Re: [tlug] Possibility to recover a hard disk by swapping control board: USB Power Limits (Especially on Laptops)

[Zev <zev@example.com>]

Hello,

I am going to reply to most of the comments here.

Just for fun I downloaded Knoppix and tried the usb and direct SATA route again.
Nothing has changed, same problems and similar errors.

1) I cannot run smartctl because in both cases I do not have /dev/{s,h}d{a,b} to check against.
2) running rmmod for the ehci_hcd and uhci_hcd, did not seem to cause a change
3) TestDisk and gparted do not see this disk
4) For all practical purposes the computer does not see the underlying hardware. 
A grep of kern.log and syslog for the drive manufacturer "Fujitsu" should show something, but 
there is nothing.

The drive does not make any noticeable noise, so I am not sure if it is on or not.
But, when it is plugged into the USB case it does get hot, this is not the case when plugged into
the SATA port inside of the laptop.

It did not make the noticeable clicking sound of a dying drive.
Just 2 sharp almost scratching crash sounds and that was it.

For fun I'll try this all again on a desktop computer at work, but I doubt anything will
change.

From what Kalin says, it sounds like I should not bother with replacing the controller board.
Just before the quake I had started to digitize a lot of my personal records, so I was hoping that
I could see /dev/sda so I could run it though dd with /dev/random and /dev/zero a few times.
So I am thinking it is now time to come up with good strategies (that won't take hours) to
physically wipe the hard disk before recycling it.  
I guess sandpapering the platters might be good enough?
Or does Tokyo Hackerspace offer a disk destruction service?

Thanks,
Zev