[BlueOnyx:10788] Re: Blue Onyx 5106R Crash

[Chuck Tetlow]

If you've already done a erase/test on that drive - its too late.  But if not, there are some tricks you can try to recover some or all of the data.

The most frequently successful trick is to freeze the drive.  Cooling it down temporarily brings back electronics that are on the edge or partly failed.  And since the mechanical components shrink - you can sometimes spin up drives that won't otherwise spin.  Mind you - it won't last for long.  So toss the drive in the freezer for a couple hours, hook it to a computer (Linux of course) as second drive, mount the drive, and start copying data as quickly as possible.  Oh, and put a fan blowing across it once its in operation to keep it as cool as possible as long as possible.

I've recovered data from a number of drives that way, and sometimes you can do it more than once to get everything off the drive.  It all depends on what's failed/failing on the drive and how bad its gotten.

Good luck recovering.

Chuck

---------- Original Message -----------
From: "Bill Hicks" <billhicks at netstep.net> 
To: "BlueOnyx General Mailing List" <blueonyx at mail.blueonyx.it> 
Sent: Wed, 13 Jun 2012 13:30:40 -0400 
Subject: [BlueOnyx:10786] Re: Blue Onyx 5106R Crash

> Thank you everyone for all the feedback, it help me narrow down what to look 
> for - after trying to recover the drive using various software I then 
> decided to see if the drive was really at fault. I took an unknown 80gb that 
> was on the shelf and did a full erase and test of every sector and didn't 
> get an error. I then put the drive that crashed in and did the same, 
> hundreds of r/w errors and then eventually not ready errors, so it does 
> appear to be the drive. 
> 
> Bill Hicks 
> 
> > Hi Bill, 
> > 
> >> 6. I log in via ssh to see if maybe it is loocked up on the update or 
> >> experiencing a DOS. When I get in and su to root I do a "top" to see 
> >> what is 
> >> happening and I get "Bus Error". Wow never seen that before. 
> > 
> > I'm really sorry to hear that this box is giving you grief again. :-( 
> > 
> > I have seen "Bus Error" error messages before on one of my own boxes. 
> > It was also a fairly old clunker only used for some development and 
> > testing stuff. When Linux says "Bus Error", then that points somewhere 
> > in the direction of the hard disk controller. It could be that the 
> > controller itself is busted, could be bad cabling, oxydized contacts, a 
> > problem with the circuit board that's screwed under the HD itself, or it 
> > could be something wrong with a part of the motherboard that interfaces 
> > with the controller. 
> > 
> > For testing purposes I'd put the disks into another box. This could be 
> > any PC - even a workstation. In my office I'd take a Windows box, would 
> > disconnect the internal HDs, would hook up one of the HDs from the 
> > failed server via USB and would boot the box off the BlueOnyx CD in 
> > rescue mode. That should allow you to check if there is still good data 
> > on the hard disk or if the partition table is trashed as the failed box 
> > claims. 
> > 
> > If the disks turn out OK, you could even shove them into another server 
> > and could use them there. If that still makes sense is another question. 
> > You mentioned 80GB disks, so I assume they are also already pretty aged. 
> > 
> > All in all I agree with Chris: If the hardware starts to get flaky, 
> > then it's time to bin it, or to retire it to unimportant tasks where 
> > potential loss of data is no longer a critical or crippling issue. In my 
> > experience the typical hardware lasts me about four years and then the 
> > mean time between failures usually goes through the roof. First the 
> > disks let go and the number of disk related failures skyrocket, then the 
> > box crashed more often and in the end something lets go entirely, which 
> > prevents startup. The longest I ever got out of a 24/7 running server 
> > was seven years, but then it was operating on its third set of HDs and 
> > second set of RAM. 
> > 
> > -- 
> > 
> > With best regards, 
> > 
> > Michael Stauber 
> > _______________________________________________ 
> > Blueonyx mailing list 
> > Blueonyx at mail.blueonyx.it 
> > http://mail.blueonyx.it/mailman/listinfo/blueonyx 
> > 
> 
> _______________________________________________ 
> Blueonyx mailing list 
> Blueonyx at mail.blueonyx.it 
> http://mail.blueonyx.it/mailman/listinfo/blueonyx 
------- End of Original Message -------
 
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