Recovering data from bad hard disk sectors ? (WAS: Feisty: recent updates causing freezes ??)

[Björn Lundin]

On Saturday 11 August 2007 21:50:07 Vincent Trouilliez wrote:

> hda: dma_intr: status=0x51 { DriveReady SeekComplete Error }
> hda: dma_intr: error=0x40 { UncorrectableError },
> LBAsect=37110239,high=2, low=3555807, sector=37110225
> ide: failed opcode was: unknown
> end_request: I/O error, dev hda, sector 37110225 Buffer I/O error on
> device hda7, logical block 3
> ---------

What filesystem was on it?
I've had several (3) disk broken, showing errors like this,
all on ResierFS (3.6). Rebooting with a Livecd made me save all data from the  
disks, but it makes me wonder. I now only run ext3 and XFS. 


> If I understand, the drive has developped bad sectors inside my home
> partition, bad luck.... :-/ Is there any recovery tool that could
> perhaps get some of my data back, from the remaining, healthy sectors
> of the partition ? 

Actually, I read about people putting the disk in the freezer overnight,
and then got it running for long enough to get the data out.
No, it's not a joke, and no, I did not try it myself.
Desperate times calls for desperate measures?

> That would be great... I have lost a lot, the last 
> 15 years of my life, so if I can recover some bits and bobs, no matter
> how little, I would be glad ! Yes yes, I will now think seriously of
> setting up a back up system of some sort, and run it regularly... 

Or raid 0, eventhough it's a waste of disks, it's nice. And disks are cheap.

> I 
> fully understand that I just got what I deserved...

Unless you are a bad person, none deserves losing 15 years because of
a mistake. 

-- 
/Björn