Another disk copying question
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I have a friend who was given a lighting console and was told that the previous owner thought the hard drive was on its way out. We're thinking about trying to replace the drive, the problem being, we need to copy over the OS as well, and there's a really good chance it's not Windows or Linux like most modern lighting desks; it's quite probably something custom. The other problem is this desk is officially obsolete, so the re-imaging kits that used to be available are no longer listed. We'll try to locate one, but not holding out much hope. So here's the thing. The disk isn't very large (haven't checked but unlikely to be more than 250GB), so a replacement won't cost much, but I'm not sure what the best way would be to, essentially, do a "tape-to-tape" copy of the disk. Any suggestions?
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I have a friend who was given a lighting console and was told that the previous owner thought the hard drive was on its way out. We're thinking about trying to replace the drive, the problem being, we need to copy over the OS as well, and there's a really good chance it's not Windows or Linux like most modern lighting desks; it's quite probably something custom. The other problem is this desk is officially obsolete, so the re-imaging kits that used to be available are no longer listed. We'll try to locate one, but not holding out much hope. So here's the thing. The disk isn't very large (haven't checked but unlikely to be more than 250GB), so a replacement won't cost much, but I'm not sure what the best way would be to, essentially, do a "tape-to-tape" copy of the disk. Any suggestions?
There are hard drive reimagers that literally take hard drives in two slots like they were bread in a toaster. If you want something to produce an exact copy regardless of filesystem, it's a pretty safe bet, as long as your ailing drive survives. Here's one[^]
Check out my IoT graphics library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx And my IoT UI/User Experience library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
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There are hard drive reimagers that literally take hard drives in two slots like they were bread in a toaster. If you want something to produce an exact copy regardless of filesystem, it's a pretty safe bet, as long as your ailing drive survives. Here's one[^]
Check out my IoT graphics library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx And my IoT UI/User Experience library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
Thanks, I hadn't come across those, and it's certainly an option. I have a SATA docking station, I wonder if there would be a way, with a second docking station, to effectively simulate what this does. Maybe a linux boot and a low level disk operator - does dd do this sort of thing? Thanks for the pointer, anyway.
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I have a friend who was given a lighting console and was told that the previous owner thought the hard drive was on its way out. We're thinking about trying to replace the drive, the problem being, we need to copy over the OS as well, and there's a really good chance it's not Windows or Linux like most modern lighting desks; it's quite probably something custom. The other problem is this desk is officially obsolete, so the re-imaging kits that used to be available are no longer listed. We'll try to locate one, but not holding out much hope. So here's the thing. The disk isn't very large (haven't checked but unlikely to be more than 250GB), so a replacement won't cost much, but I'm not sure what the best way would be to, essentially, do a "tape-to-tape" copy of the disk. Any suggestions?
Hiren's boot CD had several possibilities. If the disk is old I would recommend v10.1 or less. Those had the good'ol norton ghost low level version that started to fail at the end of Win7 or with big disks. I remember an old software too called "Alcohol 120" (120% it burns all) that could do a verbatim copy of disks and drives. There should actually be a lot of software out there that can cope with it. The only thing I think you should be careful is to do a copy of the whole original disk, if the new device is bigger you can still restore it as a disk and if you really think you need it, to reduce the disk to a partition later and use the extra place for something else.
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Thanks, I hadn't come across those, and it's certainly an option. I have a SATA docking station, I wonder if there would be a way, with a second docking station, to effectively simulate what this does. Maybe a linux boot and a low level disk operator - does dd do this sort of thing? Thanks for the pointer, anyway.
dd might work, but honestly, I'd pay for the hardware for peace of mind. It's so simple it does a sector copy. it doesn't care.
Check out my IoT graphics library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx And my IoT UI/User Experience library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
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I have a friend who was given a lighting console and was told that the previous owner thought the hard drive was on its way out. We're thinking about trying to replace the drive, the problem being, we need to copy over the OS as well, and there's a really good chance it's not Windows or Linux like most modern lighting desks; it's quite probably something custom. The other problem is this desk is officially obsolete, so the re-imaging kits that used to be available are no longer listed. We'll try to locate one, but not holding out much hope. So here's the thing. The disk isn't very large (haven't checked but unlikely to be more than 250GB), so a replacement won't cost much, but I'm not sure what the best way would be to, essentially, do a "tape-to-tape" copy of the disk. Any suggestions?
Clonezilla live CD/USB works here. IIRC, it uses dd.
>64 It’s weird being the same age as old people. Live every day like it is your last; one day, it will be.
