Space Saving

I've been running out of hard drive space. While I've upgraded I've also done a little bit of 'cleaning up' as well. Little did I know just how difficult this would be. With the recent increase in hard drive prices (due primarily to the Thailand floods) I (and others) have been looking at unusual sources. One of these has been purchasing portable hard drive expansion packs (hard drive and enclosures) that are on sale and removing the internal hard drive which often ends up being cheaper than purchasing the drive alone. Sounds simple, right? Not quite.

I tend to do some background on product purchases. In the past, this has held me in relatively good stead but with the advent of online marketing and reviews it seems as though everything has balanced out. Almost every single brand seems to have 'problems' and unless something is truly worthy it is unlikely to have a clean bill of health. In fact, a random sample of Amazon (and HDSentinel) reviews seemed to indicate that anywhere between 10-25% on average are dissatisfied with their purchase of electronic goods (anything from flash memory, hard drive, routers, to wireless network cards).

http://www.behardware.com/articles/862-7/components-returns-rates-6.html
http://www.hdsentinel.com/knowledgebase.php

On top of this an increasing number of companies are locking down their hardware/software which means that modification can be difficult if not impossible. Obviously, there are issues relating to consistency, security, and so on. While some compromises I understand, other's I'm not so certain about. For instance, Clickfree actually have a microchip in their enclosures (warranty void if removed) which holds the key to being able to use the internal drive as a normal drive or as a 'Clickfree' drive. Toshiba have been attempting to draw more power than standard from USB ports for their external enclosures than standard. Seagate have been (depends on the age of the enclosure) using slightly larger than normal (12.5mm as opposed to 9.5mm height drives) in their enclosures which means you can't use them as a replacement for your internal hard drive. Western Digital have even altered their circuit boards so that instead of a generic SATA out interface that leads to a USB controller/interface card which then leads to your PC the circuit board is direct to USB (I never would have believed this had I now seen the pictures on HDDGuru). I've even seen accounts of HP using non-generic PCB's which basically encrypt the contents of your drive which mean that while your data is safe if it is removed from the drive in the advent of a failure it's difficult/impossble to recover your data without skilled aide. Firmware flashing of the requisite chip seems to be the only way around this without using a different enclosure.

http://www.phonenews.com/toshiba-acknowledges-macbook-woes-canvio-usb-3-0-hard-drives-18699/
http://forum.hddguru.com/disk-with-sata-usb-adapter-remove-virtual-rom-t18492.html
http://windowssecrets.com/forums/showthread.php/125707-How-to-delete-a-CDFS-partition-on-a-hard-drive
http://forum.hddguru.com/disk-with-sata-usb-adapter-remove-virtual-rom-t18492-60.html
http://www.ted.com/
http://www.station-drivers.com/page/jmicron.htm
http://hddguru.com/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/
http://forum.hddguru.com/wd5000bmvv-connector-t16203.html

Moreover, many firms are developing tamper proof enclosures that mean that opening them up is extremely difficult without causing damage to the enclosure themselves. The general consensus seems to be a combination of higher local ambient temperature and careful prying using thing pieces of plastic/metal is the best way.

http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Other-External-products/Would-the-hard-drive-inside-a-640GB-Expansion-Portable-fit/m-p/50297
http://hardwarespot.net/computer-hardware/how-to-open-a-toshiba-portable-hard-drive-without-case-damage

While I've previously used SyncToy and other tools to run backups and syncronise drive contents I recently came across Syncback. Overall, it's just like many other backup tools. The thing I like about it is that it creates it's own backup logs (HTML format) instead of me having to create them.

http://www.2brightsparks.com/syncback/index.html

Transcoding of media files seems like an extremely simple affair and I thought that many applications would be able to handle audio syncronisation issues easily by now but that's not the case. Whether I'm using CLI (ffmpeg) or GUI (HandBrake, FormatFactory, MediaCoder, Avidemux, etc...) based tools there doesn't seem a single tool that can transcode (at an acceptable level of quality) without extra input from the end user while maintaining sync without causing abberations in the transcoded file. The simplest option seems to be a mass transcode via MediaCoder/ffmpeg and then using the MediaInfo/Avidemux/VLC in order to re-sync/edit the transcoded file back to normal. This of course, raises other concerns.

