001 - Flash Starting Guide (READ ME FIRST)
001 - Flash Starting Guide (READ ME FIRST)
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PC-3000 Flash
Соntents
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1.1.1. The purpose of usage ��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 2
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1.1.2. Technical features ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 2
1.1.3. Recommended PC configuration ���������������������������������������������������������� 3
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1.1.4. The PC-3000 Flash Delivery kits ����������������������������������������������������������� 3
1.1.5. The warranty ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 3
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1.3. Connecting the reader to PC��������������������������������������������������������������������������� 4
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1.4. Installing the PC-3000 Flash driver����������������������������������������������������������������� 4
2. Installing the PC-3000 Flash software������������������������������������������������ 5
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
Supported devices:
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UFD (USB Flash Drive), SD (Secure Digital Card),
Supported CF (Compact Flash), micro SD (micro Secure Digital
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devices: Card), MS (Memory Stick), xD, Monolithic Flash
Devices, MMC (Multi Media Card), Voice Recorders, etc.
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Supported
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NAND based types of
TSOP-48, LGA/TLGA-52 [14x18], BGA-152/132 (is
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included into the PC-3000 Flash Kit), Multiboard,
devices memory chip
LGA/TLGA-52 [12x17], TSSOP-56.
covers:
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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What’s included
Basic Package All-in-One Package
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PC-3000 Flash Reader 1 pc. 1 pc.
USB 2.0 Cable 1 pc. 1 pc.
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PC-3000 software 1 pc. 1 pc.
User manual
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TSOP-48 Adapter 1 pc. 1 pc.
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
Inсorrect
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Correct
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When the PC-3000 Flash reader is connected for the first time, it appears in
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If the software portion of the PC-3000 Flash suite has already been installed in the
operating system, the device will appear among USB controllers as «PC-3000 Flash (x86)».
If the reader does not appear in the Device Manager, it means that the USB port,
cable or the PC-3000 reader adapter is malfunctioning.
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ATTENTION! Just one PC-3000 Flash reader can be connected to a single computer.
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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If during the setup procedure the following message appears:
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make sure that the PC-3000 USB adapter is properly connected and check its
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
If automatic driver setup encounters problems, you may try installing the driver
manually in the Device Manager. Files necessary for the procedure will already be
available in the «\Program Files\Common Files\ACE Lab\PC3kFlash» folder.
If the driver is already installed, PC-3000 Flash setup will not reinstall it.
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server at https://update.acelab.eu.com/UpdateSrv/ («My files» / PC-3000 Flash folder).
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The setup process is easy and intuitively understandable. It is basically similar to
the installation procedure of any other software product. The user has to answer some
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questions and define a few parameters. Then the setup wizard automatically installs
or updates the driver for the PC-3000 Flash reader, copies files (components) to the
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user-defined folders, tunes the system registry and PC-3000 Flash configuration file.
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Let us examine the setup procedure step by step. To begin installation, you
should read the license and enable the «I accept the terms and conditions of this
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Agreement» checkbox.
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License agreement
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
The setup program allows you to specify the location for the PC-3000 Flash files.
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Installation folder choosing
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Information entered in the dialog will be used during the activation process. It is
essential for successful completion of the step.
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User data
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
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Activation request parameters
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If your computer has access to the Internet, you are advised to ‘Get activation
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ATTENTION! If you have selected manual activation, keep in mind that the request
file will only be generated upon completion of the installation procedure.
To send the ARF request file and receive your activation, please use the service at
activation1.acelab.eu.com or activation2.acelab.eu.com (backup).
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
Then PC-3000 Flash installer will prompt for the 22-character installation key. It can
be found in the License Agreement within the product package (printed copy). Registered
users can find their key in the InstallKeys.txt file on the individual update server at https://
update.acelab.eu.com/UpdateSrv/personal/index.php? («My files» folder).
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If the key has been entered correctly, the installer will initiate automatic activation
or generate an activation request.
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
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If you are using manual activation, the activation file should be properly installed.
To do that, start PC-3000 Flash. The following notification will be displayed:
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
To activate your installation, specify the received activation file. Once the installation
is finished, the request and activation files are no longer necessary and can be deleted.
They are not reusable.
