EMMc data storage use NAND chips. Accordingly, when working with eMMC, as well as with SSD, the reading procedure is performed much faster than the data writing procedure. And each flash cell must also be cleaned before you can write new data into it. In addition, as with SSD drives, erasing information from cells in eMMC is much slower than writing to an empty cell.

These similarities lead to the use of similar mechanisms in eMMC storage technologies to improve durability (wear control) and productivity (to eliminate empty cells by removing them in the background). However, unlike SSD drives, in many eMMC controllers, deleted data does not disappear instantly, probably due to the lack of a mechanism to work with multiple cells simultaneously.

In some cases, deleted data remains on the medium even after the TRIM command is executed; the cells are deleted even later. In addition, unlike SSD drives, many eMMC controllers do not «reset» cells containing deleted data before deleting the cells themselves. Thus, deleted data remains on the media for some time, which means that the data recovery specialist always has a real opportunity to return the necessary files.

eMMc Memory Chip Recovery

Recently, our company received a case that required professional data recovery from the eMMC chip. Our engineers thoroughly reviewed the device and decided to go with the chip-off recovery technique.

The process was as follows; the chip was unmounted from a portable GPS device of an unknown brand and model. When removing the chip, our technicians made such assumptions: the chip was not damaged, but they could see that it was previously removed from the circuit board by some external influence. Still, it didn’t stop our team, and they continued the process.

First, we unsoldered the chip of the drive. The great danger, regardless of the method, is that the chip will be too hot for too long. We do not want to have enough heat through the client’s IS to heat the PCB under it.

Then our engineers proceeded to warm up the entire printed circuit board to a temperature just below the melting point of the solder. Then they could heat the IS by hot air station and remove it.

Then we cleaned the chip with an ultrasonic cleaner. Ultrasonic cleaning of the drive’s chips allowed to completely clean it from any type of particles, including dust. Even if the dirt particles are tightly clogged in hard-to-reach places on the chip where there is an interface of individual parts and elements of the device and where no tool or brush will reach.

After cleaning the eMMc memory chip, our engineers had to use physical image extraction. By having a bit-by-bit copy, deleted data can be potentially recovered. It means that data that resides outside of the active user data and database files, such as images, videos, installed applications, location information, emails, and more, can be extracted, and deleted versions of these items may be recovered.

With our high skills and cutting-edge technologies, we successfully performed the data recovery and restored most of the lost files. As a result, we delivered the recovered files to the client, and he was pleased with the outcome of our procedure. Contact our customer services at (888) 611-0737 if you face any media storage failure.