ACK! Broken VPCZ12AHX/XQ - can I pull hard disk?

We have a VPCZ12AHX/XQ that was apparently dropped, and the notebook will not turn on (user says the area near the power button is cracked).

I haven't seen the unit yet, but I suspect no recent backup was made so I'm going to be tasked with trying to recover the data off the drive.

Assuming I can't power the unit up, is it possible to somehow pull the SSD from this unit and hook to another system for data transfer?

I don't know the exact disk configuration, but from what I recall the Intel RAID utility saw it as (4) 128GB SSDs in a RAID 0 configuration. Is this correct? Are there truly 4 SSDs in there? If I am able to pull the drive/s, what kind of a system will I need to hook it to to read this array properly?

What are my best chances of data recovery, and are there any disassembly instructions available?

Thanks..

 

Z12 drives use microsata connectors. So you can get a micro sata to sata adapter or 2(make sure it converts to 3.3v or you'll fry the drives) and hook to another PC. . Issue is it's a raid array. We will have to wait for someone else to chime in on how to recover an intel raid array in another PC. You could always just order another z and drop the old drive in

 

Thanks... any disassembly instructions anywhere?

 

Ideally you'd be able to plug the drives (2 physical units, with a separate ssd on each side of the board) into another VPC-Z1(x). Maybe when you get hold of the unit you can patch up the damaged power button and get it to come on?

ZoinksS2K made a video of the disassembly here:

YouTube - Sony Z11 Disassembly

 

Thanks, I'm hoping it's just a power button but fear it may be more.

 

you can find out if it's just the power button by booting using the vaio or assist button (i can't remember which)...that will boot it into recovery mode.