Keep on trying...

I tried, it didn't work. Now I don't think there is anything else I can try. In Italian: ormai mi sono rassegnato.

A parte qualche "cazzatina" e' estremamente difficile riparare correttamente questo tipo di circuiti, sia SSD che HDD. Un conto e' se un componente si spezza fisicamente perche' scappa un cacciavite o maneggiando l'unita', un conto e' la causa "elettrica" dove 9 volte su 10 c'e' una serie di danni a catena (rileggiti il thread). Te lo dissi un anno fa, non fosse altro che ne vedo quasi tutti i giorni. Questo e' un ennesimo caso da manuale.
Il problema degli hobbysti e' l'approccio al problema : cercare di riparare l'oggetto, cosa che e' MOLTO DIFFICILE al di fuori della fabbrica (TVS e discussioni su cose di 40 anni fa non contano, sono discussioni da bar sport a meno che non si abbia tempo da perdere) invece di recuperare i dati da un "contenitore" ormai vuoto a perdere. E i fabbricanti stanno rendendo la vita molto difficile all'utente...
Comunque, prova a "insistere". Perlomeno scoprirai come e' fatto l' SSD anche se sara' molto difficile togliere via anche solo un byte da li' - e trascurando i soldi spesi per recuperare inutili parti. Purtroppo non posso darti ulteriori indicazioni perche' non mi e' permesso.

Beside obvious tiny problems, it is extremely difficult to correctly repair actual circuits on SSDs and HDDs. One thing is a damaged component due to handling or i.e. hit by a screwdriver, another thing is an electrical failure where 9 out of 10 the outcome is a chained/multiple failure (re-read the thread). I told you so 1 year ago, just because I see such problems almost everyday. This is another typical case.
The problem on hobbyists is how they face the problem : trying to reapir the whole thing - usually difficult outside factory (no, TVS and discussions about 40 years ago stuff don't count, unless there's time to waste) instead of getting data out from a now disposable "container". And manufacturers are making things much difficult.
Anyway, try again, you'll see how the SSD is made even if it will be very difficult to get even a single byte from it, let alone the money you have wasted for useless parts. Unfortunately I can't give you any other info because I'm not allowed to.

- The only HDD who survived the accident (caused by a wrong voltage) was saved thanks to a TVS diode, what's your problem with that?
- Data on the SSD is not important, luckily.
- Again, I don't know what else I can try which will cost less than a new - and better - SSD.
- Next time you have something to say but you are "not allowed to", you'll better say nothing. There is no point in making your interlocutor curious.

not exactly my problem...


Good.


You can still check/swap/fix the controller and check/read all the flash memories...


Questo pero' lo decido io - This is a thing I decide, instead

@BEP, you tried and failed, but you did far more than most data recovery professionals would be able to do. Kudos to you for your perseverance.

In any case your methodology was the correct one. You needed to assess the actual fault, rectify it, and then see where that would lead you. Unfortunately you hit a dead end.

Your only option now, should you wish to recover your data, is the "shotgun" approach that was suggested by BlackST. "Shotgunning" is the method of last resort. It should only be considered after all intelligent, methodical, logical approaches have been exhausted. To advocate shotgunning as a primary troubleshooting approach is admitting defeat from the start. I can see only two legitimate reasons for this, and they are to meet a time constraint, or to deal with an intermittent fault. Neither of these applied to you. On those occasions when I've had to resort to shotgunning a job, it always left me questioning my competence.

Hopefully your experience will now benefit others. Thank you for trying, and for reporting back.

BTW, even now you don't need to desolder each flash memory. Anyone who understands the concept of a bus will realise that the chips can be read in-situ with just a little bit of wiring. Furthermore, it is no harder to repair/replace the chips on an SSD than on any other board with smt components ... if you have the knowhow.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

Try it when one or more of the memories are KO and see. In any case the controller NOW seems fried and it doesn't just... control.



My **** . When you cannot hide because of a regular business you are responsible for what you do , regardless of insurances, you never know if you have just one chance and what's behind a case.
If the customer turns out to be a twat or a troublemaker you cannot say "I have done my best effort with a methodical analytical logical approach but alas, surgery perfectly done but patient is dead" because if they have time and some $$$ spared they will try to multiply their $$$ at your expenses with kind help of a lawyer . In a nutshell , to screw you.

And all this having at hand schematics, data and all the technical information and stuff needed to successfully do the job.

Sadly, what count are only the results and "bad ends" don't count - they decrease the happy ends count instead.

The entire repair of the SSD could take 10 minutes to diagnose the circuit, but as a rule, in such case if data is wanted safely and in a reasonable time . next step is remove memory chips, read and "reassemble data".
If it was just a "repair for reuse" : diagnose for bad chips and change them , change all the parts that "could" have failed , reprogram parameters, SID . Done.

(Easy to say, less easy to do, equipment not cheap at all but this is not customer's problem).

