Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
-Original Message- From: ubuntu-uk-boun...@lists.ubuntu.com [mailto:ubuntu-uk- boun...@lists.ubuntu.com] On Behalf Of Liam Proven Sent: 16 April 2010 13:49 To: UK Ubuntu Talk Subject: Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 1:38 PM, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: the hard drive is only a few months old btw Please try to put your replies /below/ the text you're quoting. Without wishing to start yet another discussion about top-posting v bottom-posting I don't think anyone really minds anymore if anyone who isn't used to or doesn't have the inclination or mailer top-posts. I understand all the history and have seen many arguments about it but it's not in the Ubuntu mailing list code of conduct and most lists these days accept both without anyone being bothered. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On Fri, 2010-04-16 at 15:36 +0100, Thomas Ibbotson wrote: Does anyone know how SSDs compare in terms of lifetime? I know theoretically they have a shorter lifetime than conventional hard drives, but in practice? Stuff like this - http://www.storagesearch.com/ssdmyths-endurance.html - has lead me to believe that the lifespan problem used to be a valid cause for concern, but improvements in hardware construction and wear-levelling techniques have improved the issue to such an extent that it is now a non-issue. I certainly don't lie awake at night worrying that the SSD in my netbook is going to conk out any time soon. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16/04/10 11:44, Adam Bagnall wrote: As a true last resort you can try putting the drive in a sealed bag (to prevent condensation) and then in the freezer for a few hours. A quick google shows there are many reports of this working, although I've never tried it and hope I never have to... Regards, Adam. I tried that once, although I mis-read the instructions and didn't put it in a sealed bag, in fact I think I put it in a cardboard box with some fish fingers. Suffice to say it didn't work. Luckily there was nothing important on the drive. If the data is vitally important then there are recovery companies out there, I know one which does recovery for a flat fee but it's not cheap (something like £250 + VAT). Have you tried booting Ubuntu off say a USB stick, and plugging an external hard drive in and then running testdisk? Rob -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16/04/10 13:38, javadayaz wrote: the hard drive is only a few months old btw If it's only a few months old then you can possibly get it replaced under warranty, but you'd need to get the data off it first of course as you'll get a blank drive back. Rob -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16/04/10 14:52, Alan Lord (News) wrote: On 16/04/10 14:46, David King wrote: Western Digital hard drives are not known for reliability. I avoid them due to the bad experiences I have read about these drives. I have tended toward Samsung (1st choice) or Hitachi (2nd) for HDDs for years now. Not had one every fail - yet. (But I still take nightly backups) Al I've had both Samsung's and Hitachi drives fail on me, but saying that I've also had Maxtors, Seagate's and Western Digital drives fail on me too (just so happens my notebook drive is on the way out). It is pretty good advice taking nightly backups (or at least regular backups). I tend to backup more now than I did in the past, touch wood when drives have failed it's not been really critical stuff that I've lost. I now tend to backup a lot of stuff like pictures on to my server and also onto DVD (although I also do put some stuff on DVD-RAM disc too) and I'm looking at probably putting some stuff on my Ubuntu One account just to be safe. :-) Rob -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
[ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
My brother has just had his hard drive fail. Testdisk is saying All bad sectors. Is there anything that can be done to rescue the data? -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
i dont think there is a backup :) i will recommend spinrite to him. On 16 April 2010 11:17, Alan Pope a...@popey.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 11:08, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: My brother has just had his hard drive fail. Testdisk is saying All bad sectors. Is there anything that can be done to rescue the data? Restore from backup? People say spinrite is good, never tried it myself. Cheers, Al. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16 April 2010 11:08, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: My brother has just had his hard drive fail. Testdisk is saying All bad sectors. Is there anything that can be done to rescue the data? If he (or you) have another machine, it could be removed and put in that either directly or with a USB hard drive adapter to see if it will mount on another machine - there's always the possibility that the drive controller has failed rather than the drive. If that works, you could make an image of the disk using dd or other disk imaging tools. s/ -- Save BBC 6 Music http://www.love6music.com My CV: http://sites.google.com/site/simongreenwoodscv/ Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/simonfgreenwood Support for unemployed IT professionals: -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
i dont think he has another machine. He is using ubuntu one on his netbook but i will forward this option to him as well. On 16 April 2010 11:21, Simon Greenwood sfgreenw...@gmail.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 11:08, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: My brother has just had his hard drive fail. Testdisk is saying All bad sectors. Is there anything that can be done to rescue the data? If he (or you) have another machine, it could be removed and put in that either directly or with a USB hard drive adapter to see if it will mount on another machine - there's always the possibility that the drive controller has failed rather than the drive. If that works, you could make an image of the disk using dd or other disk imaging tools. s/ -- Save BBC 6 Music http://www.love6music.com My CV: http://sites.google.com/site/simongreenwoodscv/ Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/simonfgreenwood Support for unemployed IT professionals: -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 11:23 AM, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: i dont think he has another machine. He is using ubuntu one on his netbook but i will forward this option to him as well. On 16 April 2010 11:21, Simon Greenwood sfgreenw...