Re: Need help with dying drive/restoring data
On Sun, Sep 19, 2004 at 10:58:51PM +0100, Jonathon McKitrick wrote: When I boot up, the drive makes clanking sounds I've never heard before, and never finishes the load. I'm going to make a rescue disk, but does anyone have a strategy for how I could handle the delicate job of getting my updated data off the drive without making matters worse? So far, I figure I will boot the rescue disk and try to mount the filesystems. 'Clanking noises' -- that's either the bearings on the spindle worn loose or the mechanism that moves the heads out of alignment. In either case, I'd say your drive is not so much dying, as dead. About the only thing you can do is boot up from alternate media and see if anything can be read from the old drive -- don't get too hopeful though. dd(1)-ing the partitions from the dead drive into files on some other machine and then turning each of those into a file backed md(4) device which you then fsck(1) into some sort of order might get you further than most other strategies, as it allows you to scan sequentially across the drive Failing that, it should be possible for a data recovery company to read much of the disk contents using what is a essentially an electron microsope with a few modifications. About the only thing that can't deal with is a head crash so bad it scrapes away large chunks of disk surface -- even so, it would be able to read most of the rest of the drive. Only problem is such services are quite expensive... Cheers, Matthew -- Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 26 The Paddocks Savill Way PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Marlow Tel: +44 1628 476614 Bucks., SL7 1TH UK pgpx5OTtPNvnN.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Need help with dying drive/restoring data
On Mon, Sep 20, 2004 at 06:53:39AM +0300, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: : This may sound peculiar, but take your drive out and put it in the freezer : overnight and then quick as all can be put it in and boot up and get off : what you can. I've used this technique multiple time to great success. Now that is an original idea! I'll give that a shot tonight. Any idea why this works? jm -- My other computer is your Windows box. ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need help with dying drive/restoring data
On Mon, Sep 20, 2004 at 09:26:18AM +0530, Subhro wrote: : Which media do you intend to backup to? If I were in your place, I : would just tar the /home and the /etc and put it on a USB drive or on : a CDR/DVDR if you have a burner. However, Are you sure that the drive : is fixed firmly into the drive bay and you are seating the laptop on a : sturdy base? I took the drive out of the bay and reinserted it. It was working fine until a few days ago. I started hearing the clanking, then yesteday, it never finished the startup process. My last backup was to my server, then to CDR. jm -- My other computer is your Windows box. ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need help with dying drive/restoring data
Jonathon McKitrick wrote: Hi all, Help! My laptop drive seems to be dying, and while I did keep backups, the last one was a bit old. When I boot up, the drive makes clanking sounds I've never heard before, and never finishes the load. I'm going to make a rescue disk, but does anyone have a strategy for how I could handle the delicate job of getting my updated data off the drive without making matters worse? So far, I figure I will boot the rescue disk and try to mount the filesystems. This is based on experience rather than the extremely detailed knowledge of some other posters - like most people, I've had to get data off failing disks from time to time and so some strategies have emerged. One moderately obvious thing - if you boot from a rescue disk, mount the damaged drive read only. The filesystem will probably be marked unclean, and, unfortunately, running fsck can make the drive fail again before you have a chance to get any data off it. In an extreme case, dd might be your only option. I've found that attempts to copy/tar/dump the whole filesystem in these cases often fail. It's certainly worth trying once, but if it fails you can copy/tar/dump parts of the disk individually, starting with the most important areas, and you've a fairly good chance of at least partial success. I have a feeling that this helps because it avoids too high a level of continuous disk activity. If that's the case, I've started wondering whether using rsync with the --bwlimit argument is worth investigating as a method of limiting throughput. I haven't tried this, though. You might find that there are areas of specific damage that have to be worked around and these can be identified by a process of elimination. I also try not to let the drive go *cold* once these problems have started developing. A dying disk seems to be more likely to fail completely on power up than at any other time. This isn't meant to contradict the freezer idea suggested by another poster, which is widely recommended and definately worth trying. It means try not to keep rebooting once you start to recover the data, if you can manage it. Peter. ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
RE: Need help with dying drive/restoring data
This may sound peculiar, but take your drive out and put it in the freezer overnight and then quick as all can be put it in and boot up and get off what you can. I've used this technique multiple time to great success. -Original Message- From: Jonathon McKitrick [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Sunday, September 19, 2004 11:59 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Need help with dying drive/restoring data Hi all, Help! My laptop drive seems to be dying, and while I did keep backups, the last one was a bit old. When I boot up, the drive makes clanking sounds I've never heard before, and never finishes the load. I'm going to make a rescue disk, but does anyone have a strategy for how I could handle the delicate job of getting my updated data off the drive without making matters worse? So far, I figure I will boot the rescue disk and try to mount the filesystems. jm -- ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need help with dying drive/restoring data
Okay, I found that the fixit disk is able to mount the filesystem on the dying drive. But I have a couple of problems. 1. Since this is a laptop (no CD-R or other mass storage besides the drive) I need a way to get a few big tarballs made and sent elsewhere. I don't think a floppy will work. I have a parallel port zip drive I will try tomorrow. I can't figure out how to get my wi interface up. I loaded the kld, inserted the card and heard it beep, but no interface shows up, or at least pccardd didn't load it correctly. Not sure what to do next. 2. My /usr partition is on slice ad0s1g, but mount on the fixit disk doesn't recognize that device. How can I mount this slice? jm -- My other computer is your Windows box. ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need help with dying drive/restoring data
