Here is a very simple test using what you already have. Use the following command in Linux to invoke ddrescue to read sector 0, assuming that /dev/sda is the source drive you are trying to recover. The data will not be copied anywhere, but the result should be 512 bytes rescued and 0 bytes of error size.

ddrescue -s 512 /dev/sda /dev/null -f

Now perform the ddrescue copy attempt as you did previously where it did not read any data. Let it run for several seconds making sure it is not reading any good data (no rescued bytes), and then stop it. Then run the above command again.

If running the command again still shows 512 bytes recovered and 0 bytes error size, then the the drive is not locked up. This would indicate a firmware issue (but could still be caused by a bad head).

If running the command again instead results in 0 bytes recovered and 512 bytes error size, then the drive is locked up in some way.

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The theory of the above test is that the drive is reading sector 0 at startup, as it contains the partition table which allows you to see the partitions as you currently do. If the drive locks up, then sector 0 will no longer be readable. If sector 0 is still readable after finding the other huge chunk of data is not, then there is some other issue such as the translator. So you could also perform this test using any other tool that would read sector 0, and check it again after failing to read another part of the drive.

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I could be wrong, but the drive is not likely getting stuck busy. If it was, the OS should hang bad and end up dropping the drive, which should result in ddrescue no longer being able to find the source drive and exiting. The drive is more likely returning the result of an aborted command, the reason of which is still unclear.

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maximus, from what I have experienced with some seagate drives that "disappear" from the system when you try to read a bad sector, ddrescue then goes very fast and inform a big size of the "bad sectors", as the OP images show.

I have not used that ddrescue-gui , so cannot compare my screens with his, but from the description, it seems something like that. The first part of the drive is recovered, including MFT, and the rest is allocated as blank space, so the recovery software he used just copy empty sectors from the image.

One other way I use to monitor what is happening is to open a second terminal, with a "tail -f /var/log/kern.log". If the drive disappears, a lot of messages complaining about its disappearance will scroll by.

You should try HDDSuperClone sometime. It is somewhat like ddrescue, but with some improvements. One improvement is that it can tell when a drive is no longer responding, and will exit with a message so that the user can power cycle the drive and then resume. If it is just a few bad sectors causing this, then the drive can still be imaged this way. If it is a bad head causing this, then it could take a lot of power cycles (maybe thousands) to get through the drive, in which case you would need a hardware imager.

Simply trying to read a known good sector (in this case sector 0) after the drive appears to not be reading any data will determine if the drive is still responding or not. This can be done with any software capable of reading at the sector level. It is simple logic to narrow the diagnosis. That way the OP can know which direction to take.

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I would just like to point out that the reference to hddsuperclone was directed towards rogfanther, not the OP. I do not think the OP should use hddsuperclone on this drive, at least not until it is diagnosed and if possible the issue fixed so it can be cloned.


Register status will definitely help. You pointed him toward Victoria so that should be a good starting point for that.

But I doubt it is stuck "DRQ", as that would also likely lock up the OS for some time for each read. If anything, it will have gone into device fault, or "DF". Victoria shows this as "WRF", which stands for write fault, which is from very old ATA standard. When a drive is in this condition, all commands will be returned with an abort error. And the only way to clear it is to power cycle the drive.

Or the drive is suffering from some other condition that is causing it to return the aborted command error for the reads, such as translator issues. My instinct is that this is more likely. There are no pending or reallocated sectors in smart, which indicates that the drive grenaded suddenly. But that is where the terminal output would show more of what is going on.

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Hi maximus,

I´m already using hddsuperclone for some clonings, it´s a great tool. The idea to try it with some "disappearing" Seagate drives is in my list, just have not had time to do some experiences with it.

I just thought the disappearance symptom would explain why part of the OP´s drive is cloned and the files found, but then the rest of the files is blank.

Also, a little suggestion : can hddscviewer be made to receive the name of the log file in the command line ?

Thanks.

OK! I want to thank all for the instructions, knowledge and Help. I´ll try all the possibilities suggested for the users and i´ll post all the results.

I Thank you all,

Gratitude.

Hello everyone!
I started trying with hddsuperclone. And the results were these, when it suddenly interrupted.

I tried to restart the process with the log file but, apparently (I do not know if I did something wrong), it started from scratch. I'm running it again, let's see ...

Thank you all!

First, are you running from a live CD? If running from a live CD you need make sure the progress log file is being stored on an external drive, a flash drive will do. I can see that your log is likely being stored in the default home folder, and with a live CD that is in RAM, which will be cleared if you reboot. Also, you must get the log name exactly correct, or it would start a new one. It should not have started over.

Second, I do not know why hddsuperclone exited like that. There should have been an additional message to explain the reason. If that happens again, try an older version of hddsuperclone, maybe version 1.4 or 1.3. I need to know if it is something I broke with recent code changes in the program. I am concerned that it is not behaving properly

Third, since this drive is connected directly and not USB, you should use the --ata option for this drive (if you are not already). It could give additional information in the log, and possibly on a sudden exit. You should be able to stop the recovery, and add the option to the command line and resume.

