Re: WD 2Tb External HDD You need to format the disk Error
Posted: 07 Oct 2012, 10:22
You can see the syntax of ddrescue by running the command
man ddrescue
The syntax of ddrescue is
ddrescue <options> <infile> <outfile> <logfile>
so your suggested command is in error since there should only be ..
a path to an input file (what you are trying to clone)
a path to an output file (the destination for the copy)
Since you have two partitions to clone (/dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb5) I would start by creating two mirror partitions in your /dev/sdc device .. to reflect the structure of /dev/sdb (the device containing two partitions)
You can do this by launching knoppix and then
sudo gparted
The GParted program should launch and analyse your different devices.
In top right tool bar of GParted select /dev/sdc
There you can create and format two partitions /dev/sdc1 and /dev/sdc2 which will be the destination clones of the inputs /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb2
Then you require to run two sessions of ddrescue
ddrescue -nv /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1 rescue1.log
ddrescue -nv /dev/sdb5 /dev/sdc2 rescue2.log
Note that I have added "v" option which gives verbose logging.
One problem with ddrescue is that you cannot do a "dry run" to see what the effect of running the command would be without actually doing any copying. And it is all too easy to get the command wrong. e.g. your suggested command above might have overwritten /dev/sdb5 with /dev/sdb1 which is definitely NOT what you want to do!
One useful GUI for copying is luckyBackup which you might be able to install on knoppix. This allows a dry run of the cloning process before you commit.
Do follow again the link to the article on cloning partitions.
[EDIT]
Also here is a useful thread on ddrescue.
http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34594
Note that if you wish you can clone an entire device (instead of partition by partition as suggested above) and the command would exclude the partition number ..
ddrescue -nv /dev/sdb /dev/sdc rescue.log
I just hope that you understand what would happens if you get this wrong! Which is why I'm inclined to favour a dry run utility.
You will find rescue.log buried in your root after the exercise.
man ddrescue
The syntax of ddrescue is
ddrescue <options> <infile> <outfile> <logfile>
so your suggested command is in error since there should only be ..
a path to an input file (what you are trying to clone)
a path to an output file (the destination for the copy)
Since you have two partitions to clone (/dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb5) I would start by creating two mirror partitions in your /dev/sdc device .. to reflect the structure of /dev/sdb (the device containing two partitions)
You can do this by launching knoppix and then
sudo gparted
The GParted program should launch and analyse your different devices.
In top right tool bar of GParted select /dev/sdc
There you can create and format two partitions /dev/sdc1 and /dev/sdc2 which will be the destination clones of the inputs /dev/sdb1 and /dev/sdb2
Then you require to run two sessions of ddrescue
ddrescue -nv /dev/sdb1 /dev/sdc1 rescue1.log
ddrescue -nv /dev/sdb5 /dev/sdc2 rescue2.log
Note that I have added "v" option which gives verbose logging.
One problem with ddrescue is that you cannot do a "dry run" to see what the effect of running the command would be without actually doing any copying. And it is all too easy to get the command wrong. e.g. your suggested command above might have overwritten /dev/sdb5 with /dev/sdb1 which is definitely NOT what you want to do!
One useful GUI for copying is luckyBackup which you might be able to install on knoppix. This allows a dry run of the cloning process before you commit.
Do follow again the link to the article on cloning partitions.
[EDIT]
Also here is a useful thread on ddrescue.
http://www.technibble.com/forums/showthread.php?t=34594
Note that if you wish you can clone an entire device (instead of partition by partition as suggested above) and the command would exclude the partition number ..
ddrescue -nv /dev/sdb /dev/sdc rescue.log
I just hope that you understand what would happens if you get this wrong! Which is why I'm inclined to favour a dry run utility.
You will find rescue.log buried in your root after the exercise.