While sniffing traffic on a Hynix NAND chip (H27Q1T08EM6R ID: ad 3c 19 a3) we found a hidden command to change the read mode from NON-DDR to DDR which effectively doubles the read throughput of the chip. Cmd 0xEF Addr…
Ever wondered what goes into solving a monolithic data recovery case? Here is a brief explanation of what we do to recover data from monolithic flash drives.
We recently received a USB flash drive with missing legs on the controller microchip. Rather than source an identical chip or go the off-chip route we decided to fix it by removing a small portion of the silicon substrate and…
Monolithic flash drives are similar to traditional flash drives in structure, however, their components are encased in a ceramic case preventing easy access to the NAND flash memory chip storing its data. Monolithic flash drives are cheaper to assemble, more…
WordPress is a great platform, we use it to streamline workflow and keep costs down. Here is a little tutorial on how to setup PHPUnit testing for WordPress plugin development. Setting up the framework can be a nuisance and I’ve…
Updated for 2018: Flash media is very robust but it can fail. Flash drives are like mini computers, they have a controller which has a CPU, RAM, EEPROM, and GPIO embedded in it. When the flash drive is inserted the…
If your SD card is no longer functional you need to send it to a data recovery company. Here are some common faults to look at before trying to fix or repair your damaged SD card. With the exception of…
If your flash drive is no longer functional you need to send it to a data recovery company. Here are some common diagnostic tips for SanDisk Cruzer failures including broken connectors, damaged components, and firmware corruption. SanDisk flash drives are…
Many older SanDisk flash drives have two common faults that account for 90% of failures (aside from broken connectors / PCB damage) including the dreaded “endless blinking light” fault. The 20-99-00092-2 & 20-99-00121-1 controller PCB’s are interchangeable however there are…
We received an unresponsive SanDisk Extreme USB 3.0 (CZ80) flash drive that heats up when plugged into a computer. The computer didn’t recognize the flash drive and the LED didn’t blink. After opening the SanDisk flash drive and diagnosing the…