Ubuntu Manpage: myrescue - Harddisc Rescue

NAME

       myrescue - Harddisc Rescue

SYNOPSIS

       myrescue  [-b  block-size]  [-B bitmap-file] [-A] [-S] [-r retry-count] [-f skip-failed] [-s start-block]
       [-e end-block] [-R] [-G good-range] [-F failed-range] [-J jump-after-blocks] input-file output-file

DESCRIPTION

       myrescue is a program to rescue the still-readable data from a damaged harddisk. It is similar in purpose
       to  dd_rescue,  but it tries to quickly get out of damaged areas to first handle the not yet damaged part
       of the disk and return later.

       The program tries to copy the device blockwise to a file  and  keeps  a  table  ("block  bitmap")  noting
       whether a block has been successfully copied, not yet handled or has had errors. This block bitmap can be
       used in successive runs to concentrate on the not yet rescued blocks.

       The program has a special skip mode to handle read errors. Usually harddisk surface  defects  cover  more
       than  just  one  block  and  continuous reading in defect areas can damage the surface, the heads and (by
       permanent recalibration) the drive mechanics. If this happens, the  chances  of  rescuing  the  remaining
       undamaged  data drop dramatically. So in skip mode, myrescue tries to get out of damaged areas quickly by
       exponentially increasing the stepsize. The skipped blocks are marked as unhandled in the block bitmap and
       can be retried later.

       Finally, the program has an option to multiply try to read a block before considering it damaged.

NOTE

       This tools is no replacement for a professional data recovery service!  If you do have the latter option,
       don't even think of using myrescue, as it may further damage your disk. This tool is  provided  only  for
       the  case that you are absolutely desperate and definitely cannot afford a professional data recovery. Or
       in case you know what you are doing, e.g. if you know that it is the aging  of  the  magnetisation  layer
       that is causing your problem.

       In any case do not expect too much. While complete restores have been witnessed, you should not take them
       for granted. A better attitude is to consider your data lost and be glad for any survivors that turn up.

       The usual GPL disclaimer applies. Especially the NON-WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  Don't
       blame (or sue) me if it fails to recover or further damages your data.

       And  a  final word you probably don't want to hear in this situation: For the future consider a routinely
       backup to avoid a "next time".

OPTIONS

-b block-size
The size of the blocks (in bytes). Set this to your harddisks error detection/correction unit
size. Usually this is 4096, which happens to be the default.

-B bitmap-file
The file containing the status table of all blocks. Nice (or frightening...) to view with hexdump.
01 means OK; 00 means not yet done; negative values mean the number of failed read attempts. If
not given, defaults to output-file.bitmap

-A Abort when encountering errors.

-S Activate skip mode: When encountering errors increase the stepsize exponentially until a readable
block is found.

-f skip-failed
Skip blocks that have already had skip-failed failures. Useful to avoid scratching the same block
over and over again.

-r retry-count
The number of times to read a block before it is declared bad for this run. (You can still retry
it on the next run.) Default: 1

-s start-block
The number of the block to start with. Default: 0

-e end-block
The number of the block, where reading stops (not included!). Default: size of input-file divided
by block-size.

-R Reverse reading direction, i.e. from end-block (excluded) to start-block

-G good-range
Only try to read blocks within good-range blocks from an already successfully read block.

-F failed-range
Extends -f to also skip any block within failed-range blocks of a block to be skipped as specified
by -f.

-J jump-after-blocks
Randomly jump across the disc after reading jump-after-blocks blocks. This might be useful to scan
discs with scattered defects. In jump mode -S causes myrescue to jump to a new block upon the
first failed sector or upon hitting a sector to be skipped as specified by -f, -G or -F.

-h, -? Display usage information.

RECOMMENDED PROCEDURE

• Make sure you have sufficient disk space to copy the whole partition (not just the used amount of
data) to plus some space for the block bitmap (1 byte per block).

• Determine the hardware block size (CRC/ECC unit) of your harddisk. This may be found out from
hdparm, some entries in /proc/ide/hd? or on the web. I have not yet checked whether this is
possible with an ioctl. If you have, please let me know.

• Start a skip mode run with one retry per block to first copy the undamaged area.

• Start a normal run with one retry per block to copy the remaining skipped blocks. You may try to
use -f 1 to skip the damaged blocks from the first run.

• Repeat until the number of errors seems to have converged. Try waiting a couple of hours between
the retries.

• Repeat this with higher retry counts and wait for convergence.

• Make a copy of the rescued data and run fsck on it.

• Mount the filesystem (if copied to a file: via loopback) and check your data. If directory
information has been destroyed, fsck moves unidentifiable file fragments to lost+found, so you
should also check this location.

It may help to try reading non-defect areas in between to allow the drive to recalibrate.

The developers are glad to hear about your experiences. Please post them to the Experiences forum on the
Sourceforge Project page. Thank you!

KNOWN BUGS

       The handling of the bitmap-file currently relies on the filesystem  semantics,  that  when  lseek(2)  ing
       beyond the end of file and then writing, the space in between is filled with zero-bytes.

       The block bitmap overflows after 128 failed read attempts.

AUTHORS

       Kristof Koehler <kristofk@users.sourceforge.net>, Peter Schlaile <schlaile@users.sourceforge.net>