Attempting to fix a damaged Flash Drive - Why would anyone do this..

[@goshm]

Running my own repair business since 2011 - I had clients sending devices in with a title "repair shop ruined my device" - when checked and explained to client that no repair shop would create another "Hiroshima" like this, they would admit that repair has been attempted at home and because client is shy to admit, it is easier to blame some imaginary repair place... as always, I'm proud of you!

[@jnharton]

It’s also possible that somebody screwed up or the “repair shop” was their buddy with more confidence than skills.

[@aarons7615]

i dont know for certain but it is possible you put the chip on upside down.. if you notice on the board there is a circle and there is a dot on the chip. you put on the upper left. on the usb drive i have the dot is on the bottom right.. where the circle is on the board. its entirely possible tho the chip has already been fried and it was too late for you to fix.

[@fastbeta]

yes, he did it wrongly

[@Durzel]

He put it on the same orientation as it arrived. The text on the chip is the same way up before removal and after it’s been put back on.

[@aarons7615]

@@Durzel yeah i get that but i dont see the arrow that shows where the dot goes at 1:55.. i do see a circle tho at 3:58

[@reedvending2384]

I saw the same circle now that it was mentioned.

[@misterpacoalaparato]

i agree, there is a circle on the board, at 3:52 can be seen, and the chip circle is in the opposite corner, the chip came missplaced and he probably assumed that was the correct position.

[@vidsofyermom]

"Why do people do this". I think they are the same people that expect others to perform magic and fix it. I dunno wtf goes through peoples heads.

[@alejandroalzatesanchez]

confirmed.

[@Nobbie248]

Valuable data can make you feel desperate to try anything

[@mm0077]

Because they are prople and that what people do.

[@randallbro6749]

Exactly

[@billykulim5202]

mostly because people see random youtube video how you fix a device with flux and hot air, hopping it would works,

Isn't the chip upside down? The circle marker (3:50) is in the bottom right corner on the board, while on the chip it's in the upper left corner. Also, there are pads for a diode (2:30) that doesn't seem to be populated. Maybe that's why there was no light. I would expect the controller to at least enumerate on the USB bus. EDIT: It's an 8 GB Micron chip (MT29F32G08CBADAWP) packaged by SpecTek (FBML84A61K3BAAWP)

[@pingpong9656]

Yup = that is what I see too...

[@DoggStyle]

Yes its soldered without checking the circle marker, only if he paid attention but was more concerned about his microphone and batteries...

[@MegaTomPL2]

yeah 👍 he prefers speed than good work done properly.

[@RedSpitz]

@@MegaTomPL2 yeahh I seem to see a lot of his no fix problems are discovered by comments

[@miked9959]

That was a great video. I thought you went to music on purpose. It's actually pretty cool when you go to music and speed things up sometimes. Even if the drive didn't get fixed that was impressive work. In addition to the repair work, I don't think most people realize the amount of time and work that goes into editing a video like this. Great job, you are awesome at this!

[@geofyre]

Agreed, great to watch a master at work

[@jackcheefer]

Customer should have bought an identical flash drive, so you can swap driver or nand between them and try to recovery data

[@nexxusty]

Really? This guy should just have a flash reader. This is the actual fix to this issue.

[@howong8561]

I’m thinking the same

[@radeksvoboda7629]

@@nexxusty The customer did not want to recover data, but fix the drive.

[@phs125]

@@radeksvoboda7629 customer sent it to 2 recovery places and they couldn't apparently. So the customer definitely wanted data recovery. This guy just soldered the chip back on. Anybody with SMD soldering skills would've done that. He didn't even attempt the recovery at all. It doesn't take rocket science to insert it into a computer and say it doesn't work, now pay me even though I didn't do the job.

[@adultlunchables]

@@phs125 Yeah I'm shocked by what I'm seeing here. Dude who made this video is a clown.

