HDD Going out, can't transfer files

[dinggus]

My 2TB external is going out, it's been through hell (Iraq) and back (states). It has done this before, and I was able to force move my files to another HDD via terminal. Can someone remind me what the command is to force transfer files from one destination to another?

 

[justperry]

My 2TB external is going out, it's been through hell (Iraq) and back (states). It has done this before, and I was able to force move my files to another HDD via terminal. Can someone remind me what the command is to force transfer files from one destination to another?

I think it is the ditto command.

 

[dinggus]

I don't know any commands.

But I found this:

1. Enter your copy command and options.
There are many commands that can copy files, but the three most common ones are "cp" (copy), "rsync" (remote sync), and "ditto." As with any terminal command, each of these is a separate program that can take optional flags to tailor its behaviors for your needs, such as allowing it to preserve permissions on the copied files, or allow it to copy recursively into directories, and so on. These options can be looked up in the manual pages for each program, which can be done by typing "man cp" or "man ditto" in a Terminal window (or doing a Google search), but for most purposes the following options should be adequate:
cp -av

rsync -av

ditto -v

2. Specify your source files
With one of the above commands and flags typed, continue by typing a single space and then drag the parent folder of your source files to the Terminal window. When you do this the full path to the folder will be input at the cursor along with a single space. Remove this space by pressing the delete key once, and then type "/*" to tell the command to specify all items within the parent folder (otherwise the parent folder itself will be the target). At this point the command should look similar to the following:
rsync -av /path/to/source/*

3. Specify your destination folder
After you have entered the slash and asterisk characters, enter a space and then locate the folder where you would like to copy the files and drag it to the Terminal window. As with the source folder this should enter the full path to the destination folder. This time instead of adding a slash and an asterisk to the end, only add a single slash so the command looks like the following:
rsync -av /path/to/source/* /path/to/destination/

Which one would I use to just transfer to another HDD?

 

[justperry]

I don't know any commands.

But I found this:



Which one would I use to just transfer to another HDD?

You thought about Carbon Copy cloner?

I would use ditto, it copies everything with all permissions and file structure.

CCC uses rsync, rsync has a LOT of options, too difficult in this case.

The ditto command should be like this.

sudo ditto source path destination path.

 

[dinggus]

You thought about Carbon Copy cloner?

I would use ditto, it copies everything with all permissions and file structure.

CCC uses rsync, rsync has a LOT of options, too difficult in this case.

The ditto command should be like this.

sudo ditto source path destination path.

No I haven't, does that copy externals?

Thank you, I'll try it out. I know it gives me errors when I try just manually moving the files, that is why I need to force it.

 

[justperry]

No I haven't, does that copy externals?

Thank you, I'll try it out. I know it gives me errors when I try just manually moving the files, that is why I need to force it.

Carbon Copy Cleaner is better than TimeMachine, it makes bootable copies, TM does NOT, up to 3.4.6(or 7) is free(donationware) and can schedule backups as well, even partial backups, like your homefolder every day and once a week the whole disk.
It's great and it relies on rsync which is built into OS X.

If this does not work the sudo ditto -v ....... will do the job.

 

[dinggus]

Okay thank you, I will try it.

Last time this HDD went out of me, I lost 15 months of pictures in Iraq and wedding photo's. This time my wedding video is on it!

 

[justperry]

Okay thank you, I will try it.

Last time this HDD went out of me, I lost 15 months of pictures in Iraq and wedding photo's. This time my wedding video is on it!

Tip: Buy a Backup HD, they are not that expensive and you won't loose anything if something like this happens, a small 2,5" would be ideal in your case.
Hard Disks will fail, it can be months or years but eventually they ALL fail.

 

[benwiggy]

Last time this HDD went out of me, I lost 15 months of pictures in Iraq and wedding photo's. This time my wedding video is on it!

Just to rub the point in: You MUST have AT LEAST two copies of every file you want to keep; each copy on a separate physical device. Ideally, one of them should be in a different location. (e.g. Post a DVD off to a friend or relative every month, or use cloud services.)

Hard drives fail, kit gets stolen, things catch fire, get wet, etc, etc.

A single copy of a file is a file that's waiting to be lost.

You may want to try something like DiskWarrior or Data Rescue to repair the disk and salvage the files. But with failing drives, you want to use them a little as possible, to avoid the damage getting worse.

 

[dinggus]

Thanks, I know. The wife ordered 2x3TB externals for x-mas and said I can get one so I can salvage what I can. So, I'll have 2x3TB, 2TB, 1TB externals.