ffmpeg -i out.ogg -itsoffset 4.267 -i out.ogg -map 1:0 -map 0:1 -ar 22050 video.flv

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1098651/converting-video-files-keeping-audio-in-sync
http://www.kkoncepts.net/node/69
http://howto-pages.org/ffmpeg/
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316992
http://www.mplayerhq.hu/DOCS/HTML/en/menc-feat-vcd-dvd.html

In my case, temperatures were exceeding acceptable limits/normal parameters which meants that it would automatically trigger system shutdown. Obviously, I've worked with CPU throttling applications (I even built one) previously though so using a combination of ThrottleStop, Open Hardware Monitor, and Process Lasso I've been able to slow things and maintain a more sustainable thermal environment.

http://www.techinferno.com/downloads/
http://forum.mediacoderhq.com/viewtopic.php?t=3381
http://forum.mediacoderhq.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6383
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/1141751
http://www.avidemux.org/smf/index.php?topic=10793.0
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/674100-throttlestop-expiry.html
http://www.cpuid.com/
http://www.techinferno.com/downloads/?did=41
http://openhardwaremonitor.org/
http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

If you've ever used a particular brand from Jaycar you'll notice that they have some quality control issues. Recently, I once purchased a mini microSD card reader but after noticing read errors from the device I returned it for another. I noticed the same thing again but this time decided to take a closer look. Apparently, they may have a dry solder problem with what appears to be an onboard crystal oscillator.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_oscillator

I also noticed similar read issues with another product (a USB to IDE/SATA convertor) from this particular brand. As soon as it hit the 1GB file mark of a certain file copy (this only seemed to occur on one particular file transfer) it seemed to silently fail (under Windows). There are accounts of the core chip not dealing with errors correctly (under reporting information during failure) and also incorrect/un-optimal implementations. I may explore this further if I have time but I'm still working on my 'Cloud and Internet Security' report.

http://www.jmicron.com/JM20337.html
http://bigacid.wordpress.com/2008/12/08/jm20337-read-data-corruption-solution/
http://forums.seagate.com/t5/Barracuda-XT-Barracuda-Barracuda/Silent-write-failures-with-500G-SATA-in-JM20337-USB-enclosure/td-p/60970
http://answers.softpicks.net/answers/topic/reading-errors-on-JMicron-JM20337-USB-SATA-1894164-1.htm
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/linux/kernel/953952
http://blog.gmane.org/gmane.linux.usb.general/page=61

- as usual thanks to all of the individuals and groups who purchase and use my goods and services
http://sites.google.com/site/dtbnguyen/
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com.au/

The Hard Drive Resurrection!

My first hard drive 'incident' occurred years ago when a friend moved a hard drive of mine while it was still working. The result was 'smoky' and resulted in a drive that would not spin up and a fried controller board. Switching boards for data recovery was simple though as the drive was of desktop size and the model fairly common. 

Since then I've sufferred all sorts of drive failures from virtually all drive manufacturers. While I haven't lost much data (I backup regularly) it has been annoying and I've learnt about hard drive technology along the way. Last year I had another drive failure. This time it was a laptop sized drive with a supposedly 'seized spindle'. I tried 'freezing it' in a sealed container and it seemed to spin up long enough for me to recover the data but after one power up that was basically all the activity that I ever saw again from this particular drive. Since I recovered the data I didn't bother with further experimentation. Recently though, some other work in data recovery brought this drive back into my mind. I opened up the drive and was reminded that even though hard drive technology has been around for decades it has definitely evolved/become more refined. Drive designs from a decade ago there were much more distinctive between drive manufacturers than now and there were sometimes aspects of drive design which could have easily been improved (such as shock absorption and chip placement). Over time, its become clearer that drives have become much more refined though and manufacturers have converged upon some similar design principles. When I opened this particular drive it was obvious how much thought was put into it; there were stickers to prevent improper screw placement (some screws could have protruded directly onto the underside of the drive platter if you weren't careful), contingencies were made to deal with the possible build up of internal condensation/contamination (packet of what appeared to be silica/cotton?), and even minor design changes to head parking areas to reduce the shock of drive movement to the extreme edges of the disc platter themselves.

