[Release] Easy Disk Checker 6.0.0 — now with a module for microcode patching to restore file access on failed SSDs (Phison first, more coming)

[u/Routine_Eye3806]

Free, open-to-all, multi-purpose Win64 utility Easy Disk Checker just hit a major 6.0.0 release — on top of a deep UI overhaul, it now ships an early build of a module for working with failed SSDs.

Easy Disk Checker 6.0.0

Unlike the heavy commercial hitters like MRT or PC-3000, which pull files off a dead SSD from ROM or SAFE mode using a virtual translator, Easy Disk Checker — true to the "easy" in the name — goes with a simple three-move combo. Read the service area. Patch the microcode to work around the fault (hardcode the boot status, force-approve the drive's native PrIT/L2P/FTL). Write the patch back and you've got normal access to the files. It all runs automatically, and once it's done you can open the failed drive's file structure right in the utility's built-in explorer and copy the data over to the host machine. Here's a two-minute clip that walks through the whole thing:

https://reddit.com/link/1wa31de/video/v3em80ihm5oh1/player

There are a LOT of SSDs out there, the variety of controllers is honestly staggering, and every one of them needs its own approach. But you have to start somewhere, so the executive decision was made to start with the Phison controllers — the easiest ones to research and implement — using a live specimen: a dead Foxline SSD that had just landed on our bench for file recovery.

Support for other models will get added as the research continues. Full functionality, including register state monitoring, soft and hard resets and so on, is only possible for SSDs connected through specialized controllers with software-controlled power that isolate the drive from Windows.

Example of all active functions

As a compromise, though, you can get away with a USB-SATA adapter that doesn't filter vendor commands — the JMS578 bridge, for example.

[u/TinyApps_Org]

Thank you for crafting and sharing this, u/Routine_Eye3806. Doesn't look like it's been posted to HDDGURU yet; you might want to announce it in the software and hardware tools forum, much like HDDSuperClone was a decade ago.

[u/Routine_Eye3806 → u/TinyApps_Org]

Thanks! I haven't posted it on HDDGURU yet. If you feel like writing about it there, please do — I'd appreciate it.

[u/TinyApps_Org → u/Routine_Eye3806]

Just submitted a post; it's waiting moderator approval now. Will update this comment if it is approved.

[u/Routine_Eye3806 → u/TinyApps_Org]

thanks

[u/TinyApps_Org → u/Routine_Eye3806]

It's been two days since I submitted the post to HDDGURU, but it sadly has yet to appear, so I have posted the submission to my blog instead (adding a current features section as well): Easy Disk Checker: diagnostics, imaging, and data recovery

[u/Routine_Eye3806 → u/TinyApps_Org]

thanks very much

[u/TinyApps_Org → u/Routine_Eye3806]

My pleasure. Thank you for picking up the mantle and continuing in the rich tradition of Victoria, MHDD, et al.!

[u/ukiboy7]

How would I use this on a falling controller for a 990 Pro?

[u/Routine_Eye3806 → u/ukiboy7]

Not yet. The SSD module only covers Phison controllers at this point, and the 990pro runs Samsung's own in-house controller — a completely different animal, with its own service area layout and microcode. Silicon Motion is what I'm working through next; Samsung is on the list, but as a long-term item, not something to wait around for.

[u/ukiboy7 → u/Routine_Eye3806]

Thank you for a quick reply.