Data Recovery Services

What Our Data Recovery Services Include

Rossmann Repair Group provides data recovery for failed hard drives, SSDs, iPhones, MacBooks, RAID arrays, and NAS systems. All work is performed at our single lab in Austin, TX using PC-3000 and DeepSpar hardware. No outsourcing, no satellite offices, no middlemen.

The service covers both logical failures (corrupted file systems, deleted partitions on an otherwise healthy drive) and physical failures (dead read/write heads, burned controller chips, seized spindle motors). Logical recoveries use PC-3000 Data Extractor for sector-by-sector imaging. Physical recoveries require opening the drive on a 0.02µm ULPA-filtered clean bench, matching donor heads, and rebuilding firmware modules through terminal access.

Hard drive recovery costs $100–$2,000 across 5 tiers based on failure type. SSD recovery costs $200–$1,500 across 5 tiers. These are published tiers, not quotes generated after you ship the drive. Every job starts with a free evaluation, and our no data, no fee guarantee means you pay nothing if recovery is unsuccessful.

Written by

Louis Rossmann

Founder & Chief Technician

Updated March 2026

Why Hardware Failures Require In-Lab Recovery

Some companies advertise remote data recovery as a service. Remote tools connect to a functioning drive over the network and scan for deleted files or corrupted partitions. When a hard drive has a failed preamplifier or a dead read/write head, the operating system cannot enumerate the device at all. The same applies to an SSD with a shorted PMIC or a controller stuck in a firmware panic loop. No remote connection can interact with hardware that the host machine cannot detect.

Firmware-level recovery (rebuilding corrupted Flash Translation Layer tables, injecting diagnostic loaders through vendor-specific commands) requires a direct hardware interface. The technician shorts specific diagnostic test points on the PCB to force the controller into safe mode, then the PC-3000 communicates with the controller over the standard SATA or PCIe bus to upload a diagnostic loader. This is a physical bench procedure; it cannot be performed over a network.

What to Do When a Storage Device Fails

The steps you take in the first few minutes after a drive failure determine whether your data is recoverable. Follow this sequence before contacting any data recovery service.

1. Power down the device. Unplug the drive or shut down the computer. A clicking hard drive has damaged read/write heads dragging across the platters; every second of power causes further scoring.
2. Do not run recovery software on a physically failing drive. Consumer tools like Disk Drill and EaseUS work on healthy drives with deleted files. Running them on a drive with head damage or firmware corruption forces the mechanism to overwork, converting a firmware-tier repair into a platter-damage case.
3. Do not open the drive enclosure. Hard drive platters must only be exposed inside a 0.02µm ULPA-filtered clean bench. Room air contains particles that cause immediate head crashes on spin-up.
4. Record the failure symptoms. Note whether the drive is clicking, beeping, not spinning, or showing the wrong capacity. Include what happened immediately before the failure (drop, power surge, error message). This information lets the engineer target the failed component without unnecessary diagnostic steps.
5. Contact a lab with published pricing and a no-data-no-fee guarantee. A legitimate data recovery service quotes a price range before you ship the drive. If a company requires a non-refundable diagnostic fee or refuses to publish prices, that is a reason to keep looking.

Recovery Methods by Device Type

Each storage medium fails differently and requires different tools. Here is how we approach the major device categories.

Hard Drive (HDD)

Failed read/write heads are replaced with matched donors on our 0.02µm ULPA-filtered clean bench. Corrupted firmware modules (translator, P-list, G-list) are rebuilt using PC-3000 terminal access. Pricing: $100–$2,000 across 5 tiers.

Solid State Drive (SSD)

Dead controllers are addressed by repairing power delivery circuits or injecting diagnostic firmware loaders via PC-3000 to rebuild the translation layer. Shorted voltage regulators and PMICs are replaced at the component level using microsoldering. TRIM complicates SSD recovery; once garbage collection runs on deleted blocks, that data is gone permanently. Pricing: $200–$1,500 across 5 tiers.

