XPost: aus.computers   
   From: none@not.here   
      
   Paul wrote:   
   > On Thu, 11/27/2025 3:02 AM, Felix wrote:   
   >   
   >> I've been asking about getting the drive working.   
   > I had a failed disk a couple months ago, in fact   
   > it's the same drive model as is currently in the   
   > Test Machine being ddrescued, and it was clean looking   
   > inside. It would be hard to guess (without resorting   
   > to a microscope), exactly why the surface on these   
   > (while attempting to read) is such a mess.   
   >   
   > There used to be disks, where when you opened them up,   
   > the filter pack on the circumference of the HDA, instead   
   > of being a bright white, was covered in dark particulate.   
   > And the wonder back then, is how the disk had been able   
   > to function while that stuff was flying around inside.   
   >   
   > But the more recent disks, the perpendicular mode recording   
   > (PMR) ones, the surface doesn't seem to do that. The filter   
   > pack on mine was clean.   
   >   
   > The thing is, your disk is identifying itself, which is   
   > a sign it is able to load the ATA command interpreter off   
   > the platter. The head is loaded. You have heard the thing   
   > humming as it spins. These are all signs it is working   
   > from a mechanical perspective. It isn't "stuffed" in   
   > the normal way, where it won't talk to you.   
      
   which means, as you said in another post, freezing is irrelevant   
      
   >   
   > But at a guess, it's been doing a lot of sparing out of sectors.   
   >   
   > It's in a bit of a bad mood inside.   
   >   
   > There is no obvious way to improve its mood, as without   
   > a pool of spare sectors, there are limited things you   
   > can do to it.   
   >   
   >      [Picture]   
   >   
   >       https://i.postimg.cc/GhC86fKg/ddrescue-not-going-well.gif   
   >   
   > One of the reasons that disk is in a bad mood, is it is a 250GB   
   > drive with a single platter, and it is a CSS disk, it does not   
   > use a landing ramp. Apparently the landing area near the hub is   
   > laser patterned, so the head won't stick to the platter   
   > ("stiction"). The head isn't stuck, but the practice of landing   
   > on the platter, isn't a best practice. If they had build the   
   > disk with a landing ramp, it would last for more service hours.   
   > I thought this practice of doing CSS had stopped, basically,   
   > back when landing ramps were invented. But I guess $0.05 for   
   > a piece of plastic, was too much for them. The landing ramps   
   > are plastic.   
   >   
   > Anyway, that picture shows you an attempt by me, to recover   
   > data off one of my rubbish disks. I think I can see partitions   
   > on it, but the partitions won't mount, and it won't even   
   > begin a benchmark run (errors out at the beginning). And   
   > the ddrescue is quoting an absurd number of days to finish   
   > the job (and even then, the percentage of recovered material   
   > might not be sufficient to do anything).   
   >   
   >     Paul   
   >   
      
      
   --   
   Linux Mint 22.2   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)