Start at optional/selectable sector?

Using PhotoRec to recover lost data
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sioxdavid
Posts: 1
Joined: 24 Feb 2016, 09:00

Start at optional/selectable sector?

#1 Post by sioxdavid »

Hi.

I have a clicking disk that I need to rescue what can be rescued.
Photorec has been able to rescue some files but slows down after 20% of the total amount of sectors.

Is there some way to start reading at another sector? Maybe after lets say 30%?

Thanks

/D

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cgrenier
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Re: Start at optional/selectable sector?

#2 Post by cgrenier »

After a backup, edit the photorec.ses file to update the current sector.
The second line will end by something like "status=ext2_off,12345678,inter". Add a multiple of 128 to the value listed.
Rerun PhotoRec and let it continue the current recovery.

Note that you can clone the disk to a new empty one using gnu ddrescue under Linux (use a LiveCD if necessary)

sawada91
Posts: 2
Joined: 26 Feb 2016, 00:18

Re: Start at optional/selectable sector?

#3 Post by sawada91 »

cgrenier wrote:After a backup, edit the photorec.ses file to update the current sector.
The second line will end by something like "status=ext2_off,12345678,inter". Add a multiple of 128 to the value listed.
Rerun PhotoRec and let it continue the current recovery.

Note that you can clone the disk to a new empty one using gnu ddrescue under Linux (use a LiveCD if necessary)
I have the same problem, but I don't understand (I'm using the Windows 7.0 version). The recovery always stops at 19% (always at the same sector), so I'd like to skip some sectors to continue the recovery. Must I pause the recovery to edit the file? In that case, how can I do it? I have just the quit button. I tried editing the file during the recovery, but nothing changed.

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cgrenier
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Re: Start at optional/selectable sector?

#4 Post by cgrenier »

You must quit PhotoRec before editing the file.
You should also try latest PhotoRec 7.1-WIP.

sawada91
Posts: 2
Joined: 26 Feb 2016, 00:18

Re: Start at optional/selectable sector?

#5 Post by sawada91 »

cgrenier wrote:You must quit PhotoRec before editing the file.
You should also try latest PhotoRec 7.1-WIP.
I tried (I started a recovery, i pressed the quit button, I edited the ses file and I started again the recovery), but it always starts from 0. Is there a way to resume it?

moondoggy
Posts: 1
Joined: 14 Apr 2016, 21:43

Re: Start at optional/selectable sector?

#6 Post by moondoggy »

I had the same problem where it briefly went to the sector I set in the 3rd line of the photorec.ses file, but then went back to an earlier sector. I think I finally figured it out. If you need to skip many sectors, you need to fake the ranges of sectors that have already been scanned. As per Chris Grenier's advice above, I did the following:

1. Started recovery from the beginning of the disk. This created the photorec.ses file.
2. Edited the photorec.ses file as described below.
3. Made sure that the starting sector in each line (below) is a multiple of 128.

Example: The photorec.ses file should look like this to skip to sector 179200 on a disk or partition with 9767541167 sectors. Note that the final range in the file is 179200-9767541167, and this 179200 matches the value in line 3 of the file. EDIT: I am not sure how many ranges (0-12799, 12800-25599, etc.) are actually necessary, but I used many, mimicking the photorec.ses files created by photorec itself.

Code: Select all

                                                
#1234567890         <----- Not sure what is.                        
/dev/sdd partition_gpt,255,blocksize,1024,fileopt,options,paranoid,keep_corrupted_file_no,wholespace,search,status=ext2_off,179200,inter
0-12799                                                                               
12800-25599                                                                           
25600-38399                                                                           
38400-51199                                                                           
51200-63999                                                                           
64000-76799                                                                           
76800-89599                                                                           
89600-102399                                                                          
102400-115199                                                                         
115200-127999                                                                         
128000-140799                                                                         
140800-153599                                                                         
153600-166399                                                                         
166400-179199                                                                         
179200-9767541167                                                                     
(lots of binary 0's to the end of the file)

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