Fix a physically broken USB Thumb Drive

Here's a video of how to fix a physically damaged USB Thumb Drive so you can get the data off it. In this case, it's not a permanent fix as mechanically the device was compromised. It is enough to get the data off it though.
Sometimes the device is more permanently redeemable; in this case, particularly once you have board and physical/mechanical damage, all bets are off for a quick permanent solution, but you can at least get usually the data off it.
This was a USB 2.0 high speed thumb drive. YHou can do the same with a USB 3.0 thumb drive at high speed (rather than super speed) by making the same four connections. To get super speed (5Gbps) you'd need to do quite a bit more work, and take much more care of your work, as the speeds dictate controlled impedance over quite short distances to maintain signal integrity.
I used a 0.2mm tip on a Weller WP80 iron at 350 deg C from a WMD-3 station. Solder is 0.5mm dia. 60/40 full fat. Solder wick was 0.8mm. Coffee is decaf ;-)
Camera is Panasonic Lumix GH5 with Olympus 60mm macro lens.
I'm looking through a separate binocular zoom microscope to perform the work.

[@extropiantranshuman]

THis video is really for everyone fixing their USB drive. It teaches great tips: - use hot glue to hold - use desoldering braid

[@Hawks45636]

Even though I couldn’t do this with the usb that I currently have, good video! This is a good life skill to have. Ignore all the fools who have no idea what they are doing, and keep doing your thing!

[@mrsamarmandal]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gabTqIabirSaZ7M

[@80trixter]

Thanks to your video I was able to get mine to work. It wasn't the video, but something you said. At around 10:00 you mentioned the wire being a centimeter length and the wavelength. The drive I was working on I couldn't' solder the usb connector back to the board so I ran wires and soldered them together. I kept getting a unreadable device. After seeing your video I cut the two center wires short. Still around 2 to 3 in. When I connected it the drive came up and I was able to copy all files over. Thanks!

[@nezbrun872]

It's called signal integrity: you need to make efforts to maintain a constant impedance on the interconnecting wires, which are transmission lines. It becomes more and more important as the frequency rises. Typically you can get away with an inch or two of uncontrolled impedance on the transmission line in this scenario, but there will be increased electrical losses. Thankfully, the specs allow for these losses up to a certain degree: this is the same reason that there's a cable length limit on USB. Losses increase as the cable length, or transmission line, increases, even if it's a properly controlled impedance. Losses also increase as the frequency increases, so that's why, for example, passive Thunderbolt 3 cables are typically limited to 50cm.

[@fullcontacted]

nice job!!

[@J0BL3SS]

thx dude i saved my 128gb pendrive

[@Joaquin77]

Thanks for the video.. i would try scrapping the ttaces close to the pads to get a closer contact surface and avoind the cables but hey it worked... thanks man..

[@BryanWinssss]

My flash drive is cannot be detected anymore in the hard disks, what do u think is the problem?

[@cynicalz9131]

U saved my life

[@glendadean6498]

Hi. What kind of wire stripper are you using? Would love to purchase one. Pictured at 6:43 Thanks

[@shinsystems2415]

Muy Buen trabajo, ya lo he realizado algo semenjante con memorias USB 2.0, no pude con una USB 3.0 muchos pines y no tenia la herramienta con punta fina para soldar

[@8inary]

Heres a lil video showing how I fixed a usb memory stick for data recovery. kzbin.info/www/bejne/mZuuY2uQm7ylbs0

[@khaleddhr6238]

Hi, I hard usb flash reader for micro sd 64GB and usb reader damage and open it and i see only tow smd capacitor and over controller like black glue without any name and pins of the micro sd card ,how to check this flash reader? this flash from chaina without any name

[@zhoupact8567]

My best guess is that there is music on my usb as its one of those USB/MP3 or whatever types. Guess I will open it and see what is up. It would be nice to at least know for sure what is on it before throwing it away.

[@leh3827]

The dog chewed a stick. The bottom of the board is gone but the data chip looks intact. It contains valuable pictures from days gone by. I want to try moving the data chip to a good board. Does the new stick have to be the same make and size as the chewed stick? I'm afraid there isn't anything left of the original housing. Can I identify compatibility by numbers or pin count or?