[@SuperElephant]

That 1 bridge for all pins had me laugh out loud on my chair 😂

[@keiths8700]

probably using a $10 home depot soldering iron and plumbers flux

[@nzalog]

@@keiths8700 likely just no flux at all

[@stefanlechner]

Nice work, nice video. But i don't think that this usb drive was ever at a "data recovery store". I guess no one will this usb drive leave like this or send it back to his customer like this. That would be a bit weird. Thank you for that video

[@mustafaalalosy]

i think the same as you + i think the costumer do this mess😂😂

[@windowsxpprofessional]

I believe if those hdmis In xboxes, ps can be done like that, then this can happen too. But I believe no company actually removes the big Chip. It's mostly those small, controller chip they find the same batch for. So it doesn't make any sense to me

[@jamesarmenti8876]

I've been given similar stories with devices brought for repair. Screws stripped and missing.. customer claims it was a previous repair shop that did it. Usually get them to admit it was their own doing after a little bit of back and forth. ”highly doubt the repair shop stripped every screw and pried open the device with a butter knife”. Lol some people

[@bottering_one]

There's people that can actually leave it like that , i'be send a laptop to repair it ( bios flashing ) and like 4 week's later they writed us so we can get it back , back again in our house , wanting to switch it on so we can made a backup of the data in the lap hard drive , we realized that the entire laptop was dusty .\\ And one keyboard flex connection was broken //!-- Like they pushed really hard the keyboard .

[@jtcustomknives]

I think what’s very impressive is your level of professionalism. You where hired for a job, you did said job and that’s that. No fussing around or feeling bad that it did not work. This is where I struggle with my business. I get sucked into trying to give the customer what thy want not what thy paid for. And it ALWAYS costs me time and money.

[@jackalninezeronine]

I have not seen anyone mention this in the comments, but the music and editing really make these videos stand out.

[@j.lietka9406]

Alex, I beg to differ on your comment..." I don't work miracles!" Are you sure you don't know & then! Thank you for the great chip reinstall, cleaning the pins & excess solder, scrubbing the board, & finally ops checking the to thumb drive. Even if it didn't work, it's the professional work, observations, & path of best known repair methods, & effort you always provide! 🤓

[@MicSokol]

You could attach a backup mic (mini lavalier) on top of the microscope. The quality wont be as good as Sennheiser but you'll always have a backup when needed.

[@birsingh5388]

Nice suggestion

[@Nobbie248]

Thats a solid idea. But would need to separate the channels and record all the time plus always have to remember to turn that one on too.

[@requiem4adreamc]

Which Sennheiser model does he uses?

[@MicSokol]

@@Nobbie248 He can leave it on all the time if he has enough inputs, the downside is he needs to delete the track on the NLE but that takes 2 seconds.

[@MicSokol]

@@requiem4adreamc I think it is G3

[@pete1burn208]

Personally, I liked the music and hyperlapse when you were resoldering the chip.

[@Byteviper]

More people should watch your videos so they would send items to you first instead of trying to repair themselves or send to other repair shops. So easy to make a complete mess when you think you know what you're doing.

[@wannabemgtow2540]

Your editing skills are always improving, I like the fast forward Mission Impossible theme going on when working on that USB drive.

[@mike65535]

I always love this guy's matter-of-fact presentation.

[@tombo1001]

love the fact you show the "no-fix" jobs too, shares a genuine experience, can't everything! good job sir!

[@360Fov]

That heroic single swipe solder attempt lol

[@joseppuig925]

You could install a small LED VU-meter in parallel with the output of the microphone receiver so you can have a look at the presence of audio. Btw, the flash drive may not start due to a bad quartz crystal. That's the only other important component besides the controller and the memory IC. More modern flash drives don't use crystal anymore.

[@benwolfe1301]

Oh nice good point. A quick look on the oscilloscope would verify that.

[@I_SuperHiro_I]

What’s the quartz crystal for?

[@benwolfe1301]

@@I_SuperHiro_I The crystal is responsible for generating the master clock for the board. Basically, you apply voltage to the crystal and it produces a high frequency sine wave (usually ~12MHz) that is used to sync all of the chips together.

[@XantheFIN]

@@I_SuperHiro_I IC uses them many times as clock signal. No pulse means IC wont flip any bits.

[@I_SuperHiro_I]

@@XantheFIN that was my guess, just like watches do. Thanks.

[@PedroFNMartins]

Lol I think you should add A T-shirt with the phase "What can we do" to your merch.

