Although
i have a fucken' exam tomorrow in GIS But it doesn't matter :D :D .... press power on button of your Pc or Lap then you can Sound small sound from your Bios POST ensures that every thing is ok all is ready to boot OS . But what about Hard disk ?? What happen when it receive power ??
I have learned something on that let's share with you :)
when Hard disk is powered on , the first thing is checking for a return status from the chip to ensure that electronics are functioning and every thing is ok . then like Bios the Hard disk does something like POST but for it's components ( Self- Check ) and wait for another return status . to start properly the two return status must have been returned then the next is to spin up the spindle .
i have a fucken' exam tomorrow in GIS But it doesn't matter :D :D .... press power on button of your Pc or Lap then you can Sound small sound from your Bios POST ensures that every thing is ok all is ready to boot OS . But what about Hard disk ?? What happen when it receive power ??
I have learned something on that let's share with you :)
when Hard disk is powered on , the first thing is checking for a return status from the chip to ensure that electronics are functioning and every thing is ok . then like Bios the Hard disk does something like POST but for it's components ( Self- Check ) and wait for another return status . to start properly the two return status must have been returned then the next is to spin up the spindle .
spindle has been spinned up , platters begin to revolve , we need to un-mount head from its parking position to reach system area and read its firmware but head doesn't reach system area until it read servo timing firmware which contains the location and geographic info for each sector . reading process happen without any touch from head to platter otherwise physical damage to platter so RIP hard disk :D . head gets the location and geographic info for each sector so it can reach System Area and reads its sectors . what's system area ?
System Area (SA)
: some sectors always on the extreme outer edge of platter which contain all
hard disk information . these information differs from hard disk drive also the
family . it has some different names like
diskware , maintenance tracks , Calibration Area , Initialization Area ,
Reserved Cylinders .
System Area Info or Modules :
System Area Info or Modules :
1. Smart Data
2. System Logs
3. Serial Number
4. Model Numbers
5. P-List (Primary Defects List – manufacture defect info that does not change)
6. G-List (Grown Defects Lists – sector relocation table)
7. Program Overlays – Firmware, Executable Code, or updates
8. Zone Tables .
9. Servo Parameters
2. System Logs
3. Serial Number
4. Model Numbers
5. P-List (Primary Defects List – manufacture defect info that does not change)
6. G-List (Grown Defects Lists – sector relocation table)
7. Program Overlays – Firmware, Executable Code, or updates
8. Zone Tables .
9. Servo Parameters
10. Specific Tables like RRO – (recalibrate repeatable
run-out and head offsets)
11. Test Routines
12. Factory Defaults Tables
13. Recalibration Code Routines
14. Translator Data:
a. Converts Logical and Physical Address to locations on the drive
b. Heads and Track Skewing Info
15. Security Data Passwords for drive – possible encrypted info.
11. Test Routines
12. Factory Defaults Tables
13. Recalibration Code Routines
14. Translator Data:
a. Converts Logical and Physical Address to locations on the drive
b. Heads and Track Skewing Info
15. Security Data Passwords for drive – possible encrypted info.
Each module occupies a UBA block. The information contained in the
system area is critical to the operation of the drive electronics, so as a
result manufacturers have designed drives where this information is copied to
other places, such as the outer edge of another platter. This is the
manufacturers method of maintaining fault tolerance.
System Area
Architecture :
SA consists of UBA ( Utility Block Addressing ) which are sector blocks logically grouped together that contain a specific module .
The UBA area is inaccessible over the standard interface .also , commands deals with them are previously specified by manufacturer and not made publically available but you can access it by some boxes like PC3000 and more J . UBA1 blocks occupy 3 sectors and contains the bad area list. UBA2 blocks occupy 2 sectors and contain information such as the drive ID and other modules .It should be noted, that every access to the hard disk is made via the hard disk controller. There is no way to bypass the controller .The controller limits access to the data area on the disk. Other areas are not accessible in the normal operation mode.
but you can crack password on locked hard disk drives by tools hardware or software which needs knowledge with ATA commands , HDD Architecture and some digital forensics that's with software . for using hardware any box can access SA and erase password like PC3000 which I have dealt with simple and easy to use but you will still like a jerk clerk , you don't know what has happened in background you just follow instructions by others you will loss knowledge , basics :)
Finally .. I have made a small tool can get some hard disk information using C# and WMI specially class Win32_DiskDrive .
Output like this :) :
References :
1- Forensics & Data Recovery book by Scott A. Moulton .
2- Hard disk ATA Security by Adrian Leuenberger .
3- articles at http://www.hddguru.com , http://www.datarecovery.net .
4- Hard Disk System Area . by Peter J. Vis .
5- HDD from inside . by Artem Rubtsov .
3- articles at http://www.hddguru.com , http://www.datarecovery.net .
4- Hard Disk System Area . by Peter J. Vis .
5- HDD from inside . by Artem Rubtsov .
thanks for my bro Adham Mohammed for his help :) .