If it stops again, along with screenshot please provide the progress log file.

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I would just like to add to my last post, that if it stops again like that with just an exit code and no other reason, to provide both the log file AND the backup log file (it will be the same name with .bak extension). Do this before resuming the recovery. There should be no reason for it to start over.

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To add to what Spildit just posted, since it did recover up to LBA 2930277248, and since you stated that it looks like it started over, you can add the following option to the command line to start the recovery at that LBA:

This will make the recovery start from this position on the drive. You can adjust this number to a higher value if there is a issue with this spot on the drive causing the exit.

@Spildit, this drive was on track to be fully recovered in a little over 2 days for a 4TB drive at an average of 21MB/s. This is not super slow, and if the destination is a USB drive then this could be considered a somewhat normal speed.

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Hi friends!

The same again! Apparently, the problem is in LBA 2930277248. I will try what you said and return the results.

I want to colaborate with @maximus in hddsuperclone project.
hddsuperclone was the only that indicates me, at least, where is the problem.

Any more ideas? Instructions?

Thank you

I forgot to say that the log file was not created.
My procedure was:

sudo hddsuperclone
choose the log file name
choose the source drive
choose the target drive

In what location should the logfile be?

Thank you

By looking at your screenshot, the log file should be in the folder hddsuperclone-free-1.5.1-x86, and it looks like that folder is on the desktop. Unless you specify otherwise, the default location for the log file is in the location you started hddsuperclone in the terminal. I know of someone else using this version of hddsuperclone, and it is producing the log file for him. If you are having an issue with the log file not being produced, I will need to work with you to figure out why. It will really help if you can keep using the same log file to continue the recovery attempt.

Spildit has the right idea, and the tools he mentioned are good for that. But if you have not started using those tools on this drive yet, you can do the same with the --input-offset option in hddsuperclone (short option is -i). I would try that option with the value of 3000000000 and see if it will keep going. If it fails or stops, try a value of 4000000000, 5000000000, 6000000000, and 7000000000. If the drive is locked up, you may need to power cycle the drive to get it to respond again. If you can get it to read more data then let it go and see if you can get it to clone more of the data. Please try this and report back on what happens.
Example: hddsuperclone -s /dev/sda -t /dev/sdc -f testerecuperepaedu -i 30000000000

I have been looking through the code and still do not know why there is no other exit message. I have found a few quirks that could explain why it shows an exit code of 1 and other code of 0, but there should still be some other message about why it exited. Plus if it was any sort of read error, it should have marked a spot as non-trimmed, and also triggered a skip, and it did not do either. We need to see if you can get more of the disk cloned (hopefully most of it), but I am going to come up with some specific commands that I will PM you, to help figure out what is happening. But first please try to see if you can clone more of the disk using the above option.

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Please download the beta test version 1.5.2 here:
http://www.sdcomputingservice.com/hddsuperclone/download/beta-downloads

I have made some changes to the code to try to improve the exit message and code issue. With this new version I need to see the exit codes and message if it suddenly stops.

Also, you never answered a question from a previous post about the log file. Are you running from a live CD?

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@maximus, First of all, i´m sorry, the logfiles is in my home folder, i was not finding it.

I tested with hddsupercone, the HDD don´t starts the test over 30000000000.

I tryed MHDD, it doesn´t shows this HDD, only my system drive. I'ḿ runnig from my CR-ROM. Is there any command or parameter to make this HDD shows up?

Victoria is for windows and i just have windows in my notebook. Only USB connection with this drive, in a case.

Tomorrow, I'll install Windows in this PC, in dual boot.

I looked for Victoria for Linux and did not find it. Is there another similar one that I can test to see if the disk reads after this LBA? Or has this hddsuperclone test been enough to be sure?

You mentioned a powercycle in HDD, how to do this?

I will download the beta version of hddsupeclone. Do I need to uninstall this one I'm using before?

Thank you all so much!

You added one to many zeros to your command. You did 30 000 000 000 instead of 3 000 000 000 (separated by spaces to show the count). Please try again with the correct values.
No, the installation should replace the current version.
You must set your BIOS to IDE instead of AHCI. I believe you must also do this for Victoria.
I believe Victoria can run from Hirens Boot CD. You can run it from a flash drive after the CD has booted to the mini windows XP.How is the drive connected to the computer? From the output of hddsuperclone it looks like it is directly plugged into the computer via a SATA connection. If the BIOS is in AHCI mode you should just be able to unplug the power connector on the drive. If the BIOS is set to IDE you would need to reboot the computer.

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Hi @maximus i did it again...

Really, after LBA 2930277248 it lost comunication.

I tried starting in 2930000000 hddsuperclone read at 2930277248 and finished the process. After this, i tried with 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7000000000. Nothing...

Thank you for help!

might be translator