Question SSD displays no partition data and is shown as a generic drive ?

[Zwity86]

Dear SSD experts

I am trying to resolve an issue with an SSD after several power outages occured recently.

- The SSD is Samsung 850 Evo (2,5''), it is a bootable partition with Win10
- Firstly the Win10 popped up a message that some installation files were missing, but later on I would out that SSD partition was simply not accessible
- When connected via SATA, the message was 'no bootable device'

If connected as USB device:
- System reserved partition D: shows correct size and allocation, but cannot be explored in Win, the main system partition C: only displays a partition letter, no size, no data
- In some attempts even that is not shown (device manager shows a generic USB mass storage),
- For D: only, in some attempts the message is that the disk should be scanned for errors

- All disk scans failed, as the SSD stopped responding
- With Linux based tools I was able to read folder content and file names with correct sizes, but before being able to open or copy any file, the SSD stopped responding
- Samsung Magician does not display the SSD

- I could not attempt to rewrite any MBR or to update any firmware, as the SSD does not "cooperate" long enough to complete that.
- I tried "power cycles" for 30 min,... or even couple of hours. The first attempt after that was the most successful on being able to see folders in TestDisk for a minute or two, then in next 20 attempts, not even that.

It is not worth of professional paid data recovery as I was mainly backing it up, but was not consistent in last 2 months, so I'd like to test and try further.

So, any ideas, what to try next or where to start again?

Thanks.

 

[MWink64]

It sounds like the drive is dying. Have you checked the SMART details? The chances of this working aren't great but here's what I'd try:

1. Connect the SSD to a PC via SATA (not USB).
2. Boot to a live Linux session (or at least an OS not on the drive in question).
3. Let the system sit, fully powered, overnight.
4. Reboot the machine into the same OS. Do not power cycle it.
5. See if any data is accessible.

 

[Zwity86]

Hi,

thank you for the suggestions. There was a very minor progress in Ubuntu (in Windows nothing changed), so I would continue in Linux environment (the size of the SSD there is at least correctly displayed).

- and error message that I initially thought could be fixed is: "Unable to read partition table"

But then the rest is also:
- Asking for cache data failed
- No caching mode found
- multiple Buffer in/out errors (async page reads)
- followed by a: a device offline error after that

SMART test usually fails (already before boot-up); other tools did not identify the drive.

 

[dwd999]

Hi,

thank you for the suggestions. There was a very minor progress in Ubuntu (in Windows nothing changed), so I would continue in Linux environment (the size of the SSD there is at least correctly displayed).

- and error message that I initially thought could be fixed is: Unable to read partition table

But then the rest is also:
- Asking for cache data failed
- No caching mode found
- multiple Buffer in/out errors (async page reads)
- followed by a: a device offline error after that

SMART test usually fails (already before boot-up); other tools did not identify the drive.

If you have Gparted in your Ubuntu, I would just try to create a new GPT partition table and see if that revives the drive. Or if your computer's bios supports something in the Tool menu like Secure Erase which will totally wipe a drive I would try that.

 

[Zwity86]

Thank you, however, both suggestions tend to delete the files My only goal is to re-gain access to some files, that were not totally and well backed up lately in 2 months. They are not highly important files, and I don't really care to save the SSD. The irony is that my new backup HDD arrived just 2 days later Also, I have a new M.2 SSD ready, unboxed, so using this particular SSD any longer is not my intention.

I was able to read the directory once in Linux for 2 minutes, but was not fast enough to copy anything.

 

[Zwity86]

Here are some new details when connected to SATA:

- in Bios before boot, the SSD is recognised (brand, model, capacity) correctly, only if I unplug the SSD for 30s before that, otherwise not.
- The SSD is in the list of bootable devices in the same way if I power it off first.

The message before boot is now: "S.M.A.R.T. capable, but command failed."

I downloaded the bootable Firmware on an USB stick, to try that, but there is an issue: The SSD does not stay stable / does not communicate back long enough, to stay responding, so that the USB would actually boot.

The initial Bios "test page" before boot takes long, sometimes 2 minutes, due to the SSD issues, so since after that the USB keeps booting every time for 2 more minutes, the SSD simply becomes unresponsive in that time, and is therefore not detected anymore by the manufacturer's bootable USB.

I tried disabling S.M.A.R.T. test, to gain some time, but still, too slow initial Bios test and too slow boot, to be able to try Firmware update...

Any suggestions?