RAID & Server

Each member drive is imaged individually, then the array is reconstructed offline using the original stripe size, parity rotation, and block order. We do not rebuild degraded arrays on the original controller; that process risks overwriting surviving data with stale parity. RAID recovery details

NAS (Synology, QNAP)

NAS failures typically involve multiple drives in a Linux-based software RAID. We image each disk, then reassemble the mdadm or LVM configuration and repair damaged EXT4, Btrfs, or ZFS superblocks to restore the volume. NAS recovery details

iPhone & Mobile

iPhones with soldered NAND cannot be recovered through chip-off because the Secure Enclave binds encryption keys to the original processor. Recovery requires board-level microsoldering to repair the logic board and boot the device through its original encryption pathway. iPhone recovery details

MacBook (T2/Apple Silicon)

T2 and M-series MacBooks have storage soldered to the logic board with hardware encryption tied to the Secure Enclave. There is no chip-off path. We repair the board itself, fixing power delivery ICs and corroded traces, then extract data through the original boot process. Mac recovery details

Server & Virtual Machine

Failed Dell PowerEdge, HPE ProLiant, and Lenovo ThinkSystem infrastructure. We image each drive from the failed server individually, then reconstruct VMware VMDK, Hyper-V VHDX, or Proxmox QCOW2 virtual disk files offline without touching the original array controller. Server recovery details

SMR (Shingled) Hard Drives

Modern consumer HDDs from Seagate and Western Digital use Shingled Magnetic Recording, where data tracks overlap like roof shingles. SMR drives maintain a translation layer that maps logical sectors to physical zones. When this layer becomes corrupted due to bad sectors in the Media Cache, the drive enters a BSY state and refuses to mount. We rebuild the translation layer using PC-3000 firmware utilities, restoring logical-to-physical sector mapping without overwriting user data. Seagate SMR recovery details

SSD Controller & Firmware Failures

Most SSD failures are controller-level firmware panics, not mechanical damage. A Phison PS3111-S11 controller with corrupted service area modules reports its model string as "SATAFIRM S11" and capacity as 0 bytes. Silicon Motion SM2258XT controllers drop into a permanent BSY state when their flash translation tables degrade. Marvell 88SS1074 controllers require a 1.8V terminal connection to rebuild the translator. Each failure type requires a different PC-3000 module and vendor-specific command set to reconstruct the Flash Translation Layer from raw NAND page headers. NVMe recovery details

Gen4 NVMe Controller Failures

Modern Gen4 NVMe drives fail differently from SATA SSDs. Phison PS5018-E18 controllers (used in PNY CS3140, Corsair MP600, Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus) lock out when thermal stress during cache flushes corrupts the Flash Translation Layer. Recovery requires shorting specific PCB test points to halt the on-NAND firmware boot, forcing the controller into diagnostic mode for PC-3000 FTL reconstruction. Samsung 980 Pro drives with the Elpis controller can enter a permanent read-only state when NAND spare blocks are exhausted; if the drive still initializes, it can be imaged with managed read timeouts. Western Digital SN850X and SN770 drives use proprietary controllers that crash the PCIe bus when the FTL is corrupted. Because these WD controllers use undocumented architecture, firmware-level FTL reconstruction is not currently possible; recovery depends on whether the drive can be coaxed into initializing for imaging. NVMe recovery details

Encrypted Drive Recovery

BitLocker, FileVault, VeraCrypt, and hardware-encrypted (SED/OPAL) drives. When the encryption controller or key management chips fail, software decryption tools cannot help. We repair the hardware so the drive boots through its original encryption pathway, preserving the key material needed to unlock the volume. Encrypted recovery details

Database Recovery

Corrupted SQL Server (.mdf/.ldf), MySQL/MariaDB (InnoDB tablespaces), PostgreSQL (WAL segments), and Oracle datafiles recovered from failed storage. We image the underlying drive first, then parse and reconstruct the database structures on a copy to avoid risking the original data. Database recovery details

Why Helium Hard Drive Recovery Costs More

Drives above 8TB from Western Digital (Ultrastar HC), Seagate (Exos X-series), and Toshiba (MG08) are sealed with helium gas instead of using a breather filter. Helium has one-seventh the density of normal air. The read/write heads inside are calibrated to fly at a specific height based on helium's lower aerodynamic drag.

If a helium drive is opened in a standard ULPA-filtered clean bench filled with normal atmospheric air, the head slider aerodynamics change. Donor heads calibrated for helium fly at the wrong height in normal air, causing immediate platter contact and rotational scoring. Helium recovery requires refilling the drive chamber with helium during the head swap procedure, which adds $400 to $800 in helium costs on top of the mechanical recovery tier.

