PC-3000 for SCSI

PC-3000 for SCSIPC-3000 for SCSI is a first-to-market professional hardware-software solution for testing, diagnosing the failures and recovering data from Hard Disk Drives with SCSI and SAS interfaces in tandem with Data Extractor SCSI.

  • SAS (Serial Attached SCSI) are supported.
  • SCSI-2, Ultra SCSI, Ultra2 SCSI, Ultra 160 SCSI, Ultra 320 SCSI is supported.
  • Original user-friendly interface similar to that one of PC-3000 for Windows.
  • PC-3000 for SCSI can work with 1 up to 15 Hard Disk Drives simultaneously; make tests and service operations for each of them and independently from all the other drives.
  • New PC-KEY2 (Power supplier) card can control power supply of one HDD.
  • Three external power sources of ATX standard, you can connect several HDDs to each of them. DBMS for resource storage – one of the most safe database of all existing ones.
  • PC-3000 for SCSI hardware-software product can function under these Operating systems: Microsoft Windows 98/ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP. Requirements to your PC hardware are determined by the requirements to the OS. SCSI adapter must be installed.
  • Know-how manuals with different methodologies of data recovery, recommendations on interchangeability of PCBs, succession of making hot-swap.

More about PC-3000 please refer to this post: Hard Drive Repair Tool PC3000 System

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Platter Scratch Repairing

Hard Disk Drive Crash
Take the case of computer systems. We become so used to working on the computer on a regular basis that we are rarely ready to face the consequences if things go wrong. This is truer of a computer hard disk drive crash than of anything else. Hard drive malfunction can be divided into two types: one is the so called Firmware Level malfunction that can be repaired using relating software or factory commands; the other one left is the Physical Level malfunction caused by physical hard drive components damage. As to the latter Physical Level crash, the typical case in data recovery practices is that the head crash and serious platter scratches caused by direct contact between the head and the platter surface; such drives manifest themselves as undetected, staying BUSY, besides an ominous scratching sound may start to emanate from the disk. This is a serious problem. It is indicative of nothing less than a crash of the hard disk drive.

Functioning of a Hard Disk Drive
In order to understand the problem of a hard disk drive crash, it is important to first understand the mechanism of a hard drive. Only after knowing how the disk drive functions can one understand the nature of the problem.

Components
Read-Write Head: The read-write heads of the hard disk drives are those mechanisms that, as the name suggests read or write the data from the magnetic fields of the platters.

Hard Disk Platter: A hard disk platter is a circular disk within the hard disk drive. It is circular in shape and the magnetic media of the disk drive is stored on it. Generally multiple platters are mounted on a single spindle of the hard disk drive.

Lubricant Layer: This is the topmost layer of the platters and is made of a substance similar to Teflon. Carbon: There is a layer of sputtered carbon just below the lubricant layer. Magnetic Layer: This is below the layer of carbon.

Functioning
The magnetic layer of the hard disk drive stores all the data. The two layers of carbon and the lubricant like material saves this magnetic layer from coming into accidental contact with the read-write head of the disk, we can say they exist as the protection layer of the magnetic layer (of course, another important function of them is to maintain the stability of the flying read-write head)

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UK Data Recovery: Data Clinic

UK Data Recovery: Data ClinicData Clinic Ltd is one of the largest data recovery companies in UK.

Data Clinic Ltd provide you with a professional, cost effective and prompt data retrieval and recovery service from crashed hard disks and other computer based media. Data Clinic perform data recovery from RAID Arrays, desktop / laptop / notebook computers, external hard disk drives, DVDs, CDs, USB sticks & flash memory. They are specialists in data recovery from all versions of Windows, Macintosh (Mac OS) and Linux operating systems.

Since 2002, Data Clinic have successfully recovered data from tens of thousands of damaged and faulty hard disk drives where others have failed.

Data Clinic Data Recovery Services:

  • General Hard Drive problems Data Recovery
  • RAID Data Recovery
  • Microsoft Exchange server / SQL server, and Email data recovery
  • Data recovery on laptop and notebook computers
  • Data recovery from external Firewire and USB hard disk drives
  • Mac Data Recovery
  • Data Recovery from SSD hard disk drives (Solid State)
  • Data Recovery from USB flash pen drives & Photo Media
  • Data Recovery of Digital Photos / Pictures / Movies
  • Recovery of CCTV footage
  • Data recovery from tape
  • Data recovery from UNIX & Linux systems

Contact Data Clinic Ltd:

Website: www.dataclinic.co.uk
Telephone: 0871 977 2525/+44-161-761-0620
Address: The Pavilions, Bridge Hall Lane, Bury, Gtr Manchester BL9 7NX

Data Clinic Data Recovery Centers:

Data Clinic Ltd operates a Same Day data recovery courier collection service covering London (& all south east areas), Manchester (& all north west areas [Cheshire, Lancashire, Yorkshire]), Birmingham (& all central areas), all north east and south west areas, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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Tips for upgrading drive in Macintosh computer

Upgrade Drive in Macintosh Computer To upgrade the drive in your Macintosh computer, the first thing to consider is do you want to upgrade the internal drive or do you just want to add additional storage with an external drive?

