Kingston KC400 data recovery

[chevypl]

Hello,

I have a KC400 512 GB with Phison ps3110-s10 controller.
PC suddenly got frozen. After reboot "No bootable drive" message.

I read that firmware upgrade should be avoided due to data wipe.
Instead there is a way to upgrade controller internal software.

I shipped this drive for diagnose and they could manage it to work somehow (they send me folder structure).
I assume there is a way to recovery data then.

Can anyone point the right directions how to recover the data?

Thanks in advance!

[fzabkar]

I suspect that they used this tool:

PC-3000 SSD. List of supported SSD drives (regularly updated) v2.6.5:
https://blog.acelaboratory.com/pc-3000-ssd-list-of-supported-ssd-drives-regularly-updated.html

Kingston SSDNow KC400

[chevypl]

Thank you!
Looks like this is what they use.
Too expensive tool for one time use I think.
I assume recover data in another way would need much more effort...

To fulfill my curiosity, do you know how this software works?
Upload "fresh" firmware version to controller and put it to "read" mode?
What I read the most common issue with PS controller is stuck in safe-mode due to controller program corrupt.

[fzabkar]

To fulfill my curiosity, do you know how this software works?
Upload "fresh" firmware version to controller and put it to "read" mode?
What I read the most common issue with PS controller is stuck in safe-mode due to controller program corrupt.

I suspect that they jumper it for safe mode, then upload a "loader" (a software module). I presume that they can then repair the translator (logical block to physical block mapping) and other firmware modules.

One thing you might like to try is to keep your SSD powered for several hours, just in case it is repairing itself. Then try a warm boot.

[HaQue]

I agree with @fzabkar and want to add it isnt just software, but dedicated hardware. The "hardware is mostly touted as a kind of hardware dongle, meaning probably a fancy sata controller with built in protection, and possibly other features, but also has dedicated software to work with said hardware.

so not something you might just find out on the web, and not something you can whip up if you are a coder.. probably a fair amount of research went into it.

if they can recover, why not get them to do it?

[chevypl]

One thing you might like to try is to keep your SSD powered for several hours, just in case it is repairing itself. Then try a warm boot.

Thanks! I will give a try and let you know whether this works.

[chevypl]

Thanks for info.
This is advanced piece hardware+software indeed. I did not find anything advanced on the market yet.
ACLab guys did a lot good hard work, no doubt, so they have to get paid accordingly.

The price they asked for recovery is not worth data on my SSD.
I thought initially if they can manage SSD to work it should not be to hard to do it at home.
Now I know it's not and understood the money they paid for that expensive tool must return to them.
But again my data is not worth that money...bye bye SSD...

[data-medics]

Thanks for info.
This is advanced piece hardware+software indeed. I did not find anything advanced on the market yet.
ACLab guys did a lot good hard work, no doubt, so they have to get paid accordingly.

The price they asked for recovery is not worth data on my SSD.
I thought initially if they can manage SSD to work it should not be to hard to do it at home.
Now I know it's not and understood the money they paid for that expensive tool must return to them.
But again my data is not worth that money...bye bye SSD...

Out of curiosity, what did they quote you? Perhaps there's someone here who'd be able to do it for less.

[chevypl]

Out of curiosity, what did they quote you? Perhaps there's someone here who'd be able to do it for less.

500 GBP
I think this price is absolutely fine if you have really important data to recover.
As mentioned early they use expensive tools which have to bring them money back, right...
Personally my data is not worth that money. As a IT enthusiast I did some research and found your awesome forum.
I don't want to judge anyone for money they charge for the recovery service.

[pcimage]

To fulfill my curiosity, do you know how this software works?
Upload "fresh" firmware version to controller and put it to "read" mode?
What I read the most common issue with PS controller is stuck in safe-mode due to controller program corrupt.

I suspect that they jumper it for safe mode, then upload a "loader" (a software module). I presume that they can then repair the translator (logical block to physical block mapping) and other firmware modules.

One thing you might like to try is to keep your SSD powered for several hours, just in case it is repairing itself. Then try a warm boot.

You are right about “safe mode” and “loader” but the translator isn’t “repaired” as a such. The SSD software makes a “virtual translator” which is the handed over as a virtual device to Data Extractor for data recovery.

It should also be noted that there is almost always some “dead cells” of memory so there will be some level of damage to the data, like there would be on a hard drive with bad sectors.

Data Extractor will identify damaged files so we can make two file lists in HTML for the client to check to see if their important data has been satisfactorily recovered.

[pcimage]

Out of curiosity, what did they quote you? Perhaps there's someone here who'd be able to do it for less.

500 GBP
I think this price is absolutely fine if you have really important data to recover.
As mentioned early they use expensive tools which have to bring them money back, right...
Personally my data is not worth that money. As a IT enthusiast I did some research and found your awesome forum.
I don't want to judge anyone for money they charge for the recovery service.

You have PM