Chip-Off Data Recovery

We Offer Expert Chip-Off Data Recovery Services for All Flash Devices.

We use chip-off recovery to recover USB flash drives, SD cards, MicroSDs, eMMCs, CF/Cfast devices, Monolith NAND chips, Microsoft Surface, and select phones (such as Galaxy S3, S4, S5, and other Android models).

Our first approach for flash-based data recovery involves using advanced reading modes or interfaces to recover your data without removing the chip(s). This method is faster and often yields better results, so we prioritize it.

If special reading methods, techniques, and interfaces fail, then chip-off data recovery is the only remaining option. 

Is Your Device Recoverable?

Microsoft Surface eMMC chip-off data recovery

Chip-Off Data Recovery Process

Chip-off data recovery is a specialized technique employed for severely damaged devices where standard methods are ineffective. This precision process involves:

  1. Precision Extraction: Carefully removing the NAND flash memory chips from the device’s circuit board
  2. Specialized Preparation: Meticulously cleaning and preparing the chips for data access
  3. Memory Extraction: Using cutting-edge flash data recovery tools to read and capture the raw memory contents
  4. Virtual Controller Reconstruction: Virtually emulating the device’s controller architecture to properly interpret the data
  5. Data Reassembly: Reconstructing your files from the extracted memory fragments

This advanced procedure allows us to recover data from devices with severe electronic damage where the original controller circuitry is no longer functional.

Below is the process we use for chip-off data recovery:

Sandisk USB Flash DriveSandisk USB Flash with enclosure removed showing NAND chipUsing BGA rework station to remove the USB Flash Drive's NAND chipCleaning NAND chip with soldering iron, flux, and solder wick.Cleaning NAND chip with alcohol and soft brushSanding the solder points using very fine-grit sandpaperReading chip using PC-3000 FlashPC-3000 Flash ECC CorrectionPC-3000 Flash Controller ReconstructionPC-3000 Flash Rebuild folder structure and extract files

“I had a corrupted microSD card and yes, spoiler alert, they recovered all of my data.” –Alex

Chip-off Data Recovery Rates

  • We charge $300 per flash chip if we recover 99% or more of the data.
    • USB Flash Drives contains 1-2 chips.
    • SD cards contain 1-2 chips.
    • CF/CFast cards contain 1-4 chips.
    • MicroSD cards contain 1 chip.
    • eMMC/UFS/BGA (Microsoft Surface and various phones) typically chips contain 1 chip.
  • If we recover less than 99% of your data, you may decline the recovery for a $100 labor fee per flash chip.
  • If we can’t recover any data, there is no charge. If your device has several chips, a $100 labor fee per flash chip may be required (we’ll always get your approval first, if this applies). 
  • We charge a $75 “chip removal fee” (up-front/non-refundable) for some devices, like Microsoft Surface devices and phones.
  • If your device is encrypted (i.e., Bitlocker on Microsoft Surface), we charge an additional $100 “encryption fee” if the recovery is successful.

Monolith Data Recovery Rates

A “monolith” device is a single chip that contains the NAND (data) and controller (operating system). We charge $300 for all Monolith devices (the same as for all MicroSDs) if we recover 99% or more data. If less than 99% was recovered, and you don’t want the data we recovered, there is a $100 labor fee. If the recovery is not successful, there is no charge.

In the right column, you can see an eMMC chip recovery from a Lenovo Ideapad 130S. In this case, the computer was damaged by a drop. We had to use a BGA rework station to carefully remove the tiny eMMC chip that contains the customer’s data. Then, we used a tool called “Z3X EasyJtag” to read the chip and additional software to extract the customer’s data.

Lenovo Ideapad 130S emmc data recovery

We can perform chip-off recovery for devices with the following problems (and more):

  • Bricked drive
  • Dead drive
  • Liquid Damage
  • Firmware corruption
  • Partition corruption
  • Logical failure
  • Failed or corrupt controller
  • Drive has wrong model number or capacity in BIOS
  • Broken phone screen
  • Broken phone keyboard
  • Phone stuck in boot loop
  • Broken USB interface/port

We use the best-in-class chip-off data recovery tools

This includes Ace Laboratory’s PC3000-Flash, Rusolut’s VNR, Z3X EasyJtag, and Flash Extractor. We also have many Multi-com adapters for MicroSD cards which enable us to recover data quicker than other companies who manually solder in leads to interface with MicroSD cards.

PC-3000 Portable Pro (SSD data recovery)PC-3000 Flash Chip-off Data Recovery

Microsoft Surface Chip-Off Recovery

Newer Microsoft Surface devices save their data on a chip soldered to the motherboard. When the device fails, the only option is a “chip-off” recovery. We offer the most affordable pricing for Microsoft Surface devices: $300 (+$100 if the device is encrypted with Bitlocker) + $75 up-front/non-refundable to remove the chip.

Whether you have a Microsoft Surface with a chip (Surface 5 Pro, Surface 6 Pro, Surface 7 Pro, or Surface Laptop 2) or a Microsoft Surface with an SSD (Surface Laptop 1 or Surface Pro 4), we can help recover your data for an affordable price!

See the steps we take to recover from Microsoft Surface devices with embedded chips:

Disassemble the Surface and remove the chip.Cleaning thermal paste from the EMMC chip.Cleaning thermal paste from the EMMC chip.The logic board needs to be heated using an IR station to safely remove the EMMC chip.Microsoft Surface eMMC chip-off data recoveryCleaning solder from the bottom of the EMMC chip to ensure error-free reading.Cleaning flux from the bottom of the EMMC chip to ensure error-free reading.This is a Surface EMMC adapter + PCIe->USB adapter + Deepspar Stabilizer.EMMC chip identified and being read using UFS Explorer + Deepspar USB Stabilizer.

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