[TriLUG] data recovery---Linux low-level format program avail able??

Vestal, Roy L. rvestal at rti.org
Thu Mar 21 09:56:04 EST 2002


The paper map printed was for MFM/RLL/SCSI drives and using the old debug
routine to tell the drive which ones were bad. I've used BCWipe to "wipe"
the drive and set the drive back to 0's (zeroes). I've also used NDD to
verify the drive. However, the newer versions of NDD don't run in a command
based window.

Once I "wipe" a bad drive, this program has mapped the bad spots, because
they are already written to the prom on the IDE drive.  IDE drives do not
use the same low-level formatting of SCSI/MFM/RLL drives, the latter are
dependant on the controller you use.  IDE comes with it's own controller. To
"overwrite" the translation table, would render the drive pretty much
useless. It's up to the OS to write the bad sectors in it's file table
during it's install. I always have Linux do a check for bad sectors during
installation to get this fixed. Wiping the drive makes Linux, or any other
OS, not try and salvage the data, it simply looks at the physical
characteristics of the drive and runs the necessary tests.

If you want to low-level a drive, then get a SCSI. If you want to use an
IDE, then allow the OS to check the drive for bad spots.

-----Original Message-----
From: al johson [mailto:alfjon at mindspring.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 8:24 PM
To: trilug at trilug.org
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] data recovery---Linux low-level format program
available??


I went to the website and saw the program in question.
    However, I'm not really talking about a program that will just erase (or
wipe a hard drive, or do what used to be called a "high-level format"), but
a program which will test a drive to determine where the bad sectors are
located and (and this is the most important part:) mark them so that data
cannot be written to those sectors in the future!!
The result is that the drive contains fewer bytes of storage space, but
these fewer bytes will definitely be safe to use. In other words, a
defective hard drive will be "fixed". Let me explain further (at the risk of
"over-explaining") what I'm talking about. It used to be the case that when
you bought a new hard drive there was a paper map printed on the outside of
the drive telling you which sectors were bad on the drive (and every map was
different because every drive varied in which parts of the drive had
errors), this was because in those days every hard drive had such errors but
if they were identified to the OS then the OS wouldn't attempt to write to
them. 
===============================

----- Original Message -----
From: Vestal, Roy L. <rvestal at rti.org>
To: <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 9:16 AM
Subject: RE: [TriLUG] data recovery---Linux low-level format program
available??


> Low Level format IDE. Not really necessary, since the onboard bios does
> that, but a utility you can use under MS or Linux is BCWipe.
www.jetico.com
> is where to get it. It meets Finland and USA DOD wipe certifications.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: al johson [mailto:alfjon at mindspring.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 2:26 AM
> To: trilug at trilug.org
> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] data recovery---Linux low-level format program
> available??
>
>
> And if the drive is apparently not working anyway, you should definitely
put
> it in a plastic bag and put it in the freezer!! I've brought lots of
drives
> back to life with this simple trick. You must thoroughly defrost it before
> attempting to use it in your computer.
> You just leave it at room temp. for 5-6 hrs. Don't laugh, it does work in
> many cases. If the drive does work, you should back it up as soon as
> possible thereafter. And discard it after you've gotten your data back.
>
>     Speaking of fixing hard drives, decades ago we used to "low-level
format
> hard drives" to fix them.
> This process would mark all the bad sectors on the drive and you could
then
> use the drive as if it were new! Unfortunately, the software which did
this
> trick sort of disappeared (I'm assuming the drive manufacturers wanted it
to
> die so they could sell more hard drives).
>
> I only mention this because I read somewhere that there was a LINUX
program
> which could low level format a hard drive. Anyone know if this is true and
> what the name of that program might be???  Al Johnson
> KQ4FP at arrl.net
>
> =============
> ========================
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: lfwelty <lfwelty at redback.com>
> To: <trilug at trilug.org>
> Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 10:09 PM
> Subject: Re: [TriLUG] data recovery
>
>
> > Have you eliminated all hw issues, pwr, cabling?
> > Have you tried booting the drive in another computer?
> >
> > Is this a scsi or ide drive?
> >
> > If ide, have you changed its master/slave settings
> > since the original failure? You may have better luck
> > booting off another drive and mounting the damaged
> > drive as a slave on the ide...
> >
> > If you want to try to handle the recovery yourself,
> > try taking a look at the LDP:
> >
>
http://www.linuxdoc.org/HOWTO/Linux-Complete-Backup-and-Recovery-HOWTO/index
> .html
> >
> > Good luck.
> >
> > F.
> >
> > JoJo Almario wrote:
> > >
> > > The hard drive isn't even recognized in the bios.  I hada backup
script
> > > running that would tar the files to a tape drive but somehow it only
was
> > > able to get 2 gigs of the 5gigs.
> > > I tried the hdd in a different computer but it still wouldn't
recognize
> in
> > > the bios.  It had the whole home partition on it, with the boot, root,
> /usr
> > > and /etc on the first drive.  No RAID so I can't rebuild.  I suck!
Any
> > > suggestions?
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: trilug-admin at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-admin at trilug.org]On
Behalf
> > > Of Sinner from the Prairy
> > > Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 4:46 PM
> > > To: trilug at trilug.org
> > > Subject: Re: [TriLUG] data recovery
> > >
> > > On Dilluns 18 Març 2002 10:32 am, JoJo Almario wrote:
> > > > Does anybody know of a data recovery service anywhere in the
triangle.
> My
> > > > drive went down  and the back up was corrupted.  There is mission
> critical
> > > > datat on there, so proximity is essential
> > >
> > > What is the problem?
> > >
> > > I recently recovered data from a HDD that had lost the partition
table.
> I
> > > used
> > > TestDisk from http://www.cgsecurity.org , an open source solution.
> > >
> > > Good luck!
> > >
> > > Salut,
> > > Sinner
> > > --
> > > "I fart in your general direction! Your mother was a hamster and your
> father
> > > smelt of elderberries!"
> > > RedHat QA Test Engineer  --  Running RedHat 7.2 on i386smp
> > > http://www.ibiblio.org/sinner/
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > TriLUG mailing list
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> > > TriLUG Organizational FAQ:
> > >     http://www.trilug.org/~lovelace/faq/TriLUG-faq.html
> > >
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > TriLUG mailing list
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> > > TriLUG Organizational FAQ:
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> >
> > --
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Frank Welty                |  15401 Weston Parkway, Suite 150
> > lfwelty at redback.com        |  Cary, NC 27513
> > Redback Networks           |  desk:919.678.2175 m: 919.264.7495
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------
> > _______________________________________________
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>
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