Hello everybody,

I’m trying to read a (probably damaged) microSD card from my computer (tried with two different computers, both Arch Linux, which can read other card without any problems). There isn’t any singal of life (no /dev/sdX, nothing with GParted, testdisk, …); the only thing that I found was in dmesg. Here’s the output of sudo dmesg | rg "mmc0":

Any idea on how to resolve?

  • OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    Your output from dmesg didn’t paste.

    Does the card appear in lsblk? Also try cleaning any dirt off the microSD

    • djtech@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      Sorry, this is the output: [ 8306.605559] mmc0: cannot verify signal voltage switch [ 8306.901332] mmc0: error -110 whilst initialising SD card [ 8307.544364] mmc0: cannot verify signal voltage switch [ 8307.837385] mmc0: error -110 whilst initialising SD card [ 8308.488564] mmc0: cannot verify signal voltage switch [ 8308.789314] mmc0: error -110 whilst initialising SD card [ 8582.217859] mmc0: error -123 whilst initialising SD card [ 8584.685053] mmc0: cannot verify signal voltage switch [ 8584.982799] mmc0: error -110 whilst initialising SD card [ 8585.628028] mmc0: cannot verify signal voltage switch [ 8585.926901] mmc0: error -110 whilst initialising SD card [ 8586.573009] mmc0: cannot verify signal voltage switch [ 8586.870849] mmc0: error -110 whilst initialising SD card

      The reader can’t initalizie the SD card, so no “/dev/sdb” (nothing on lsblk also, obvioulsy).

      I’ll try cleaning it better, but I already used a napkin.

      • OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        mmc0: cannot verify signal voltage switch suggests something is wrong with the hardware (either SD card or card reader). -110 is a timeout error, and -123 generally indicates a problem with media hardware.

        You’re not gonna fix this with software. Try a different card reader, or if you think it’s the SD card, put a bit of alcohol on a cotton swab and gently clean the contacts. Let the card fully dry, then try again.

        Obviously this is a hail-merry shot, but your card is likely physically done for

  • Album
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    1 year ago

    If you need the data, a solid state recovery specialist may be able to assist you. Surely won’t be cheap as it generally requires reading directly from the flash through soldered wires or jigs.

    • AKADAP@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      Are there any recovery specialists who will give a ball park quote for data recovery from an SD card without requiring ones life story, bank account numbers and all your passwords before they will talk to you?

    • ScaredDuck@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      Listen to this advice if the data is important to you. Also probably don’t do anything else to the card just in case you would make it worse.

  • 20gramsWrench@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    1 year ago

    just in case, you tried on two computers, but is it the same card reader ? I’ve seen more dead microSD to usb/sd readers than sd cards in my life

  • virr@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    If you just want to try to recover, PhotoRec This does require it to at least be able to power and have a raw device to look at, though it doesn’t have to be able to be mounted. More than just photos can be recovered.

    Had pretty close to the same results with PhotoRec vs commercial tools on windows.

    • djtech@lemmy.worldOP
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      1 year ago

      tried but no device (like /dev/sdb) appears so PhotoRec just shows a menu for selection with my main disks.

  • Piranha Phish@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Try putting it in the freezer for a few minutes before trying to read the data. Or heat it up slightly.

    This is an old trick I’ve used to recover data from a hard drive or two. I suppose it could help if the problem with the SD is some kind of microscopic fractures.

    It should be emphasized that this is just a temporary workaround at best.

  • WagnasT@iusearchlinux.fyi
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    1 year ago

    Just for clarification, were you able to read the card from this machine before?

    I had a similar issue where my SD card reader was not able to read a card with a newer standard like SDXC or whatever it was and i had to find a newer reader.