Data Recovery Case File · Cameras, Drones & Cards · Extraction, Not Repair
Nobody Repairs a Broken Card, and That Is Not the Question
Her enquiry reports a verdict she was given and asks whether to believe it. A card used in an action camera on a walking trip that "has snapped in half. I've been told this is not fixable and I've lost the video footage and photographs." The first half of that is correct and the second does not follow — a broken card is not repaired, and whether the contents survive depends on something quite specific: where the break falls.
| Media | 64GB microSD card physically fractured into two parts — memory die location relative to the fracture determinative of prospects |
| Reported situation | Card used in an action camera during travel · card fractured into two pieces · advised by a third party that repair is not possible · footage and photographs required · both fragments retained |
| Fault class | Physical fracture of a monolithic package — prospects determined by whether the fracture intersects the memory die; repair not a route in any case |
| Equipment used | Fracture path assessed under magnification against the internal die position · both fragments retained and handled as a set · direct read attempted at the die where the fracture proved peripheral · translation layer reconstructed in software · position stated honestly before any charge |
The decode: why repair was never the route, and what actually decides it
Why "not fixable" is true and beside the point: nobody mends a snapped card. There is no version of this where the two halves are rejoined and the card works again — the plastic is not the functional part and the connections inside are microscopic.
What is done instead: the memory itself is read directly. A card is mostly packaging; the part that holds data is a small silicon die embedded within it, and recovery means reaching that die and reading it on dedicated equipment, bypassing everything else.
So the question that decides everything: did the fracture pass through the die, or through the packaging around it? The die occupies a specific and comparatively small region — a card can break dramatically and leave it entirely untouched.
If the break missed it: the die is intact and holds everything. Extraction and reading proceed normally, and the fact that the card is in two pieces becomes irrelevant.
If the break went through it: the silicon is fractured, and whatever was stored in the damaged portion is gone. The remainder may still be readable — a partial die can yield a proportion of its contents — but the loss is real and permanent for whatever it held.
Why that cannot be judged by looking: the die's position is not visible from outside, and a fracture that looks catastrophic may be entirely peripheral. It is assessed under magnification against the known internal layout, which is a short piece of work and answers the question directly.
Why both halves matter: whichever piece holds the die is the one that counts, and until that is established both are the case. They should be kept together and handled as little as possible, because a fractured die can be disturbed further by flexing.
What the honest position is: this may be recoverable and it may not, and which of those it is can be established quickly and cheaply. What should not happen is a confident answer in either direction before anybody has looked.
On the bench
The fracture path was assessed under magnification against the internal die position — a card being predominantly packaging with data held on a comparatively small silicon die, so a dramatic break may leave it entirely untouched while a lesser one intersecting it destroys whatever that portion held. Both fragments were retained and handled as a set, a fractured die being disturbed further by flexing. Direct read was attempted at the die where the fracture proved peripheral, with the position stated honestly before any charge.
The outcome
The fracture assessed against the internal layout, both fragments handled as a set, and the position stated before any charge. Free assessment, one fixed written figure including VAT; where a chip has to be removed, 50% of parts and labour is payable upfront with the balance only on success — otherwise no recovery, no fee. The decode: not fixable is true and it was never the route. A card is mostly packaging, and recovery means reading the small silicon die inside it — so what matters is whether the break passed through that die or around it.
Card broken into pieces
Keep both halves together and handle them as little as possible — flexing can disturb a die that may currently be intact. Then disregard the question of repair, because nobody rejoins a snapped card and that was never how these are recovered. A card is mostly packaging; the data sits on a small silicon die inside it, and recovery means reaching that die and reading it directly. So what decides your prospects is whether the fracture passed through the die or through the plastic around it — and a card can break dramatically while leaving it untouched. That can't be judged by eye, but it can be assessed quickly.
Keep both pieces — call Oxford Data Recovery on 01865 593000; fracture path assessed under magnification against the internal layout, direct read at the die where it is intact, honest position before any charge.
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Our case files are drawn from genuine enquiries received by our laboratory over the past ten years, anonymised to protect client confidentiality. Each one describes the diagnostic and recovery procedure our engineers apply to that fault, using the equipment listed.