[BBLISA] Data recovery lessons?

[Arthur Gaer]

I've swapped disk controllers myself in the past, to good results.

However, I attended a talk at the most recent LISA conference where it was 
mentioned, as an aside, that this technique was no longer possible with 
the newest model hard drives.  Apparently the controllers themselves now 
contain information particular to the actual drive and media it contains 
(such as bad blocks and the like) and as a result swapping controller 
cards usually just won't work anymore.

Just a warning for when you start pulling out that Torx bit.  It might 
work, especially with an older drive (if you can find its identical 
twin)... but I gather the odds are against you, now.

Arthur Gaer
gaer at math.harvard.edu

Senior Systems Manager, Department of Mathematics
Harvard University, 617-495-1610, FAX: 617-495-5132


On Thu, 17 Feb 2005, Alfred Werner wrote:

>
> I agree 100% with that - makes you look like a true wizard as well. That
> technique saved my butt when I worked at Westinghouse - we thought we had
> lost a drive but a switched controller board saved the day.
>
> On Thu, 17 Feb 2005, Shawn G. Doughty wrote:
>
>> Scott,
>>
>> Something that has been of great value to me time and again is being able
>> to swap controller boards on failed drives.  If a drive appears to be
>> "going bad" and is unreadable just grab a T9 bit take off the controller
>> board, replace it with one from an identical model drive then try to read
>> the data off using regular methods.
>>
>> --
>> Shawn G. Doughty-A&S Support Staff
>>
>> Email: staff at asunix.tufts.edu
>> Web: http://asunix.tufts.edu/
>> Phone: 617-627-5462
>> Fax: 617-627-3220
>>
>> On Thu, 17 Feb 2005, Scott Ehrlich wrote:
>>
>>> I've had a big interest in learning the techniques involved in data
>>> recovery, including deleted files, crashed hard drives, RAID setups,
>>> unreadable floppy disks, etc.   I've left messages over the last few
>>> months with a place local to me, but they haven't returned calls, so I
>>> presume they are not interested in showing me (or anyone?)
>>>
>>> I'd be happy to volunteer somewhere on a Saturday, or multiple Saturdays,
>>> just to learn.   Do any classes or good books teach the practice?   I do,
>>> ultimately, want hands-on (or at least watch someone else perform the task
>>> and I watch).
>>>
>>> Thanks for any leads.
>>>
>>> Scott
>>>
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>>>
>>
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