Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

[Spork Schivago]

I'm not sure if this is the best sub-forum to post this under but I couldn't really find one that fit. I didn't think it belonged under the normal computer repair forum but if it does, perhaps a moderator could move it for me?

A friend brought me a 128GB Sandisk X300 SSD drive. He says he was using his computer, turned it on one day and the drive wasn't detected anymore.

Sure enough, on my computer, the BIOS does not detect the drive. I believe there's a problem with the PCB. I don't have any experience with SSDs. Does anyone have any ideas what might be wrong?

I believe I found a SMD fuse on the PCB and I put a my DMM probes acrossed it, checking for continuity. I got a reading of 0.000 Ohm.

There's a bunch of SMD caps. I'm wondering if one of them might be bad. There's also a few SMD resistors (or what appears to be resistors) but they have the marking 000 on them. I've seen things like this before. Not really sure if they're resistors or not, but if they are, why would we ever have a resistor that reads 0 Ohm?

I'd appreciate any advice anyone could give me. Thanks!

[diif]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

Photos help as always.
0 ohm resistors are common.

[keeney123]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

I'm not sure if this is the best sub-forum to post this under but I couldn't really find one that fit. I didn't think it belonged under the normal computer repair forum but if it does, perhaps a moderator could move it for me?

A friend brought me a 128GB Sandisk X300 SSD drive. He says he was using his computer, turned it on one day and the drive wasn't detected anymore.

Sure enough, on my computer, the BIOS does not detect the drive. I believe there's a problem with the PCB. I don't have any experience with SSDs. Does anyone have any ideas what might be wrong?

I believe I found a SMD fuse on the PCB and I put a my DMM probes acrossed it, checking for continuity. I got a reading of 0.000 Ohm.

There's a bunch of SMD caps. I'm wondering if one of them might be bad. There's also a few SMD resistors (or what appears to be resistors) but they have the marking 000 on them. I've seen things like this before. Not really sure if they're resistors or not, but if they are, why would we ever have a resistor that reads 0 Ohm?

I'd appreciate any advice anyone could give me. Thanks!

This could be a software error in the operating software the drive manufacturer puts on the machine. In that case it need to go back to the manufacturer.

[ala_borbe]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

most likeley fw corruption

[diif]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

Replace and copy over the backed up data.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

Photos help as always.
0 ohm resistors are common.

What are the 0 ohm resistors for though? Why not just bridge the connection? Is it to protect for wattage? So if it goes over a certain wattage, they'll blow? Kinda like using them for fuses?

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

most likeley fw corruption

I was thinking maybe the same. Could it be a bad solder joint or do you think the IC that holds the firmware has somehow gotten corrupt? I wonder how hard it'd be to change it out with another one or how I could flash the firmware back to the device (if I could find the firmware to flash in the first place).

Maybe I could solder some wires somewheres and flash that way. I did that with one of those R4i clones for a 3DS once and then with a development dongle I had once. I forgot to add some code that would allow me to put the device in programming mode. I had to solder some wires and flash on to fix it.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

Replace and copy over the backed up data.

Ahhhhh hahahahaha, I needed a good laugh today, thanks Diif! One of my friends or one of our customers making backups? Oh man, that's good!

I guess on the bright side, if they did make backups, I'd probably lose a good amount of money.

I asked Josh about his backups when he told me he'd be willing to pay me to try and recover the data. I said why not just restore them from your backups? He said he hadn't gotten around to making them yet. So, I thought maybe he was doing weekly builds or something and he had new data on there that got put on before the backup happened. I asked how old his last backup was. He said he didn't have any for this drive yet! I asked how long he had been using the drive, he said about a year!!!!!

He said if I could get the data back, he'd pay me. He said if I couldn't, he'd still pay me for trying. I probably won't spend a crazy lot of time on it, but it's something new to me, so it's kinda fun working on it. In one of the pictures, in the top left corner of the PCB, there's a three legged transistor looking thing. I think it's SOT-23.

Maybe I'll pull that little sucker and test it. Maybe I'll just pull the SMD caps, SMD transistors, SMD diodes, etc and just test them for shits and giggles.

