[REQUEST] Question for Parted Magic users

[LedHed]

Hello all,
I built a new data recovery rig from a computer that a client didn't want fixed. Here are the specs for the curious:

Dell Core i5, 16 Gigs of RAM, (1) 5 TB drive and (1) 3 TB drive.

My question is this:
I'm booting from the latest Parted Magic installed on a USB stick, but I would like it to select the Live with default settings 64 (for 64-bit PCs) automatically. Does anyone know what file I need to edit, or otherwise how to make it do that?

Thanks in advance for your help/advice,
Andy

 

[Markverhyden]

I'll look at the ISO and see if I can figure it out.

But my question is why a USB stick? Those devices are not intended for longevity as a boot device. Given you can pickup a small SSD for dirty cheap why not install it live. Not checked that but I'm sure it can be done.

 

[LedHed]

Mark,
To answer your question, I looked into installing Parted Magic onto a hard drive but I couldn't find any useful info on doing so. I understand, and agree with, your concern about booting from USB. However, I don't use Parted Magic that often (a couple of times a month.) USB boots way faster than using a CD, so I prefer using them instead.

You should see my rig, though. It is sweeeeeeeet!
Andy

 

[wavey]

Never tried installing PM to a hard drive, found this though
https://partedmagic.com/frugal-install/

 

[GTP]

Klaus Knopper has a great tutorial on installing distro's that don't have an install routine.
But I can't find it for the life of me.
It was on his Knoppix website I think??

 

[Diggs]

It's a bit of wasted hardware as the requirements for Parted Magic are minimal. SATA 3 helps speed things up though. 3 TB drives make me nervous due to their historically high failure rate.

Your idea is good. I keep Puppy Linux with Gparted on an old thin client with a HDD dock. It boots almost instantly and Gparted makes it so easy to blow away stubborn Windows partitions in seconds. Heavy (ddrescue) drive recovery I do on a Linux Mint machine. Again, minimal hardware.....

 

[LedHed]

Diggs,
Yeah, I know it is way more powerful than it needs to be, but it was built with stuff I had laying around. Didn't know about the 3 tb drives. I've since removed it and replaced it with a 2 tb one. Thanks for the info.

 

[Markverhyden]

Did a little digging around and while it appears they're using grub I'm don't think you can do anything to the menu. There is a grub.cfg but it's entries do not match what shows up during the boot of the latest version. So maybe since they went to a paid solution they have to get out of the grub business and code their own boot loader.

 

[LedHed]

Thanks for looking Mark. I guess I'll try booting from an SSD. Thanks so much for everyone's input and suggestions.

Andy

 

[LordIntruder]

All you find on a parted magic image you'll find in any linux distro. So why not installing a small linux with the tools parted magic provides? Done on a small SSD and with some SATA-Drive-Bays built into the case will fit all your needs. And you'll be able to keep the installed tools up to date.

 

[LedHed]

LordIntruder,
I've been busy (thankfully) for the past few days but I've been thinking about doing just that. I was thinking about using Mint or Fedora unless anyone else has a better suggestion. I already have a SATA drive bay and I'll be ordering an SSD in a couple of days.

 

[LordIntruder]

Uh, I read a buzzword. Fedora. Are you sure you want to use Redhat's user playground for that?

 

[LedHed]

No, I'm not sure. I am open to suggestions. I used Fedora for some projects a few years ago, not sure what it's like now.

 

[GTP]

Personally I would stay in the "Debian" world. Not saying there is anything wrong with RedHat or Fedora; both excellent distro's, but (arguably) I think a Debian based distro would be better.

 

[LedHed]

Barcelona,
I've decided to try several distros to see which one I prefer. I'll certainly give Debian a try. I'm curious to know, what do you like/dislike about Debian?

 

[Diggs]

Just to clarify - "Debian World" doesn't mean using Debian itself which is a beast. One of the ditros based on Debian is what is being suggested. (Ubuntu, Mint, etc.)

 

[LedHed]

Thank you Diggs. I didn't see the word "world" in his reply. That's what I get for reading before I'm fully awake. I'm downloading Ubuntu right now. I'll try Mint next.

 

[lcoughey]

As mentioned above, use any linux disto you like and install the programs you want. Although I usually only use Linux for the file system and RAID reconstruction portion of a recovery, I'm assuming you would also need it for cloning failing drives. Here are the apps (some free, some paid) that I throw on my Linux workstations:

• gnu ddrescue
• HDDSuperClone Pro ($)
• R-Studio ($)
• R-Explorer ($)
• testdisk / photorec

With HDDSuperClone, you can virtually mount the clone/image and access it with other recovery programs like R-Studio or R-Explorer. As they grab sectors from the clone, if those sectors are not yet copied, HDDSuperClone will copy them with it very powerful routines to handle media damage.

If you are serious about doing the best recovery job possible, you will go with the paid programs and partner with a professional lab with whom you can discuss your projects on a case-by-case basis. Testdisk and photorec can be helpful if you don't have any other options, but I can only assume that you are in business to make money are are charging your clients for your services. If so, invest in your tools so that you are giving your clients the best you can.

 

[nerd2u]

I was just about to suggest they partner with recovery force then I saw who the post came from.

I can vouch for the work recovery force does my client was beyond happy to get their data back.

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[nerd2u]

One thing I will add for the best possible data recovery know when you are in over your head and when you need to stop and seek the help of a professional.

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