8GB Cruzer Switch bent and faulty, provides only 64MB of 0's

[inflex]

Client bought this to me today, I was fully expecting the more traditional PCB + controller + flash configuration, instead I cracked it open to find just a monolithic PCB, obviously with all the wafers integrated ( very impressive ).

In Linux, when connecting, it's detected but all the information beyond the model type and brand is wrong.

[26207.831780] usb-storage 2-1.1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[26207.831930] scsi6 : usb-storage 2-1.1:1.0
[26208.052099] usb 2-1.1: USB disconnect, device number 11
[26248.937789] usb 2-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 12 using ehci-pci
[26249.031347] usb 2-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0781, idProduct=5530
[26249.031353] usb 2-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[26249.031358] usb 2-1.3: Product: Firebird6Sp9
[26249.031364] usb 2-1.3: Manufacturer: SanDisk Corporation
[26249.031369] usb 2-1.3: SerialNumber: 0123456789ABCDEF
[26249.031978] usb-storage 2-1.3:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[26249.032114] scsi7 : usb-storage 2-1.3:1.0
[26250.030197] scsi 7:0:0:0: Direct-Access SanDisk Firebird 1.07 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[26250.030715] sd 7:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[26250.037194] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdb] 131072 512-byte logical blocks: (67.1 MB/64.0 MiB)
[26250.038293] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[26250.038300] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
[26250.039368] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page found
[26250.039375] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[26250.078739] sd 7:0:0:0: ioctl_internal_command return code = 8070000
[26250.078746] : Sense Key : Hardware Error [current]
[26250.078753] : Add. Sense: No additional sense information
[26250.081979] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page found
[26250.081985] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[26250.084563] sdb: unknown partition table
[26250.088966] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page found
[26250.088973] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[26250.088978] sd 7:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
[26250.130463] sd 7:0:0:0: ioctl_internal_command return code = 8070000
[26250.130468] : Sense Key : Hardware Error [current]
[26250.130474] : Add. Sense: No additional sense information
[26250.258549] sd 7:0:0:0: ioctl_internal_command return code = 8070000
[26250.258557] : Sense Key : Hardware Error [current]
[26250.258563] : Add. Sense: No additional sense information
[26250.310382] sd 7:0:0:0: ioctl_internal_command return code = 8070000
[26250.310391] : Sense Key : Hardware Error [current]
[26250.310397] : Add. Sense: No additional sense information
[26250.350365] sd 7:0:0:0: ioctl_internal_command return code = 8070000
[26250.350374] : Sense Key : Hardware Error [current]
[26250.350379] : Add. Sense: No additional sense information
[26259.131074] sd 7:0:0:0: ioctl_internal_command return code = 8070000
[26259.131082] : Sense Key : Hardware Error [current]
[26259.131089] : Add. Sense: No additional sense information
[26295.059230] usb 2-1.3: USB disconnect, device number 12

Are there any recovery options?

ddrescue pulls the entire 64MB, but it's just zero bytes the whole way through.

[inflex]

Oh, here's the photo - was meant to add that to the original post.

Attachments

USB flash, now in monolith format :(

[HaQue]

It looks like controller issues, and would be solved(if not encrypted) by the normal monolith way, if someone has the pinout, and if they are able to figure out the layout/mix.

sometimes these monoliths get a fine crack in the circuit somewhere, I have seen a few photos like it, and I have had 2 in that were cracked.

These monoliths arent easy to deal with!

[inflex]

These monoliths arent easy to deal with!

No denying that! I actually have requested the client's laptop to search for remenants of the file on their HDD instead of trying to fix this one.

One option I was thinking of was to reflow the monolith, but I suspect that'd actually make things *worse*.

[arvika]

Can you make photo of PCB, that we can see traces under layer?

Or just compare to this: http://www.odzyskiwanie-danych.com.pl/m ... abase.html

[inflex]

This is the best I can offer for now. It's very much like the 32GB Sandisk one already on the page Arvika.

Attachments

8GB monolith

[HaQue]

Hi, if you are looking for remnants of the file, checkout the volume shadow copy tools from Harlan Carvey. For a great listen on what you can expect, listen to the podcast on I think Cyberspeak. I think have mentioned it before in the forums so you should be able to dig up the links and find his tools.
If I had more Time I would do it, but places like this should set you straight http://windowsir.blogspot.com.au/2011/01/accessing-volume-shadow-copies.html
I don't know if this will help, but it is worth looking into.

[inflex]

Never used the tools, but I've already found some older copies of the wanted file using ddrescue ( to clone the drive ) and then photorec on the empty space. Grepping for a signature string narrowed down the files fairly quickly.

[arvika]

It looks the same. Pinout is under develop...

[inflex]

Have to say I'm quite surprised it was damaged from the physical attack. I can't see any flex/bend on the board. Wondering if it was just purly conincidental that it electronically died at about the same time the person also bent/broke the plastic enclosure.

[HaQue]

Thats possible, maybe a slight electrical surge during a connection/disconnection if it was bent in the USB Port.

[inflex]

Thats possible, maybe a slight electrical surge during a connection/disconnection if it was bent in the USB Port.

Yes, according to the client it was knocked out of the socket.

I wonder if a downside of these monoliths is the lack of suitable protection components that are normally present on the normal SMD assembly boards?

[networkpc3000]

http://www.rflashdata.com/2461f7010074- ... r-pop-16g/

[HaQue]

Just got another one of these in. 3rd one I have seen, first customer that wanted to go ahead. Shows 64MB of 00's as OP has said. before wiring the monolith up Thought I would checkout the net to see if any bright spark has found a solution.

I noticed a few people have had success with diskpart, but I guess that would be data destructive? They don't mention files, just that the capacity was restored.

I cant experiment on this drive, so will need to wire it up. I did find this interesting tool though, many options for partition messing around, not sure if it has any features DMDE doesn't though.
http://bbs.ipauly.com/index.php
BOOTICE:

BOOTICE is a powerful boot-related utility. It's desired to manipulate (install, backup, restore) the MBR and PBR of disks (or disk images), to partition and format disks, to edit disk sectors in hexadecimal, to erase all the data on your disk or logical drive (by filling with customizable characters), to edit Grub4DOS boot menu, and to edit BCD file of Windows NT 6.x.

XORBOOT:

XORBOOT（XORLDR） is a lightweight (could be all embedded in the MBR) but powerful (manages up-to 16 boot entries) multi-system boot manager with graphical menus. XORBOOT supports booting the PBR of a partition, or booting a file in disk partitions, or booting the customized sectors on the disk.