[@JustinIsHuman]

How can you tell which pins to connect the middle ones to on the USB A port?

[@saverineholdings]

Hi, Nez, how can I get in touch with you. I have a flash drive that has broken connectors... And would very much like to recover the files hopefully...

[@woodsonasher3835]

Where did you get the little wire stripper?

[@weapontheory]

My USB is broken the same way, clean off the board. When he started using the wire I just gave up hope.

[@nm4408]

Hi, how much do you charge to fix it?

[@_simon.s_]

I just destroyed my goddamn 2 TB OTG! I'm so pissed! Hopefully, soldering it will fix it!

[@mrsamarmandal]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gabTqIabirSaZ7M

[@localadministrator6032]

How can I get in contact about a usb drive that I need the data recover off of?

[@pentiummmx2294]

i just whacked my cruzer glide 128gb with my knee when i was going back to using my PC and it snapped clean off, traces were damaged, USB drive was completely busted, nothing i can do to recover files, R.I.P files

[@ci.netproductions]

mine spontaneously fell apart for no reason...

[@meowseru]

@@ci.netproductions SAME LMFAOO

[@deadpilled2942]

I kept mine in hopes that it would be recoverable one day. It's 4 years later, and I'm pretty sure I shorted it out, but I'm still holding onto it.

[@Drejones214]

@@deadpilled2942I’m in the same boat 5 years in still have high hopes lol

[@princesanjay8987]

Sir there are cylinder type ic 142000 where we get...?

[@high_fructose_corn_syrup]

What happens if u left that solder on, when you accidentally bridged it? I accidentally bridged mine, i dont have the copper wick but i tried heating it off and it caused the solder to go under those metal line things. If i leave it, will it work? Or if i get the braid will it remove it from under those? Please help :(

[@azenthi5969]

That is why you want to test for shorts with the multimeter. If you just plug it in then chances are you wont get anything readable if any data at all in the best case scenario. Worst case is it fries it instantly and catches fire while damaging the usb port and machine it is connected to.

[@reqwerpjd3757]

One question can you still fix a USB flashdrive if one or more capacitors are lost. Cause that is one of my problem also with my USB stick. pls help me

[@Geert365]

I tried that, didn't work here, after first fix with still all intact it just recognized something was plugged in, not what, without one of four capacitors, it just did nothing.

[@keyandaricks1483]

Please help me!!! I tried to connect my flash drive to a usb cord. I have no clue about soldering. But everyone made me feel confident lol. All i know if i got i the two connected. I plugged it in to my Mac and the light comes on. The laptop doesn’t recognize the usb. Did i do something wrong or is this a lost hope?

[@jimhardy743]

the last two wires you soldered, how do you know where to connect them on the chip?

[@leeheggie7043]

you can follow the trace from the broken pad to the chip

[@shubhamtiwari2764]

How can repair pendrive of sony

[@VENUEATHENS]

Where can we purchase the wire you're using to make connections?

[@JZM006]

Tony Atin the copper stuff?

[@anshumansailani9876]

How to take audio out from this bluetooth

[@stanbattle7436]

NICE CAMERA WORK,,, GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE GIRLS I GO OUT WITH

[@mrsamarmandal]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gabTqIabirSaZ7M

[@louistournas120]

Go out with?

[@theboybabyg]

how much do you charge to fix these?

[@sammyh5304]

My flashdrive has Minecraft Xbox 360 edition and it got bent because it was plugged into my Xbox when my Xbox fell

[@kneecapbuster807]

How do we ix it without solder?? And is there a way to get the data without soldering???

[@extropiantranshuman]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aV7NkImQd7NpfJY&ab_channel=NorthridgeFix

[@SakthiPrakashPM]

hey, what tool ur using to striping the wire @6:50

[@nezbrun872]

It's a wire wrapping tool. uk.farnell.com/metcal/wsu-30m/wire-wrap-tool/dp/441089 others brands are available.

[@ItsCalYouTube]

my cats chewed on it so now its all dinted

[@gedtoon6451]

Great video, but it should have ended with a least a "Ping Pong" as you plugged it in!

