2 TB sata external HD usb broke off

[Slartybart]

Yeah John, dunno Partition wizard, but certainly worth a try - might pick up information on a problem drive.

Lots of learning takes place on SF. I find new stuff all the time and many issues make me burrow deep into the recesses of my mind for old data. It's great to find utilities that replace command line processes. As John Cleese once stated "My bwain hurts!

 

[injmalk]

Yep you guys were right I was probably running the wrong program. This is what came up though when I ran testdisk

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Humm don't know what Bill and stormy think as these are FAT files and I am not sure how to go about that if anything.

If you like you can try making a Ubuntu boot disk then boot to it DON'T install just run follow my pics you just need to burrow down a bit.

You will need a burning app - PowerISO - Create, Burn, Mount, Edit, Compress, Encrypt, Split, Extract ISO file, ISO/BIN converter, Virtual Drive, DAA File to make the bootable disk from -

Desktop | Ubuntu - skip the pay asks and download the Windows installer.

I use Power ISO to make the disk and you will find this disk comes in very handy in a crash.

 

[Slartybart]

Yeah, I don't know about the Testdisk output. It seems to think you have a 4gb drive, at least that's what I read in your screen shot.

So far
PartWiz - 128 mb hidden
Revuva - no part to search
TestDisk - part too small

I'll see what I can find on the TestDisk site re: documentation on the msg.

But don't wait on me, continue on the current path.

John: Is the plan to recover data using Ubantu?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Yes Bill have done a quite few times this way especially when the login pw has been lost or not known. Several fixes I have don for workmates have involved the kids forgetting the pw so this is like slipping in through the back door.

Most times you can recover data such as pics musics docs etc and on the odd occasion the stuff is linked to an odd file system so I have never bothered really as I found unraveling them ends up in a load of machine type language..

But for the main part it is good to be able to access what is sometimes a lost cause, unless you might know of a way using the registry I think I read somewhere that that is an option but you need to be in first eh?

 

[Slartybart]

Not aware of any registry mod to correct disk issues.

There are a few low level copy utilities that can copy the entire disk. I have to assume that the copy of the disk is usable, not just another problem disk =:>

See if SF, Download.com, or Softpedia have anything to recommend.

If you read the comments in the Testdisk tut, there are refs to other utilities UBCD and ?????

I don't have any recs myself.... it's been a very long time since I've used these types of utilities. The good news is that you should be able to find decent recovery software that doesn't cost anything. Just be careful of the demos and trials that only report what they find.

Bill
.

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Well Bill stoleaway still has that Ubuntu option if all else fails - there isn't anything to lose eh?

 

[injmalk]

The Ubuntu method didnt work the OS didnt recognize the device. Any other ideas?

 

[ICIT2LOL]

Hum unusual as the Ubuntu has never let me down.

I don't know if I mentioned SIW before it scours the machine for stuff and well nothing to lose injalk and Speccy - it isn't so thorough as SIW but hey any port in a storm. If you go to hardware and / or devices in SIW after it has fired up it opens up to a cast of thousands.

SIW - Download

Speccy - System Information - Free Download

 

[Slartybart]

You opened the case of an ext USB HD and connected it to a sata port - correct?

How is the drive jumpered and how is it cabled?

(1) mfr Specs?? ST31000524AS
(2) mfr Specs?? WDC WD20EARS-00MVWB0
(3) mfr Specs?? HP Photosmart 6510 USB Device

Is the issue with #2? Google says the first two drives are internal, and the third is a printer. Since you took the drive out of the USB case, that's probably correct, just want to double check.

Anyway, I'm confused - probably because I'm catching up. Please check that I have the specs for the correct drives and also unravel the mystery for me. Once I'm sure of things I'll be better help.

I took another look at the Testdisk image posted. jumanji made a most excellent suggestion on the thread I was working on with an ext HD issue.

"Disconnect all drives except your boot drive and fire up Testdisk. Then connect the problem drive" I suppose that includes disconnecting the printer in this case since it appears to have storage of it's own.