[@majidzak]

I think I saw a pad come off while you were soldiering the chip back!

[@ramirososa7566]

Yeah I thought so too, at 6:12

[@madmangohan]

If you freeze it on the right frame at 4:31, you'll see the pad goes nowhere anyways. Looks more likely it's installed upside down. The dot on the chip doesn't match the dot orientation on the silkscreen visible at 3:53

[@DoggStyle]

Its installed upside down , dot's dont match, all he had to do was look at the circle and flip the chip, was more worried about his microphone/batteries...

[@kevina.4036]

Stevie wonder could've done a better job than these "data recovery" places.

[@garyr7027]

Customer lied, who attempts to replace a ram chip to recover data? That's where the data is at, so it doesn't make sense. My bet is that's not even the original ram chip.

[@infi2723]

hard to believe any company would leave a board like that

[@techroom6830]

i have a hard time believing this went to a data recovery center, those specialist in the field don't mess around with people's data and they certainly don't do this kind of "work"

[@gregsargeant9924]

Wicked stuff as always! Massive respect from here in London England! Keep up the straight talk and wicked work 👍👍😎

[@semihdemir6104]

Could you make a soldering tip care routine like what you do after you used it?

[@SauvikRoy]

Noble attempt at fix. There wasn't much you could have done. If I were shipping this for repairs, I'd have paid upfront for work charges.

[@GraphicManInnovations]

I am wondering why the customer will pay for a an attempt fee + postage now? lost work + no spare parts also?

[@jaideep1337]

Excess heat can very easily damage those flash and controller chips. That's probably what the other "Repair Shop" did by looking at that long bridge.

[@sweetestson7]

The theme song when you was soldering hits me. 👌🏽👌🏽

[@SydHeresy]

NGL, I kinda enjoyed the relaxing ASMR soldering for a change, but I always prefer to hear your wisdom and knowledge. Thanks for uploading!

[@still-d.r.eg2560]

Love this guy gave me confidence to buy all the equipment i need and start soldering again much respect thank you for teaching us 🙏

[@robertpage2023]

MR. ALEX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But YOU DO do miracles!!! That is why they use you as their last resort. Great Show!!

[@TheKec789]

Hoping you use Eneloop rechargeable batteries! If you aren't familiar with them, they do not lose any charge after being charged, while sitting and waiting to be used. They also allow more charging cycles than others due to this. I use them all over my house, and since switching to them I haven't had to replace any of them. They can seriously sit in my box charged and not lose any power even if sitting for months. We also use them at work (I work in AV, and we use many, many wireless mics for presentations.) Anyway, just a tip to try and help!

[@WinrichNaujoks]

Would it not be possible to get a working drive of the same kind and replace the NAND chip?

[@ebrahimshami9928]

it is possible, but what if the NAND chip itself is not good.

[@cattflap1447]

Wouldn't help with the data recovery though, and that drive is worth about $5

[@WinrichNaujoks]

@@cattflap1447 Why would it not? Is it assumed that the NAND chip is faulty, and not the controller chip? What's the value of the stick to do with anything? It's the value of the data which is important.

[@totalgaara]

that's what i think too, i know this is not great when it came from two shop (one probably imaginary costumer shop?) Anyway let's say the costumer is honnest, he already paid twice for data recovery service, witch cost a lot, and now another payement for something that probably been already done ?

[@cattflap1447]

@@WinrichNaujoks Because the nand chip holds the data, replacing it with another would mean the data is still lost

[@FG-Supercharged]

I don't think I would have even bothered trying to fix this. It was broken to begin with. Another company supposedly messed up and another came up with another excuse - even though the drive was broken to begin with... Then we get to here and the best that could be done is just fix up the mess and hope that the stars aligned just right. Nah, too much valuable time got wasted :( Karma to Alex, but a waste of time.

[@billykulim5202]

its posibble the customer was lie, he himself do that

[@FG-Supercharged]

@@billykulim5202 Cheers mate. Yeah, I really want to give the benefit of the doubt. In the back of my mind I really do agree with you. I just think that in this situation, if it was me, I would just go "Nah, to much other stuff to do" and go straight to the next job. Especially if I was a snowed under as NorthridgeFix is! Kudos/Karma for them even looking at the job, right? So hard these days to find a hard-working, dedicated, straight-talking company like this, eh?

