ddrescue help

[HFultzjr]

You cannot save the log file to the destination drive, unless you are making an image file and the destination drive has a formatted file system. You might be better off making a live linux USB thumb drive where you can save your log files there.

A full system seems to be overkill, unless you are running linux all the time. You could install it to a separate hard drive and simply switch boot drives when you need to boot from Linux. I have 4 or 5 drives with various linux flavours, just for that very purpose.

That being said, it is very rare that we use ddrescue around here.

Thanks for the reply.

I am making an image, so are you saying the USB drive needs to be a "Linux" format?

Good point on the Live USB....duhhh, why didn't I think of that.

I want to set up a full system, as I have several older machines that should run it well. Plus it fascinates me. I'm sure with a dedicated machine I would spend MUCH more time "playing" around with it. Good point on the various boot drives.

Big question????? Why do you rarely use ddrescue?

Never mind...I forgot who I was replying back to. I'm sure you have WAY more options than I have. You do Professional Recovery, correct?

Thanks for the ideas.

 

[HFultzjr]

You need to explicitly identify the full path to where you want to store the logfile. The command you used will store the logfile in the present working directory (RAM if using a live CD). Try this instead:

ddrescue /dev/sda3 /media/sdb1/myimagename.img /media/sdb1/log.txt

Edit: This works if saving as an image file. If doing a device to device clone, you would need a third drive (such as a USB stick) to save the logfile to.

PERFECT!

That sounds exactly like what I'm looking for.

Thank you very much!

Linux......I'm learning something new every day.

 

[lcoughey]

A few things to note about cloning to an image file:

1. You need to pre-format the destination drive with a file system that can handle large file sizes (ie, NTFS, EXT2/3, HFS+...NOT FAT32)

2. You will need to use a 3rd party data recovery program to recover the data from the image file...or learn how to mount the RAW image file within Linux, Mac OS or Windows.

3. Make sure your destination drive is larger than the original. Remember, a formatted drive has less usable space than the actual capacity of the drive...and you want room for your log file, too.

Yes, I have access to lots of hardware that blows ddrescue out of the water. But, if I didn't have any hardware tools, ddrescue is the only software clone program that I would even consider using on a failing drive.

 

[HFultzjr]

A few things to note about cloning to an image file:

1. You need to pre-format the destination drive with a file system that can handle large file sizes (ie, NTFS, EXT2/3, HFS+...NOT FAT32)

2. You will need to use a 3rd party data recovery program to recover the data from the image file...or learn how to mount the RAW image file within Linux, Mac OS or Windows.

3. Make sure your destination drive is larger than the original. Remember, a formatted drive has less usable space than the actual capacity of the drive...and you want room for your log file, too.

Yes, I have access to lots of hardware that blows ddrescue out of the water. But, if I didn't have any hardware tools, ddrescue is the only software clone program that I would even consider using on a failing drive.

1, 2, and 3......got them all covered.

Thank you very much.

 

[PcTek9]

i'd highly recommend hoppin on the innernets and gurggling some additional linux tools such as: ntfs-3g, ntfsprogs, ntfs-config,fsck, e2fsck, parted, and testdisk.
also maybe if you can get an open frame test rig for your shop, made for technicians, i highly recommend getting an os hardware switch for different drives, with different diag software installed for techs, and really deck it out. provide special cooling fans for the client drive and copper or aluminum heat sinks to keep it cool, and maybe a peltier cooler system to increase the possibility of data recovery. be ingenuitive and explorative only with your own devices until you have created a system that can safely provide larger gains in recovery without resorting to a breadbox vaccuum system.
also consider swapping the drive board out on the drive in case the electronicals of that are electrostatically bedazzled or suffering from heat hysterisys modulation. it's easy to see when pcb's are nuked, nothin works, but when they are only slightly warped the situation could not be much worselier, as they may provide erroneous data recovery, as in your previous example, not to mention the wasted 6 hours of your life you will never recover or bill for.
Frankly ddrescue at best is nearly always a software solution, and if it must go through hardware with a propensity to deviate from the norm, then the data recovered could easily be substituted for a pancake.