Hardisk imaging

[royaldsouza1]

hello, i need to image a seagate 320gb hardisk. The bios is not able to detect the hardrive nor windows and linux. But i am able to access the hardisk using MHDD. I need to make a clone of the drive what is my best option.

[royaldsouza1]

1. yes with errors.
2. yes it does report correct capacity.
3. i am doing the recovery for a client.
4. no its does not produce strange sounds.

[MindMergepk]

Strange...
If mhdd can scan the drive with just a bunch of errors and assuming you don't have hardware assisted cloning tools you can try either ddrescue or prosoft media tools to clone the drive, but at this point i would stop messing with the drive and would outsource to a proper data recovery firm.
I could clone the drive for a very reasonable price but the shipping costs to Portugal would have to be paid as well.
I think that you should find someone near you with proper tools and knowledge to clone the drive.
At this point it might still be a easy recovery...

+1

[fzabkar]

What does MHDD report for the SMART attributes?

[royaldsouza1]

tnks for the reply
there is a smart failure due to errors.
model Seagate ST320LT007 9ZV142-071 0004LVM1 WU 100654403
and do u no any good cloning software working in pio mode.
is tere any cloning software which can bypass the bios (MHDD is very slow).

[digisupport]

@royaldsouza1 you should not ask this kind of "basic" questions and then work on a client case - you are risking your clients data.

[data-medics]

Your original statement doesn't make sense. If the BIOS doesn't detect the drive then how can software like MHDD see it? I think what you mean to say is that the OS can't see the logical volume. Likely due to bad sectors in the lower LBAs. Try cloning using ddrescue in Linux. This guide will help: https://www.data-medics.com/forum/viewt ... f=21&t=133
Then run data recovery software like R-Studio against the clone.

[royaldsouza1]

Just look at this. This is a typical diagram how generic DOS program talks to the drive.



PROGRAM <---> MSDOS <---> BIOS <---> IDE/SATA controller <---> Hard disk


And now how MHDD works:



MHDD <---> IDE/SATA controller <---> Hard disk




if its a basic question plz answer my question

[royaldsouza1]

if bios does not detect how can i clone with ddrescue. MHDD is the only software that can read. i need a software which works in pio mode or which has has a direct io feature

[data-medics]

My guess then as to why MHDD is seeing the drive but BIOS isn't is that the drive is also very slow to come ready, and the BIOS is giving up before it IDs. You can probably still do it in Linux using ddrescue if you plug it into a SATA controller that supports hotswap after booting up.

[royaldsouza1]

tnks for the reply i tried it. but could not. there is lot of errors. deepspar is the best option but its not afordable. the client says he doesnot want spend more than $10 for recovery. so i cant send to a dr-firm with harware. if u know of any software with direct io functionality like MHDD it would be helpfull. thank you

[data-medics]

Unfortunately if you can't do it with ddrescue, then no software will work for your case. You need a hardware imaging tool. Which if you're going to offer data recovery services you should really have anyway.

[dick]

the client says he doesnot want spend more than $10 for recovery.

[MindMergepk]

If the drive scans sucessfully with MHDD and read with just a bunch of bad sectors i can clone it for you for ... let's say $50 USD plus shipping costs to and from Portugal.

What do you say ?

fair enough

[omi786]

You can also try Media Tools Pro, otherwise outsourcing is the best option. Don't mess much with client's drive.

[royaldsouza1]

1 - Attempt to fix the problem must likely firmware/translator related.

2 - Clone the drive with something that have direct access to the drive and can read it as MHDD in PIO (without any BIOS intervention).


1. yes i have upgraded the firmware to the latest vertion. But still the problem persists.

2. Can u name a software like which can read the data like MHDD in pio (without bios intervention).
i am asking this qustion from the start of the post but every one is just marketting there own firm but no one is given the reply to this question.

[jermy]

1) doesn't supposed to fix the problem
2) AFAIK there isn't

[royaldsouza1]

Now the hardisk is getting detected in bios. even ddrescue is able to detect the drive. When i run dddrecue it s giving errors of blocksize 320gb amd no data was rescued. Can any one give any advanced commands to use like smaller block size or any othere options including hdparms.

[laptokowiec]

Try ddrescue (ver 1.19) with:
..... -R -n -N -u .....
You can also check "-d" option.