# Fixing a stepped-on USB flash drive



## tbuhler (Aug 1, 2008)

Hi all,

I have a flash drive that was stepped on while it was plugged in. Unfortunately, there are no other backups of the data, so I'm pulling my hair out trying to salvage the drive.

Here's the problem - I took apart the plastic housing (it's a PNY "compact attache" 32GB drive) and the drive isn't something I'm familiar with. The connector is made out of plastic and I can't solder it back together (see picture below):

http://i.imgur.com/1Vv5EGl.jpg

There's a clean break between the pins and the rest of the drive - in fact, the part of the drive with the pins on it can be cleanly removed. If you plug in the drive to a (Windows) computer, you can see the drive in My Computer but I get a "Please insert disk into drive X:" error. Admittedly, I didn't think this could be fixed by software.

Is this something that can be fixed, or am I SOL?


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## spunk.funk (May 13, 2010)

You are probably SOL. Unfortunately USB Flash Drives are volatile and know to failure as well as easy to damage. You should never keep files you can't live without on just a Flash drive only. 
You can try the free TestDisk program. I have had the best luck with GetDataBack, but since it is a broken hardware piece, I wouldn't expect you to recover.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

If you can remove the plastic around the connector, you may be able to solder it back on (or buy a new USB connector on eBay and try with that). Flash dirves can be fixed as long as there was no damage to other circuitry, and the power connector didn't short to another pin when it broke. If there's damage to other circuitry you are likely to be SOL, but it never hurts to try if you have no other options.


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## tbuhler (Aug 1, 2008)

I'm not sure what you mean. What would I solder to what? It seems the guts of the flash drive is just a skinny black chip - the little white dots might be leads but the part with the 4 pins is completely separated. I'd love for you to point me in the right direction.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

Ah, then the pcb likely has a plastic casing molded directly around it. It may not be possible to access it without damaging the circuitry. Is the connector completely detached now? If you, can you post a picture of the end of the drive? If not, can you turn it over and post a picture of the other side?


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

That third sentence should start with "If not," not "If you." :smile:

Spunk.funk said I was not clear in what I was asking. To clarify, I need a photo of the side of the drive _not_ pictured in the first post.


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## tbuhler (Aug 1, 2008)

Here's a picture of the back, sans plastic:

http://i.imgur.com/3MOcmF2.jpg

It's hard to see in this picture, but the connector is "completely detached". You can see on the "bottom" (i.e. this picture) that the drive looks bent, while on the "top" (i.e. picture from the OP) it's cracked. It seems that the silicon (?) board is held in place by plastic. The plastic is intact, but if you tip the drive over like I have in the picture, it's easy for the connector-part to fall out. Does that make any sense?

The drive isn't in my possession at the moment but I can get more pictures on request.


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## Fjandr (Sep 26, 2012)

Alright, I have a much better picture of the damage now.

It doesn't look like the PCB section is damaged, but in order to fix it you'll have to strip all of the black plastic off. A razor knife around the edges should do the trick, assuming it's not thermally adhered to the PCB. If you damage the PCB while removing the plastic though, you're no worse off than you are currently. If you're careful though, you should be able to remove it without damaging anything else. Once it's off, you may be able to temporarily reconnect the port connector to the PCB long enough to get the data off of it. If the pins are sheared off at the top of the connector, however, you'll either need to have a great eye, steady hand, and some small-gauge wire to make jumpers between the connector an the pads. If not, you'll need to buy a new connector (they're cheap on eBay).


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