So an Intel 335 series SSD I bought for someone seems to have died today. In the bios it is just listed as "Sandforce" and says it has 0.0GB capacity. Usually this means a controller failure which is not surprising given that it is a Sandforce controller. Does anyone know if there is a way to revive a SSD like this and get it working again or at least be able to copy off the info from the drive? I dont have much experience in data recovery myself. SSDs are supposed to be much more reliable in that when the drive fails the data is still in the NAND and can be read from, but I do not think that is the case when the controller itself is what fails as is usually the case with SSDs.
Im pretty sure you're SOL on bringing your ssd back to life. You can try http://www.easeus.com/data-recovery/other-recovery-software/SSD-drive-recovery.htm to see if you can recover anything
I have never heard of an SSD coming back from life from a controller going bad, nor have I in all our years had you ask a TECH QUESTION!!! MARK IT DOWN FOLKS !!!
Normally once a controller goes out in a SSD its done. I'll pose this question at school next week, because honestly if you really think about it. Just like in a Raid you replace the controller it works.
Im just wonder if since the drive is detected and listed as Sandforce, it knows there is hardware there but the controller just cant talk to the nand. So what if I were to re-flash the Intel firmware? I am going to try and see if I can get the data off if possible, and afterwards I am going to try to flash firmware onto it and just see what happens.
I suspect that you can hook the memory to a new controller and have it work. Reflashing might work but if it doesn't I kind of doubt you can DIY it. You've tried hooking it up to a different computer? The professional dudes can probably recover the data, though.
Ya I dont want to spend money on it though. Really there is nothing on it that isnt replaceable I am just wondering if easy data recovery or complete SSD recovery is possible in this sort of situation
Have you tried using Recuva on it? I've used it on functioning drives but never a 'dead' SSD. There is also a book called 'Open Source Software for Digital Forensics'. Again, I'm not certain if it will be of any help but it is one more source for information. I'm sure you can find a copy of it.