Internal Drive vs. External Drive

An internal drive will generally provide much better performance on the computer and can be used to store programs and data. An external drive will be slower and suited for data only, however it provides portability and an easier installation.

Internal storage considerations

Internal drives come in several interfaces, Serial ATA (SATA), ATA/IDE (PATA), and SCSI.

Most newer Apple desktop computers use SATA interface. Below is a list of popular Apples and the interfaces used.

Desktops – Desktop systems use 3.5″ drives.
Mac Pro – SATA
G5 – SATA
G4 – ATA (most of these systems are limited to 128GB capacity, see Apple Care document #86178 for details)

Laptops – Laptops use 2.5″ drives. Due to the complexity of installations in laptops professional installation should be considered.

Mac mini – Not user serviceable, see external drives below for additional storage.

G5 and MacPro computers include the cable and rails needed to connect the drive, so no accessories should be needed, just a Phillips screw driver.

G4 computers may require an UltraATA cable with 3 connectors if you are adding a second drive to the computer. A Phillips screw driver would also be required for this installation.

External storage considerations.

External drives come in several interfaces, USB 2.0, IEEE 1394a, IEEE 1394b and eSATA.

Most Apple computers have a 1394 port which will provide enough performance for data backups, but many not provide enough speed for day to day use. For higher speed check if your computer has any IEEE 1394b ports. 1394b offers much higher transfer rates, this interface is offered on our Maxtor line of external drives.

Most older Apple computer G4 and prior used USB 1.1 which is very slow and would not be acceptable for backing up large amounts of data or for day to day use. USB is very popular for PC use, so these drives are the most common, but may not be a good match for an older Macintosh. Newer G5 and Mac Pro computers have USB 2.0 which would provide similar performance to 1394a and should be fine for backup usage. When looking at different external drives, check if the bundled software is compatible with MacOS. Some Seagate and Maxtor product lines are specialized for different markets, so not all drive features will work on a Macintosh if the drive was designed for a Windows PC market. Seagate and Maxtor drives that have a 1394b interface tend to be customized for the Macintosh users.

eSATA offers the best transfer rates for an external drive, however at this time eSATA is not a standard interface on Macintosh computers. So, eSATA would not be a good choice for use with your Apple.

External cables: USB drives include a USB cable so the box should have everything needed to connect the drive as long as the computer has an open USB port. Most 1394a kits include a 6 pin to 6 pin cable which works for desktop computers, but a 4 pin to 6 pin cable may be required for use with a laptop. Most 1394b drives include the 1394b cable, but be sure to check the listing of contents on the box to be sure.

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Linux File Management and Viewing

File and Directory management

apropos
Search the whatis database for files containing specific strings.

bdflush
Kernel daemon that saves dirty buffers in memory to the disk.

cd
Change the current directory. With no arguments “cd” changes to the users home directory.

chmod
chmod <specification> <filename> – Effect: Change the file permissions.
Ex: chmod 751 myfile        Effect: change the file permission to rwx for owner, re for group
Ex: chmod go=+r myfile        Effect: Add read permission for the owner and the group
character meanings u-user, g-group, o-other, + add permission, – remove, r-read, w-write,x-exe
Ex: chmod a +rwx myfile        Effect: Allow all users to read, write or execute myfile
Ex: chmod go -r myfile        Effect: Remove read permission from the group and others
chmod +s myfile – Setuid bit on the file which allows the program to run with user or group privileges of the file.
chmod {a,u,g,o}{+,-}{r,w,x} (filenames) – The syntax of the chmod command.

chown
chown <owner1> <filename> Effect: Change ownership of a file to owner1.

chgrp
chgrp <group1> <filename> Effect: Change group.

cksum
Perform a checksum and count bytes in a file.

cp
cp <source> <destination> Copy a file from one location to another.

dd
Convert and copy a file formatting according to the options. Disk or data duplication.

dir
List directory contents.

dircolors
Set colors up for ls.

file
Determines file type. Also can tell type of library (a.out or ELF).

find
Ex: find $Home –name readme Print search for readme starting at home and output full path.

How to find files quickly using the find command:
Ex: find ~ -name report3 –print

* “~” = Search starting at the home directory and proceed through all its subdirectories
* “-name report3” = Search for a file named report3
* “-print” = Output the full path to that file

install
Copy multiple files and set attributes.

ln
Make links between files.

locate
File locating program that uses the slocate database.

losetup
Loopback device setup.

ls
List files. Option -a, lists all, see man page “man ls”
Ex: “ls Docum Projects/Linux” – The contents of the directories Docum and Projects/Linux are listed.
To list the contents of every subdirectory using the ls command:

1. Change to your home directory.
2. Type: ls -R

mkdir
Make a directory.

mknod
Make a block or character special file.

mktemp
Make temporary filename.

mv
Move or rename a file. Syntax: mv <source> <destination> Ex: mv filename directoryname/newfilename

pathchk
Check whether filenames are valid or portable.