[@ripe_apple]

If the customer need miracles, they need to go to????? Excellent Video with no narration, however, the background music selected in my opinion was perfect. Thanks Mr. Alex!

[@caramba10]

Sounds more like he gave it to his mate who "messes about with electronics" so is therefore an expert :)

[@LPFan4]

I once had a hot soldering iron light up smd LEDs. I wonder if you should solder memory chips with it. Anyway, the drive was probably already dead.

[@fabian11235]

Your soldering tip is not properly grounded and leaking current. He is using a JBC station which is most definitely esd safe.

[@bar10005]

Pretty sure that's why some soldering irons are advertised as "ESD safe" - the tip is isolated from heating element and connected to mains ground, so it can discharge unwanted voltages.

[@ChakshuSharma_CANNOT]

That means your ground is not working properly on the iron. Check if your proper earth connected. We also use anti static wrist strap to prevent esd from lighting up smd or frying sensitive electric.

[@garyr7027]

But a quality soldering iron and you wouldn't have that issue.

[@LPFan4]

@@fabian11235 Thanks! Didn't know that.

[@tyrellwreleck4226]

with 2 companies soldering the board, they could've actually fried the chips or shorted them multiple times. anyways why would anyone store important files in a flash drive. You should have at least have a copy on your computer.

[@I_SuperHiro_I]

The music makes it feel like a suspense thriller :)

[@JamesMCrutchley]

I'm just learning to do basic repairs. I was able to re-solder a antennae and reflow a capacitor. I am proud of that! It was my first repair for someone other than myself. It took time and effort. I did a crappy solder job but it works. I reflowed the capacitor ok. The solder holding the capacitor appeared to have seperated from a manufacturers defect maybe? I watch what you do with awe hoping to be as good as u are in say 10 years lol.

[@redangrybird7564]

Get a part time in a competent repaid shop and in less than a year you'll be competent enough.

[@TerryLawrence001]

It is a shame that customers have to lie to save face. Life is so easy once you get honest!

[@vives6164]

I found you by mistake..but be damned I got addicated to it so fast :) Keep it up man.

[@joshua199628]

“Nice.” That part got me😂😂

[@peterferguson2344]

At least you tried and that is commendable as many others would have looked at condition of this item and refused straight away.. Unfortunately you can't save everything.... And that customer can't save anything 😄👍

[@darkbyte2005]

I enjoy it with and without sound. Great video..

[@brycond809]

What's the tool name you're using to push and clean between the pins?

[@oliverb.5041]

The music is pretty cool and fits with your work. I love it so much!😘

[@PLUMBUMVINZIRAGNES]

SIR I HOPE YOU COULD ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS, IT COULD HELP ME A LOT, IVE BEEN WATCHING YOUR VIDEOS FOR A WHILE NOW AND IT INSPIRE ME TO DO THE SAME AS YOU, BUT MY KNOWLEDGE IS NOT YET THAT BROAD AS YOURS BUT MY QUESTIONS ARE WITHOUT ANY SCHEMATICS HOW DO YOU KNOW THE VALUE OF THAT PARTICULAR COMPONENTS OR HOW CAN YOU DETERMINE IF THAT COMPONENT IS FAULTY AND WHAT ARE YOUR SOURCE IF THAT DEVICE IS STILL NEW?

[@tubix8125]

At least we saw you today ...who cares about the flash drive ..keep up Alex

[@waldevv]

This looks like something I did to my first PS1 motherboard about 15 years ago when I messed up a mod chip install and got a solder blob on one of the ICs and more or less ruined it trying to remove the bridges. I should try to recover that thing with my new far better knowledge and tools than I had as a teenager, never got rid of it

[@ourv9603]

I bought a 2T SSD which does the weirdest thing. Once you format it, it will write to the drive no sweat. A little data, or a lot of data it will write OK. THEN, it will not write a second time. Format it again and it will write. BUT only 1 time. Worthless. !

[@pawelkempinski4634]

Hi Alex, i really liked the style with the music in the backround! really nice....

