[ltp] HDD emergency repair (howto)
Adrian Bastholm
linux-thinkpad@linux-thinkpad.org
Thu, 7 May 2009 09:07:54 +0200
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It would be nice to have a howto with pictures :P. By the way, is there a
way of fixing those old IBM DeathStar drives with the clicking problem ?
/adrian
On Thu, May 7, 2009 at 7:57 AM, Ted Ghose <ted@ghose.us> wrote:
> Richard,
>
> awesome, I've two of those... let me try!
>
> Appreciate it a lot
>
> thanks
>
> -tg-
>
> On 5/6/09, Richard Neill <rn214@hermes.cam.ac.uk> wrote:
> > Dear All,
> >
> > I've just saved a friend's SATA notebook disk, and thought it might be
> > worth writing up a brief account.
> >
> > Symptom:
> > Laptop wouldn't boot at all, stalling at the first BIOS screen.
> > HDD wasn't spinning.
> > Unplugging HDD allowed the laptop to boot via live-CD.
> > =3D> HDD faulty.
> >
> > Confirm:
> > There is nothing else that can be done with this disk. Professional
> > data recovery is too expensive. So OK to take a risk.
> >
> > Open the disk:
> > Carefully, using a torx screwdriver.
> > One screw is hidden under the label.
> > Clean room would be nice, but I don't have one
> >
> > Discovery:
> > The head appears to have cold-welded itself somewhere in the
> > middle of the disk. The disk can't spin at all. This is the
> > second time I've come across a 2.5" disk with this problem.
> > User says it wasn't mis-treated.
> >
> > Solution:
> > Carefully, without touching the platter, use a fingernail to
> > force the head back into the parked position. Some considerable
> > force (perhaps 10 newtons?) is required.
> > Then quickly re-assemble drive before too much dust gets in.
> >
> > Recovery:
> > Put disk into thinkpad. Boot thinkpad from a live CD. (Mandriva 2009=
).
> > Fortunately, the "dead" disk spins up.
> > In the live-CD environment, add the package repositories, and instal=
l
> > ddrescue. (Note there are 2 similar programs: ddrescue and dd_rescu=
e.
> > I've had success with both.)
> >
> > Mount an external USB HDD. Let ddrescue do its stuff:
> > ddrescue /dev/sda sda.img ddrescue.log
> > After about 24 hours, ddrescue has recovered all 80 GB of the disk,
> > excepting about 5 MB.
> > Also, save fdisk info:
> > fdisk -l /dev/sda > sda.fdisk.txt
> >
> > Extract partition 1.
> > dd if=3Dsda.img of=3Dsda1.img bs=3D512 skip=3D63 #value depends =
on fdisk.
> >
> > Mount the partition loopback:
> > mount -o loop,ro sda1.img /mnt/tmp
> >
> > Note: it's supposed to be possible to do
> > mount -o loop,ro,offset=3D32256 sda.img /mnt/tmp
> > but I found it didn't work.
> >
> > Note 2: It would normally have be easier to directly extract
> > the partitions one at a time, at the ddrescue stage,
> > But in this case, the offending disk is a Windows XP
> > system, and I want to be able to re-image the OS onto a new
> > drive. A filesystem-level copy won't work here. [In Linux, it's
> > easy: just fdisk, mkfs, rsync, then fix fstab and install grub]
> >
> > Recover data:
> > copy stuff from /mnt/tmp
> >
> > Re-image to a new disk:
> > Plug in new HDD, boot from liveCD.
> > dd if=3Dsda.img of=3D/dev/sda
> >
> >
> > I hope that's useful to someone...
> >
> > Morals of the story:
> > (1) ddrescue is really useful.
> > (2) Linux can do almost anything.
> > (3) Even a totally stuck HDD can be saved without needing a cleanroo=
m.
> > (4) Having a USB-SATA adapter would be useful.
> >
> > Best wishes,
> >
> > Richard
> > --
> > The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
> > http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad
> >
>
>
> --
> *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_:-.,_,.-:**:-.,_,.
> Save time... see it my way
> *:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_:-.,_,.-:**:-.,_,.
