[svlug] Files That Will Not Delete

[Scottix]

Looking at the original problem it may have been a filesystem issue,
although always hard to tell.

SpinRite works at a block level and doesn't care about what is on the drive.
There are 2 common modes:
First is it tries to read every sector on the drive, through various
methods and won't give up after a long time
Second is a read and then write sectors back to disk.

Basically it tries to get the drive to invoke its error correcting
algorithm on the data and move it to a better location on the drive.

A free alternative that is similar is ddrescue which will even let you
save the data in a different location in case it had a lot of issues.

Although if I find an error on a disk I am very reluctant to use it
again even if it costs me money, unless I can be positive the problem
was not the disk.

@Scottix


On Tue, Nov 4, 2014 at 1:52 PM, Rick Moen <rick at svlug.org> wrote:
> Scott wrote:
>
>> For those interested in listening to how Steve Gibson at GRC describes
>> drive technology and how his product SpinRite deals with it:
>> https://www.grc.com/sr/whatitdoes.htm
>
> Ja, well....
>
> I should not comment on what recent versions of SpinRite do
> and do not do, as I lack sufficient knowledge to address that with any
> certainty, or anything beyond a whiff of oil that might have come from
> herpetological specimens (if you catch my drit).  The video presentation you
> cite doesn't really say in any meaningful way, either.  Gibson relies on
> some abstract metaphors and a large load of elemental handwavium.
>
> Back twenty years ago in the era of MFM drive technology, it was credible
> that a tool like SpinRite might be able to work through the very, very
> rudimentary electronics well enough to directly manage the basic track data,
> and I did use it back then, and it seemed to do real good.  _But_ I have
> grave doubts that his software can manage anything like that through
> PATA/SATA or SAS electronics, for reasons mentioned upthread.
>
> You will probably find that many people sprinkle a figurative grano salis
> over anything Mr. Gibson says about computer technology, period, as he has
> a... checkered?...  record.  Better that we don't get into that, but have a
> look at the 'controversies' section of the Wikipedia page for the barest
> taste of that, and the related talk page for a bit more unrestrained
> grumbling.
>
> And don't get me started on mocking 'Shields Up'.
>
>
>
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