Burt motherboard & solid hard drive issue on HP Spectre x360 - 15-ch011dx (2018)

[dan2222]

I have a couple of questions regardless the fact the warranty is expired. I bought my laptop at Best Buy in New York in 2018. 2 years later, shortly after the expiration of warranty, the laptop went down a very bad road... Its battery exploded, the micro controller on the motherboard got burnt, so the notorious SPECTRE X360 doesn't charge or turn on anymore. Anyways, I had to try to repair it at an unofficial service center which is, of course, very bad. Unsuccessful, I decided to do it myself. So my questions are: 

1. I need to know the exact model of the motherboard I have to purchase for this particular laptop. 
2. How can I check authenticity of the solid hard drive? It reads TOSHIBA MEMORY CORPORATION...
3. I need to know how to find out whether the solid drive (memory card) was used on another machine (I have suspicions that the person who tried to repair could steal my personal information. Is it possible to check whether somebody actually plugged my solid drive into another device to read it? 
4. I need to know where the micro controller on the motherboard is located (I am not a tech guy and couldn't find it online)
5. How can I myself read the information from the memory card? Which device I should buy to read my card? I can provide pictures if needed. 

[Huffer · Accepted solution]

If you do not know where the microcontroller is how do you know it is burnt? 

This is your motherboard with description and part number:

Equipped with an Intel Core i7-8550U (Up to 1.8GHz, turbo up to 4.0 GHz, 2400 MHz, 8MB L2 cache, quad core 90W) processor, a graphic subsystem with a NVIDIA N175–G1 (GeForce MX150) 2GB GPU, and the Windows 10 operating system L155573-60120

Manual 

There is no record of exactly which drive was installed at the factory in your machine but having opened quite a few HP laptops I can tell you that HP very commonly uses Toshiba PCIe/NVME M.2 SSDs so the one you describe is almost certainly original. The SSD does record every access so a forensic examiner could tell if it was accessed while in the custody of a technician and likely what was done and if files were copied, but techs often have to do those things so I am not sure what it would prove. In order to read data off the NVME M.2 SSD you need a usb adapter and they tend to be a little expensive (I have one that cost me like $50 US). Like this (not exactly the one I have but same idea):

https://www.amazon.de/M-Key-Externer-Conveter-Adapter-Karte/dp/B07JQ373YF/ref=sr_1_3?__mk_de_DE=%C3%...

If you can post pictures it would help.

Post back with any other questions and please accept as solution if this is the information you needed. 

[dan2222]

Thank you very much for your explanation, Huffer! 

I know that microcontroller is burnt because they told me that at the service center. Unfortunately, in countries where there is no official HP support, we have to give our laptops to small businesses who cannot be trusted, they often steal parts, substitute them, they can also steal personal info to sell it online. I did not want to mess with opening my laptop myself because I am not a tech guy. However now I realize it is the best and the only option for me - to do everything myself with the help of people like you. 

I am attaching the pictures of the motherboard so you can show me where the microcontroller is, if you would be so kind, of course. I also wanna make sure if it is really burnt (the laptop does not work at all). Also, here are pictures of my SSD card. I am pretty sure it's original and it was not substituted. However, it is very much important for me to know if the technician opened it on another device and copied the files. Obviously, he did not have to do it, I only asked them to pin point the issue and they had absolutely nothing to do with my SSD. Earlier you mentioned that a forensic examiner could tell if it was accessed while in the custody of a technician and likely what was done and if files were copied. Is there any way for me as the owner of this laptop and the SSD to get this information (even if it's gonna be expensive)? I cannot find a forensic examiner here, seems impossible. However, I will definitely buy that SSD adapter from Amazon to restore my data before I manage to repair my laptop. 

Unfortunately, I could not get any help via online chat because my warranty is expired (the laptop "died" shortly after expiration). But I still want to repair it. if it's not visible here, I can make changes

[dan2222]

It seems to me the uploaded pics don't work. Here are the links just to make sure:

https://ibb.co/DpcjQ5k
https://ibb.co/hMCtVbn
https://ibb.co/m0s6f4D

[Huffer]

That is definitely an HP M.2 SSD. See the "HP Part number" on the label? You really need a magnifier to examine the motherboard but I see no burnt capacitors. When they burn it is often the ones closest to the power jack. I really have no way to tell you haw to find a forensic examiner in your country. You could use that adapter and a disk cloning app and make a forensic image of the drive contents and an examiner from anywhere in the world could examine that if you post it to dropbox or something like that. 

Just because I cannot see burnt capacitors does not mean the service center made it up. Close physical examination of both sides is needed. I suggested a forensic examination not because you are going to sue anyone, its just the kind of expert needed to tell if your files were accessed. From where you are my best suggestion for repair is to contact one of the hight tech shops that runs ebay auctions for motherboard repair. They might even also have forensic data analysis capabilities. 

This is one from German eBay. Just an example I do not endorse this shop-I know nothing about them:

https://www.ebay.de/itm/HP-Elitebook-8570w-Mainboard-Laptop-Reparatur-Repair-velma/192533222053?hash...