> --
> The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:
> http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpad
>
--=20
V=C3=A4nliga h=C3=A4lsningar / Kind regards,
Adrian Bastholm
I would change the world, but they won't give me the sourcecode
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It would be nice to have a howto with pictures :P. By the way, is there a w=
ay of fixing those old IBM DeathStar drives with the clicking problem ?<br>=
<br>/adrian<br><br><div class=3D"gmail_quote">On Thu, May 7, 2009 at 7:57 A=
M, Ted Ghose <span dir=3D"ltr"><<a href=3D"mailto:ted@ghose.us">ted@ghos=
e.us</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, =
204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">Richard,<br>
<br>
awesome, I've two of those... let me try!<br>
<br>
Appreciate it a lot<br>
<br>
thanks<br>
<br>
-tg-<br>
<div><div></div><div class=3D"h5"><br>
On 5/6/09, Richard Neill <<a href=3D"mailto:rn214@hermes.cam.ac.uk">rn21=
4@hermes.cam.ac.uk</a>> wrote:<br>
> Dear All,<br>
><br>
> I've just saved a friend's SATA notebook disk, and thought it =
might be<br>
> worth writing up a brief account.<br>
><br>
> Symptom:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0Laptop wouldn't boot at all, stalling at the first BI=
OS screen.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0HDD wasn't spinning.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0Unplugging HDD allowed the laptop to boot via live-CD.<br=
>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0=3D> HDD faulty.<br>
><br>
> Confirm:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0There is nothing else that can be done with this disk. Pr=
ofessional<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 data recovery is too expensive. So OK to take a risk.<br=
>
><br>
> Open the disk:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0Carefully, using a torx screwdriver.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0One screw is hidden under the label.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0Clean room would be nice, but I don't have one<br>
><br>
> Discovery:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0The head appears to have cold-welded itself somewhere in =
the<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0middle of the disk. The disk can't spin at all. This =
is the<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0second time I've come across a 2.5" disk with th=
is problem.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0User says it wasn't mis-treated.<br>
><br>
> Solution:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0Carefully, without touching the platter, use a fingernail=
to<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0force the head back into the parked position. Some consid=
erable<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0force (perhaps 10 newtons?) is required.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0Then quickly re-assemble drive before too much dust gets =
in.<br>
><br>
> Recovery:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0Put disk into thinkpad. Boot thinkpad from a live CD. (Ma=
ndriva 2009).<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0Fortunately, the "dead" disk spins up.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0In the live-CD environment, add the package repositories,=
and install<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0ddrescue. =C2=A0(Note there are 2 similar programs: ddres=
cue and dd_rescue.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0I've had success with both.)<br>
><br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0Mount an external USB HDD. Let ddrescue do its stuff:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0ddrescue /dev/sda sda.img ddrescue.log<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0After about 24 hours, ddrescue has recovered all 80 GB of=
the disk,<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0excepting about 5 MB.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0Also, save fdisk info:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0fdisk -l /dev/sda > sda.fdisk.txt<br>
><br>
> Extract partition 1.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 dd if=3Dsda.img of=3Dsda1.img bs=3D512 skip=3D63 =C2=A0 =
=C2=A0#value depends on fdisk.<br>
><br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Mount the partition loopback:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 mount -o loop,ro sda1.img /mnt/tmp<br>
><br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Note: it's supposed to be possible to do<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0mount -o loop,ro,offset=3D32256 sda.img =C2=
=A0/mnt/tmp<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0but I found it didn't work.<br>
><br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Note 2: It would normally have be easier to directly ext=
ract<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 the partitions one at a time, at the ddrescue stage,<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 But in this case, the offending disk is a Windows XP<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 system, and I want to be able to re-image the OS onto a =
new<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 drive. A filesystem-level copy won't work here. [In =
Linux, it's<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 easy: just fdisk, mkfs, rsync, then fix fstab and instal=
l grub]<br>
><br>
> Recover data:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 copy stuff from /mnt/tmp<br>
><br>
> Re-image to a new disk:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Plug in new HDD, boot from liveCD.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0 dd if=3Dsda.img of=3D/dev/sda<br>
><br>
><br>
> I hope that's useful to someone...<br>
><br>
> Morals of the story:<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0(1) ddrescue is really useful.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0(2) Linux can do almost anything.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0(3) Even a totally stuck HDD can be saved without needing=
a cleanroom.<br>
> =C2=A0 =C2=A0(4) Having a USB-SATA adapter would be useful.<br>
><br>
> Best wishes,<br>
><br>
> Richard<br>
> --<br>
> The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:<br>
> <a href=3D"http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-th=
inkpad" target=3D"_blank">http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinf=
o/linux-thinkpad</a><br>
><br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div><font color=3D"#888888">--<br>
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_=
:-.,_,.-:**:-.,_,.<br>
=C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 =C2=A0 Save=
time... see it my way<br>
*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_,.-:*'``'*:-.,_=
:-.,_,.-:**:-.,_,.<br>
</font><div><div></div><div class=3D"h5">--<br>
The linux-thinkpad mailing list home page is at:<br>
<a href=3D"http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/linux-thinkpa=
d" target=3D"_blank">http://mailman.linux-thinkpad.org/mailman/listinfo/lin=
ux-thinkpad</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear=3D"all"><br>-- <br>V=C3=A4nlig=
a h=C3=A4lsningar / Kind regards,<br>Adrian Bastholm<br><br>I would change =
the world, but they won't give me the sourcecode<br>
--000e0cd29702c280d804694d2b32--