Anyhow, it seems clear that there are several methods when dealing with seized spindles. One involves using a power drill, another blunt force, another involves a specialised tool to help re-align the platter/bearing bundle. I decided to use a stylus from my old Palm Vx. It seemed to work well and I was at least able to get my drive spinning relatively freely again. The next problem that I faced was head/servo movement. I checked my re-assembly several times and everything seemed to be in check. However, after careful examination I realised that a cable that led from the controller board to the head was deformed/broken which meant that power could not be sent to an electromagnet at the end of the head assembly which is ultimately used to control head alignment over the disc platters. After re-alignment head movement seemed to be back. While its clear what the problem is, I'm not sure how much further I can push this with my existing equipment. The connections/wires that need to be fixed are basically the size of pin heads. It will take a microscope and a bit of luck to be able to accurately re-connect the relevant connections.

Moreover, unlike previously where switching parts seemed to be quite simple I'm discovering that drive recovery nowadays is far more evolved than it used to be. While some parts are interchageable others aren't so easy. Based on some research it seems as though some drives may have begun to place part or all of the firmware on the actual drive itself which makes parts transfer not so simple. The firmware from the old drive needs to be extracted or procured from another location (can be trivial or extremely difficult depending on the situation/manufacturer as some publish tools/software to do precisely this while others rarely publish any supporting documentation/software at all).

I suspect the best/simplest method may be sourcing another drive for its head assembly (if you don't have specialised head removal tools you're best choice is turning the drive upside down and pushing it towards the back wall of the drive enclosure to remove it and enhance your chances of removing it without causing significant drive damage)(Obviously, you've discovered by now that you can often get by without having to resort to specialised tools a lot of the time. However, like general 'tradesman' it is far easier if you have them and you need to take extra care if you don't have them.). I'd like to know whether they alter drive heads based on drive density though? Clearly, when switching from single to multi-platter configurations this will be the case. How about switching from a single platter discs of different density though? Surely, efficiencies in mass production should mean that you use the same heads while altering only the platters, firmware, controller card, etc?

As an aside I've noticed a lot of good deals for SSDs of late. However, it's also clear that some of the drives on offer have a history of data loss as a result of dodgy controllers, firmware, etc... For the moment, I would do my homework before purchasing an SSD, hold off on the technology while it matures, and/or just use it for non-critical/read only purposes.

A word of note, if you're working with this type of equipment you should primarily be thinking about the most minimal way to get things going again rather than seeking the most elegant solution out there (at least initially). I recall working an phone that had sufferred from water damage. Everything seemed to be fine but the power switch needed to be replaced. While I managed to find a replacement from Jaycar I tried to get too cute with the repair and ended up damaging the replacement switch. Luckily, the switch was only 95 cents and the phone was relatively inexpensive.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_disk_drive

http://www.overclockers.com/do-it-yourself-hard-disk-repair/
http://superuser.com/questions/44318/how-do-i-remove-a-mybooks-wd-smartware-virtual-cd-from-my-desktop
http://club.myce.com/f138/access-hard-drives-firmware-257428/#.UAoich-eVG0

http://www.behardware.com/articles/843-6/components-returns-rates-5.html
http://www.behardware.com/articles/843-7/components-returns-rates-5.html

http://ipl.derpapst.eu/wiki/Firmware

http://freemyipod.org/wiki/Extracting_firmware

- as usual thanks to all of the individuals and groups who purchase and use my goods and services
http://sites.google.com/site/dtbnguyen/
http://dtbnguyen.blogspot.com.au/