Thanks to all for your quick replies.

        i thought originally that dd would work and tried to 'image'
        a couple of CDs, but they came out to different sizes although
        both were 650MB CDs.  The disk sizes differed by about 3 MB,
        so i assumed dd was missing something.  Imaging 2 floppies
        yielded different sized images as well.

        From the replies thus far, it seems that dd is exactly what i
        am looking for.  However, i am still at a loss to explain the
        differences in image sizes.  Does dd copy every bit from a
        device from start to finish, or does it skip / miss something
        somewhere?

        Thanks again.


On Wed, 2003-01-08 at 11:29, Colin Ellis wrote:
> The best that can be achieved is via 'dd'.
> 
> however it is actually impossible to get _real_ raw disk access due to the
> disk IO controllers.  As far as I know, all disk IO controllers have
> automatic data correction etc and so do hard disks.  An accurate copy of the
> surface of the disk cannot be gained by this method.
> 
> Has anyone any ideas on whether it's possible to bypass the automatic checks
> performed by the IO controllers?
> 
> Colin
> Solution City Ltd
> http://www.solution-city.com
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: viv [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: 07 January 2003 21:08
> To: DebianSecurity
> Subject: raw disk access
> 
> 
>       Hi.
> 
>       As a Debian user, i am posting to this list first in the hopes
>       that what i am looking for can be found as a Debian package.
> 
>       i am looking for forensics tools that can be used in computer
>       crime investigations, and am particularly interesting in a tool
>       that provides raw drive (hard, floppy, CD, DVD, etc.) access in
>       order to create complete and accurate drive images.
> 
>       If such a tool does not exist within Debian, is anyone aware of
>       any application (GPLed, please) that does?  Failing that, i am
>       willing to write my own tool, if necessary, and would appreciate
>       any pointers to good reference material (raw drive access and
>       how to work with the images created).
> 
>       If it helps, i am running with the latest 'unstable' packages.
> 
>       Many thanks.
> 
> --
> viv <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
-- 
viv <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

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