SSD disaster

[scooby860110]

I dropped my laptop down a stair case and well, laptops broken and im not gonna bother fixing that. The info is what i really need.
Help. Where do i find the plastic part next to the PCB ? This is what happened to my HD and I am trying to find how to fix it (but I cant see very well anymore and my soldering skills are long gone because of it) or find someone to fix it as it has tons of information that is very much needed.

Pease help.

-Walt

he HD was a Crucial


THANK YOU!!! :-)

[james_s]

Are the pads torn off or just the leads cracked off of the pads? If most of the pads are intact that looks like a fairly straightforward repair for someone who knows what they're doing. Depending on the value of your data you could try contacting someone like Louis Rossman, or you might find someone on the forum willing to take it on. If you go with a "some hobbyist in his garage" thing I recommend finding someone local rather than shipping it to them as there is risk that someone who is not an established business might never get around to fixing it and disappear with your data.

If the data is valuable enough there are numerous professional data recovery firms that can help you but I think that typically runs a few thousand bucks.

[sokoloff]

What part of the US. Concur with james that that doesn't look too bad if it's just a connector broken off fairly cleanly.

[fzabkar]

The job is a fairly simple one. It is made simpler by the fact that only 6 of the 15 power pins need to be reattached (+5V and Ground, and maybe pin 11). The others can be cut off.

The SATA Tx/Rx differential pairs can be connected to C1 - C4 via fly wires.

To the OP: If the laptop was password protected, then that may be a complication.

[scooby860110]

If someone is willing to try repairing it, the only password was login password on my mac book. But even then, if ya can just get it to work (show up on desktop (im gonna put it in external case if its fixed to transfer data to new HD.) Either way anyone who can help PM or email me. Thanks folks.

-Walt

[tooki]

I dropped my laptop down a stair case and well, laptops broken and im not gonna bother fixing that. The info is what i really need.
Help. Where do i find the plastic part next to the PCB ? This is what happened to my HD and I am trying to find how to fix it (but I cant see very well anymore and my soldering skills are long gone because of it) or find someone to fix it as it has tons of information that is very much needed.

Pease help.

-Walt

he HD was a Crucial


THANK YOU!!! :-)

I think it's almost guaranteed you can recover the data, so my following recommendation is predicated on the assumption that recovery is successful:
Take this near-miss as an opportunity to review your backup strategy!!!!

I literally cannot emphasize this point enough. To you, and to everyone else on the planet, here's another attempt:

Take this opportunity to review your backup strategy!!!!


Most people do not do anywhere close to enough to ensure their data is safe. IMHO, any data worth keeping needs to exist in at least three places: the "original", and at least two backups, which ideally are not stored in the same place.

Mac users, use Time Machine to create at least one backup to hard disk (ideally more), ideally paired with something like an online backup. PC users, I'm not exactly sure what backup software to recommend since I don't use Windows, but do something, and also pair it with online. And everyone, don't forget to make sure the backups work! (There's nothing worse than thinking you've got backups, and then when disaster strikes, discovering something went wrong a year ago and your backups haven't been updated since then...)

[scooby860110]

I emailed them about issue and asked what they thought.
Just hope this isnt like 500 bucks. 

[sokoloff]

I guess the good thing/bright side to look at it is that if your data isn't worth $500 to you, then maybe you don't need to worry too much about backups in the future either.

(For me, I'd pay $500 in a heartbeat to get my data back if I lost my main drive and all my backups.)

I suspect it's going to be half that figure, but even $500 would work for me if that's what it was.

[scooby860110]

I just dont have $500 bucks to spend right now. I have 3 kids and money is tight. Id been working on an album of originals for 8-10 years (Grateful Dead/Donavon meets Hot Tuna lol) and that is really bothering me. Its a 128gb SSD drive with about 48gb data on it.

Thanks again guys.

Wish me luck.

[sokoloff]

Good luck! (Seriously)

Rossmann seems like he's got his head on pretty straight and will help out, making a buck for himself and helping his customers get back to business.

If he comes up with something stupid for a price, I'm willing to take a crack at it for just the cost of postage back and forth, but really, if Rossmann can do it and you can swing it, go that way. (And if he says it can't be fixed, I sure as heck can't fix it.)