All the components are really close together though. I'm afraid if I put some hot air to it, I might blow some of the even smaller stuff right off the board. There's some stuff that is soooooo small, I can't even see it without a magnifying glass. That's insane!

[diif]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

A quick Google suggests its a self encrypting drive, unless you're very lucky and find something that's failed, the data has gone I feel.
Forget the magnifying glass, get a microscope. I'd probe with your needle tipped probes rather than try and remove components.
0 ohm resistors are used due to the way boards are made with pick and place machines. They also allow for easy change in design.
Why are you not recommending/setting up back ups for your customers/friends ?

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

Oh, don't get me wrong diif, I recommend them like crazy, they just don't listen! My friend Paul called. He was storing his stuff on an external USB hard drive. I said that's fine, so long as you have a physical copy somewhere else as well. Just moving the stuff off the PC and onto a thumb drive isn't a backup! Worse yet, he wasn't safely ejecting the drive, despite me telling him time after time again, he was going to lose it.

He was using a program called Polderbits. The main developer died and now there's no way to get an activated version unless you bought a copy before he died. Long story short, he formatted his hard drive and reinstalled the OS using recovery disks for some reason. When he popped in the USB drive, everything was gone, including his polderbits key. I said you have a backup though, right? Nope! Said he didn't think the drive would die because it was so new. I said I told you if it's important, keep two copies, always!!!!

I don't know why they don't listen, but for some reason, it seems like everyone just doesn't ever want to backup their stuff. I don't know why, it just blows my mind! My sister, she got a photography business and I told her the same. She was running out of hard drive space and said she bought an external USB hard drive to store the pictures on. I said you still need a copy on another storage medium incase that hard drive dies. She said she didn't have the money right now for another drive. Her external died and she actually lost a couples wedding. They never got their wedding pictures, they were gone for good. Could you imagine something so horrible? I would have sued my sister! That's not something you can ever get back, you know?

Self-encrypting drive. Okay, thank you. I had a self-encrypting external once that a customer brought me and the PCB had died. The hard drive, when I plugged it into my machine, I couldn't access the data. Fully encrypted. But it was odd, all I had to do was purchase another PCB for that enclosure (same version and everything) and the hard drive worked. Like they didn't change the keys or anything. Kinda pointless I guess. Obviously, that wouldn't work here.

I will probe with the needle points, where I can, but that transistor looking thing, I don't know how to probe that without my DCA meter, which I don't have needle probes for. I have an SOT-23 adapter that allows me to hook alligator clips up to it (essentially, it makes it a really big SOT-23 package). For the caps, being SMD, can I measure them in-circuit using a DMM or ESR meter? My DDM showed OL for the one I tried measuring. I thought with caps, we always had to pull them.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

I bet you, even now, after my sister lost those wedding photos, after Paul lost his access key to Polderbits, after Josh lost his data on his solid state, none of them have backups. I don't know if they just don't think it's going to happen to them and they don't have to worry about it or if they're just lazy or what. I tell them all storage devices will fail, sooner or later, especially if it has moving parts. I say we don't have anything that can permanently store files. I say even thumb drives will and do fail. CD's, DVD's, hard drives, all them, they die. And I tell them I don't know how many times people bring me stuff asking if I can get their files back and I find out, they're gone for ever.

It seems people that are really good with computers, I've noticed they keep backups. But also business people, like our realtor, they keep them. But everyone else I know, they just don't and no matter what I say, they just don't seem to want to change.

[keeney123]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

Have you contacted scan disk to see if anything might be recoverable?

[srhofmann]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

I'm willing to bet good money that the majority of the people that actually do backups keep them within 5 foot of the machine they are backing up. Backups of critical data should be stored off site in a fireproof box. And test them on a regular basis to make sure they actually are readable and haven't become corrupted.

[diif]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

Loosing personal files is one thing, loosing newly taken wedding photos is just careless. They shouldn't have been deleted off the camera until they had been transferred and backed up. Being a professional photographer isn't just about taking photos. I imagine that loss has damaged her reputation.

If they aren't making backups, it seems there is a market for you there. Take an image or copy the files to an external and then transfer them to your NAS or server.
Dropbox is also good for users with a small amount of files.
Allway Sync is good for synchronising a couple of folders between two machines.

