[Techtalk] Hard drive failure - data recovery options?

[Maria Blackmore]

On Tue, 28 Jan 2003, Conor Daly wrote:

> On Tue, Jan 28, 2003 at 01:55:45AM -0800 or so it is rumoured hereabouts, 
> Megan Golding thought:
> > This is more an academic exercise than real need to get at that data,
> > so feel free to throw experimental ideas my way.
> 
> One thought is to boot rescue mode from a distro CD and see if you can dd
> the hard disk off to another disk (or image file).

Judging by the failure mode, this probably has a good chance of success

> Failing that (ie. if the disk itself is failing), stick the disk in a
> freezer overnight[0] and then try the rescue CD / dd trick.

If you do do this, PLEASE make sure that you put the drive in a sealed
plastic bag, and i do mean airtight, before you put it in.  Preferably
seal it in the plastic bag with a little pack of silica gel, and leave it
for several hours before putting it in the freezer

> [0] I don't know how this works but I'm told it sometimes does...

This worst best on drives where the electronics or head are failing, since
electronic components tend to work better when cold.  It can also be used
in many cases to salvage data from a dying fujitsu drive with a suspect
cirrus logic chip.

have fun

Maria