@gmail.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 11:08, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: My brother has just had his hard drive fail. Testdisk is saying All bad sectors. Is there anything that can be done to rescue the data? If he (or you) have another machine, it could be removed and put in that either directly or with a USB hard drive adapter to see if it will mount on another machine - there's always the possibility that the drive controller has failed rather than the drive. If that works, you could make an image of the disk using dd or other disk imaging tools. s/ -- Save BBC 6 Music http://www.love6music.com My CV: http://sites.google.com/site/simongreenwoodscv/ Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/simonfgreenwood Support for unemployed IT professionals: -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ As a true last resort you can try putting the drive in a sealed bag (to prevent condensation) and then in the freezer for a few hours. A quick google shows there are many reports of this working, although I've never tried it and hope I never have to... Regards, Adam. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
cool will forward this as well On 16 April 2010 11:44, Adam Bagnall bagna...@googlemail.com wrote: On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 11:23 AM, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: i dont think he has another machine. He is using ubuntu one on his netbook but i will forward this option to him as well. On 16 April 2010 11:21, Simon Greenwood sfgreenw...@gmail.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 11:08, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: My brother has just had his hard drive fail. Testdisk is saying All bad sectors. Is there anything that can be done to rescue the data? If he (or you) have another machine, it could be removed and put in that either directly or with a USB hard drive adapter to see if it will mount on another machine - there's always the possibility that the drive controller has failed rather than the drive. If that works, you could make an image of the disk using dd or other disk imaging tools. s/ -- Save BBC 6 Music http://www.love6music.com My CV: http://sites.google.com/site/simongreenwoodscv/ Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/simonfgreenwood Support for unemployed IT professionals: -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ As a true last resort you can try putting the drive in a sealed bag (to prevent condensation) and then in the freezer for a few hours. A quick google shows there are many reports of this working, although I've never tried it and hope I never have to... Regards, Adam. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16 April 2010 11:23, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: i dont think he has another machine. He is using ubuntu one on his netbook but i will forward this option to him as well. On 16 April 2010 11:21, Simon Greenwood sfgreenw...@gmail.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 11:08, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: My brother has just had his hard drive fail. Testdisk is saying All bad sectors. Is there anything that can be done to rescue the data? If you have a usb memory stick you can always use that to run Ubuntu live on it and examine the internal hard disk. This is what I used to do myself before I used raid, I also use Knoppix http://www.knoppix.net/ which did have some useful tools and guides for managing issues. If he installed the netbook from a usb stick, then he may still have the original. If he installed from CD, you should also be able to run that live (or download a live cd image) -- John Stevenson jr0cket.com leanagilemachine.com -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16 April 2010 11:44, Adam Bagnall bagna...@googlemail.com wrote: On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 11:23 AM, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: i dont think he has another machine. He is using ubuntu one on his netbook but i will forward this option to him as well. On 16 April 2010 11:21, Simon Greenwood sfgreenw...@gmail.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 11:08, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: My brother has just had his hard drive fail. Testdisk is saying All bad sectors. Is there anything that can be done to rescue the data? If he (or you) have another machine, it could be removed and put in that either directly or with a USB hard drive adapter to see if it will mount on another machine - there's always the possibility that the drive controller has failed rather than the drive. If that works, you could make an image of the disk using dd or other disk imaging tools. s/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ As a true last resort you can try putting the drive in a sealed bag (to prevent condensation) and then in the freezer for a few hours. A quick google shows there are many reports of this working, although I've never tried it and hope I never have to... Regards, Adam. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ If its a netbook then its probably easier to put the whole machine in the fridge. I am dubious about putting something in the freeze though. It was interesting that all my drive failures have happed during the summer months, so temperature does play a part. If you do get it to boot, then have somewhere to back up on hand as you will need get everything copied as quickly as possible before the drive warms up and starts failing again. Good luck -- John Stevenson jr0cket.com leanagilemachine.com -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
