Vid 0951 pid 1653 firmware. Restoring a flash drive via controller firmware

Good day!

If your flash drive begins to constantly fail: it does not format, when connected to a computer it often freezes, when copying files to it errors occur, but it has not been subjected to mechanical impact- There is a CHANCE for restoring its functionality!

It would be nice if, when connecting a flash drive, it was at least somehow detected, for example: a connection sound is made, the flash drive is displayed in "my computer", the LED on it blinks, etc. If the computer does not see the flash drive at all, then first I recommend reading this article:

In general, give universal instructions, how and with what program what to do to restore a flash drive - impossible! But in this short article I will try to give an algorithm that will help even novice users to understand the problem and solve it.

Restoring a flash drive // ​​step by step

Controller Model Definition

By the will of fate, it turned out that I had one flash drive, which Windows refused to format - an error occurred "Windows can't complete formatting". The flash drive, according to the owner, did not fall, no water got on it, and in general, it was handled quite carefully...

All that was clear after examining it was that it was 16 GB, and its brand was SmartBuy. When connected to a PC, the LED lit up, the flash drive was detected and visible in the explorer, but it did not work properly.

SmartBuy 16 GB - "experimental" non-working flash drive

To restore normal operation of the flash drive, you need to reflash the controller chip. This is done with special utilities, and for each type of controller there is its own utility! If the utility is chosen incorrectly, then with a high degree of probability you will completely ruin the flash drive... I’ll say even more, for one model range flash drives - there may be different controllers!

Each device have their own unique identification numbers - VID and PID , and the flash drive is no exception. To select the correct flashing utility, you need to determine these identification numbers (and the controller model based on them).

One of the most simple ways Find out the VID, PID, and model of the flash drive controller - use special utilities. One of the best of its kind is .

Flash Drive Information Extractor

Small free utility, to get maximum information about the flash drive. No need to install it!

The program will determine the model of the USB flash drive, model and type of memory (all modern flash drives are supported, at least from normal manufacturers)...

The program will work even in cases where it is not defined file system flash drives when the computer freezes when connecting the media.

Information received:

• controller model;
• possible options for memory chips installed in the flash drive;
• type of installed memory;
• maximum current consumption declared by the manufacturer;
• USB version;
• the full physical volume of the disk;
• disk space reported by the operating system;
• VID and PID;
• Query Vendor ID;
• Query Product ID;
• Query Product Revision;
• Controller Revision;
• Flash ID (not for all configurations);
• Chip F/W (for some controllers), etc.

Important! The program only works with USB flash drives. MP3 players, phones and other devices - it does not recognize. It is advisable, before starting the program, to leave only one flash drive connected to the USB ports, from which you want to get maximum information.

Working with Flash Drive Information Extractor

1. We disconnect everything that is connected from the USB ports (at least all drives: players, external hard disks etc.).
2. Insert the flash drive to be repaired into the USB port;
3. We launch the program;
4. Press the button "Get information about the flash drive" ;
5. After some time, we get maximum information about the drive (see screenshot below).
6. If the program freezes- don’t do anything and don’t close it. After a couple of minutes, remove the flash drive from the USB port, the program should “hang” and you will see all the information that it managed to pull out from the flash drive...

Now we know the information about the flash drive and we can start searching for the utility.

Information about the flash drive:

• VID: 13FE; PID: 4200;
• Controller model: Phison 2251-68 (second line in the screenshot above);
• SmartBuy 16 GB.

Addition

You can reliably determine the controller model if you disassemble the flash drive. True, not every flash drive case is collapsible, and not every one can be put back together later.

Usually, to open the casing of a flash drive, you need a knife and a screwdriver. When opening the case, be careful not to damage the inside of the flash drive. An example of a controller is shown in the screenshot below.

Disassembled flash drive. Controller model: VLI VL751-Q8

Addendum 2

You can find out the VID and PID of a flash drive using the device manager (in this case, you don’t need to install anything). True, in this case we will not recognize the controller model, and there is some risk that VID and PID it will not be possible to accurately identify the controller. And yet, suddenly the above utility freezes and does not provide any information at all...

How to find a utility for flashing a flash drive

Important! After flashing the flash drive, all information on it will be deleted!

1) Knowing the controller model, you can simply use search engines (Google, Yandex for example) and find what you need.

The operating algorithm is as follows:

1. We go to the site:
2. Enter yours VID and PID into the search bar and look for it;
3. You'll likely find dozens of lines in the results list. Among them you need to find a line that matches: controller model, your manufacturer, VID and PID, flash drive size .
4. Further in the last column you will see the recommended utility. By the way, please note that the version of the utility also matters! All that remains is to download the necessary utility and apply it.

After you find and download the required utility, run it and format the media - in my case, you only had to press one button - Restore .

Formatter SiliconPower v3.13.0.0 // Format and Restore. An end-user utility designed for both low-level and high-level (FAT32) formatting of flash drives on Phison controllers of the PS2251-XX line.

After a couple of minutes of blinking the LED on the flash drive, it began to work normally, messages from Windows about the impossibility of formatting no longer appeared. Result: the flash drive was restored (became 100% working) and given to the owner.