pwd
Print or list the working directory with full path (present working directory).

rm
Ex: “rm .*” – Effect: Delete system files (Remove files) –i is interactive option.

rmdir
rmdir <directory> – Remove a directory. The directory must be empty.

slocate
Provides a secure way to index files and search for them. It builds a database of files on the system.

stat(1u)
Used to print out inode information on a file.

sum
Checksum and count the blocks in a file.

test
Check file types and compare values.

touch
Change file timestamps to the current time. Make the file if it doesn’t exist.

update
Kernel daemon to flush dirty buffers back to disk.

vdir
List directory contents.

whatis
Search the whatis database for complete words.

wheris
Locate the binary, source and man page files for a command.

which
Show full path of commands where given commands reside.

File viewing and editing

ed
Editor

emacs
Full screen editor.

gitview
A hexadecimal or ASC file viewer.

head
head linuxdoc.txt – Look at the first 10 lines of linuxdoc.txt.

jed
Editor

joe
Editor

less
q-mandatory to exit, Used to view files.

more
b-back q-quit h-help, Used to view files.

pico
Simple text editor.

tail
tail linuxdoc.txt – Look at the last 10 lines of linuxdoc.txt.

vi
Editor with a command mode and text mode. Starts in command mode.

File compression, backing up and restoring

ar
Create modify and extract from archives.

bunzip2
Newer file decompression program.

bzcat
Decompress files to stdout.

bzip2
Newer file compression program.

bzip2recover
Recovers data from damaged bzip2 files.

compress
Compress data.

cpio
Can store files on tapes. to/from archives.

dump
Reads the filesystem directly.

gunzip
unzip <file> – unzip a gz file.

gzexe
Compress executable files in place.

gzip
gzip <file> – zip a file to a gz file.

mt
Control magnetic tape drive operation.

tar
Can store files on tapes.
Usage: tar cvf <destination> <files/directories> – Archive copy groups of files
Ex: tar /dev/fdo temp Effect: Copy temp to drive A:

uncompress
Expand data.

unzip
unzip <file> – unzip a zip file. Files ending in “.gz” or “.zip” are compressed.

zcat
Used to restore compressed files.

zcmp
Compare compressed files.

zdiff
Compare compressed files.

zforce
Force a .gz extension on all gzip files.

zgrep
Search possibly compressed files for a regular expression.

zmore
File filter for crt viewing of compressed text.

znew
Recompress .z files to .gz files.

zip
zip <file> – make a zip file.

Extra control and piping for files and other outputs

basename
Strip directory and suffix information from filenames.

cat
Ex: cat < filename — Effect: put keyboard input into the file. CTRL-D to exit (end).

cmp
Compare two files.

colrm
Remove columns from a file.

column
Columnate lists.

comm
Ex: comm file1 file2 — Effect compare the contents of file1 and file2 produces 3 columns of output. Lines in the first file, lines in second file, lines in both files.

csplit
Split a file into sections determined by context lines.

cut
Remove sections from each line of files.

diff
Show the differences between files. Ex: diff file1 file2

diff3
Find differences between 3 files.

dirname
Strip the non-directory suffix from a filename.

echo
Display a line of text.

egrep
Similar to grep -E, compatible with UNIX egrep.

expand
Convert tabs to spaces.

expr
Evaluate expressions.

false
Do nothing. Exit with a status indicating failure.

fgrep
Same as grep -F.

fold
Wrap each input line to fit in specified width.

join
Join lines of two files in a common field.

grep
grep pattern filename.
Ex: grep ” R ” — Effect: Search for R with a space on each side
Ex: ls –a |grep R — Effect: List all files with an R in them or their info listing.

hexdump
asc, decimal, hex, octal dump.

logname
Print user’s login name.

look
Display lines beginning with a given string.

mkfifo
Create named pipes with the given names.

nl
Write each file to standard output with line numbers added.

od
Dump files in octal and other formats.

patch
Apply a diff file to an original.

paste
Combines from 2 or more files. Ex: paste file1 file 2

printf
Print and format data.

rev
Reverses lines in a file.

script
Make a typescript of a terminal session.

sdiff
Find differences between 2 files and merge interactively.

sed
A stream editor. Used to perform transformations on an input stream.

sleep
Delay for a specified amount ot time.

sort
Sort a file alphabetically.

split
Split a file into pieces.

strings
Print the strings of printable characters in files.

tac
Concatenate and print files in reverse.

tee
Read from standard input and write to standard output and files.

tr
Translate or delete characters.

true
Do nothing. Exit with a status indicating success.

tsort
Perform topological sort.

ul
Do underlining.

unexpand
Convert tabs to spaces.

uniq
Remove duplicate lines from a sorted file.

uudecode
Used to transform files encoded by uuencode into their original form.

uuencode
Encode a binary file to be sent over a medium that doesn’t support non-ASC data.

wc
Count lines, words, characters in a file. Ex: wc filename.

xargs
Build and execute command lines from standard input.

yes
Output the string “y” until killed.

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