Welcome, Guest!

Here are some links you may find helpful

beepboop

New member
Jul 6, 2019
2
2
3
AGName
beepboop
AG Join Date
Jul 10, 2013
In most cases you're better off using ddrescue to dump a disc instead of just dd, especially when the disk is potentially damaged. dd may run into read errors, but will just continue the dump leaving out the sectors it couldn't read. ddrescue will retry reads with different parameters if it doesn't succeed at first.

Bash:
ddrescue --direct /dev/<hdd> mydrive.img mydrive.log

It also even shows progress by default! When it fails even upon retrying and splitting sectors, it logs the failed sectors into its log file as well, which is useful for later analysis and recovery.
 
Last edited:

cta

Well-known member
Registered
Jun 7, 2019
174
83
28
dd may run into read errors, but will just continue the dump
If your distro has "conv=noerror" ("continue after read errors") as default, you have a shitty distro. You're right about the more indepth retries though, wrt damaged media ddrescue is in fact the better option.

Iirc it's also great for optical discs, going as far as giving you the option to retry problematic blocks at a later time, with different drives.
 

beepboop

New member
Jul 6, 2019
2
2
3
AGName
beepboop
AG Join Date
Jul 10, 2013
If your distro has "conv=noerror" ("continue after read errors") as default, you have a shitty distro.
There's more dd implementations out there than coreutils dd: if I recall correctly at least busybox dd, and possibly macOS's dd, do not set conv=noerror nor conv=sync by default. Better safe than sorry!
 

Cut Into Fourteen Pieces

Donator
Donator
Registered
Jan 22, 2019
50
76
18
This may go without saying, but for PS3s, PS4s, original Xboxes, and other devices with encrypted storage, if you have one of those right now but don't want to release the content until some point in the future, PLEASE do a disk-level backup now, and if grabbing the encryption key is a separate step (like it is with the PS3 EID root key), do that as well right after doing a disk-level backup. If you don't grab the key, and the hardware dies, the disk-level backup is useless. Better to have that stuff safely backed up and unreleased for now than not backed up and lost forever if the hardware fails.
 

Berion

New member
Jul 25, 2019
4
6
3
DO NOT CONNECT IT WITH WINDOWS!

Why not? ;) It is ok until You agree to overwrite partition table (vel "initalization disk").

To locate your drive use command line and the command "sudo fdisk -l " (without quotes).

Just cosmetic: "lsblk" doesn't need root privileges and is shorter. ;]

nice job, any chance work on PS4 ?

You need EAP Key. But I heard only partition 27 can be decrypted.

Since you've also kindly offered to decrypt it, can I already ask what to do with the HDD dump? Because it'll take a while if I have to upload it anywhere...

Such dumps shouldn't be uploaded and give to anyone as their contain virtual flash partition, which contain private informations like i.e uniqe per console rare DEX IDPS (can be used to unban retail or debug kit console). Of course as long as You care.

it always succeeded where dd failed

Purpose of testdisk is different than media dumping. ;] And for damaged surface there is gddrescue (or ddrescue, depend on repo name conventions).

I have DECH-4000.... no CFW.... XD

So You are out of luck now. We don't know how to get ERK on PS3's with new bootldr (literally all consoles with factory fw v3.60 or newer).

This may go without saying, but for PS3s, PS4s, original Xboxes, and other devices with encrypted storage

XC and X360 HDD's are not encrypted.
 
  • Like
Reactions: aerosoul

Braintrash

Active member
Registered
Jun 7, 2019
26
5
3
AGName
Braintrash
AG Join Date
Nov 5, 2011
Purpose of testdisk is different than media dumping. ;]

I don't care about the purpose. Purpose of a PS3 hdd is different than being dumped, yet, we still do it.
TestDisk was able to recover files ddrescue wasn't able to, which is the whole point of why TestDisk is a suitable tool.
 

Berion

New member
Jul 25, 2019
4
6
3
I don't care about the purpose.
You should, because designed tools for their tasks have wider options to choose. ;) In example, You can use Your head to knock the nail but I believe we both agree that hammer would be much better choice for this task. Testdisk is a designed pack of tools for recovery data from nonencrypted filesystems, ddrescue is a tool to dumping raw data from any device recognized by system. Simple as that...
 