[@idheeaz]

im from Indonesia and im the one of ur fan in here

[@rune.theocracy]

Amazing work! A shame it didn't work but watching you (as an amateur electronics repairman myself) I can clearly see the years of experience you have accumulated, I have yet to get my own hot air station because they cost a bit of money for a hobbyist like myself but it looks to be a really good idea for reflowing these surface mount components efficiently. Can anyone tell me what sort of gel or fluid he used when he was... Cleaning the nand chip? I believe it was around 5:00, is it just regular flux or something else because it seems he stopped soldering after applying that paste?

[@ineverknowdoyou]

th q-tip is for cleaning, i believe, so its a solvent like alcohol

[@rune.theocracy]

@@ineverknowdoyou that makes sense, I'm just overthinking it. Thanks!

[@bornagain2641]

Found this video today. Did not get delivered today. Wonder why i had no delivery of your video today?

[@junaidmoohan9567]

Good Morning from Cape Town South Africa. I watch your vids all the time and I'm learning alot. I watched this video an came across 1 of the pin connectors which was not soldered as the connector was removed while you were checking the pins please check 4.27 all pins are there on the right side. Then at 4.33 the 2nd pin from the top is missing. I'm not sure if this could be the issue to why the flash drive is not picking up when plugged in? Loved the music by the way.

[@fraserc9768]

As soon as I saw that USB drive I thought it likely a DIY NAND chip removal attempt. Likely someone hoping to either mount it on a donor USB drive of the same type or hoping to read-out the flash memory using a NAND programmer. The soldering across all pins looks to be someone’s attempt at bulk desoldering as done with Low melt solder but they used standard solder 🤣 Much respect to Alex for even attempting data recovery on this mess.

[@keiths8700]

If this friggin moron tried to desolder a chip like this, there is absolutely no chance they are trying to accomplish what you explained in your first two sentences.

[@PatchworxStudios]

I think there are important information on this, probably just photos, sentimental values. Would it be better to take the same brand usb and try to replace the memmory chip with that one?

[@bstaznkid4lyfe392]

I bet it was the customer who tried to fix it.. 🤭

[@ThePneumanicHunter]

“That’s right, who cares about the flash card” 😂 when you know you know

[@Dragondezznuts]

It would be funny if someone did this on purpose to get you to save a file on the usb. You look and it’s a Rickrolling back at you lol 😂

[@zafaconfoo]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge 👍👍 you feel bad that you didn’t share more because of the mic but thank you for that

[@alejandroalzatesanchez]

if that mic is giving too much trouble what if you mod it to plug on charger + lithium battery?

[@SHINdanny]

hehe, no time for mods (although it is a good idea), then "a lot of packages came into today, and several bring-ins from local customers"

[@deilusi]

7:20 why reciver is also battery powered ? it feels like that end should be usb-powered. is that 3v device ? might be worth to mod a power cable to it, and forget it existed.

[@cfamozcomputermetropolis7191]

Wow what a process, big boss CAn you do a video on the basic tools one needs to have before starting a repair business please

[@jeroenvtec]

Ooh I liked the sound while there was no audio, really mysterious sound !

[@TheIsuruathukorala]

I think person work on flash drive try to remove the flash memory chip. That person might not own a hot air station and try to desolder with reguler solder by placing large amount of soldering led spanning all the pins. That way you could lift chip. But the problem is this method only useful for smaller chips. As the other side get solidify when melting one side. That is why one side is lifted. I don't own a hot air solder as it is expensive this part of world and some times use this method with resin Flux and soft led (I have a reel of soft led. Not your low melt solder. But melt at low temperature than usual led). And then use a copper wire apply with resin as wick to clean.

[@therealswarvey]

You'd be surprised what counts as a "store" and "data recovery". In Australia, it is entirely likely that this came back from a "technician" in that condition

[@EuclidesGBM]

Same in Brazil. Considering customer said "Would have to be sent to the US" I take they are from Mexico, which makes it possible

[@CarlAlbermarle]

Good to see you

[@refurbishguys7182]

“Underestimate” when they think that such skill don’t need passion, sacrifice and time. 😂

[@charlesmawale9114]

Nice soldering as always

[@360Fov]

Also; getting ad revenue in addition to repair attempts is genius

[@fraenkiboii]

Two friends in high school: "yo, bro, my uncle taught me to solder yesterday. you said you're good with IT, right?" - "yeah, why?" - "can you make a website and we found a data recovery center, we'll make loads of money yo"

[@Vaeloron]

I kind of like this format for the video.