That's all, actually. I would be grateful for any additions on the topic. Good Luck!

Kingston flash drives are very popular due to the fact that they are quite inexpensive and reliable. This is not to say that they are cheaper than others, but their cost can still be called low. But, since absolutely everything breaks in our world, it is not at all surprising that Kingston removable media can also fail.

This happens quite simply - you insert a flash drive into the computer, but it “does not want” to read data from it. The drive can be detected, but everything will look as if there is no data on it. Or simply not all data may be determined. In general, situations can be very different. In any case, we'll look at a few effective ways restoring the functionality of a Kingston drive.

Kingston has own funds flash drive recovery. There is also universal method recovery of removable media, which is relevant for devices from any company. We will analyze all the most effective methods.

Method 1: MediaRECOVER

This is one of two proprietary programs from Kingston. To use it, you need to do the following:

The second option looks more " humane"for a flash drive. It just involves restoring the flash drive. In any case, if using MediaRECOVER does not help, move on to the next method.

Method 2: Kingston Format Utility

This is another signature Kingston program. It is suitable for all flash drives of this brand, starting with the DTX 30 series and ending with USB devices Datatraveler HyperX. This utility also formats the flash drive without a chance to save any information. To use Kingston Format Utility, do the following:

Method 3: HDD Low Level Format Tool

Judging by user reviews, this program copes well with damaged Kingston flash drives. Low Level Format Tool works at a low level, so it is quite successful at what it does. And this applies not only to removable media from Kingston. But, again, the utility formats the flash drive and restores its functionality, but not the data from it. To use this program, you need to do very little, namely:

Method 4: Super Stick Recovery Tool

Another very simple program, designed for restoring Kingmax flash drives, but is also suitable for Kingston (although for many this will seem quite unexpected). So, to use Super Stick Recovery Tool, do the following:

1. program, insert the USB flash drive and run the executable file.
2. If everything is fine and the program can work with your flash drive, information about it will appear in the main window. Click on the button Update" to start formatting. After that, just wait until the process finishes and try to work with the flash drive again.

Method 5: Search for other recovery utilities

Not for all models Kingston flash drives The programs listed in methods 1-4 are suitable. In fact, there are a lot of similar programs. In addition, there is a single database with information about programs intended for recovery. It is located on the site's iFlash service. The process for using this repository is as follows:

This method is suitable for all flash drives.

Method 6: Standard Windows Tools

If all the above methods did not help, you can always use standard means Windows formatting.

You can also use standard Windows tool to format a flash drive. Try different combinations of the order of actions - first format, then check and correct errors, and then vice versa. It is quite possible that something will help and the flash drive will become operational again. To format removable media, right-click the selected drive again in " Computer" In the drop-down menu, click " Format…" Then, in the next window, just click on the button “ Begin».


It is worth saying that all of the methods described above, except for checking the disk with a standard Windows tool, assume complete and irreversible loss of data from the media. Therefore, before performing all these methods, use one of the data recovery utilities from damaged storage media.

First of all, it is necessary to mention in what cases it is required flash drive controller firmware. The list of such faults is not very long; just below I have made a list of the most common situations when this technique can help in repairing a flash drive. But you should not perceive the technique described here as a panacea for all “diseases”. Each case is individual, but the general methodology is similar, with the exception of some issues that are associated with different controllers, memory chips and a different combination of faults. You can also read others on the blog.

When to use the flash drive controller firmware technique:

• Zero capacity of the flash drive, incorrect volume (2\4\8\16 KB\MB) instead of the normal size;
• The drive is not detected on different PCs;
• When connecting a disk, the “insert disk” error appears;
• Error “Disk not found in device”;
• Error “The disk is write protected”;
• Read/write errors occur and there is no way to copy or write data to the flash drive. It may be that data is written but not opened from the flash drive;
• When connected to a PC, the flash drive is detected for a long time with errors “Error “Code 10”, Error “Code 43” and the like.

I may not have mentioned everything here. If anyone has any additions, write your case in the comments, and I will try to promptly make adjustments to the materials.

We move on to preparatory work on the flash drive for its further flashing (the controller itself is being flashed). We will assume that we have decided that there are no other options except flash drive controller firmware We don’t have any left and this is the last chance to repair a precious flash drive (road like memory, large volume, beautiful case, etc.)

Flash drive controller firmware (work stages):

1) Determination of the flash drive controller

Here we have only 2 options for determining the manufacturer and model of the controller. The first option is the most banal - open the case (if this is structurally possible). To do this, you need to open the flash drive casing and remove the drive board from there. For the most part, all USB flash drives are the same internally, with the exception of monolithic flash drives. For example, I took a photo general view flash drive and controller boards (for example, a photo of a flash drive from free sources).

The visual method is very simple and most accurate, since programs for determining pid&vid devices are not always accurate. If it is not possible to look at the controller visually or there are difficulties in disassembling the case, then we have a direct path to programs for determining pid and vid flash drives.
Important: In cases where the flash drive is not detected on the PC, the controller can only be identified by visual inspection.