[scooby860110]

Thats my fear "if he cant fix it, no one can :-(

If he cannot take a look at it or its WAY high inn price and you would look at it and take a crack thatd be awesome man. :-)

Shoot me a PM :-)

[Ian.M]

It looks like the pads are wrecked.  Post a very well lit, in focus macro closeup of that part of the board (with the camera on a stand, not hand held) and the experts here will be able to comment on the chances of being able to get magnet wire onto remaining trace ends or vias of the critical signals.

[scooby860110]

[Habropoda]

Per Ian it looks like all of the data pads have been ripped off the board as well as all the 5v pad leaving only one ground pad.  They will need to track down some decent solder points.

[fzabkar]

C'mon guys. This job doesn't require data recovery rates. It's a very simple point-to-point wiring job. Sheesh!

D6 is the 5V TVS diode. It is connected across the 5V supply -- anode to ground, cathode to +5V.

SATA power pin #11 is for staggered spin-up. It must be grounded.

This tip might make the job easier:

http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=179&t=2567

[Berni]

If you are comfortable with soldering you just need to solder about 7 or 8 wires to the correct places on the PCB to get it to work like other forum members have said.

But if you don't feel confident in it then it is indeed best to let someone else do it since doing the wrong thing could damage it even more and make it harder to recover the data. But yeah professional data recovery businesses are going to be expensive. Maybe you can get someone like Luis Rossmann to bodge wire your SATA connector back on.

If you lived close to me and could swing by id gladly save your data for the price of a few drinks. Its only a few minutes of work.

[Ed.Kloonk]

How does a laptop 'fall' down the stairs? Did it show any signs of unhappiness?

[ruairi]

How does a laptop 'fall' down the stairs? Did it show any signs of unhappiness?

How does any accident happen? I've had my laptop slide off the edge of couch, get pulled off a counter top by the charger lead, slip out of under my arm while carrying too much stuff etc etc. 

To those encouraging a DIY repair care needs to be taken around ESD, I would not give this drive to just anyone.

[fzabkar]

To those people who are suggesting sending the drive to a data recovery specialist, be aware that the vast majority of data recovery technicians have no real electronics experience at all. Many don't even know how to use a multimeter.

[magic]

The SATA Tx/Rx differential pairs can be connected to C1 - C4 via fly wires.

D6 is the 5V TVS diode. It is connected across the 5V supply -- anode to ground, cathode to +5V.

This would be my first attempt too. It should work if the drive itself isn't wrecked. And the jumper wires on data lanes aren't too long.
It does take a steady hand and good eye, but little more.

[cgroen]

Get a SSD of same type, move the memory chips from the dropped board to the new one, job done ?
I know, it requires someone with the right equipment, but its still doable if not possible in any other way (which I'm sure it is)
But yeah, "real men don't do backups, they cry"

[magic]

And maybe the controller too, if it contains any internal state, and perhaps some of those 8 pin chips are EEPROMs

[cgroen]

And maybe the controller too, if it contains any internal state, and perhaps some of those 8 pin chips are EEPROMs

thats why I wrote "memory chips"
But yes, move as much as needed. The board shown however, can surely be fixed using bodge wire and a steady hand.

[brabus]

Someone clearly already had a go at that drive. Tabs just don't rip that bad, even falling from the 20th floor onto hard concrete. The soldering joints have been reworked, probably without ESD protection whatsoever. There's flux everywhere.
Heck, even the connector is charred here and there.

The job is easy indeed, but sorry, it doesn't smell good at all. Pass.

[wraper]

Get a SSD of same type, move the memory chips from the dropped board to the new one, job done ?
I know, it requires someone with the right equipment, but its still doable if not possible in any other way (which I'm sure it is)
But yeah, "real men don't do backups, they cry"

Hello no  . Don't move anything, this SSD is easily fixable with bodge wires and preferably new connector if you still intend to use it. You will certainly need to move 2 NAND and controller chip + EEPROM if there is any. Almost any modern SSD have data encrypted and key is within controller. Not to say that even if it's not encrypted, it may have different firmware within it. Recommending moving BGA instead of bodge wires is just lame, not to say risk to screw up the data increases by many times.