Please use the disk management image here to identify all drives in the lower pane (disk 0, disk 1, disk 2). If things have changed, please post a new image.

Thanks,

Bill
.

 

[Slartybart]

The Testdisk image does not show your C:\ drive - unless your were past that step when you posted the screen
it does show dev/sdb and seems to know some information about it.

The Testdisk screen informs you to check your jumpers and see what BIOS knows about the drive.If you can provide how BIOS sees the drive that will help (I already asked for jumper info)

Bill
.

 

[injmalk]

Well its connected through sata and there was no jumper before (hopefully that's why testdisk didnt work) but I put on a jumper on 7 and 8 (recommended setting which they say on the drive itself) which I think is slave. Do you guys think the jumper could be the issue? Running testdisk again now with the jumper on now. Thanks again everyone and Ill update you guys with the results.

 

[Slartybart]

Could be the jumpers?

Pay close attention to Testdisk. Make sure the correct disk is selected and the size is reported as expected.

The drive is not affectted until you get to the WRITE - everything before is analyse and conjecture (is this what I expect? are the begins and end numbers correct, am I missing a partition....)

Testdisk can work though all of that if you understand what the screens are telling you - it always helps to know who the drive was partitioned. One part is easy - 5 parts with various primary and logical parts is more difficult.

If you post screen shots of each step you take, following the tutorial, I can provide some guidance.

 

[Slartybart]

Please post another disk management shot and identify the drives

 

[Slartybart]

oh yeah

DON'T WRITE in testdisk unless you are certain

 

[injmalk]

its disk 1 the 2TB unallocated

 

[Slartybart]

Thanks, just wanted to be certain.

Have you familiarized yourself with the tutorial I posted in post# 17?

Additional reading:

• TestDisk Step By Step
  This recovery example guides you through TestDisk step by step
  
• Data Recovery Examples
  Some complex examples of data recovery with TestDisk
  
• Running the TestDisk Program
  When TestDisk is executed, you may see the phrase Please wait...on your screen until it has gathered enough data from the BIOS or OS to get the hard disk list.

Brush up and you shouldn't have any difficulties. some of the examples are probably more complex than your situation. If you have only one partition on that drive, fire up Testdisk and read while I look over the screen shots you post at each step in the tutorial.

When I see good information, I let you know that i think it's ok to proceed.

Bill
.

 

[injmalk]

this is what I have so far almost halfway through the scan (chose no log and intel for the one step)

 

[Slartybart]

hmmm, fat12??? Invalid fat sector

ok, but what were the specs in step 1. Please post a screen for every step.

You can start Testdisk again - it was just reading. this time show me the screens - thanks.

 

[Slartybart]

We're going to try Recover a FAT32 boot sector

Keep in mind that Testdisk can and will write to any disk you tell it to and whatever data you tell it to. With that caution out of the way, you can safely proceed as long as you DO NOT commit in writing. I'll probably say that a few times - it's important.

We needed that information anyway to know how to fix the drive, so no big deal. You might have to go through that sort of exercise during this procedure a number of times. Fix one thing, analyze, get data, fix the next.

I'll be back and forth reading the documentation because it's important to get it right.

TestDisk can fix corrupted FAT32 boot sectors. The quickest way is to restore the FAT32 boot sector from its backup. TestDisk checks the boot sector and the backup boot sector. If the boot sector and backup boot sector mismatch, you can:

• restore the boot sector from the FAT32 backup boot sector if it's valid (Backup BS);
• update the backup boot sector with the current FAT32 boot sector if it's valid (Org. BS).

Dump can used to display the sector content in both hexadecimal and ASCII.


If the boot sector has been overwritten, it's often the case for its backup also as they are very close to each other:

• the primary boot sector is sector zero of the filesystem;
• the backup FAT32 boot sector is usually located at sector 6.

Fortunately TestDisk can deal with this problem by creating a new boot sector from scratch.
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