Monolith Tool

Wow! The future of handling chip off exploration looks great with this new innovation tool to get at content in Flash memory microchips.[/qupte]

Don't believe it handles dictaphone chips, I'm afraid. More likely faulty testing …

A video is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeUCvlCKmCI

But the spider board is of course just a (nice) piece of "mechanical" hardware to make connections easier, all the "intelligence" is in the PC-3000 Flash (and in related software), whether it allows managing dictaphone chips or not is to be seen (and most probably it will depend on the specific chips).

jaclaz

Thank you trewmte

Thanks athulin, jaclaz and Rolf for the replies.

Don't believe it handles dictaphone chips, I'm afraid. More likely faulty testing …

A video is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeUCvlCKmCI

But the spider board is of course just a (nice) piece of "mechanical" hardware to make connections easier, all the "intelligence" is in the PC-3000 Flash (and in related software), whether it allows managing dictaphone chips or not is to be seen (and most probably it will depend on the specific chips).

jaclaz

Agreed, PC-3000 is at the centre of the acquisition. I had visited the manufacturer's website (http//www.acelaboratory.com/pc3000flash.php) before posting, but you are right I should have specified (my fault) the physical aspects regarding hardware to avoid suggesting the mechanical device had in-built software.

Even if the claim about dictaphone chips needs clarification (and I don't have the clarified facts on that particular point) do I take it you both feel the PC-3000 combined with the new hardware have the capability to do the other items shown in their list?

UFD (USB Flash Drive)
SD (Secure Digital Card)
CF (Compact Flash)
micro SD (micro Secure Digital Card)
MS (Memory Stick)
xD
Monolithic Flash Devices
MMC (Multi Media Card)
eMMC (embedded Multi Media Card)
VoiceRecorder (dictaphone)
iPhone (without hardware encryption)

Yep, though actually I meant something (slightly) different.

The "spider" thingy is not in itself anything "new" (though most probably it is extremely well engineered, practical in use and what not), it is just a "smart" replacement for the various chip adapters that people familiar with eprom/eeprom programmers surely well know, the "idea" of a "multiple probe holder" is old, you can even 3D print a nice one, see
http//makezine.com/projects/3d-print-the-ultimate-helping-hands-for-a-pcb-workstation/
(but I have seen other similar commercial ones).

About what the actual PC-3000 Flash (and related software) does support I believe that the list given is a "generic" (let's call it "press release") categorization, and there is (or there will be) an exact list with chip models supported (a list that most probably will grow in time according to customers requests).

jaclaz

Trust me, the probes on that 3D printed thing is nowhere near the precision you need for monolith data recovery. Those pads are tiny to say the least.

When it comes to flash recovery PC-3000 system does support a wide variety of chips, but certainly not everything. For example, Sandisk controllers often use a sort of encrypted wear leveling pattern that no tools so far are able to decipher. Most the data recovery guys I know who specialize in flash have around three systems. Usually PC-3000 Flash, RuSolut VNR, and possibly a third such as SoftCenter Flash Extractor. Each has it's own strengths and weaknesses, and all require quite a bit of knowledge to operate.

I personally only have Rusolut which I decided on as it's one of the best for just getting the dumps. Then I usually send those out to a guy who specializes in flash to descramble (sometimes he ends up importing the dumps to different software to actually piece it back together). PC-3000 Flash is definitely on my want list, their PC-3000 Express system for hard drives is the best, bar none. But that won't be until I get more serious about taking on a lot of flash cases myself. For now I've got enough HDDs and RAIDs coming in I don't have time to deal with flash and prefer to outsource.

Most systems including PC-3000 Flash allow users to create their own flash types including custom descrambling and XOR patterns. But, it's a lot of work and not many guys are up to the challenge. You can get a better idea of what they do support by looking at their database of solutions which is constantly growing http//www.pc3000flash.com/solbase/index.php?lang=eng

I'm mostly curious to see how many of the monolith pinouts they post and if they can keep up with the sheer number coming out.

Trust me, the probes on that 3D printed thing is nowhere near the precision you need for monolith data recovery. Those pads are tiny to say the least.

Sure ) , that was just an example, as said I have seen other similar "multiple probe holders", some of which engineered with high cost materials and precision.
The mentioned "spider" thingy, again as said, is seemingly very clever and undoubtedly the good guys at AceLab have them manufactured with a high level of precision, I was only saying that the generic "idea" is not new in itself (while the implementation, including the connection to the PC-3000 flash is nice).

jaclaz