[RndTbl] data recovery

[Dan Martin]

re stuff deleted on the original (laptop) drive:
I tried data recovery once a few years ago with a Mac - a program had destroyed a lot of source code.  I shut down the Mac almost immediately.  I got some software to sift through files, but recovered next to nothing.  Seems it almost immediately overwrote the files.

In this case, I got a warning that I was low on drive space even after the removal of files, almost a guarantee that any usable space was used.  To further complicate matters, it is a SSD.

re the external mechanical drive:
When plugged in to power and USB, it makes a faint beep, on for a couple seconds then off for a couple seconds - this sequence repeats 2 more times then it is silent.  I have not tried any drive diagnostics - I have not done it on a Mac before.  Can you do this through USB?

I am using the original on-board drive which is custom made for MacBook Air, as I believe it was fully overwritten anyway and I have to use the machine.

I have not touched the external drive since 2 failed starts.

-Dan

On Sep 6, 2014, at 1:03 AM, Trevor Cordes <trevor at tecnopolis.ca> wrote:

> On 2014-09-05 Dan Martin wrote:
>> I ran out of hard drive space on my MacBook Air, so I spent the last
>> few days transferring everything to an external drive, the same one
> 
> If you haven't done much besides formatting/partitioning the original
> Air drive, that is probably the best bet for recovery of important
> files.  Don't write anything more to it until you image it or decide
> for sure what you want to do.
> 
>> put on it, like John says, was too depressing and it just couldn't
>> take it.  I am unable to revive it, and I fear my data is lost just
>> before I could back it up.
> 
> What kind of symptom/noise is the drive making?  How far do you get
> with it?  BIOS recognition?  OS recognition?  See the partn table?  Even
> with a head crash you should be able to get data off the rest of the
> drive.  There are tricks...
> 
>> If anyone knows of a fairly cheap place that might be able to recover
>> some data on post mortem, I would appreciate it.
> 
> I've done it myself enough times, and written my own perl tools to help
> (like 15 years ago), but now there are a few good Linux similar tools
> like photorec and ddrescue, and one other that escapes me at the mo.
> 
> I think the trick for you is seeing how you can "cheat" by figuring out
> how far you can get with the two drives.  There are tricks... you might
> get lucky.
> 
> I can provide help for a pre-arranged fee through my business if you
> have nowhere else to go.  Certainly cheaper than mail-away recovery
> places.
> 
> If you want to proceed yourself, the FIRST line of business is dd (or
> ddrescue) what you can to spare drives, then work off the spares.
> 
> Good luck!
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Dan Martin
GP Hospital Practitioner
Computer Scientist
ummar143 at shaw.ca
(204) 831-1746
answering machine always on