PS4 How can data be recovered from a formatted PS4 drive?

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Vixen332

Forum Noob
I saw many pages in many data recovery websites on how to recover deleted files from formatted PS4 hard drives but I don't know anyone who has been able to sucessfully recover data using those methods, I even doubt if the people who wrote those post actually did that to prove if it is true. but I saw a video of someone recovering data from a dead PS3 hard drive:
 
I watched this video around minute and gave up after hearing that PS4 and PS3 using proprietary filesystem, which not true... Both using UFS2 filesystem for user partition. PS3 using custom BSD based partition table, while PS4 using standard GUID Partition Table.

However, PS3 and PS4 encrypting their internal mass storage by unique key(s) per mother board. To get any data from that, You need have those keys which means You must hack Your console in the first place (of course using another HDD, to not write anything on media from which You want recover data). First barrier is encryption layer. Second are encrypted containers in which PS4 encapsulated data like saves or trophies. If You will able to retrieve those data, You will be limited to use them only on this specific console, not on another (but depend of location(s) and count bad sectors, logic structure of fs can be damaged enough to make PS3/PS4 will not accept it).

Besides that, "dead HDD" and "recovery data" is to generic term. In assumption You have bad sectors, You can make sector by sector copy omitting them (replacing them on the fly by zeroes). For which You don't need to bother about decrypting drive because data retrieved for such case is not needed to be decrypted but serving as source for "mirroring" drive to another.

And on top of that, if You performed full format (not so called quick format), You will be unable to restore any data because it not exist anymore. After quick format You still get clean fs tables so any data recovery can be possible based only on file signatures and for that You need decrypt drive.

In summary, be more specific what You exactly did and what You want to recover so I can tell You if it is possible and how to do it, or not possible at all. If possible and You don't want waste time, I can do that for You for a fee.
 
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Berion said:
I watched this video around minute and gave up after hearing that PS4 and PS3 using proprietary filesystem, which not true... Both using UFS2 filesystem for user partition. PS3 using custom BSD based partition table, while PS4 using standard GUID Partition Table.

However, PS3 and PS4 encrypting their internal mass storage by unique key(s) per mother board. To get any data from that, You need have those keys which means You must hack Your console in the first place (of course using another HDD, to not write anything on media from which You want recover data). First barrier is encryption layer. Second are encrypted containers in which PS4 encapsulated data like saves or trophies. If You will able to retrieve those data, You will be limited to use them only on this specific console, not on another (but depend of location(s) and count bad sectors, logic structure of fs can be damaged enough to make PS3/PS4 will not accept it).

Besides that, "dead HDD" and "recovery data" is to generic term. In assumption You have bad sectors, You can make sector by sector copy omitting them (replacing them on the fly by zeroes). For which You don't need to bother about decrypting drive because data retrieved for such case is not needed to be decrypted but serving as source for "mirroring" drive to another.

And on top of that, if You performed full format (not so called quick format), You will be unable to restore any data because it not exist anymore. After quick format You still get clean fs tables so any data recovery can be possible based only on file signatures and for that You need decrypt drive.

In summary, be more specific what You exactly did and what You want to recover so I can tell You if it is possible and how to do it, or not possible at all. If possible and You don't want waste time, I can do that for You for a fee.
Click to expand...

I've heard it is possible to recover files from corrupted and formatted hard drives, even encrypted data. But I don't want to even spend money on it.
 
I already told You everything above. Again, in summary:
  • Data retrieving from formatted drives (full format) is impossible.
  • Data retrieving from formatted drives (quick format) is possible by signature scan but needs decrypting it first (to decrypt it, You need hack console to get at least EAP Key).
  • Mirroring drive with bad sectors to drive without bad sectors is possible and it will work if bad sectors not covering up partition table and fs tables, and raw parts directly firmware related.
 
Berion said:
I already told You everything above. Again, in summary:
  • Data retrieving from formatted drives (full format) is impossible.
  • Data retrieving from formatted drives (quick format) is possible by signature scan but needs decrypting it first (to decrypt it, You need hack console to get at least EAP Key).
  • Mirroring drive with bad sectors to drive without bad sectors is possible and it will work if bad sectors not covering up partition table and fs tables, and raw parts directly firmware related.
Click to expand...
So if the data in the corrupted drive was encrypted is possible to recover it? I'm confused really.
 
If by corrupted drive term You have in mind bad sectors, then data on bad sectors are lost forever. If something important lies on those bad sectors like eg. partition table, filesystem table(s), then mirroring such drive with replacing them on the fly by eg. zeroes will not help You, because PS4 will be unable to understand the structures and ask for formatting. If on bad sectors lies data not important to understand logic structure like e.g game saves, then everything will work after mirroring, except those eg. game saves. Each sector is 512B in size, so one bad sector = loosing 512B forever, but take in mind that if i.e only 512B be lost from i.e Dreams game save which is ~10GiB, then You loosing 10GiB. The more bad sectors the more loose. If by corrupted drive You have in mind only logical damages, then situation similar like above.

If You want recovering data from those drives on PC instead on PS4 (i.e because not hacked PS4 don't allow to copy any data to any media, or because i.e damages not allowing PS4 to understand partition table and/or filesystem(s)), then You must decrypt it or You will retrieve nothing, no matter if drive is fully working or damaged in any way.
 
I once emailed the guy who made the video I shared and he never replied my email. I spend too many time studying.
 
Maybe one day You will discovered that YT is not reliable source of information, and YTers doesn't give a shit about what they recording and their audience, but profits from adds. ;] There are exceptions of course, like always in nature.
 
Berion said:
Maybe one day You will discovered that YT is not reliable source of information, and YTers doesn't give a shit about what they recording and their audience, but profits from adds. ;] There are exceptions of course, like always in nature.
Click to expand...
The guy doesn't seem to be a scammer at least, I've seen many articles on internet about how to recover lost PS4 data but they don't seem to truly work (at least I don't know anyone who has tried those methods sucessfully), I even dunno if the people who wrote the articles have actually done that.

How I can obtain an EAP Key?
 
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