How Much Do Data Recovery Services Cost?

We publish all pricing on our website. No hidden fees, no surprise invoices. Hard drive recovery ranges from $100–$2,000 across 5 tiers. SSD recovery ranges from $200–$1,500 across 5 tiers. The tier depends on what failed, not the size of the drive.

Every recovery starts with a free evaluation. You get a firm quote before any work begins. Our no data, no fee guarantee means you pay nothing if recovery is unsuccessful.

How Our Lab Works

Rossmann Repair Group operates a single data recovery lab in Austin, TX. Founded in 2008, the lab serves all 50 states through mail-in recovery. Here is what makes it different from the larger national chains.

How We Handle Your Data During Recovery

Every drive stays inside our single Austin, TX lab from arrival to return. No drives are shipped to partner labs, satellite offices, or third-party contractors. The engineer who evaluates your device is the same person who performs the recovery.

• ✓Single-lab custody. Your drive never leaves 2410 San Antonio Street, Austin, TX 78705. No middlemen, no forwarding facilities.
• ✓NDA available on request. Business clients requiring a non-disclosure agreement before shipping can request one through our contact form.
• ✓30-day verification window. After recovery, the original device is held at our lab for 30 days so you can verify the recovered files. After that period, the device is securely destroyed.
• ✓No retained copies. We do not keep copies of recovered data beyond the verification window. Once you confirm receipt, all working copies are wiped.

Competitors advertising SOC 2, HIPAA, or FIPS 140-3 compliance should be asked to produce the actual audit report. Many data recovery companies list certifications they do not hold. We describe what we do; we do not claim certifications we have not earned.

Nationwide Data Recovery Service

Rossmann Repair Group serves all 50 states through secure mail-in data recovery. Every device ships to our single lab at 2410 San Antonio Street, Austin, TX 78705, where the same engineers who perform local drop-off recoveries handle mail-in cases. There is no separate facility, no forwarding, and no outsourcing.

Searching for a data recovery service near you often returns companies with dozens of listed addresses. Many of these are virtual offices or shipping forwarding points; the drive still travels to a central lab. We skip the middleman. You ship directly to the lab where the work happens. Average transit time from most U.S. cities to Austin is 1 to 3 business days via USPS Priority Mail or UPS Ground.

Once the device arrives, we evaluate it within 1 to 2 business days and send you a firm quote. If you approve, we begin recovery using PC-3000 and DeepSpar hardware. Hard drive recovery starts at $100. SSD recovery starts at $200. If recovery is unsuccessful, you pay nothing under our no data, no fee guarantee.

Ransomware and Hardware Encryption Recovery Limits

Self-Encrypting Drives (SEDs) using the TCG OPAL standard store a Media Encryption Key (MEK) that is unlocked by a Key Encryption Key (KEK) managed by the drive's controller firmware. When a physically dead SED arrives at our lab, we repair the logic board to restore the original decryption pathway so the MEK can unlock the volume. The data itself was never encrypted by ransomware; the hardware pathway simply broke.

If ransomware has mathematically encrypted files (AES-256, ChaCha20), or if the user lost the BitLocker or FileVault password, no lab can break unbroken cryptography. We can recover the underlying drive hardware and present the encrypted volume, but the files remain locked without the correct key. Any company claiming to "decrypt ransomware" for a flat fee is either paying the ransom on your behalf or misrepresenting the service. Full encrypted recovery details

The Recovery Process

Every recovery follows the same four steps, regardless of device type.

1. 1

   Free Evaluation

   Drop off in Austin or ship your device to our lab. We diagnose the failure and send you a firm quote within 1 to 2 business days of receipt.

2. 2

   Approve the Quote

   You decide whether to proceed. No payment is taken until you approve. For head swaps, platter work, and advanced SSD board rebuilds, a 50% deposit covers donor parts.

3. 3

   Recovery Work

   We perform the recovery using PC-3000 and DeepSpar. Hard drive work requiring head swaps or platter access is done on our 0.02µm ULPA-filtered clean bench. Simple copies take 3-5 business days; firmware and mechanical cases take 3-8 weeks depending on the failure type.

4. 4

   Data Returned

   You receive a file listing to verify your data. Once confirmed, we transfer files to a new drive and ship it back. If recovery was unsuccessful, you pay nothing.

Full details on our recovery process page.