Re: [Bug-ddrescue] Forgot the mapfile.....

[David Morrison]

> I have a disk recovery under way. I used this command on a Mac:
>
> sudo ddrescue -f -r3 /dev/disk2 /dev/disk1
>
> However, I forgot to put a mapfile name. So, a few questions:
>
> 1. Where is the mapfile being written? Can I recover it?
>
> 2. Since mapfile is an essential argument to the command, could it 
> be writing the mapfile on /dev/disk1?  Aarrgghh!!!
>
> If the latter (and I hope not), could I suggest some more rigorous 
> checking of arguments might be desirable. As it is, I have 
> potentially wasted 15 hours of copying of a disk with lots of read 
> errors. :-(
>
> 3. If I need to interrupt a ddrescue run, is it ok to CTRL/C it, 
> then start running it again later, assuming there is actually a 
> mapfile somewhere? (I have tradesmen coming today who may need to 
> turn the power off.)

I discovered this in the manual:

8 Saving the mapfile in case of trouble

The mapfile is an essential part of ddrescue's effectiveness. Without 
a mapfile, ddrescue can't resume a rescue, only reinitiate it. Given 
that a difficult rescue may take days to complete, it would be a 
serious drawback if the mapfile were lost because of a solvable 
problem like a lack of space on the device the mapfile is written to.

In case of trouble writing the mapfile, ddrescue will print a message 
like this:

     Error writing mapfile 'mapfile': No space left on device
     Fix the problem and press ENTER to retry,
                          or E+ENTER for an emergency save and exit,
                          or Q+ENTER to abort.

You may try to fix the problem, for example deleting some files to 
make room for the mapfile, and press <Return> to retry.

If the problem can't be fixed, you may press <e> followed by <Return> 
to try an emergency save and exit. Ddrescue will try to write the 
mapfile to the file ddrescue.map in the current directory or, if this 
fails, to $HOME/ddrescue.map. If the mapfile is written succesfully, 
ddrescue will exit with status 1. Else it will print the above 
message again.

Or you may press <q> followed by <Return> to quit and exit with 
status 1. In this case the contents of the mapfile will be lost.

It looks like the E command is only available after an error, but it 
would be a way to create a mapfile.

I wonder if CTRL/C would make it receptive to the E command?

Thanks