SN770 2Tb not showing anymore

WD Internal SSD WD_BLACK | Blue | Red | Green | Gold SSD
1

Hi there,

I have a laptop with a 2Tb WD_BLACK SN770 SSD drive on which I’m using this drive since ~2 years.

I used to have 2 partitions (both encrypted), one windows and the other Linux Fedora.

A couple of days ago (after a session using Windows) I wanted to start the computer but it never booted (laptop hanging in the Asus logo and after a while goes to the BIOS).

In the BIOS I’m able to see the presence of the drive (by the mention of the model number and the size 1863Gb) but the diagnostic tool doesn’t allow to perform a disk check - actually entering the diagnostic menu hangs for a while and after entering the menu the disk check option is grayed out.

Using a USB adapter, I tried to see if I can see it in the disk management utility in windows.
I can see it with the correct size and number of partitions.

But since they are encrypted I can’t do anything there.

I wanted to try to read in Linux but I’m unable to make the disk appear in any way (lsblk, lsscsi, blkid, etc.)

I checked using a thermal camera, the controller chip gets hot instantly (~30°C/86°F) and then steadily rises up to ~65°C/150°F).

No other component seems to be hot and I was not able to find any short on the capacitors nor open circuit on the coils (at least the biggest one, I’m not really able to measure the microscopic ones).

So I think that there should be some instabilities (at least) that mess with the timeouts making it unreadable.

But I hope I can recover my data.

Considering these symptoms, what kind of fox I can try?

Is there any chance of fixing it by reballing the controller?

By using a USB Stabilizer/Blocker, can I be successful at reading the drive (just enough for decrypting and then extracting some data)?

I reached out to a local data recovery company, they are asking for 1600€ (only if successful).

At this price I can try buying such a device and try it myself and then resell the device for example.

Also, not sure if this is relevant, but I came across a known issue on Windows and my very drive (2Tb SN770) Western Digital releases fix for Windows 11 24H2 BSODs — users are strongly advised to update their SSD firmware | Tom's Hardware

My model number is even the first one listed here

So, as my last session was on Windows (which I did not use since a couple of months), could it be possible an update have messed up with the drive firmware?

Also, is it possible to update the firmware on this drive considering it’s not readable right now?

Any advise or directions is highly appreciated.

Thank you for having read me so far..

1000044850
10000448501879×745 395 KB

1000044843
10000448431073×694 234 KB

2

Hi @aka1

Have you checked our knowledge base articles?
(Get Support for Your SSDs and Flash Products | SanDisk)

Have you opened a Support Case?
If not, contact SanDisk Technical Support for assistance.
(Contact Support | SanDisk)

3

Your SSD issue could be due to a firmware bug, power problem, or controller failure. Here’s what you can try:

  1. Check for a firmware issue – Use WD Dashboard to see if the SSD is detected and update the firmware.
  2. Try Linux – Boot from a Linux USB and check if the SSD appears using fdisk -l or dmesg.
  3. Use a USB stabilizer or NVMe adapter – This might help if power instability is causing issues.
  4. Scan with data recovery software – If the SSD is visible in Windows Disk Management, use a Windows data recovery software (for this you’ll need your decryption key).
  5. Firmware update on an unreadable drive? – If the SSD isn’t detected anywhere, updating the firmware may not work. Try another NVMe slot or enclosure.

If data is critical, professional recovery services may be needed (€1600 is reasonable for a chip-off recovery). However, before opting for expensive solutions, **trying Stellar data recovery can be affordable step and it also has a free edition which can also be beneficial to you and you can test the software before investing your money.