Data Extractor - wishlist

[Ondrej]

Hello Acelab staff,
I have started this topic to let you know, what we, DE everyday users, desire. Perharps, some of our wish wil be heard and shifts your product to new and better level
As a founding member, I dare to express my wish first.

1. Sometimes it happens that DE job crash and only way to continue, is create a new job. When the source drive is in a good condition, it is only loss of few hours. But when it is nearly dead, it is crucial problem. So, I wish a small utility, to extract map of sectors from damaged job and transfer it to (empty) map in the new job.

2. It would be fine to have possibility to change source and destignation port in "List of ranges" job. This is great if you are completing a previously interrupted job and do not have free the same ports on card (it is almost always).

Of course, I have a lot of other wishes, but these two are the biggest and probably the others have them too.

[digitalsupport]

Hi Ondrej,

1. For me DE crashes is very rare, and the few times it happened it was possible to use backup task, recover or merge old task to new task. I would investigate why DE crashes first.
2. Not sure i understand. To move a patient drive with DE task to other PC3000 port / workstation works fine here.
Connect patient to any pc3000 port. Open task, in Task initialization you select "Change port" and select the new port you want to use. If destination drive is also moved to other port, DE will show list of drives where you select the right destination drive again. Used the practice for many years while working with SATA drives as destination drives.

[northwind]

Source of the post Hello Acelab staff,
I have started this topic to let you know, what we, DE everyday users, desire. Perharps, some of our wish wil be heard and shifts your product to new and better level
As a founding member, I dare to express my wish first.

1. Sometimes it happens that DE job crash and only way to continue, is create a new job. When the source drive is in a good condition, it is only loss of few hours. But when it is nearly dead, it is crucial problem. So, I wish a small utility, to extract map of sectors from damaged job and transfer it to (empty) map in the new job.

2. It would be fine to have possibility to change source and destignation port in "List of ranges" job. This is great if you are completing a previously interrupted job and do not have free the same ports on card (it is almost always).

Of course, I have a lot of other wishes, but these two are the biggest and probably the others have them too.

I believe these are both already implemented.
1. Just start a new task, and close it. Then copy files from old/damaged task to folder of new task and open task. However, it is very rare that the task gets so corrupted that DE can not open it.
2. You can do that, here:

de.png (16.21 KiB) Viewed 13259 times

EDIT: Ha, Allan was faster

[Ondrej]

Thank a lot for your advices. I appreciate them.
To my first wish.
In our company, we have about one crash task to one hundred tasks. It seems good, but in time axis, it is one per month. At diferent cards, PCs and so on. I have never discovered what is the reason. I try to play with task files many times, but without succes (including the advice above for copying all the files into new job folder). When someone knows a reliable way, how transfer sector map (read, damaged, skipped...) into new job, I will pay by gold

To second wish.
The source drive port can be changed, I know it. But destignation port? Maybe I'm just stupid, but I didn't find any way to change the option for the target disk (in created job).

[northwind]

I do not work with destination SATA drives, I use .bin image files to image data, but as digitalsupport said above, DE will open a window and ask you where to image, when you've changed the destination port. There, you just select the destination again.

As for your first wish, you don't have to pay anything my friend.
Just follow the instructions I gave you, or ask Ace to help you remotely. It's very easy. Make new task, close it and copy *.bin file and needed map+config files from damaged task folder into new task folder.
Regarding your task crashes, is your PC3000 version up to date? I had similar issues and they were solved after an update.
Also, when you try different PCs, do they have same hardware combo? Some times I've seen over the years that PC3000 doesn't like specific motherboards+windows combined versions together.

[Ondrej]

I do not work with destination SATA drives, I use .bin image files to image data, but as digitalsupport said above, DE will open a window and ask you where to image, when you've changed the destination port. There, you just select the destination again.

When you use port to port copy (workflow in our company), you can change only source port, while reopening. When destignation drive is not found or is different, Error window is open and job is closed. No chance to change destignation, no window with new destignation selection.

As for your first wish, you don't have to pay anything my friend.
Just follow the instructions I gave you, or ask Ace to help you remotely. It's very easy. Make new task, close it and copy *.bin file and needed map+config files from damaged task folder into new task folder.
Regarding your task crashes, is your PC3000 version up to date? I had similar issues and they were solved after an update.
Also, when you try different PCs, do they have same hardware combo? Some times I've seen over the years that PC3000 doesn't like specific motherboards+windows combined versions together.

There are not any .bin files in job folder. All job information are save in three fdb files and when I move them, into new job, instead of new job files, the result is a non-functional job.

We use PC3K Express cards in different MB, CPU.... All versions PC3K SW are the last version.

[digitalsupport]

Are your destination drives connected to SATA on motherboard or how ?
Before shift to network i used destination drives connected to MB SATA ports, in that situation DE askes you to reselect destination drive if post has changed.

Content of a task folder looks like this

task content.png (21.59 KiB) Viewed 13198 times

Bin files are only there when imaging to bin files.

[Ondrej]

We use imaging port to port on PC3k Express card. For example SATA1 to SATA0.
There are job files on the picture.

job.jpg (5 KiB) Viewed 13183 times

[digitalsupport]

Never tried to use PC3K port as destination. I use PC3K ports for patient drives only. Guess thats why you are not able to change destination port.
Files from task folder should be ok to move, but what to move depends on where the error occurred. Attr.map holds info of read, unread, error sector.
Head.map, explains it self. Task.fdb holds result of partition analysis and any work you did on data incl. found partitions, fs check, virtuals an so on.

If a task failed, i would first try to use backup. If opening backup fails, create a new task, selecting patient and destination again. Close task in DE. Copy Attr.map from failed. Open new task in DE and check it´s working.
Then add Head.map and additionMaps, RAW maps if pressent and needed.