If the activation file being installed does not match the product installation, an
attempt to use it will result in the message shown in next figure:
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The situation can occur if PC-3000 Flash software had been reinstalled before
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you received your activation or if you accidentally select for the application one of the
activation files received earlier, or if you had sent to the activation center a request
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created earlier. You should wait until the activation file created in response to the last
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installation arrives.
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
To exclude the appearance of this message set the user account control parameter
to position «Never notify»:
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a printed circuit board (PCB) with memory chip(s) and controller. Before actual
recording of any data to memory chip, drive controller performs series of conversions
«shuffling» the data. After image reading from a NAND chip we receive completely
fragmented user files. Thus, the main task during data recovery from a chip is in
the performance of all controller conversions in the reverse order. In the end, the
sequence will generate consistent data in their original form initially sent for recording
to the Flash drive.
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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TSOP-48 chip
s Flash reader with the TSOP-48 socket
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LGA/TLGA-52 is the second most widely used chip type. Contacts are located in
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the chip bottom, where 52 contact pads are arranged in a specific order. These chips
are more frequent in SSD and somewhat less common in USB drives.
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Operations with this chip type require the LGA/TLGA-52/60 expansion adapter
(14x18 mm) included in the product kit.
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
Varieties of monochips
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The library of popular monochips and their pinout schemes are available at:
http://www.pc3000flash.com/solbase/monochips.php
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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tweezers;
scalpel.
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Take the Flash drive PCB with the memory chips and controller out from the drive case.
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Solder out the Flash memory chip using a hot air gun (1) at 320-360 degrees to
heat the chip contact pins (2). Be careful during the procedure to avoid excessive
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heating of the chip and damaging it.
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(1)
(2)
Once the memory chip is soldered out, thoroughly clean its pins with the scalpel
(1) to ensure better contact in the reader device.
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(1)
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
Desoldered Flash memory chip should be installed in the socket (1) (a special adapter
for reading of TSOP-48 chips plugged in the high frequency connector of the PC-3000
Flash reader device (v.3.0/v.4.0)). The chip should be inserted so as to match the key
mark on its package (2) with the corresponding mark on the adapter (3).
(3)
(1)
(2)
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The suite features protection of the installed memory chips from the consequences of
incorrect orientation or possible bridging; however, improper installation is likely to
cause chip damage.
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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Take the Flash drive PCB with the memory chips and controller out from the drive case.
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Secure the drive on the special soldering table so that the chip to be desoldered
is facing upwards.
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
Heat the chip and the entire PCB for 1 minute with the hot air gun running at 200
degrees and the heater at 120 degrees. After the first minute, increase the hot air gun
temperature to 360 degrees and the heater — to 200 degrees. Solder alloy should
melt after 30-50 seconds after the heating start.
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Chip heating from both sides with a hot air gun and heater
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Then carefully move the chip with the tweezers; if it easily comes off the PCB, it can
be removed. However, if the chip is still tightly bound to the board or does not move
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easily, using force is not recommended because you can damage the contact pads or
even tear them off considerably complicating further reading attempts. In that case
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the best method suggests further heating of the chip for additional 30-60 seconds.
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After heating the memory chip easily comes off the USB Flash PCB
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
Once the chip is desoldered, you are advised to smooth out the BGA contacts
using fine sandpaper. Run the chip across a piece of sandpaper a few times without
pressing on it. The process also requires extreme caution because it involves the risk
of damaging the contact pads!
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Flattening the BGA contacts before chip installation in the reader
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Prior to chip installation in the reader adapter, you are advised to clean its BGA
contacts using a cotton swab soaked in alcohol solution.
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Install the soldered out Flash memory chip into the special adapter cradle matching
the key mark on the back of its case (see the figure). The first chip contact must match
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Matching the chip key and the key of the reader contact block
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
Many manufacturers mark the contact pads in a specific manner while mounting
them onto the PCB. The marks allow to determine the proper order, which will
correspond to the sequence of the chips used while recording and reading data.
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As a rule, memory chips are marked with Ux, where x stands for the chip
number in the sequence.
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E.g., the figure demonstrates a Flash drive containing two memory chips. The PCB
bears the following marks next to the chips:
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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Therefore, the proper sequence in this case will begin with U2, and then
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proceed with U3.
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4.4 Controller identification
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Before you start reading from the chips, you need to identify correctly the controller
used in the Flash drive. To do that, take a look at the large chip next to NAND Flash
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memory.