its a hard drive attached to the netbook. Funnily enough this is his third HD...and is a western digital HD as well. On 16 April 2010 12:20, John Stevenson j...@jr0cket.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 11:44, Adam Bagnall bagna...@googlemail.com wrote: On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 11:23 AM, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: i dont think he has another machine. He is using ubuntu one on his netbook but i will forward this option to him as well. On 16 April 2010 11:21, Simon Greenwood sfgreenw...@gmail.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 11:08, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: My brother has just had his hard drive fail. Testdisk is saying All bad sectors. Is there anything that can be done to rescue the data? If he (or you) have another machine, it could be removed and put in that either directly or with a USB hard drive adapter to see if it will mount on another machine - there's always the possibility that the drive controller has failed rather than the drive. If that works, you could make an image of the disk using dd or other disk imaging tools. s/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ As a true last resort you can try putting the drive in a sealed bag (to prevent condensation) and then in the freezer for a few hours. A quick google shows there are many reports of this working, although I've never tried it and hope I never have to... Regards, Adam. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ If its a netbook then its probably easier to put the whole machine in the fridge. I am dubious about putting something in the freeze though. It was interesting that all my drive failures have happed during the summer months, so temperature does play a part. If you do get it to boot, then have somewhere to back up on hand as you will need get everything copied as quickly as possible before the drive warms up and starts failing again. Good luck -- John Stevenson jr0cket.com leanagilemachine.com -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
I've done the freezer trick before on a failing hard drive and it does work. I found it best to wrap the drive up and give it half an hour in the freezer and then when you take it out balance it circuit board down on a pack of frozen sausages to keep it cooler for longer. However I don't think this trick will work on bad sectors. It worked for be because one of the chips on the circuit board was failing and overheating, which would then shut the drive down. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
Quote my brother: I don't think it's a sector issue because its practically impossible for every sector to have become corrupt overnight. Rather, I think the mbr may have got corrupted somehow and needs to be rebuilt but that wud need to wipe the whole thing. Is there a recover utility that could build it leaving what was there before intact? On 16 April 2010 12:26, Dan Attwood danattw...@googlemail.com wrote: I've done the freezer trick before on a failing hard drive and it does work. I found it best to wrap the drive up and give it half an hour in the freezer and then when you take it out balance it circuit board down on a pack of frozen sausages to keep it cooler for longer. However I don't think this trick will work on bad sectors. It worked for be because one of the chips on the circuit board was failing and overheating, which would then shut the drive down. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16 April 2010 12:54, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: Quote my brother: I don't think it's a sector issue because its practically impossible for every sector to have become corrupt overnight. Rather, I think the mbr may have got corrupted somehow and needs to be rebuilt but that wud need to wipe the whole thing. Is there a recover utility that could build it leaving what was there before intact? I would refer him to:- http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk and specifically.. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Damaged_Hard_Disk Rather than leap to possible solutions such as wipe the mbr, I'd recommend more diagnostics. Cheers, Al. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
thank you...i will forward this to him On 16 April 2010 13:00, Alan Pope a...@popey.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 12:54, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: Quote my brother: I don't think it's a sector issue because its practically impossible for every sector to have become corrupt overnight. Rather, I think the mbr may have got corrupted somehow and needs to be rebuilt but that wud need to wipe the whole thing. Is there a recover utility that could build it leaving what was there before intact? I would refer him to:- http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk and specifically.. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Damaged_Hard_Disk Rather than leap to possible solutions such as wipe the mbr, I'd recommend more diagnostics. Cheers, Al. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
quote : The problem is that testdisk cant find any partitions at all.. or even read any data off it On 16 April 2010 13:00, Alan Pope a...@popey.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 12:54, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: Quote my brother: I don't think it's a sector issue because its practically impossible for every sector to have become corrupt overnight. Rather, I think the mbr may have got corrupted somehow and needs to be rebuilt but that wud need to wipe the whole thing. Is there a recover utility that could build it leaving what was there before intact? I would refer him to:- http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk and specifically.. http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Damaged_Hard_Disk Rather than leap to possible solutions such as wipe the mbr, I'd recommend more diagnostics. Cheers, Al. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16 April 2010 13:19, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: quote : The problem is that testdisk cant find any partitions at all.. or even read any data off it Unlikely to be the mbr then. More likely the circuitry, controller on the motherboard or disk itself. All of which are hardware issues. if it were my machine I'd probably get myself a big fat usb drive for backup and do whatever odd freezer trick someone suggested and as soon as it is alive, backup the whole thing to usb disk. Then throw the disk away. Cheers, Al. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
