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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>The 1TB Seagate I had been using and trying to recover data from is being officially <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>declared “pooched”.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The Linux partitions on it which I thought were viable were not upon closer <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>examination. Nearly all files and directories were missing below the root level of any<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>partition I looked at.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I thought that it may be the external HD connection that was the problem. It was <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>connected with a housing that was a SATA/EIDE hybrid, so I just used one which was<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>pure SATA. No luck there either.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The ddrescue program produced a 3GB file which is not mountable, and yes I used <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>“-o loop”. 3GB out of half of a terabyte is not much, but it is easily enough for email.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The file has been kept, but at present it is pretty much taking up space.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>While I give out an enormous thanks for Hugh’s advice and encouragement, I think<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>that I need to move on. Most things can be recovered from existing DVDs and CDs<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I have around, except they too are slowly succumbing to bit-rot. My personal email must<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>now be declared “forever lost”.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Luckily I have an LG Blu-Ray USB external drive with a Windows-based burner that <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>promises to back things onto fresh media. Except that I have had a hard time with this. <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Of 6 BD disks that spent several minutes in the bay with the progress bar doing nothing, <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>only to return a “burn failed” error, one may have been successful. This is far worse<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>a success record than when DVD burning first came out. Since these are my first <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>experiences with recording on to BD media, I don’t know if this is expected or not.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Is anyone able to suggest the conditions which will optimize the chances for a <o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>successful burn? This is for files on an entertainment center which is single-boot, unless<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>you know of “live” distros which have k3b or something similar. Meatime, I just thought<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>of going back to my Partition Magic (Slackware) DVD to see if anything useful is there.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Paul King<o:p></o:p></p></div></body></html>