[@matthewshafer9545]

Ok now i want to know what is on that drive that made it worth going through 3 shops that wasn't worth backing up on a hard drive ? That $10 USB stick that is available anywhere is now $300 + USB stick and might need a plane ticket .

[@FSerpentxnitro]

Nice work keep it up .

[@AudunBarsk]

Whats your thought on linus tech tips latest video trying to fix a camera micro hdmi connector?

[@jackflash6377]

Why not do a quick check to see if the USB plug is working correctly? Maybe measure to see if it's getting 5v to the chip? Test continuity to the data lines. Just in case it was something simple like that. You may even have a tester for that type of USB.

[@richardbell6045]

Awesome awesome awesome. Good job

[@pugloverg6671]

Great attempt on to the next

[@dimen363]

When I saw the thumbnail my first thought was "I didn't know JayzTwoCents was a repairman"

[@ricardoferreira2811]

Hello NorthridgeFix, could the work you do with micro soldering be done with a stereo microscope but using only a 10x lens? I'm thinking about the AmScope SE400Z. Thx

[@icommandoi145]

What kind of a hiroshima is this, made me LOL.

[@ehabsami6208]

As you said, how's care about the USB😅, I care about you and your fantastic work ❣️

[@elenium115]

Why people are doing this? Because of this type of video :) people don't treat them as entertainment as they should but think it is so easy. They don't take into consideration it is easy for you because of your experience and tools you have bought. I have a guy who came to my shop and show me your video where you change hdmi port and told me that this job is so easy that I should charge half of amount I told him :) So I show him another of your video where you show previous repair attempt and I told him that if he bring something like this I will charge him x2.

[@phil1761]

That "sent to a Data Recovery Company" seems pretty suspicious but still possible if that said Company is a back alley one.

[@clydepowers2339]

most of them are anyway

[@zolberserk]

good video R.I.P drive

[@rheography]

LOL that made my morning. I did get to see Alex, who cares about the HD. LOL. can't wait for the glare remove video, also will u do a vid on how to remove excess solder blob "you made it look so easy". Also good luck on the house hunting.

[@mojikaygaming]

I enjoyed it thanks for the tutorial ❤

[@TheLonelyBeastmaster]

Holyshit, which company works like this? I can hardly imagine that this Hiroshima disaster was a professional recovery service.

[@meme-hj5rs]

seems the 3rd pad from the top on the right side of the NAND chip went away. Maybe that's the reason even if it should make a sound when you plugged that into the PC

[@madmangohan]

If you freeze frame it at 4:31, you'll see that the pad goes nowhere. More likely it's upside down. The dot on the chip is in the top left but the silkscreen visible at 3:53 has it on the bottom right

[@meme-hj5rs]

@@madmangohan doubt but possible, might be a VIA that goes to the other side. Havent seen much "just a pad" without a connection to somewhere else. Anyway might be possible even though the PC should have made a sound if the USB controller was OK.

[@janpedersen9120]

whats the name of your soldering iron, and what and the handles you use with it named? thanks for awesome videos :)

[@KrissBartlett]

you did good job on that flash drive it was a mess when you got it looked good but was a dud before you got it i think

[@livebrain]

I dont believe it was a professional data recovering center, repair center or any tech, or even any hobbyist... But i once saw a laptop "repaired" in a shop with a new ssd drive that was "stuck" into place using toilet paper.

[@alexvalache]

"Who cares about the flash drive?" The customer does.

[@jobgerlach7110]

Great video. Thanks.

[@justyand]

Heh "I do not do a miracles" got me 😂😂😂 Surely he does 👀

[@hariranormal5584]

On an another note... backup bois...

[@rachitbhengra4298]

though timelapse was great but its the information and your which we miss. Anyways keep it coming.