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Basics of Operation

Julian Frohmüller edited this page Sep 19, 2023 · 1 revision

OpenSuperClone features two main operating modes: Clone Mode and the Virtual Disk Mode. In Clone Mode OpenSuperClone will act similarly to ddrescue in that it will attempt to copy the source to the destination in a multi-phase process to achieve the best possible results on damaged or unstable drives.

Menu Options

  • File->Open Project - Open an OpenSuperClone log file.
  • File->New Project - Create a new OpenSuperClone log file.
  • File->Import ddrescue Log (Map) File - Import a ddrescue log file.
  • File->Save Project - Save the current state of the log file.
  • File->Save Project As - Save the current state of the log file in a new location.
  • File->Export ddrescue Log (Map) File - Export the current state of the log file to a ddrescue log file.
  • File->Add to Domain from DMDE bytes file - Add a DMDE chunklist or filelist (in bytes) to the currently loaded domain.

Recovery Phases

Phase 1

Phase 1 is a forward copy pass with skipping based on read errors.

Phase 2

Phase 2 is a backward copy pass with skipping based on read errors.

Phase 3

Phase 3 is a forward copy pass with skipping based on the read rate.

Phase 4

Phase 4 is a forward copy pass without skipping.

Trimming

All failed blocks larger than one sector in size are marked as non-trimmed by the previous phases. Trimming reads each non-trimmed sector at a time forward until a read error occurs, and then backward until a read error occurs. Any trimmed blocks larger than one sector are marked as non-scraped.

Dividing

Dividing is only performed when Trimming is disabled.

Scraping

Scraping reads all non-scraped blocks one sector at a time forwards. Failed sectors are marked as bad.

Retrying

Retrying retries all the sectors marked as bad one at a time forwards

Modes

Generic Source File

The recovery source will be a file, when choosing the source a file dialog will open. Note that the selected file's size must be a multiple of the sector size set in the Clone Settings.

Generic Source Device

The recovery source will be a block device, when choosing the source a list of all available block devices will open. This mode should be used when neither Direct Modes nor Passthrough Modes are available for the recovery source.

Passthrough Auto-Detect

Automatically chooses ATA passthrough if capable, otherwise uses SCSI passthough.

Passthrough SCSI

Use SCSI passthough mode. This mode will work with USB attached drives.

Passthrough ATA

Use ATA passthrough mode. This can have the benefit of bypassing some of the kernel driver retries that may be performed in SCSI mode. While this may list USB attached drives, they cannot be cloned in this mode.

Direct IDE

Use Direct IDE mode. The drive must be hidden from the OS to use this mode. The drive must be either a PATA connected drive, or the SATA controller must be configured for IDE emulation mode.

Direct AHCI

Use Direct AHCI mode. The drive must be hidden from the OS to use this mode. The drive must be SATA attached.

Direct USB

Use Direct USB mode. This has the benefit of bypassing the OS drivers for USB attached mass storage devices, and gives the ability to reset USB devices per timeout settings. Use this mode for devices such as flash drives.

Direct USB ATA

Use Direct USB ATA mode. This is the same as the regular Direct USB mode, except it performs some commands that are meant for conventional ATA drives. This mode should not be used for flash drives, as it can lock up the device, causing an error when trying to connect.

Fill Zero

In this mode all non-finished areas of the destination will be zero-filled. This mode will ignore any domain file.

Fill Mark

In this mode all non-finished areas of the destination will be filled with a marking pattern. This mode will ignore any domain file.

Erase Destination

In this mode the entire destination will be zero-filled.

Virtual Disk Only

In this mode no data is read from the source, only from the destination. This mode is intended for use with the Virtual Disk Mode after data has already been recovered.