I'd like to just have like 12TB in a huge external that automatically transfile files when they know one is going to fail.

 

[justperry]

Thanks, I know. The wife ordered 2x3TB externals for x-mas and said I can get one so I can salvage what I can. So, I'll have 2x3TB, 2TB, 1TB externals.

I'd like to just have like 12TB in a huge external that automatically transfile files when they know one is going to fail.

Something like that does not exist, there is nothing which can predict a file going to be corrupt, there is smart which test your HD and will say if the drive will fail sooner than later but that's all it can do.

Mirrored Raid is a more secure way, if one drive fails the other has all on it, but even these can fail.

 

[dinggus]

Something like that does not exist, there is nothing which can predict a file going to be corrupt, there is smart which test your HD and will say if the drive will fail sooner than later but that's all it can do.

Mirrored Raid is a more secure way, if one drive fails the other has all on it, but even these can fail.

I was under the impression there was..

http://lime-technology.com/

The forum shows people building up to like 60TB external cases, and they use 1 primary HD that will be used for transferring files from corrupt HDD.

Unless I totally don't understand it, lol.

 

[justperry]

I was under the impression there was..

http://lime-technology.com/

The forum shows people building up to like 60TB external cases, and they use 1 primary HD that will be used for transferring files from corrupt HDD.

Unless I totally don't understand it, lol.

Maybe you misunderstood me, there is nothing which can predict file corruption, can you look into the future?

You can though check the integrity of a file, if it fails there is a copy of that file on another disk in a raid system, online or whatever, that's failsafe but you can't use the original file anymore, that one is corrupted.

If a HD starts to make noises I would back it up ASAP, is this prediction or just common sense?

 

[dinggus]

Whoa there, I understood what you said. I was just showing you what made me think there was.

I'm trying CCC right now, 2TB is going to take awhile, so I'll check it when I get back from work. As of right now, it's transferring files, hopefully it transfers all.

Edit: 15hrs, 16 minutes I'm looking at 1.32TB transferred and so far all the media files I have played are working with no issue.

CCC is extremely helpful! Thank you for recommending it.

Also, how long should I keep these HDD's that are about to crash? I'd hate to get rid of them and then the new HDD crash. Reason I ask if because in 2009 I bought a 750GB HDD before returning to Iraq and it crashed after 3 days of use and I lost all my media that I was collecting for my platoon to keep moral up.

 

[dinggus]

Had a few errors on files, but the main ones I need to rescue are my wedding videos!

I sent CCC a Help Ticket, hopefully they can help me out.

 

[justperry]

Had a few errors on files, but the main ones I need to rescue are my wedding videos!

I sent CCC a Help Ticket, hopefully they can help me out.

I'm lucky I saw your post in Forum Spy.

So, if I'm correct the video's couldn't be savaged, were the errors on the Video?
Not clear from your post.

And, yes CCC is great software, one of my favorites.

 

[dinggus]

I'm lucky I saw your post in Forum Spy.

So, if I'm correct the video's couldn't be savaged, were the errors on the Video?
Not clear from your post.

And, yes CCC is great software, one of my favorites.

What's forum spy?

This is what CCC told me:

I wish I could deliver better news. When this error occurs, it means that some of the *physical media* of the disk is unreadable. Because this is a media file, you may be able to recover some, if not most of this file, but it will be a bit tricky. Open that file in a movie editing application and try exporting it to a new location. CCC is tasked with perfectly copying every bit of the file, but media applications are designed to allow lossiness (consider how streaming video has to deal with packet loss), so that just might work.

They recommended QuickTime or iMovie. I tried QuickTime and it would get half way through and then say it cannot export.

 

[justperry]

What's forum spy?

This is what CCC told me:


They recommended QuickTime or iMovie. I tried QuickTime and it would get half way through and then say it cannot export.

I think the only way to recover those Video's is to cut the bad part out with video software.
Final Cut Pro might do the job but it is expensive.

If you know the exact part where the data is corrupted you could even cut it out with a hex editor like HexEdit but this is getting geeky.

Here is a search on google, it might help you.

------

Forum Spy is a page where you can see every incoming new post, it's here on the forums in the top of your screen.
There's also a box in the top right where you can see if you have private messages/Quote notifications which helps if someone replied to you, this way I saw you replied to me.

 

[dinggus]

Just tried Final Cut Pro, it hangs on 13%.

Guess I'm screwed.