When an SSD or NVMe drive fails (at the controller, in firmware or in the NAND), it drops off the bus, shows the wrong capacity, goes into SATAFIRM safe mode or locks itself read-only. We recover each of these failures across all makes, including Samsung, Crucial, WD, Kingston and the rest, working beneath the file system at controller, firmware and NAND level. SSD data recovery done this way is chip-level work rather than a simple software scan, and on a healthy drive, a single SSD is a flat £300 + VAT.
If your SSD has vanished from the system, shows the wrong size or has locked read-only, turn it off and unplug it immediately. Left running, a failing SSD keeps performing garbage collection and TRIM in the background, which can erase the very data we need for good. Do not reboot, reformat or use repair tools: the sooner it is off, the more survives.
From a drive that vanishes off the bus to one frozen read-only, these are the SSD and NVMe failures we receive most: a failed controller, corrupted firmware, worn or unstable NAND, and logical errors on top of intact cells.
Every SSD and NVMe form factor is in scope: SATA, M.2 (both SATA and NVMe), mSATA, U.2 and PCIe add-in cards, whether current or a decade old. Recovery depends far more on who made the controller and NAND than on the name on the label.
Covering M.2 NVMe and SATA, mSATA, U.2, 2.5-inch SATA and PCIe drives · Phison, Samsung, Marvell, Silicon Motion and SandForce controllers · across internal, external and add-in-card form.
Recovering a failed SSD is a race to access the NAND before the controller’s own housekeeping reclaims it, image it read-only, then rebuild your files from the flash. To do this, we freeze the controller’s background operations first.
Tell us what went wrong (not detected, wrong size, read-only, won’t boot), and an engineer will evaluate the fault and provide a written quote, generally within 48 hours.
The SSD is attached to specialist hardware and the controller’s background processes (garbage collection and TRIM) are suspended, so it can’t reclaim and wipe the blocks holding your data.
When the controller is dead or the firmware is corrupt, we either repair or bypass the controller, then rebuild the flash translation layer (FTL), the map from logical addresses to physical NAND pages. Without this map, the raw cells read as noise.
A dead PCB is repaired. If there is no way to get the controller working again, we lift the NAND and read the flash directly (chip-off), then undo the vendor’s interleaving, ECC and scrambling to reassemble the image.
After access has been restored, we take a strictly read-only image, reading marginal NAND carefully and re-reading weak pages so error correction lifts the most data.
Once the file-system metadata has been rebuilt from that image, we extract your files and folders, recovering data even from worn-out or unstable NAND cells.
Your data comes back verified, on a new external drive or by secure download for jobs up to 75GB.
SSDs and NVMe drives of any make (Samsung, Crucial, WD, Kingston and the rest) are recovered at controller, firmware and NAND level.
Tell us what happened and we’ll get back to you, usually within a working day.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
One set cost to recover one SSD or NVMe drive, after we give you a free diagnostic and a written quote, before any work begins.
Examples of recent SSD and NVMe recovery jobs involving controller, firmware and NAND faults. We have removed identifying information, and every result went through a full check. Full write-ups: an Asus ZenBook NVMe gone overnight, a Lenovo SSD knocked offline by a power cut and a Samsung NVMe that overheated its controller.
The controller had failed and would not allow the drive to enumerate. We bypassed it, rebuilt the flash translation layer and copied out the NAND.
The firmware had gone into read-only mode to protect the failing NAND. Once we had reloaded the firmware modules, we were able to image the drive before it slipped further.
Corrupt firmware was reporting the wrong size. After rebuilding the service-area modules until the drive reported its true capacity, we created an image of it.
A SATAFIRM panic condition was reporting zero capacity. We cleared the firmware fault, restored access to the drive and retrieved the data.
A power surge had damaged the PCB. We repaired the board and, where the controller was gone, read the NAND memory chips directly by chip-off.
An impact had cracked the printed circuit board, but the NAND memory chips survived. We transferred the NAND to a working platform and reassembled the data by chip-off.
Send the drive in for a free diagnostic with a brief description of the fault. One of our engineers will evaluate it and confirm the exact quote in writing before any work starts.
To begin getting your data back, first send the drive to us. Package it securely and include your name and contact information, and when we complete our free diagnostic, we will confirm your exact quote in writing before starting any work.
Sending it by post? We’d recommend a tracked, insured service. Dropping it in? No problem: Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm. Please package the device as described above first.
Want a scoped quote first? Fill out the form with as many details about the drive and the fault as possible, and one of our engineers will review it and provide a quote specific to your job.
We’ll be in touch shortly. If it’s urgent, call 01483 901310.
The most common technical enquiries we receive about failed SSDs.
Usually. An SSD that has vanished from the BIOS or operating system most often has a failed controller, with your data sitting intact in the NAND behind it. We repair or bypass the controller, rebuild the translation layer, then image the drive and recover the files.
That’s the firmware dropping into a safe or panic mode, often shown as SATAFIRM S11 or a zero-capacity reading. Your data usually still sits in the NAND; we rebuild or reload the firmware modules to bring the drive back online, then image it.
Yes, we recover NVMe and M.2 drives, SATA or PCIe. The process is very similar to that of a typical 2.5-inch SSD: controller, firmware and NAND-level work, with chip-off work on the NAND when the controller does not revive.
Often, and you need to move fast. An SSD that has gone read-only is typically protecting failing firmware or NAND, so if the drive is still readable, get your data off right away, and if it isn’t, send it in before the controller locks it down further.
The cost for a single SSD or NVMe drive is a flat £300 + VAT, and we provide a free diagnostic and a written quote for each job. With controller and board-level recoveries, we require a 50% deposit, with the balance only due on success, so in most cases you only pay if we recover your data.
For the majority of jobs, yes. For controller and board-level recoveries, we request a 50% deposit, and the remainder only becomes payable once the recovery has succeeded. So where the drive cannot be recovered, you will not pay the full cost.
Every make: Crucial, Samsung, SanDisk, Western Digital, Kingston, Kioxia, SK hynix, Seagate, ADATA and many others. Because we work directly at controller and NAND level, the brand rarely affects recoverability.
Sometimes, though SSDs differ from hard drives here: TRIM tells the controller to erase deleted blocks within seconds, so recovery depends on whether TRIM has already run. Stop using the drive immediately to give yourself the best chance of recovering the data.
No. Each time you turn it on, the controller runs another round of garbage collection and TRIM, erasing data for good. If an SSD is failing, leave it off and let us image it first.
Most logical and firmware recoveries take less than three working days. Recoveries that need controller-level or NAND-level (chip-off) work take longer, depending on the controller and the condition of the flash.
Bring it to our unit at Guildford Business Park, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5:30pm, or post it to us fully insured, well packaged and with your contact details enclosed.
We offer a free diagnostic and a fixed price of £300 + VAT for each drive, and in most cases you only pay if we recover your data. We recover every make of SSD and NVMe drive in-house at controller, firmware and NAND level. Get started on your data recovery today.