In both case it would have been an happy end. Your idea of "logical" approach produced on the other side wasted time and parts (the $$$ involved was not so much, I think) , on your side the outcome were other posts racked up, you got some pictures/data for your collection and had another occasion to talk. But unfortunately NO DATA and NO SSD to recycle (a EUR 150 or so worth of device).

Pardon me for interfering, but is this a joke? how do you know what most data recovery professionals would be able to do? Are you the almighty judge of everything?

I am only wondering where all that hostility comes from... and why. You have a vendetta against DR pro's, that's fine (?), but putting everyone in the same bucket is arrogant, to say the least.

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

Don't feed the troll...

_________________
You don't have to backup all of your files, just the ones you want to keep.

I just noticed the soldering of U28 was not successful, the two VIN pins where the PCB burned (picture: http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/7083 ... sdback.jpg) are not connected to the PCB. I'll have this fixed, although I fear the controller wouldn't overheat that way if it was still healthy.

BlackST, how do you think I can by myself? I am open to all realistic suggestions.

northwind, feel free to join the conversation. I also wish there wasn't this kind of "cold war". I try to stay neutral (I'm Swiss after all ) and pursue my goal, which is:
"Bringing the SSD back to life with less than, say, 100 $/€". If this is not possible, it's also OK. The SSD cost me a lot back then but it won't change my life.

A me lo chiedi ?
Why ask me ?

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

@northwind, in order to be in a position to make a judgment, you need to have choices. I don't say this in a malicious way, but the sad fact is that neither you nor the majority of your DR colleagues have the basic electronic skills that would enable you to troubleshoot this board, as the OP has done (I refer you to a recent thread where you advised the OP to replace a damaged PCB when the most expedient solution was to remove a shorted TVS diode and replace a burnt inductor with a wire link). To suggest that blindly desoldering an entire NAND flash array is preferable to replacing three 8-pin PWM controllers costing a total of US$5 is absurd in the extreme. The only reason that anyone would do this is if they didn't have the knowhow to do it any other way. In any case the latter approach was the ONLY one that was open to the OP, given his budget and the fact that his data were not important. BTW, repairing power supply faults is one of the easiest jobs that any technician has to tackle, so this job was not particularly difficult. The fact that it came to a dead end was just bad luck, not bad judgment.

As for your observation regarding my apparent hostility toward the DR profession, you first need to understand what this forum was like when I joined 2 years ago. At that time despairing visitors were derided and their DIY failures mercilessly ridiculed. My own initiation was similarly unpleasant. To give you a picture of what things were like, and to understand why my experiences left me with a sore that just won't heal, you may like to read the following thread:
what-the-circled-component-t13898.html

The OP in that thread is shotgunning a dead PCB by using his multimeter to compare the resistances of each and every component on a good board against the corresponding component on his bad board. In the end he arrives at the nonsensical conclusion that both his shock sensors test funny. I offered the [correct] explanation that the fault was in fact a short on the supply rail of the adjacent op-amps, and that the meter was seeing this short via the diodes on the inputs of the op-amp. I did so without any fanfare or chest beating, and I was polite and matter-of-fact about it. I even drew a diagram (which was mangled by the forum's HTML engine). For this I was abused by none other than BlackST. Needless to say, the OP did not thank me for solving his problem. In any other forum, doing so would be common courtesy.

Hopefully that should put things in perspective for you.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

By a chance, is the idea to start some flame wars (despite it's Easter) ?
You know how some things do end....

Franc ,
Amazing support you Gave Him .I am Damn Sure He Has Not Soldered Properly Like he said also .but i might be wrong .

@ BEP : Send it to franc he can surely repair this

_________________
Regards
Amarbir S Dhillon , Chandigarh Data Recovery Labs [India]
Logical,Semi Physical And Physical Data Recovery
Website-> http://www.chandigarhdatarecovery.com

@Amarbir,

when the controller becomes hot as hell at power on, according to you, is just matter of soldering ?

If you had really damaged USB drives or SSD - electrical problem - you should know (no, a USB connector or a simple X doesn't count , I mean real damage) .

Well,
i was referring to francs way of helping .The Controller Might be toast already .Or still might be its getting bad power .

PS : Best would be using nand flash ic to recover this data .but according to bep its not imp

_________________
Regards
Amarbir S Dhillon , Chandigarh Data Recovery Labs [India]
Logical,Semi Physical And Physical Data Recovery
Website-> http://www.chandigarhdatarecovery.com

I do not have the time or the appetite to judge and be judged, especially by you, but ... you CAN'T evaluate my skills/knowledge/knowhow/equipment/experience etc.
You simply CAN NOT.
Regarding the thread you are referring to, where I advised someone to take the SAFE route of replacing the entire pcb without risking getting involved with things they don't know, I would only leave it uncommented. Or, maybe, having someone with a completely fucked up drive because they tinkered with electronics is the proper way of your thinking about DR troubleshooting.
Again, who am i to judge proper DR handling, keeping in mind security of data, when you can POSSIBLY recover the data for $95, when you can SAFELY recover it for $150 (example). I only have 10 years of experience.

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners