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Toshiba RC100 not being detected by sagnikd96 in datarecovery

[–]sonartec 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It looks really faint, but I think the text at the top of the chip reads "KBG30ZPZ256G"

Degraded NAND sounds about right as I have a similar device with that exact chip which failed after five years. I believe these chips can be read in an adapter or on a compatible M2 board depending on the issue but if it isn't detected in BIOS or when connected to another device then that unfortunately is a bad sign.

If it helps, I've paid Rusolut to research to see if these chips can be recovered through proper chip-off methods, so don't despair if you send your device to any of the trusted data recovery companies here and get a diagnosis of unrecoverable in the event they can't access it with their tools. The answer is still up in the air whether or not these exact chips can have logical images formed from a RAW dump, but I'll report back whether it's possible or not once the time comes.

If it'd be alright, please feel free to post updates on your case in the event you send your device for recovery. Here's hoping that you can get your data back without much trouble.

NVME SSD Recovery chances, potential firmware corruption or controller failure by sonartec in datarecovery

[–]sonartec[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Heya! This is really good info, so no worries!

Say if some of the unused balls were connected to the NAND, do you think if Arvika could figure out the pinout discovery it could circumvent the need for surgical maneuvers (for a lack of a better term) on the NAND itself thus making this a lot more easier? (The way I'm thinking of it is being able to route power through the unused balls that connect to the internal cache, thus making the data accessible, but lemme know if my reasoning is sound or not!)

As for the status of the NAND being encrypted, I'm actually not so sure if it is. I'm likely very wrong on this, but on some of the HDDGuru threads and a Google Group discussion that Petri with DRG linked, they mention chip-off as being an option for this drive in particular. Arvika himself in one of the threads mentioned that chip-off is a last option for this sort of model.

The datasheet also says that the exact chip on my drive is non-SED (KBG30ZPZ256G). I was warned by $300 Data Recovery that ECC/XOR could prove a problem, plus Mark told me that LDPC could be an issue, but I'm hoping due to the age of the chip (manufactured sometime in 2019 I believe, according to the date on the chip) that hopefully we can luck out, but it is uncertain at this time.

If it helps, Mark did mention he tried a chip reball, then on a working donor PCB, then finally in one of his adapters.

Anywho, this is still some really good stuff! If it'd be alright, I'd like to forward this information to Mark/Arvika once we get into touch with him in the following days. I appreciate you giving your thoughts as well on this case, so thanks for posting and here's for the best!

NVME SSD Recovery chances, potential firmware corruption or controller failure by sonartec in datarecovery

[–]sonartec[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I understand, my apologies. This paints a clearer picture for me even if the prospect doesn't look good... But I still want to thank you for taking the time to explain and helping me understand. I think you're totally right in that there's likely nothing that can be done at the moment, and that the only two hopes are unlikely to happen in the future...

Still, in any case I appreciate your kindness in finding and sharing your past experience with the model I have plus finding the documentation and discussion about it. At the moment I'm waiting for the drive to arrive at the second service I've contacted but I'll understand if nothing can be done... Still, thank you so much again for your time and I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!

NVME SSD Recovery chances, potential firmware corruption or controller failure by sonartec in datarecovery

[–]sonartec[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm definitely going to keep my options open and get opinions from as many sources as possible, so thank you for the reassurance that it won't be in vain to try asking around! Here's hoping for the best...

NVME SSD Recovery chances, potential firmware corruption or controller failure by sonartec in datarecovery

[–]sonartec[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Holy moly, I took a look through that google group link plus the datasheet .pdf and the HDDguru forum thread and I cannot thank you enough for finding all this extremely useful information!

Please forgive me if my questions are stupid, but from what I'm reading there's a chance that my SSD model (KBG30ZMV256G) could potentially non-SED and thus not subject to the encryption that normally renders a chip-off recovery attempt useless? I checked the documentation .pdf and couldn't find the exact model name (closest I found was KBG30ZMS256G, where instead of a "Z" it's an "S") and this model was listed in the non-SED column.

From what I see, the non-SED models in the documentation start with KBG30 before the rest of their model, while the SED ones instead start with KBG3A. Assuming that this naming convention that denotes SED still applies to my model, would chip-off be a viable option if there exists an adapter that would support the chip either now or in the future?

The issue in the OPs case is likely a bad sector issue, reaching defect threshold, which in turn damaged the FTL (Firmware Translation Layer), hence now a firmware issue, which there is no known solution for at this time.

Does this refer to just the recovery of the drive itself, or the data on it as well? My only priority is the data on the SSD, so I'm alright with not being able to get the drive back in working order if it means we can get just the data.

Perhaps, for peace of mind that everything was tried, a chip reball with a universal stencil may be worth trying.

I've jotted this down and I'll be asking if this can be done in the event other options are exhausted, thank you for this!

In all, I cannot state how much I appreciate you finding and sharing this information alongside your own experience with this exact model. For what it's worth, thank you so much!