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I have a friend who was given a lighting console and was told that the previous owner thought the hard drive was on its way out. We're thinking about trying to replace the drive, the problem being, we need to copy over the OS as well, and there's a really good chance it's not Windows or Linux like most modern lighting desks; it's quite probably something custom. The other problem is this desk is officially obsolete, so the re-imaging kits that used to be available are no longer listed. We'll try to locate one, but not holding out much hope. So here's the thing. The disk isn't very large (haven't checked but unlikely to be more than 250GB), so a replacement won't cost much, but I'm not sure what the best way would be to, essentially, do a "tape-to-tape" copy of the disk. Any suggestions?
honey is dead on, and I've used for decades those devices. But.... I've used disk imagers for almost 20 years. Why? Well, backup systems used to work and then along came UEFI - a complete system abortion if there ever was one. So I want to imaging the drives. These devices do a physical sector by sector copy to a drive AT LEAST AS LARGE AS THE SOURCE. Copying from the source will not harm it. You might have to spend a bit to come up with a solution. Context: I was (it appears I still am a consultant). I could not honestly charge my customer my time if I lost my hard drive - that's on me. So, typically two hours of downtime paid for all of the hardware. If you are just a consumer that bought something for $0, you might hesitate at buying stuff you will only use once. However, I have a great deal for you. I have both SATA and NVMe disk copiers sitting in my lab - email me, and I'm sure we can work something out. Your only expense would be shipping.
Charlie Gilley “Microsoft is the virus..." "the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money"
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I have a friend who was given a lighting console and was told that the previous owner thought the hard drive was on its way out. We're thinking about trying to replace the drive, the problem being, we need to copy over the OS as well, and there's a really good chance it's not Windows or Linux like most modern lighting desks; it's quite probably something custom. The other problem is this desk is officially obsolete, so the re-imaging kits that used to be available are no longer listed. We'll try to locate one, but not holding out much hope. So here's the thing. The disk isn't very large (haven't checked but unlikely to be more than 250GB), so a replacement won't cost much, but I'm not sure what the best way would be to, essentially, do a "tape-to-tape" copy of the disk. Any suggestions?
Alister Morton wrote:
Any suggestions?
As the old fool mentioned, just use a tool that does a sector-by-sector copy and you'll be fine. It won't try and translate anything. The only caveat is you'll want to make sure your partitions are setup the same, specifically with sector sizing. But, I'd imagine most tools should handle that for you. If you're using `dd` directly though, just something to keep in mind.
Jeremy Falcon
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honey is dead on, and I've used for decades those devices. But.... I've used disk imagers for almost 20 years. Why? Well, backup systems used to work and then along came UEFI - a complete system abortion if there ever was one. So I want to imaging the drives. These devices do a physical sector by sector copy to a drive AT LEAST AS LARGE AS THE SOURCE. Copying from the source will not harm it. You might have to spend a bit to come up with a solution. Context: I was (it appears I still am a consultant). I could not honestly charge my customer my time if I lost my hard drive - that's on me. So, typically two hours of downtime paid for all of the hardware. If you are just a consumer that bought something for $0, you might hesitate at buying stuff you will only use once. However, I have a great deal for you. I have both SATA and NVMe disk copiers sitting in my lab - email me, and I'm sure we can work something out. Your only expense would be shipping.
Charlie Gilley “Microsoft is the virus..." "the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money"
Thanks for the offer, but I think you're in the USA and shipping from UK to USA and back would probably work out the same as buying a disk copier like honey suggested. Plenty to think about - thanks for the suggestions, everyone.
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Hiren's boot CD had several possibilities. If the disk is old I would recommend v10.1 or less. Those had the good'ol norton ghost low level version that started to fail at the end of Win7 or with big disks. I remember an old software too called "Alcohol 120" (120% it burns all) that could do a verbatim copy of disks and drives. There should actually be a lot of software out there that can cope with it. The only thing I think you should be careful is to do a copy of the whole original disk, if the new device is bigger you can still restore it as a disk and if you really think you need it, to reduce the disk to a partition later and use the extra place for something else.
M.D.V. ;) If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about? Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
Thanks - another option to consider.
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Clonezilla live CD/USB works here. IIRC, it uses dd.
>64 It’s weird being the same age as old people. Live every day like it is your last; one day, it will be.
I'll look into it - thanks.
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Alister Morton wrote:
Any suggestions?
As the old fool mentioned, just use a tool that does a sector-by-sector copy and you'll be fine. It won't try and translate anything. The only caveat is you'll want to make sure your partitions are setup the same, specifically with sector sizing. But, I'd imagine most tools should handle that for you. If you're using `dd` directly though, just something to keep in mind.
Jeremy Falcon
Worth knowing. Once we open up the console and get the old disk out we'll know better.