trying to recover data from the Toshiba / KIOXIA SSD on the XPS 13 2-in-1

[francisew]

Continuing my saga of trying to recover data from the Toshiba / KIOXIA SSD on the XPS 13 2-in-1. It is actually a single-chip NVMe storage device, including the memory and controller in a single package (not an eMMC as I wrote above). The drive appears to come in two formats. One is the single-chip direct to board version included on the Dell XPS13 7390 2-in-1. The other format is an m.2 22x30 NVMe carrier board that also includes a handful of external power regulation components.

It's unfortunate that I haven't been able to find datasheets for the Toshiba/KIOXIA BG4 series NVMe chips (detailed electrical characteristics, timing diagrams, pinout information for BGA, and land patterns or mechanical specifications). Kioxia have not replied to my inquiries.

Toshiba KBG40ZPZ512G -> XPS13 direct-to-motherboard IC variant
KIOXIA KBG40ZNS512G -> m.2 m carrier module variant

I purchased two of those m.2 boards, and tried to visually confirm that the IC's on the m.2 modules are actually exactly the same chip as on the XPS laptop. Unfortunately, the IC package on the m.2 variant isn't clearly laser engraved under the model sticker, so I haven't been able to confirm this yet. I can confirm that the IC on the m.2 module is also a 16x20 mm package like the IC on the XPS13, which is very encouraging. I will try to transplant the BGA package from the Dell XPS13 to the carrier board in a few days.

I also picked up a solder mask stencil for the Microsoft surface 1 based on https://www.badcaps.net/forum/troubl...g-kbg40zpz1t02. The stencil pattern shown in that post does match the 16x20 mm chip dimensions of the BG4 packages I have, and looks like the pattern shown in the promotional image I found of the back of the chip. I have not desoldered any of the chips yet to confirm the land pattern on the bottom of the IC, but I will take photos when I do.

I have attached photos of the m.2 board variant. It's frustrating because there is definitely some laser engraved markings on the chip package, but it's not clearly visible at any angle, magnification, or lighting. It looks like there are a few QR code patterns as laser-etched spots, and possibly some text etched as discrete spots (like dot-matrix printed by laser engraver). The text is not legible at all. It does look like the same marking layout / pattern as on the NVMe chip on the XPS 13 (large image below), but the m.2 m variant package isn't legible.

[francisew]

This thread is continued from the original post at https://www.badcaps.net/forum/troubl...72#post3718772.

[francisew]

Here's an update on my progress:

I recovered all my data!

I can confirm that the Toshiba chip on the Dell laptop and the Kioxia chip on the m.2 carrier board can be swapped.

I purchased the Microsoft surface 1 stencil and 2 of the 512gb Kioxia m.2 modules. I found someone local to perform the chip swap for me.

We ran a first test with a m.2 module by removing the BGA, reballing it, and reattaching it onto the m.2 carrier board. I was able to access the data previously written to the drive using an m.2 USB c adapter.

Then we removed the actual Toshiba SSD chip from my Dell motherboard. We reballed it, and soldered it onto the other m.2 carrier board.

The reballing process was a lot easier than I expected. The person who did that made a YouTube short video of the process: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/HVQ-PU-DIj0

His process is quite straightforward (I have attached some images from the process):

• Remove the chip with hot air
• Clean the chip pads with solder braid, and confirm it is clean under video inspection scope
• Add some flux
• Position the solder mask on the chip
• Use 183C solder paste that had been dried out. Squeegee the solder paste through the mask.
• Use hot air (with the stencil still in place) to make the solder melt and form balls.
• Apply a thin layer of flux to the new board.
• Use hot air to heat the chip and reflow the BGA balls under the chip.

Now I'm looking at getting a replacement all-in-one motherboard for the old computer, and I'm hoping to clone the existing partitions over to it. My goal is to restore it to function so that I can allow kids to use it for academic & art activities. I'd like to be able to use my existing Dell windows license with it. I'm not sure if I'll need to modify the bios image to include the old laptop Dell support key? I'm planning to purchase a board that matches my old motherboard (specs and board markings).

Does anyone know what this will require or if it will work? If not then I'll buy a higher end variant of the same motherboard, and purchase a new windows & office key.