Okay, I found that the fixit disk is able to mount the filesystem on the dying drive. But I have a couple of problems. 1. Since this is a laptop (no CD-R or other mass storage besides the drive) I need a way to get a few big tarballs made and sent elsewhere. I don't think a floppy will work. I have a parallel port zip drive I will try tomorrow. I can't figure out how to get my wi interface up. I loaded the kld, inserted the card and heard it beep, but no interface shows up, or at least pccardd didn't load it correctly. Not sure what to do next. Can you plug in a direct ethernet line and transfer stuff somewhere if you can't get the wireless to go? 2. My /usr partition is on slice ad0s1g, but mount on the fixit disk doesn't recognize that device. How can I mount this slice? Possibly it is now showing up as a different number drive such as may no longer disk 0, but disk 1 - as in ad1s1g. Just a wild guess. jerry ps, You don't mount the slice. You mount the device - actually the file system in the partition which you are identifying as 'g' which is in slice '1' on disk 0 (unless it has renumbered the disk to '1' or something). - just clarifying terminology. /jrm jm -- My other computer is your Windows box. ___ ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need help with dying drive/restoring data
On Mon, Sep 20, 2004 at 06:19:06PM -0400, Jerry McAllister wrote: : : : Okay, I found that the fixit disk is able to mount the filesystem on the : dying drive. But I have a couple of problems. : : 1. Since this is a laptop (no CD-R or other mass storage besides the drive) : I need a way to get a few big tarballs made and sent elsewhere. I don't : think a floppy will work. I have a parallel port zip drive I will try : tomorrow. I can't figure out how to get my wi interface up. I loaded the : kld, inserted the card and heard it beep, but no interface shows up, or at : least pccardd didn't load it correctly. Not sure what to do next. : : Can you plug in a direct ethernet line and transfer stuff somewhere : if you can't get the wireless to go? Yes, if I can get a regular ed0 device to work. : ps, You don't mount the slice. You mount the device - actually the : file system in the partition which you are identifying as 'g' which : is in slice '1' on disk 0 (unless it has renumbered the disk to '1' or : something). I guess I don't know exactly how this works. I thought if I mounted the device it would mount all the partitions. But I cannot get to the /usr directory. jm -- My other computer is your Windows box. ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need help with dying drive/restoring data
On Mon, Sep 20, 2004 at 06:19:06PM -0400, Jerry McAllister wrote: : : : Okay, I found that the fixit disk is able to mount the filesystem on the : dying drive. But I have a couple of problems. : : 1. Since this is a laptop (no CD-R or other mass storage besides the drive) : I need a way to get a few big tarballs made and sent elsewhere. I don't : think a floppy will work. I have a parallel port zip drive I will try : tomorrow. I can't figure out how to get my wi interface up. I loaded the : kld, inserted the card and heard it beep, but no interface shows up, or at : least pccardd didn't load it correctly. Not sure what to do next. : : Can you plug in a direct ethernet line and transfer stuff somewhere : if you can't get the wireless to go? Yes, if I can get a regular ed0 device to work. : ps, You don't mount the slice. You mount the device - actually the : file system in the partition which you are identifying as 'g' which : is in slice '1' on disk 0 (unless it has renumbered the disk to '1' or : something). I guess I don't know exactly how this works. I thought if I mounted the device it would mount all the partitions. But I cannot get to the /usr directory. Each partition is a device.If /usr is in its separate partition then you will need to mount it separately. If it is all in another partition such as root (/) then you need to mount that device and cd to the proper place. You seem to have chopped off the piece that had the partition you were trying to mount from the previous message, but I seem to remember something like ad0s1g. So, cd / mkdir oldusr mount /dev/ad0s1g /oldusr should get you that device/partition mounted and would be accessible starting at /oldusr. I am not real sure about creating the mount point that way with the fixit disk. If it makes a filesystem in memory for root (/), it should work. If not, it may be non-writable so you would have to use an existing mount point such as maybe /mnt if it isn't being used in some other way already. cd / ls -l to see what dirs are hanging around cd /mnt and look around if that one is there. If it is empty, then cd / mount /dev/ad0s1g /mnt Now, if the IDE disk order got shoved around, you may have to do some looking. It might be something like mount /dev/ad1s1g /mnt or whatever it comes up as. You may have to watch boot really closely to see what disk devices are named.But, first try running dmesg | more to see if it will tell you anything useful. Look for IDE devices. I don't know if dmesg will work on a fisit boot though. I have never tried it. jerry jm -- My other computer is your Windows box. ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Need help with dying drive/restoring data
Hi all, Help! My laptop drive seems to be dying, and while I did keep backups, the last one was a bit old. When I boot up, the drive makes clanking sounds I've never heard before, and never finishes the load. I'm going to make a rescue disk, but does anyone have a strategy for how I could handle the delicate job of getting my updated data off the drive without making matters worse? So far, I figure I will boot the rescue disk and try to mount the filesystems. jm -- ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: Need help with dying drive/restoring data
Which media do you intend to backup to? If I were in your place, I would just tar the /home and the /etc and put it on a USB drive or on a CDR/DVDR if you have a burner. However, Are you sure that the drive is fixed firmly into the drive bay and you are seating the laptop on a sturdy base? Regards S. On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 22:58:51 +0100, Jonathon McKitrick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hi all, Help! My laptop drive seems to be dying, and while I did keep backups, the last one was a bit old. When I boot up, the drive makes clanking sounds I've never heard before, and never finishes the load. I'm going to make a rescue disk, but does anyone have a strategy for how I could handle the delicate job of getting my updated data off the drive without making matters worse? So far, I figure I will boot the rescue disk and try to mount the filesystems. jm -- ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- Subhro Sankha Kar School of Information Technology Block AQ-13/1 Sector V ZIP 700091 India ___ [EMAIL PROTECTED] mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
