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 Post subject: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 17th, 2008, 18:22 
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Joined: July 8th, 2006, 6:18
Posts: 222
Seems like flash corruption, partially at least.
It is detected as removable media with the VID of the Silicon Motion controller, and the production tool for the SM321 shows the controller and some manufacturer names but a LBA size of 0, although the two banks of the 4GB flash (HY27UV08) are also recognized.
Setting it back to 8meg lets the tool crash on my PC.
Anyone with some experience on this chip?
BTW, the stick has no voltage regulator. Have they taken into account to roast the 3,3V SM321?!


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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 17th, 2008, 18:58 
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Joined: May 21st, 2007, 16:10
Posts: 1592
Location: Gothenburg/ Sweden
shaun wrote:
Seems like flash corruption, partially at least.
It is detected as removable media with the VID of the Silicon Motion controller, and the production tool for the SM321 shows the controller and some manufacturer names but a LBA size of 0, although the two banks of the 4GB flash (HY27UV08) are also recognized.
Setting it back to 8meg lets the tool crash on my PC.
Anyone with some experience on this chip?
BTW, the stick has no voltage regulator. Have they taken into account to roast the 3,3V SM321?!


Hi, yes the chip known, hynix...
You need to read it out externaly, and simulate the SM321 controller-
PM me or pcimage for the job.

Best Regards

Bosse

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Rescue IT Dataräddning Göteborg AB
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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 18th, 2008, 8:48 
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Joined: November 29th, 2006, 10:08
Posts: 7843
Location: UK
@mr_spokk...

Yes Bosse,

Well known controller to you and me both!

This needs specialist h/w and s/w, which we both have!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@shaun............

I am in UK, Bosse is in Sweden. Take your pick!

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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 18th, 2008, 10:05 
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Joined: December 27th, 2006, 10:15
Posts: 1852
Location: Belgium
Dont forget me!
I'm in Belgium.

Dobre

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Datarecovery in Belgium, Holland, France and Germany
Datarecoverytools http://www.drtools.eu


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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 18th, 2008, 11:22 
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Joined: May 21st, 2007, 16:10
Posts: 1592
Location: Gothenburg/ Sweden
Sorry Dobre...I missed you, won't happen twice 8)

Bosse

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Rescue IT Dataräddning Göteborg AB
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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 18th, 2008, 15:03 
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Joined: November 29th, 2006, 10:08
Posts: 7843
Location: UK
he he

Sorry Marc, how could we forget you? ;-)

Sean

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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 18th, 2008, 19:10 
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Joined: July 8th, 2006, 6:18
Posts: 222
Thanks for your replies.
It seems that there are common problems with either this controller, the Hynix flash or the combination of both - could you enlighten please?
I'm not looking for someone whose work I could probably re-sell, but for a technical discussion of this problem. Sure, DR is your job and you won't tell all your secrets in public, but this isn't actually what I'm asking, just some tech chat on this topic.
Still anyone of you who would like to talk further via PM?

I've just studied the reference schematics for SM321BB designs - looks much like the stick on the bench.
Anyway, the "production tool" from Silicon Motion recognizes the SM, and also some info (like two banks of nand flash) is displayed, but as I wrote yesterday - 0 LBA sectors.

Taking into account that the flash may be (partially) dead and that the configuration data is stored onto the flash, the sector count cannot be altered. So the way would be to obtain an image of the flash using an appropriate programmer and then emulate whatever the SM321 does with the raw data (error correction at least I'd guess).


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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 18th, 2008, 20:06 
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Joined: May 21st, 2007, 16:10
Posts: 1592
Location: Gothenburg/ Sweden
Hi shaun,
To have a failing controller circuit is a common problem on all brands.
The problem is when the controller get bad you lose all the structional information of your flash-chip...map of the banks and blocks e.c.t...
So to read the information out, you need to desolder the Nand-Flash, read it out with an external reader, simulate the controller, and reconstruct the order of your data information.

Regards/ Bosse

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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 21st, 2008, 3:24 
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Joined: February 15th, 2006, 3:38
Posts: 1079
Location: canada
and how easy is that to do ;)


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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 21st, 2008, 6:06 
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Joined: May 21st, 2007, 16:10
Posts: 1592
Location: Gothenburg/ Sweden
craig6928 wrote:
and how easy is that to do ;)

Hi, Of course it's not an easy job...but it's like learning to ride a bicycle, once you figured it out you can only be better :wink:

Regards/ Bosse

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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 21st, 2008, 23:05 
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Joined: February 15th, 2006, 3:38
Posts: 1079
Location: canada
im very much interested in doing flash memory recovery on drives
as we have been asked in the past to do recovery work.

what the basic that you need to know

how does one simulate the controller and reconstruct it
to read the information of the chips


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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 22nd, 2008, 7:23 
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Joined: July 8th, 2006, 6:18
Posts: 222
You lock yourself into your lab, grab your bunch of pen drives, store representative information onto them, remove the flash, read the raw data and repeat this with different data until you've learned how the wear-compensation algorithm of the particular controller you're looking at works. Then you write a small program that resembles the raw data blocks into the correct order of the block device, write an image and use this image, probably after running a file recovery program over it (whenever bad blocks in flash have bitten the volume information). Easy enough ;)


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 Post subject: Re: NN pen drive 4GB with SM321 controller
PostPosted: July 22nd, 2008, 10:08 
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Joined: December 23rd, 2006, 16:08
Posts: 935
Location: NJ
Everyone wants the EASY answer. Just give us that program you wrote :)

Seriously, is all the information on the flash? Or do some controller chips store some of the wear-leveling information on themselves?


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