Monolith Data Recovery: Manual Extraction of Information from SD Cards and USB Drives

As users, we must do everything possible to avoid data loss. Frequent backups and a good redundancy policy can make a huge difference, turning virtual catastrophes into minor incidents. However, sometimes luck is against us, and we find our storage media failing without warning. Even worse, if the failure is on a memory card or a USB drive, recovery by the user becomes almost impossible. That's when professionals and their “monolith recovery” come into play...

One of the worst moments for any user is hearing the deadly “click-clack-click” from the hard drive, signaling its retirement. Recovery options are complex and costly, but they have existed for several years, and their overall results are very positive. Now, hard drives are no longer the “dominant species” in storage. Solid state is here to stay, with greater capacity and durability, while its price drops.

However, solid state presents new challenges in data rescue, especially on cheaper media (SD cards and USB drives), which only offer a USB port or contact pins as a means of access. Anyone who tries to find out more will come across the phrase “monolith recovery”. What exactly do they mean?

Monolith Recovery

The folks at Secure Data Recovery explain it simply: Originally, NAND memories and their controllers were separate. Recovering information was a matter of physically extracting the chip, placing it in a digital programming device, and reading.

But the era of the monolith arrived, a design in which memory, controller and the rest of the circuits are contained in a single electronic unit, without external connections beyond the USB or the traditional SD interface. The monolith allows manufacturers to create memories that are smaller, lighter, and with a more competitive cost, while also improving their resistance to moisture and dust.

The problem is that the monolith hides all the contact points that professionals need to initiate data recovery. Some companies perform an X-ray analysis to determine the structure of the memory, followed by removal of the protective layer. The card must be connected to a logic analyzer, and that is done with precision micro-soldering (the video above shows the process).

The alternative is to use an adapter like the Spider Board PC-3000, from which we share an image through our Facebook profile. The Spider Board is a universal solution for monolith recovery, eliminating the need to solder cables or breakouts. The curves of the needles are insulated (thus allowing contact between them), and they can be replaced easily. As expected, this solution is proprietary (it only works with the Flash Reader PC-3000), but we cannot deny its convenience.

Of course, accessing the pins and making a good connection is only half the equation. Once extracted, the data must be reconstructed (as far as possible) and transferred to a new medium, without failing at any point. Any error could destroy the information, which is why we insist on a prevention policy. The ideal is not to get to this point. Make your backups.