[@parveensharma5778]

Dear Sir I have a pen drive DTSE9 Kingston. Last time we used the pen drive on a Chinese HMI for upload backup. When insert the pen drive in HMI then HMI not detected pen drive. After we used pen drive other pc or laptop but not success. Pen drive not detect any where, then we watch your video and open the pen drive and found inside a board like SD card Marking on board TOSHIBA THNU4PP00PM07. Please help us how to recover my data. Thnx for knowledgeable video and please continue sir...

[@dbow4life666]

There somewhere where you can buy a new metal piece ?

[@leeheggie7043]

ebay

[@hulieo1]

Hello! This exact issue happened to me, and I’m being told by other professionals that there is no way for me to get the data. I’d love to talk about the possibility of you fixing it, can I message you in some way?

[@drewbocop]

lol really dude

[@simonlevett4776]

Interesting video, but it would have been nice to see you plug it in to a PC and start the transfer of files. By the way, what was the cylindrical shaped thing on the board ?

[@nezbrun872]

It's a quartz crystal: the communications protocol on USB demands certain timing constraints, and that's the function of this part.

[@misterxzxc7314]

Can I repair the memory chip Because I bought a fake 16gb USB flash drive wich hold only 127mb

[@ZweGGy]

:D sad live, get a normal kingston or etc flash drive for 7eurs 8gigs

[@VidkunQL]

By "repair", do you mean "replace"? If you find out how to increase the capacity of a memory chip by 15GB with a _soldering iron,_ I will beg on my knees to be your pupil.

[@deivisony]

@@VidkunQL just sold more memories chips. Search for zombie graphics card

[@fouadhoblos3611]

I screwed and lost enough USB sticks to say: use an external hard disk with an enclosure instead! Much harder to break, much harder to lose..

[@moinulfaisal8513]

Brad

[@BCKingz]

Can i justsend my flash drive to you ?

[@roudhamm]

BCKingz same:(

[@Thedreamzone11]

my semsung 32Gb pendrive Is demege...!!

[@ticklesatan5710]

I was on addy doing this

[@ATHgamer69]

The method works but will glue gun can pass electric current

[@ProductCode767]

USB Broken

[@louistournas120]

Good job. Your leads on the multimeter are too fat. Get some sewing needles.

[@nezbrun872]

LOL! As well as a number of alternative fine probing options, I do have some extra fine Keysight branded probes with micro pogo pin style tips that I keep for special occasions when the Duplo standard probes won't suffice. It'd mean getting off my butt and getting them out of a drawer though.

[@rakeshbashetti1792]

Pls give me the number my pen drive is damaged

[@martinbryde5837]

why not solder it to the board instead of doing new wires lol?

[@nezbrun872]

The traces are broken.

[@i-sobot732]

To big a gap for solder wire was the right way to go

[@i-sobot732]

There was too big a gap for solder. Wiring it was the way to go.

[@i-sobot732]

You didn't show it plugged in to see the data being able to be pulled off it.

[@iamdancer]

he could have figured all that out before this video but he winged it instead

[@johnd942]

Why didn't you TEST THE THING properly; PLUG IT IN!!!

[@nezbrun872]

You're shouting at a USB stick.

[@mjk0964]

A huge amount of talking with very little useful info for someone who has no understanding on what materials to use or how to correct this problem. I'll be taking mine to a store or finding another video - Maybe less talking about coffee and alcohol and more explanation of the materials you are using, and a brief understanding of why you are doing what you are doing.

[@nezbrun872]

Thank you so much for your comments! It means a lot coming from someone with a sum total of no content whatsoever. Next time I'll script it for you and re-take several times using several broken units. The coffee comments are serious and genuine, after more than a cup it's incredibly difficult to operate steadily under a microscope. It also takes about fifteen minutes to get into the groove of doing small stuff irrespective. Anyway I look forward to your no doubt high quality video of you going to the shop.

[@trippenspence2841]

@@nezbrun872 you can lead a horse to water... but if they are too stupid to drink that is on them. Thanks for the vid

[@dennismcgrath3088]

Garbage

[@nezbrun872]

I'd keep off the sauce if I was you!

[@ProductCode767]

Po35e6655