Well, I've finished my backup of it. I started at about two pm yesterday.
I had shoved it in the freezer for about twelve hours beforehand, just to make
sure. Then I got it out and froze my fingers trying to get it into the PC - I
hadn't considered that - I just did not think about it! ;)
I tried 'dd_rescue if=<partition> of=<steenking big file>' but didn't succeed.
It told me repeatedly that <partition> wasn't a device or file. I don't know
why! But on the other hand, knoppix had recognized it and mounted its swap
partitions when I had turned it on, so I suspect the cold had done something
for its electronics.
At any rate, it could read the partitions, so bearing in mind Volker's
comments that every minute counts, I made a file list, thinking that if the
worst came to the worst, I could dig up at least some of those files on the
Internet.
The file list succeeded, so I thought I would try to copy the entire partition
over to the new hard drive, which I had partitioned prior to this.
And this is the strange thing - some software wouldn't work with the hardware,
but 'cp -r * <emergency file on replacement hd>' worked, once I had mounted
the partition and gone into it and started. It worked from two pm yesterday
to ten thirty pm tonight without blinking. I think the cold weather helped in
no small measure. (If I had been forced to use MS Win9x ... it doesn't bear
thinking about! ;)
Well, it worked, so a big thanks to everyone on the list who offered support
and advice, moral and material. And now we've got an extra datum - freezing
an hd works well when you're dealing with electrical problems that prevented
the hd from being seen previously; using 'cp -r * <emergency partition>' can
sometimes work when 'dd_rescue if=<partition> of=<steenking big file>' won't;
and patience is useful when one is dealing with that sort of thing.
Now that is techie practice no school will ever give you!
Thanks all!
Wesley Parish
"Sharpened hands are happy hands.
"Brim the tinfall with mirthful bands"
- A Deepness in the Sky, Vernor Vinge
"I me. Shape middled me. I would come out into hot!"
I from the spicy that day was overcasked mockingly - it's a symbol of the
other horizon. - emacs : meta x dissociated-press
