[SOLVED] Affordable SSD Recovery Company w/ Specific Capabilities?

[enter8]

I'm looking for a company that can do this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvPRpatmHeY


Literally, that. That model drive (samsung 850 pro) with firmware corruption.

And if that was a difficult find, I need someone affordable. I'm aware that the equipment in the video runs at least $8K, so I can't expect this service to be cheap, but, being dirt poor, I really can't afford much to recover the data off my SSD.

If someone knows individuals or forum members who might own this equipment, I'm open to that information as well (PM me the details).

 

[USAFRet]

What specifically is wrong with the drive?
How did you determine firmware corruption?
How critical is this data?

And of course...why was there not a backup of this data?

 

[enter8]

I was under the misconception that SSDs are reliable, and that when they fail, they fail in predictable ways, and thus wasn't as religious with the backups as I am with conventional HDs. I now know better.

Unfortunately, the drive in question has critical legal documents that only exist on the drive

The drive isn't recognizable by the OS. The failure coincided with a power outage, and, from what I've read, it's pretty common for firmware to get corrupted when this happens. Also, I sent the drive to a data recovery service, and they confirmed that it was a firmware issue. This particular company had a PC-3000- I believe PC-3000s are pretty common in the industry, but... they didn't have the configuration of the system in the video. I need a company- or individual, that has that.

 

[USAFRet]

They ARE reliable. SSDs are proving to be MORE reliable than HDDs.

But, nothing is 100%.
And an HDD can die suddenly as well.
Or ransomware, accidental deletion, corruption, etc, etc.

critical legal documents

This is precisely what backups are for.

If any of the dozen+ SSDs in my house systems were to die right now...I could recover 100% from, at the worst, 2 days ago.


But sorry, I do not know of a specific company.
Possibly contact Samsung and see who they recommend. This will not be inexpensive.

 

[fzabkar]

PC3000 UDMA + PC3000 SSD costs 5K EUR, and more in the USA.

You should repost your question in a professional data recovery forum, eg HDD Guru.

By the way, to confirm whether your SSD is affected by firmware corruption rather than a simple DIY-able hardware fault, use the tweezers to force the SSD into safe mode. If the SSD then shows up in BIOS or CrystalDiskInfo, albeit with a factory alias or reduced capacity, then this will confirm that the flash controller has basic sanity.

 

[USAFRet]

By the way, to confirm whether your SSD is affected by firmware corruption rather than a simple DIY-able hardware fault, use the tweezers to force the SSD into safe mode. If the SSD then shows up in BIOS or CrystalDiskInfo, albeit with a factory alias or reduced capacity, then this will confirm that the flash controller has basic sanity.

Given "critical legal documents"....I'd pass this off to a reliable company NOW. Rather than a user faffing about with tweezers.

If you don't know what you're actually doing, it is quite easy to make things worse.

 

[fzabkar]

Ace Laboratory is the manufacturer of PC3000. They know what they're doing. If they say to use tweezers, then it's perfectly safe to do so, unless you have arthritis. Short the safe mode test points, apply power, and then remove the tweezers. That's all.

If there is no response, then firmware corruption is not an issue. These SSDs have common hardware faults which lend themselves to an easy DIY fix. I would hate to pay $2K for a "data recovery" involving no more than a short length of wire.

 

[USAFRet]

Ace Laboratory is the manufacturer of PC3000. They know what they're doing. If they say to use tweezers, then it's perfectly safe to do so, unless you have arthritis. Short the safe mode test points, apply power, and then remove the tweezers. That's all.

If there is no response, then firmware corruption is not an issue. These SSDs have common hardware faults which lend themselves to an easy DIY fix. I would hate to pay $2K for a "data recovery" involving no more than a short length of wire.

Given "critical legal documents", $2k is likely chump change.

If I discovered that a company I had entrusted my legal matters to did not have a good backup, and then had attempted a DIY text and fix...
I would be looking for a different company.
No matter what the outcome was.

 

[fzabkar]

If you had seen what I've seen in the professional data recovery forums over the past 12 years, then you may have a different outlook.

For example, I saw a Western Digital "partner" locating the safe mode test points on an unfamiliar SSD by shorting components at random. I also saw another pro shorting a power supply while trying to find the same test point. Believe me, the sum total of electronics experience in the data recovery profession wouldn't fill the back of a postage stamp. These people managed to get by when they were dealing with HDDs because all they had to do was swap heads and transplant ROMs. That's something that a process worker could be taught to do. Now these same people are performing data recovery on a completely different device for which they have no relevant experience. It's like moving from auto mechanics to TV repair. There's no overlap.

 

[USAFRet]

If you had seen what I've seen in the professional data recovery forums over the past 12 years, then you may have a different outlook.

For example, I saw a Western Digital "partner" locating the safe mode test points on an unfamiliar SSD by shorting components at random. I also saw another pro shorting a power supply while trying to find the same test point. Believe me, the sum total of electronics experience in the data recovery profession wouldn't fill the back of a postage stamp. These people managed to get by when they were dealing with HDDs because all they had to do was swap heads and transplant ROMs. That's something that a process worker could be taught to do. Now these same people are performing data recovery on a completely different device for which they have no relevant experience. It's like moving from auto mechanics to TV repair. There's no overlap.

I completely understand.
I see exactly the same in software development and security.

I would absolutely try this with one of my personal drives. Even never having done similar.

But if this is a company device with that sort of data, and I found one of my not-IT people doing this...he'd be shown the door in short order.
If it WAS an IT guy doing this, he'd also be shown the door, due to complete lack of backups.

Just sayin'

 

[popatim]

I side with USARef on the general principal but since this is the OP's drive and only he knows the legality & criticality of the documents. For example if they need proof of chain of custody of these documents for court is a whole lot different then someone want s to sue someone over what they said in an email and the email isn't on the webserver anymore. For case #1, yeah that goes to real data recovery specialists and you pay the big bucks. For the other, that's for them to decide and they can cry if they fubar it by trying it themselves..

 

[fzabkar]

The response at HDD Guru is that you have no way of confirming whether a DR shop has the requisite tool. That's because people lie. If the OP decides on a particular shop, I may be able to ascertain whether they are reputable. I know several that aren't.