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Controller marking may consist of several lines. However, the most essential
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information will always be in the first line, in this case it reads: SM3257EN.
ATTENTION! Sometimes the controller chip may have no marked case at all.
Instead, manufacturers just cover the chip with special plastic compound. In that case
we recommend contacting ACE technical support for assistance in identification of the
controller type and family.
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
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PC-3000 Flash Kernel main window(red highlights the task creation button)
The next dialog prompts to select the location where the folder for the task
will be created.
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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Task options dialog
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
The second method is known as «direct reading», it allows direct access to the
contents of a memory chip with its intermediate storage in RAM without the need
to save the data to a hard drive first. The method is not intended for data recovery
purposes, experienced users employ it for quick analysis of chip contents only.
Novice users are strongly recommended to choose the first method and read
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memory chips to a dump.
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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Press «Select» for reading to file dump
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ATTENTION! Operation of Flash drive eventually wears out some cells in
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memory chips resulting in bit errors. Their number increases with time and may
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cause a Flash drive to malfunction or stop functioning altogether.
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To read data from a memory chip correctly with minimum bit errors defualt reading
settings are necessary:
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
Clicking the ‘Apply’ button initiates the reading process for NAND Flash (reading
rate is 5-10 MB/s). If a drive contains several memory chips, all of them must be read
in proper sequence one by one (see section 3.3).
Even reading a chip with the option to «Correct ECC» enabled does not correct every
single error; therefore error correction must be started again after reading completion:
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ECC autodetection
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Once the program finds ECC, click «Yes» to perform the correction
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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After successful ECC-based correction, most of the errors will be fixed and the
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chip dump will be more correct. In some cases the program may fail to detect the
ECC until a certain preliminary conversion is reversed. If you encounter problems
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Reversing the conversions performed by the drive controller is the next step in
the recovery of user data. The objective can be accomplished using several methods.
This guide describes the simplest automatic method using the PC-3000 Flash Solution
Center (pc-3000flash.com/solbase/).
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
Before you start searching for a solution, you need to find out the minimum
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required input parameters of your:
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controller model;
memory chip ID;
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the number of physical chips
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E.g., suppose that a Flash drive being restored is based on the
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Phison PS2251-50-F controller, contains one physical memory chip with ID:
0x98D79432, and its size is 2048 MB. To find the correct solution, you need
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to fill the main form of the PC-3000 Flash Solution Center (at pc-3000flash.
com/solbase) and click the «Search» button. Available solutions matching the
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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Click the «Download» button on the solution page and save its file with the .sol
extension to the Desktop.
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Then apply the sequence of conversions to the main node of the NAND Flash chips
dump. To do that, specify in the PC-3000 Flash task window the path to the saved .sol
file after having selected the command to «Reproduce solution»:
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
Once the solution is applied, the program will build the image. If all necessary file
system elements are in correct places, then we can see a folder tree and save the data
without any additional actions.
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Result of an applied predefined solution
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If for some reason the results of data recovery are not satisfactory, if some
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folders or files cannot be accessed, you may try using other solutions from the list
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of suggestions in the PC-3000 Flash Solution Center. In case this does not provide
necessary results, please contact ACE Technical Support for assistance.
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Alternative method:
If the computer running PC-3000 Flash is connected to the Internet, you can use a
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simpler method to find and apply a solution. To do that, just right-click the main node
of the memory chip and select the command to «Search solution»:
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Then use the list to pick the appropriate solution selecting it by the controller
model. Once you choose the command to «Reproduce Solution», the solution will be
applied to the current task.
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© ACELab PC-3000 Flash ®
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You can also send your TeamViewer contacts for remote assistance in recovery.
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We will be happy to help. If you would like ACE Lab engineers to assist you via a
TeamViewer session, be sure to insert the chip associated with your task in the reader
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device and perform ECC correction (if possible).
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TIP! The more information you provide about your drive, the easier it will be for
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Additional information:
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PC-3000 Flash ® © ACELab
Manufacturing: Support:
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680/10b Krizikova 08:00 - 17:00 GMT +01:00
Karlin, Prague 8 For North and South Americas
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the Czech Republic, 186 00 09:00 - 17:00 EDT
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Phone: Ticket System:
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E-mail: E-mail:
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info@acelab.eu.com ts@acelab.eu.com
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www.acelab.eu.com
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