this post was submitted on 27 Jul 2023
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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?

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Your output from dmesg didn't paste.

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

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (1 children)

mmc0: cannot verify signal voltage switch suggests something is wrong with the hardware (either SD card or card reader). -110 is a timeout error, suggesting that the card is not responding within the expected time frame, 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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I'll try cleaning it with alcol. Is it a good idea to use pressurized air?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago

Use isopropyl alcohol

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

Wouldn't hurt, yea

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

You can edit your post to add these details

[–] [email protected] 6 points 11 months ago (2 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months 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?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

with an integrated micro-sd reader or do you used a miscro-sd to normal-sd converter to put them in ?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months 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.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago

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

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

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.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago
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