  • Like
Reactions: aerosoul

Braintrash

Active member
Registered
Jun 7, 2019
26
5
3
AGName
Braintrash
AG Join Date
Nov 5, 2011
I had all this long answer with arguments and all and, in the end, I am just deleting it. It is not worth the hassle.

Assembler is dead and Obscure Gamers is nice for killing time, but the knowledgeable people are already elsewhere and I will keep my arguments to them. To each his own.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: FamilyGuy

Ryaku

Active member
Registered
Jul 6, 2019
32
22
8
AGName
Ryaku
AG Join Date
Jul 31, 2012
Hi,

I just tried to DW my PS3 TEST with 3.55 and Upgrade in Rebug 4.84-2 D-REX.

When i reboot,i can't see any BD Drive icon, when i put Debug Disc or other it was not working.

But i saw old post on NG. (and Psx Scene)

source ( : https://www.nextgenupdate.com/forum...con-after-switching-cobra-rebug-then-dex.html

http://psx-scene.com/forums/f118/rebug-drex-4-30-2-bd-disc-does-not-show-116243/

solved my problem of the game disc icon not showing up on Dex.


1. Start PS3 and login
2. Ensure that BD drive mode is On
3. Hold the eject button for approx 10 secs till you hear a beep and whirring sound from the drive.
4. Restart the PS3

The icon should now be present and everything works ok
 

ShadowDog

Member
Sep 8, 2020
7
1
3
This guides a work in progress. It doesn't cover data recovery at this time.

It'll work on most hard drive based systems even if encrypted.

DISCLAIMER: if you mess it up, we are not responsible! Perform this at own risk!

  1. Most important! DO NOT EVEN USE THE SYSTEM! Using/Booting it can cause data to be overwritten/lost permanently, many of you may be eager to dig into the contents but this is how data is lost.
  2. Install Ubuntu Desktop 16.4 on a seperate drive, Windows can be risky and damage data to the point it is permanently lost! Linux/Ubuntu is the safest and best free option.
  3. Make sure your current HDD has enough free space to dump the drive you are wanting to preserve, If the drive is 80GB you need 80GB exactly free, more is best.
  4. Remove the hardrive from the system being cloned.
  5. Connect the HDD needing to be preserved to your Linux/Ubuntu setup. DO NOT CONNECT IT WITH WINDOWS!
  6. To locate your drive use command line and the command "sudo fdisk -l " (without quotes).
  7. *Example picture taken from PS3 Slim DECH-2500A 160GB HDD.

    Disk /dev/sdb: 149,1 GiB, 160041885696 bytes, 312581808 sectors*
    Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

    Above we see that the PS3 Hdd as /dev/sdb

    *Take note of the amount of sectors, as shown above in orange. You will need it later to confirm the dump is good.

    *For your understanding what you are actually typing: if = input/source of = output/destination - do not mess this up!

    Now that you understand, let's get cracking with dd and clone the hard drive :
    Type: sudo dd if=/dev/sdb of=/media/image_file_name_of_choice
    *dd does not show progress by default, just wait it out. Cloning can take up to a couple of hours depending on HDD size. Newer versions of dd can show progress, add:
    status=progress as parameter at the end.
  8. At this stage you may as well pat yourself on the back and get a cup of coffee or tea and wait it out.
  9. Make a backup of your new HDD dump once finished. Saving it to two or more HDD's is best.
  10. After the data is dumped use a free hex editor to make sure the image is good. HXD is a good choice. DO NOT EDIT IT.
  11. Return the original drive to your system and see what you have installed.

Many tools exist that can recover data, Original XBOX cannot be recovered at this time, and XBOX 360 recovery while tools exist they don't find all data. PS3 recovery is much more complex and not fully worked out yet so keep images safe.

Awhile back I spoke to Gerbilsoft who created a tool that can read and restore data from Wii RVT-H units and a few builds have been released there.

If you're in need for XBOX 360/PlayStation 3 data recovery we do have some custom written tools which may help, these have a higher chance of recovery than most public tools. If you're able to upload the image we're happy to look and attempt recovery at no cost to you. All data will be yours and we're happy to make agreements over any data including deleting the files/images our end once finished. You can use our contact form for more information https://www.prototopia.net/misc/contact/.
If i take the HDD out of the ps3, and use another one to boot it up, will the key needed to decrypt the HDD change ?
 

Make a donation