I'm lucky, my business customers pay me enough that they listen to my advice and they all have back ups in place which I check regularly. Most of my regular customers have something in place too. The price of a backup drive is significantly cheaper than any type of recovery.

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

Have you contacted scan disk to see if anything might be recoverable?

Sandisk? Nah. They wouldn't be any help. If anything, they'd want me to send it in to them, if they even respond. Usually companies like that are for people that don't fix things like this. People that say hey, I bought this hard drive and I can't figure out why my computer isn't recognizing it. Stuff like that, you know?

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

I'm willing to bet good money that the majority of the people that actually do backups keep them within 5 foot of the machine they are backing up. Backups of critical data should be stored off site in a fireproof box. And test them on a regular basis to make sure they actually are readable and haven't become corrupted.

I usually keep my backups right next to the PC, unless it's really important. Then I give a flash drive to a friend to hold onto and I keep one at my house as well. That way, if anything happens, he's got a copy.

I got a backup of all my MP3s but if something like the house burns down, it's okay if I lose them. To me, it's not worth keeping them off-site as well, you know?

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

Loosing personal files is one thing, loosing newly taken wedding photos is just careless. They shouldn't have been deleted off the camera until they had been transferred and backed up. Being a professional photographer isn't just about taking photos. I imagine that loss has damaged her reputation.

She actually changed her name because of it and now, if you call her business, there's always a voicemail that says to leave a message and sessions are by appointments only. I tried warning her, multiple times, to keep the backups, but she just didn't care. I don't think it was a money issue. She'd make over a 1,000$ per wedding. I think she just didn't care if she lost them or not. To her, the weddings just aren't that important. Absolutely horrible. And her business, it had potential, but because of stuff like that, look at it now. They're struggling to put food on the table. She's lazy, she married a guy that's lazy. I can't tell you how many cars they've ruined. They don't check the fluids or gets them changed! Every time, the transmissions die and they give me the car. Every time, the transmission is bone dry! I showed them how to check the fluids, but they still don't. Last car they gave me, they actually put windshield washer fluid in the power steering reservoir because she said she didn't want to drive to the store to buy power steering fluid and all they had on them was windshield washing fluid. I had to replace the whole power steering stuff. The pump, the lines, everything. What a mess!

If they aren't making backups, it seems there is a market for you there. Take an image or copy the files to an external and then transfer them to your NAS or server.
Dropbox is also good for users with a small amount of files.
Allway Sync is good for synchronising a couple of folders between two machines.

How much would you charge them to keep backups of their personal files, if it was you? I'll offer them the option.

I'm lucky, my business customers pay me enough that they listen to my advice and they all have back ups in place which I check regularly. Most of my regular customers have something in place too.

So you are in charge of their backups? You have them backup to the cloud or something, but you monitor them and restore them, when necessary, maybe even do the backups yourself, remotely or something?

...The price of a backup drive is significantly cheaper than any type of recovery.

Exactly!

[diif]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

No idea how much you could/should charge. To me it's more about offering a complete service.
Hard drives are cheap, reputation goes a long way.

No cloud BS for my serious customers. A few use external drives rotated and kept off site, one uses a NAS, yes RAID isn't a backup but it is a duplicate of their hard drive, their massive photo collection is also synced to their laptop.

[keeney123]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

Sandisk? Nah. They wouldn't be any help. If anything, they'd want me to send it in to them, if they even respond. Usually companies like that are for people that don't fix things like this. People that say hey, I bought this hard drive and I can't figure out why my computer isn't recognizing it. Stuff like that, you know?

The OCZ SSdrive I had that went bad the technical department help me as much as they could and in the end I sent the drive in to them and they analyzed it and told me one of the sector was bad where they keep their program. They sent me a new drive of larger capacity for free because it was still with-in the 5 year warranty.

[ala_borbe]

Re: Need help fixing a Sandisk X300 SSD drive.

if you run out solution you can always try to heat up board, maybe some cracked joint wenat bad but thats kinda last solution cos you can easy destroy drive which can be recoverable by professional

might wana try reading a bit on hddguru.com but without pc3000 and tons of expirience i doubt its recoverable