It sounds like, since there is physical damage, the PCBA (Printed
Circuit Board Assembly) contacts aren't making good connections anymore.
Your intermittence at getting it to read every now and then sort of
maybe says that the file system is still in tact and therefore may not
need recovered by software, maybe just a better connection. Maybe be
careful and use a scalpel and try removing the plastic casing and
inserting the PCBA in a different SD case..... A reach I know, but maybe
worth a try....
Maybe before trying that you can try cleaning the gold PCB contacts in
case they may be dirty since there is physical damage.
You mentioned you have done some recovery work before with flash media,
so please forgive me if you have already tried something like this. Good
luck!
Here are some pics for reference:
http://www.palm.com/us/support/contact/environment/disassem_inst_sd_card
pdf
-----Original Message-----
From: listbounce@securityfocus.com [mailto:listbounce@securityfocus.com]
On Behalf Of Michael Edwards
Sent: Thursday, January 04, 2007 1:34 PM
To: forensics@securityfocus.com
Subject: Physically damaged SD card
Any tips or ideas for recovering data from a physically damaged SD
flash card? One of the cards I'm working with has hairline cracks in
it, that appear to be getting worse with handling. I was able to
recover some data off it at first, but now, no go.
I've tried several readers that I have available. Applying some
physical pressure to close up the cracks seemed to help a bit at
first. Typically, if I can get it to read, I can read some data, but
then it un-mounts and either fails to read, or all data read contains
zeros.
Mind you, in this particular instance, it's just my vacation pictures
that I'd be sad to lose (first trip to London), but I've done some
recovery/forensic work with flash media before, and it seems like
excellent practice.
--
Michael Edwards
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