Program to make a disk image and/or clone a disk (regardless of partition type/format)

Format _C:

Format _C:

2[H]4U
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Jun 12, 2001
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I have a Moxi DVR 3012 (Charter Communication AKA Spectrum) DVR device that has a failing HDD (WDC WD1600AVJS-63WNA0WD) being a cable DVR the hard drive is of an unknown format (no surprise there).

I have tried Acronis but it does not recognize the disk. I don't have a newer version of Norton Ghost (I dislike Norton software nowadays anyway).

I don't want to keep trying different utilities as I don't want the drive to fail completely as getting another copy of the Moxi OS are slim to none.

Also yes I have contacted Charter and since they no longer service or support Moxi hardware they said I can do what I want with it (the supervisor actually put the device on my account as customer owned equipment meaning the device is now mine and not property of Charter Communications anymore, I paid enough in DVR STB fees over the years anyway)

So I am looking for a clone tool that can clone & also create an image file so I have a backup of the Moxi OS & software that is on the original HDD

Thanks
 
ryan_975 said:
dd, assuming it’s not locked and able to be seen at all by the system.
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What is "dd" and where do I obtain said tool and how much does it cost (hopefully free). Also how do I determine if the device/drive is locked.
Thanks
 
It’s a command line tool included in most (all?) Linux distributions, but even has a Windows port. It’s a raw and brute force way of copying data, and potentially dangerous.
But if it can’t read the data, nothing wiil.
 
dd is a tool often found on linux and bsd operating systems (usually installed by default because it's so small and widely used).

Just grab whatever Linux distro strikes your fancy and flash it to a thumb drive or burn a dvd/cd, then boot in. Mount the drive you are copying the image to, and dd away. (see manual page above, also might be a good idea to read a tutorial for using dd as a backup tool).
 
As ryan said, it's a dumb tool, which does a raw copy of the entire device (including any zero/empty data). It doesn't verify the integrity of the data, create a checksum, or anything like that. But if all else fails, dd will at least get the data onto a known good drive.
 
Format _C: said:
What is "dd" and where do I obtain said tool and how much does it cost (hopefully free). Also how do I determine if the device/drive is locked.
Thanks
Click to expand...

A tool found on most Linux distros, boot your favorite live distro and be careful. It's effectively a bit by bit copy.

You can dd the drive to a file, or just straight over another drive.
 
learners permit said:
Samsung ssd with samsung magician? Without the drive it's a no go so its a gamble.
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You could have simply stated that model is too old to support solid state devices but instead you chose to be derogatory. I understand your disposition much more clearly now thanks.
 
I use Linux Mint Cinnamon 64-bit edition I assume that has DD installed. Also is DD a command line (I think it is called terminal in Linux terms) if so I will have to read a good guide and the documentation on how to use it before I even start as command line (terminal) is really not my thing but I will try after I know what I am actually doing.
 
Format _C: said:
I use Linux Mint Cinnamon 64-bit edition I assume that has DD installed. Also is DD a command line (I think it is called terminal in Linux terms) if so I will have to read a good guide and the documentation on how to use it before I even start as command line (terminal) is really not my thing but I will try after I know what I am actually doing.
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That OS should be fine, I use a kubuntu live USB if I need to do stuff like this. The syntax for dd isnt super hard:
dd if=/devsdX of=/dev/sdY conv=sync,bs=4m

Where sdX is your old disk (input file), and sdY is the one youre cloning to (output file). The last 2 parts are just optional arguments.
 
learners permit said:
You could have simply stated that model is too old to support solid state devices but instead you chose to be derogatory. I understand your disposition much more clearly now thanks.
Click to expand...
lol at "derogatory". he just wants to know what the hell your talking about because your post doesnt make sense.
 
Smoblikat said:
That OS should be fine, I use a kubuntu live USB if I need to do stuff like this. The syntax for dd isnt super hard:
dd if=/devsdX of=/dev/sdY conv=sync,bs=4m

Where sdX is your old disk (input file), and sdY is the one youre cloning to (output file). The last 2 parts are just optional arguments.
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If you want to clone to a file, then you should:
Code: 
mount /dev/sdY# /mnt/yourMountName
dd if=/dev/sdX of=/mnt/yourMountName/copy.img

etc.. Note that the directory must have at least as much space as the size of the drive you are copying, unless you compress the image on the fly (and then you'll need more once you decompress...). You can pipe ("|") the output to gzip/bzip/lz etc if you want to de/compress it before writing to a file.
 
My advice with dd is to be absolutely certain you get the source and destination correct. Even a person who has done this 100s of times can mess up. Long story short I was talking to a coworker while using dd_rescue on a hard drive with a few bad sectors and I had been a little distracted in the conversation that I accidentally reversed the two and detected this a few seconds after it copy started but that was too late. I ended up having to resort to restoring a backup when testdisk could not recover the partition table. This was even more frustrating because I had checked using fdisk and smartctl several times before starting the copy so I knew darn well what device was the source and what was the destination.
 
I use macrium reflect. It's free and I haven't had any issues. If you use it with windows it allows you to add any required drivers as well. So if you have old hardware you can add in a driver to be able to read/write that disk without issue.
 
I use macrium reflect. It's free and I haven't had any issues.
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Does it handle disks with bad sectors? My procedure for those usually involves dd_rescue to make a bit for bit copy of the readable sectors of the drive.
 
CloneZilla, Acronis and Macrium come to mind whenever anyone mentions Disc Cloning.
They are the best and as far as I know, they can clone any drive with any file system and any kind of partitions.
 
they can clone any drive with any file system and any kind of partitions.
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Do they handle zfs? I use that on most of my linux servers at home and at work.
 
drescherjm said:
Do they handle zfs? I use that on most of my linux servers at home and at work.
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Yes. +1 for CloneZilla especially if you have no Linux CLI experience and dd frightens you (it maybe should)

Alternatively you can download a free Linux distro I use in forensics called Deft Zero and boot it from a USB drive. It will provide an easy GUI for you to clone a drive and will handle anything you can throw at it.

Definitely don't pay for anything! Tons of free ways to do it.
 
Yes I have no Linux CLI experience (I don't want to accidently erase the Moxi drive as I have said before the chances of finding the Moxi OS are slim to none), I have used CloneZilla in the past but not for at least 5-6 years I think I will give it another go. I will let this forum know how it goes when I actually get around to doing the operation 😄
 
OK so the process failed :(
The drive is seen by the system and apparently has 3 partitions 2 of which are of "Unknown Label" and the other is marked as "busy"

Anyway the Moxi device is mine but Charter did take the CableCard back when they set me up with a new DVR, which is a Cisco 8642HDC so I consider the Moxi dead now :(

I really liked it when it worked and apparently Moxi is no longer around anyway
 
Shoot. If you change your mind and need it cloned send me a PM. I can dd or use a hardware device to clone it no problem.
 
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