thank you again. will forward your advice. On 16 April 2010 13:30, Alan Pope a...@popey.com wrote: On 16 April 2010 13:19, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: quote : The problem is that testdisk cant find any partitions at all.. or even read any data off it Unlikely to be the mbr then. More likely the circuitry, controller on the motherboard or disk itself. All of which are hardware issues. if it were my machine I'd probably get myself a big fat usb drive for backup and do whatever odd freezer trick someone suggested and as soon as it is alive, backup the whole thing to usb disk. Then throw the disk away. Cheers, Al. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 1:38 PM, javadayaz javada...@gmail.com wrote: the hard drive is only a few months old btw Please try to put your replies /below/ the text you're quoting. Does your brother tend to treat his disks roughly? That kind of failure rate implies it's the user, not the hardware. Hard disks are ultra-high-precision machines and need to be handled very gently. They should, if possible, never ever be moved when they are running, and if you must move them, do so only slowly and gently, with no sudden jerks or bangs. A drop of only a few inches is enough to kill a hard disk when it is working, as is something falling onto it such as a hardback book. When they're off, they're still very fragile, just a bit less so. They should be carried in a padded container, ideally one with shockproofing, and they don't like vibrations, such as being carried on a bicycle backrack or something like that. They need to be treated with care, always. If he can't adapt to doing that, then maybe he should switch to USB memory sticks, or a cardreader with a whole pile of large-capacity SDHC cards or something like that. These have no moving parts so they're very robust. If he's had multiple failures in a few months, then why isn't he backing up, though?! -- Liam Proven • Profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamproven Email: lpro...@cix.co.uk • GMail/GoogleTalk/Orkut: lpro...@gmail.com Tel: +44 20-8685-0498 • Cell: +44 7939-087884 • Fax: + 44 870-9151419 AOL/AIM/iChat/Yahoo/Skype: liamproven • LiveJournal/Twitter: lproven MSN: lpro...@hotmail.com • ICQ: 73187508 -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
Adam Bagnall wrote: As a true last resort you can try putting the drive in a sealed bag (to prevent condensation) and then in the freezer for a few hours. A quick google shows there are many reports of this working, although I've never tried it and hope I never have to... Regards, Adam. I have also read about this method. Some websites say do not do it, others say do it. I tried it once with a damaged hard drive, and it definitely worked and allowed me to recover data that was otherwise inaccessible. David -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
javadayaz wrote: the hard drive is only a few months old btw Western Digital hard drives are not known for reliability. I avoid them due to the bad experiences I have read about these drives. David -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16/04/10 14:46, David King wrote: Western Digital hard drives are not known for reliability. I avoid them due to the bad experiences I have read about these drives. I have tended toward Samsung (1st choice) or Hitachi (2nd) for HDDs for years now. Not had one every fail - yet. (But I still take nightly backups) Al -- The Open Learning Centre http://www.theopenlearningcentre.com -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16 April 2010 15:26, David King linux...@avoura.com wrote: Alan Lord (News) wrote: I have tended toward Samsung (1st choice) or Hitachi (2nd) for HDDs for years now. Not had one every fail - yet. (But I still take nightly backups) Al I have had a Hitachi DeskStar go bad recently. They are even nicknamed DeathStar due to a high failure rate years ago when the brand was still owned by IBM. Samsung drives have so far been good for me. david Does anyone know how SSDs compare in terms of lifetime? I know theoretically they have a shorter lifetime than conventional hard drives, but in practice? Tom -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On Fri, Apr 16, 2010 at 3:36 PM, Thomas Ibbotson thomas.ibbot...@gmail.comwrote: On 16 April 2010 15:26, David King linux...@avoura.com wrote: Alan Lord (News) wrote: I have tended toward Samsung (1st choice) or Hitachi (2nd) for HDDs for years now. Not had one every fail - yet. (But I still take nightly backups) Al I have had a Hitachi DeskStar go bad recently. They are even nicknamed DeathStar due to a high failure rate years ago when the brand was still owned by IBM. Samsung drives have so far been good for me. david Does anyone know how SSDs compare in terms of lifetime? I know theoretically they have a shorter lifetime than conventional hard drives, but in practice? Tom -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ In terms of lifetime I don't know, but in theory at least the failure mode when you've hit your write limit is that you can still read what's on there. No data loss, you just can't change what's on the used up cells. -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
On 16 April 2010 15:26, David King linux...@avoura.com wrote: Alan Lord (News) wrote: I have tended toward Samsung (1st choice) or Hitachi (2nd) for HDDs for years now. Not had one every fail - yet. (But I still take nightly backups) Al I have had a Hitachi DeskStar go bad recently. They are even nicknamed DeathStar due to a high failure rate years ago when the brand was still owned by IBM. Samsung drives have so far been good for me. david https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/ I have gone for Seagate for the last 5 years and have not had any failure (touches lots of wood). I intend to upgrade my oldest drives within the year as they are too small, noisier and more power hungry than recent Seagate, which on the whole have been a lot quieter. Except on my netbook, I use raid everywhere, but should do more about back up (I keep telling myself that raid != backup). Most of the important stuff is either on raid or on Ubuntu one cloud storage. -- John Stevenson jr0cket.com leanagilemachine.com -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
Re: [ubuntu-uk] Hard drive- Bad sectors
David King wrote: I have had a Hitachi DeskStar go bad recently. They are even nicknamed DeathStar due to a high failure rate years ago when the brand was still owned by IBM. Samsung drives have so far been good for me. david Sorry, I was looking at the wrong drive, it was a Seagate drive that went bad (not the first Seagate drive I have had a problem with, at least the third). The Hitachi one was fine. David -- ubuntu-uk@lists.ubuntu.com https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
