Category: Tutorials

Up to 8 unique Secure Digital Card Registers reside in all SD, miniSD, and microSD Flash memory cards, with the SD Association requiring a minimum of 5. Registers usually consist of a small amount of fast storage, although some registers have specific hardware functions. In addition, registers may be read-only or write-only. Lastly, registers typically […]

Secure Digital Card Commands vary depending on the type of data bus protocol used. The SD Association, the organization in control of all Secure Digital Card Specifications, requires all SD card devices to support both the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) Bus and one-bit SD bus modes. The list below describes the 4 data bus protocols […]

Secure Digital Card Specifications detail the format and operation of Secure Digital (SD) non-volatile Flash memory cards. The SD Association (SDA), consisting of approximately 1,000 interoperable memory and device manufacturers, created, maintains, and upgrades all SD card specifications.   Secure Digital Card Form Factors The SD Association defines three different physical sizes of memory cards. […]

The Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) is a synchronous serial communication interface specification used primarily for short-distance communications between devices. SPI is used by a variety of data storage devices including Flash, EEPROM, MMC, and eMMC chips; Secure Digital (SD) cards, and USB drives. SPI devices communicate in full duplex mode using a master-slave architecture. They […]

Most modern USB, SD, and MicroSD Flash memory devices are now constructed out of a single, monolithic chip. One method of recovering data from monolithic memory devices involves directly communicating with the memory core. This article describes how to sand monolithic Flash memory to expose the data and control lines required to retrieve data directly […]

The two best online forums for data recovery and electronics repair are definitely HDDGuru and Badcaps.net. Both forums are one hundred percent free to use and are excellent resources for help.     HDDGuru Data Recovery Forums HDDGuru Forums is the best place online to both discuss and receive help with data recovery topics and […]

Preparing BGA (ball grid array) Flash memory microchips for data recoveries vary based on the form factor and type of device used. However, regardless of device type, the first step is always to extricate the circuit board holding the BGA chips from their protective housing. Some devices such as solid state drives (SSDs) require only […]

The beginning steps in preparing monolith Flash memory for data recoveries vary based on the form factor, or type of memory, used. For example, a Secure Digital (SD) monolith first requires extraction from its thin, plastic shell before it can be physically accessed for data recovery. Similarly, removal of a monolith residing in a USB […]