Determining the controller by PID and VID

2) Selecting a utility for the controller

The next step is to search for a specialized utility for flashing the flash drive controller. We already have the VID and PID values, so we can start looking for a utility for the controller. To find the required utility, I use the service http://flashboot.ru/iflash/.

After pressing the search button, it offers us more than one result. The thing is that such a controller, as in my case, is used in flash drives different manufacturers and with different sizes. When searching, pay attention to the UTILS (utilities) field, where you need to look for exactly the result where the name of the utility is displayed. You don’t have to pay attention to the size of the flash drive - this is not a critical parameter. You can also search for a utility by the name of the controller, which can greatly speed up the search for the required utility.

P.S. practice shows that sometimes it's worth a try different versions utilities for the same controllers.

The search result gave us one more or less suitable option (highlighted in red in the screenshot) - the utility SMI SM3257AA.

To download the utility, you can use the same site http://flashboot.ru/files/. In the search bar you need to enter the name of our utility - SMI SM3257AA. As a result, 2 results were found. You need to download both, since there is a chance that one of them will only help solve our problem.

But, there is one thing. We know for sure that the exact name of our controller is slightly different from what we found. On the controller body and program USB Flash Information showed that the correct name of the controller SM3257ENAA, not SM3257AA. To clear our conscience, let’s check the utility database to see if there is a utility for such a modification. Search dropped 2 utility options.

Most likely, the utilities that I found when searching for SM3257AA and ENAA have the same core. In practice, it may turn out that they are no different, but there is still a possibility that you will need to try all 4 specials found. utilities. I recommend downloading all 4 programs at once.

I downloaded all 4 pieces, but decided to start with the utility SMI SM3257ENAA MPTool V2.03.58 v8 K1129 (11/11/29 Build). Let me get ahead of myself - I managed to reflash the flash drive controller with this utility, and I did not check others.
Now I will briefly describe the procedure for flashing the firmware of the SM3257ENAA controller.

— Unpacked the archive and launched the shortcut sm32Xtest_V58-8

We launch the utility and see that our patient flash drive is not visible in it (see screenshot).

— To identify our flash drive in the program, press the button “ Scan USB (F5)”, as a result of which the program “sees” the usb device.

To start the process of flashing the flash drive controller, you need to click the Start button in the utility menu (before clicking, you need to select the desired flash drive). After pressing the button, the firmware process will begin.

After completing the firmware operation, in the upper right corner we will see the word OK on a green background (see screenshot).

This completes the process of flashing the flash drive controller. Within 10-20 seconds, our flash drive will appear in My Computer, clean and without any files, since low-level formatting of the drive occurs during the firmware process.

For any questions regarding this article, write in the comments.

Kingston flash drives are distinguished by their reliability and long service life, but they are also not protected from various failures. Sometimes the drive actually “dies” and it is not possible to restore it. More often there are situations when a flash drive can be brought back to life using a special firmware utility.

Most often, Kingston dt100g2 and datatraveler flash drives break.

Is it possible to recover a flash drive?

Signs that the drive can be restored:

• When you connect a flash drive, a notification appears that a new device has been detected.
• The system prompts you to format the removable disk.
• The drive does not open, but is shown in Explorer.
• Errors occur when reading and writing data.

These problems can be eliminated by flashing the controller or formatting the media, but if the flash drive has important information, then before performing any restoration procedures you need to try to “pull it out”. Use to extract a recovery program like Recuva or so as not to lose the necessary files.

Search for a program for flashing the controller

To restore you will need special utility for Kingston flash drive. In order not to make a mistake and download the right program, you need to know the drive controller model.

Method 1

Look necessary information You can go to flashboot.ru in the iFlash section, using the VID and PID values ​​of the flash drive as a filter.

1. Connect the drive to your computer.
2. Open the device manager (right-click on the “Computer” icon - Manage).
3. Find "USB Mass Storage Device".
4. Right click and open properties.
   
5. Go to the Details section and select the Hardware ID property.

Method 2

Another way to get the information you need is to download Flash program Drive Information Extractor and click the “Get Data” button. The report will contain the lines “VID” and “PID”; use their value to find a utility that can correctly restore the Kingston Datatraveler flash drive.

You can download the program in the “Files” section on the website flashboot.ru. If the utility is not here, try to find it on other web resources.

Recovery utilities

You can find the desired program without a controller model - just type in the search engine the query “utility recovery kingston" In the results you will see several utilities, among which there will certainly be programs such as Phison Preformat, AlcorMP AU698x RT, etc.

The problem is that Kingston flash drive recovery programs only work if they are compatible with the controller installed in the drive. Therefore, if you download the first repair utility you come across, it may not detect the connected media.

When required program found, you can begin to restore it. Be sure to look at the instructions, which should be packaged in the archive along with the recovery utility - perhaps the program has a special operating procedure. The general recovery procedure looks like this:

You don’t need to do anything else: the program will automatically correct errors and return the flash drive to operational state. This completes the restoration of the Kingston flash drive; If the controller firmware did not help resolve the problem, then the cause of incorrect operation should be sought among hardware faults.