Aesonlabs provides professional data recovery from failed, damaged and non-responsive SD and microSD memory cards. We recover photographs, videos, documents and other data from cards affected by controller failure, NAND degradation, electronic faults, monolithic damage, broken internal traces, physical damage, encryption, formatting and filesystem corruption.
SD card recovery can range from straightforward logical recovery to microscopic work on highly integrated monolithic devices. A card that is completely undetectable or physically broken does not automatically require direct NAND access, and physical damage does not necessarily mean the stored data has been destroyed.
A non-responsive card can have an electronic fault, damaged controller, broken internal trace, degraded NAND or another condition preventing normal initialization. The first objective is to identify what has failed before choosing a recovery path.
Depending on the card and failure, recovery may involve electronic repair, controller-based access, controlled imaging, monolithic pinout work, direct NAND acquisition or logical reconstruction.
Memory cards can fail suddenly or begin showing warning signs such as read errors, corrupted files, incorrect capacity, extremely slow access or repeated disconnections. The visible symptom can provide useful clues, but it does not always identify the underlying failure.
A card that no longer appears in a camera, computer or card reader may have a controller problem, damaged circuitry, NAND failure, broken traces or a power-related fault.
The absence of normal detection does not automatically mean that the NAND memory itself has failed.
Some failed cards continue to identify but report an incorrect capacity, zero capacity, RAW status or a request to format the card before use.
This can involve logical damage or a controller that cannot correctly initialize NAND configuration and translation information.
Degrading NAND can cause extremely slow transfers, corrupted files, read errors and repeated disconnections while the controller struggles with unstable memory and increasing error correction.
Repeated copying attempts can place additional stress on a card that is already becoming unstable.
A crack or missing section can damage contacts or internal traces while leaving NAND intact, or it can pass through the memory die itself and permanently destroy stored information.
Microscopy and, where appropriate, X-ray examination help determine what internal structures remain viable.
Liquid exposure, corrosion, damaged contacts and short circuits can prevent normal initialization even when the NAND containing the data remains intact.
Inspection and electrical diagnosis should come before repeatedly applying power to an abnormal card.
When the card remains physically healthy, photographs, videos and files may remain recoverable following deletion, formatting, partition damage or filesystem corruption.
The card should no longer be used because new writes can overwrite information that would otherwise remain recoverable.
Power circuitry, contacts, controller behaviour and internal traces are evaluated before moving to invasive monolithic work. If the original controller path can be restored safely, it may provide the cleanest route to the logical data.
microSD cards can integrate the controller, NAND and supporting circuitry into a single monolithic structure. When normal controller communication cannot be restored, recovery may require locating hidden internal signals, exposing microscopic contacts and communicating directly with the NAND memory.
Some layouts have known technological pinouts, while others must be investigated specifically for the patient card because apparently identical retail cards can contain different controllers, NAND configurations and internal routing.
The physical contents of NAND memory may not resemble the logical image originally presented to the camera, computer or other host device. Recovery can depend on error correction, page and block analysis, scrambling, interleave, bad-block handling and controller-specific translation.
Encryption can introduce another layer. If the stored data depends on encryption performed by the original controller or host device, a successful raw NAND read does not by itself bypass that encryption.
Aesonlabs works with memory cards used across consumer, professional and embedded devices, including current and legacy cards from major manufacturers.
Cards are commonly recovered from digital cameras, mirrorless cameras, professional video cameras, drones, action cameras, dashcams, CCTV systems, audio recorders and embedded equipment. Continued recording after deletion or formatting can overwrite recoverable data very quickly.
Counterfeit or fake-capacity cards are a separate failure scenario: a card can report more capacity than physically exists, causing later writes to overwrite earlier data or target storage locations that are not actually present.
The correct procedure depends on whether the problem is logical, electronic, controller-related, NAND-related, monolithic or physical, which is why diagnosis comes first.
SD and microSD recovery is performed directly by Aesonlabs rather than being forwarded to an unknown third-party laboratory. Each card is evaluated according to its construction, controller behaviour, NAND condition and physical state.
Recovery work can involve microscopic inspection, electrical diagnosis, thermal imaging, X-ray examination, component-level repair, PC-3000 Flash technology, monolithic pinout development, microscopic wiring, direct NAND acquisition and controller-specific reconstruction.
Cards without an existing documented monolithic pinout are evaluated individually, and severe physical damage is assessed according to the internal structures actually affected rather than simply by external appearance.
Potentially. A completely non-responsive card can be affected by controller failure, damaged power circuitry, broken internal traces, NAND-related faults or other electronic problems. Diagnosis is required before the appropriate recovery method can be determined.
Sometimes. Recoverability depends on which internal structures were damaged. A broken edge or corner may affect contacts or traces while leaving NAND intact. If the fracture passes through the NAND die, some stored data may be permanently destroyed.
A monolithic microSD card integrates the NAND memory, controller and supporting circuitry into a compact internal structure. Direct recovery may require microscopic access to hidden test points inside the card.
No. A card can fail because of damaged power circuitry, shorted components, broken contacts or another electronic problem while the controller and NAND remain functional. If controller operation can be restored sufficiently for imaging, invasive monolithic access may not be necessary.
The internal layout may need to be investigated using X-ray imaging, microscopy, electrical measurements and comparison with known flash architectures. Where technically feasible, a new connection scheme can be developed for the specific monolithic layout.
No. A pinout provides physical access to the flash memory, but raw NAND data may still require error correction, descrambling, logical translation and controller-specific reconstruction. Encryption can introduce additional complications.
Depending on the filesystem, subsequent use and physical condition of the card, deleted photographs and videos may remain recoverable. The card should no longer be used because new recordings can overwrite previously stored data.
Recovery time depends on the failure, NAND condition, physical damage, monolithic layout and whether electronic repair, pinout development, microscopic wiring or raw NAND reconstruction is required. A more meaningful estimate can be provided after diagnosis.
Submit the card information and describe what happened before the data became inaccessible. If the card is cracked, chipped, liquid-damaged or has already been worked on, include that information with the case.
Open a Recovery Case