determine the damaged element, or the nature of the damage precludes repair. And it is recommended to get down to business only if you already have successful experience in recovering information from a similar SSD model, or if you have information about the solution. You need to know what you will encounter: whether encryption or scrambling is used, what XOR pattern is most likely used, whether the translator format is known (is there an image collector). Otherwise, the chances of success are low, at least it will not be possible to quickly solve the problem. In addition, heating negatively affects worn-out memory chips, as a result of which additional bit errors may appear, which, in turn, can bring their own fly in the ointment in the future.That's all for now. Take care of yourself! And may backup protect your data!
We perform data recovery from SSDs of all brands: Kingston, OCZ, Transcend, Intel, Corsair, Silicon Power, Patriot, A-Data, Crucial, Western Digital, Samsung, Apacer, etc.
SSD (Solid State Drive)– are high-speed data storage devices based on NAND Flash memory. They have volumes and speeds similar in value to HDDs, but do not have mechanical parts, which allows them to easily withstand various external physical influences, such as vibrations, shocks, falls, etc.
The structure of an SSD drive is almost identical to conventional flash drives.. It has several NAND Flash chips and a management controller. The differences are that SSDs use a faster type of memory and controllers that can work with multiple memory chips in parallel.
Prices for data recovery services from SSD drives
How we recover data from SSD
Data recovery from SSD drives consists of several stages:
The main malfunctions that occur with SSD drives: - physical damage to SSD drives. This type includes damage to interface connectors, damage to controller and memory chips, radio elements SSD boards disk and the printed circuit board as a whole due to mechanical or electrical influences.
- logical damage to the file system of the SSD drive, erroneous deletion of information, formatting. When working with SSD drives and software failures may occur that may result in user data being inaccessible or corrupted.
- damage in the area official information SSD drive, used by the controller in the operation of the translation mechanism. An SSD drive contains areas that are used by the drive for official purposes. They are not involved in storing user data, but damage to the information in them leads to complete loss drive performance.
You can learn more about the equipment we use for data recovery from SSD drives by clicking on
Imagine a moment: you just purchased a brand new SSD drive, but when you connect it to a computer, it is not detected, or you have been using it for quite a long time, but at one fine moment, it is no longer recognized. Of course, here you might think that it broke down, burned out, in general, went out of order. And the right decision would be to take it to service center.
However, often the problem lies in ordinary system errors that can occur after various failures or if you connect a new SSD. In this case, fixing this is quite simple, we will talk about this below.
Causes of SSD connection problems
Despite the fact that solid-state drives have a completely different principle of storing information, they often use the same interfaces and form factors as conventional HDDs. For SSD connections Today the computer uses the SATA interface. Based on this, the conclusion suggests itself that these hard drives are subject to the same problems when connected as SATA hard drives. Moreover, solid-state drives designed to connect to mSATA, M.2 connectors or a PCI-Express slot have become widespread.
There are many reasons why an SSD drive is not detected by the computer and does not want to work properly. It is important to say that they apply not only to a new device connected to a PC for the first time. It also happens that a previously used hard drive suddenly stops working.
A user without the appropriate knowledge and skills will likely have serious difficulties diagnosing and subsequently solving the problem. Therefore, we will try to understand the manifestation and solution of each of them.
We carry out initialization
The first step is to consider the situation when the computer does not see new SSD disk the first time you connect. That is, the drive cannot initialize on its own, and this must be done manually; I will use Windows 7 as an example, but in other versions, Windows 8 and 10, all the steps will be similar:
- Press the key combination “Win+R” and enter “compmgmt.msc”, then click “OK”.
- We look for the “Disk Management” item in the left column and click on it.
- Select the one you want and click right click and click “Initialize disk”.
- In the new window, put a checkmark on it, select “MBR” or “GBT” and click “OK”. It is recommended to select "MBR"
- At the bottom of the main window, click on the disk and then select “Create a simple volume.”
- A new window will open, click “Next”.
- Now you need to specify the volume size. It is not recommended to change the default setting. Click “Next”.
- Next, select any letter and click “Next” again.
- Then select “Format this volume”, in the “File system” item select NTFS. Click “Next”.
- A new window will display the main parameters. If they match, click “Done”.
Following the algorithm exactly, you can initialize the disk without any problems, and it will be completely ready for use.
If there is an unallocated area, then it’s quite simple, you should start from point 5.
Changing a letter
When you first connect solid state drive The OS may simply not see it. That is, physically it can be fully functional, but it will not be displayed among other local disks.
Fixing this problem is quite simple as follows:
This way, you can quickly change the letter and solve the problem when a computer or laptop does not see the SSD device.
File system type
This option is possible when the “Change drive letter” option is missing. This indicates a discrepancy in file system, which is why the computer does not see the SSD. For the drive to work properly in Windows, it must be in NTFS format.
That is, in order for it to become available for full-fledged work, it needs to be formatted. This method Suitable only for those hard drives that do not contain important data, because during the formatting process all existing information will be deleted.
You need to do the following:
Once the drive is formatted, the problem will be fixed.
Doesn't show up in BIOS
In some cases, it happens that the SSD is not displayed even in the BIOS. There are two reasons why this happens, and just as many solutions. The first one is disabled SATA controller to enable it, you need:
It should be noted that the operating system may not be installed due to the selected “AHCI” mode; in this case, change it to “IDE” and after installation, change it back to “AHCI”.
If this does not help, then you should reset the BIOS settings. If you have the appropriate knowledge, it is recommended to update the BIOS itself to a new version.
Another reason that it is not detected could be faulty SSD firmware at the production stage. Of course, you can try to reflash it yourself, but there is a risk that due to incorrect actions it may completely fail. Therefore, it is better to return it under warranty or take it for repairs.
Damaged cable or cable
Special attention should be paid to cables and cables; they may have been damaged and failed. In addition, in many cases, the SSD drive does not work precisely because of inaccurate or incorrect connections inside the computer.
Typically, to connect a solid-state hard drive, exactly the same cables are used as for hard drives with SATA interface, making the potential problems similar to problems when attaching hard drives. We discussed them in a separate article about the reasons when.
Drive failure
Finally, it is necessary to say about the likelihood of the drive failing, which is why it is no longer detected. Even though there are no moving parts in an SSD, this does not mean that it cannot break.
For example, the drive controller may be faulty. In this case, repairs can be extremely difficult or completely impossible, since the memory modules, which are responsible for storing information, are located on the same chip along with the controller.
Power supply failure
If your computer or laptop does not see the SSD drive, then you should check the power supply. Often, due to its defects, many devices fail, and it becomes extremely difficult to repair them.
For example, the following situation may arise. You purchased a new SSD, connected it, but it shows no signs of life, it simply does not work. The right decision would be to return it under warranty and exchange it for another one. But if the same problem arises with the next one, then most likely either the batch is defective, which happens very rarely, or the problem is in the power supply.
Without understanding electronics, it is not possible to repair the power supply yourself, so it is best to take it to a trusted service center for diagnostics.
Built-in storage
It should also be said about one more feature that is unique to SSD drives. Sometimes it happens that a solid-state hard drive does not act as a connector connected to SATA, but is present as an integrated disk on motherboard. In this case, the SSD is detected by the OS tools, but is not visible in the BIOS.
Based on the fact that these drives are needed for use as service hard drives for the needs of the operating system, the situation when the SSD is not detected in the BIOS is quite normal, since this drive is integral to the motherboard.
Now you know what to do if various malfunctions occur and you can fix them yourself. But if none of the options helped solve your problem, then you should contact a specialized service center. Experienced employees will certainly find the cause of the breakdown and help you solve it.
