BootAble – FreeDOS boot testing freeware
To obtain direct, low-level access to a system's mass storage drives, SpinRite runs under a GRC-customized version of FreeDOS which has been modified to add compatibility with all file systems. In order to run SpinRite it must first be possible to boot FreeDOS.
GRC's “BootAble” freeware allows anyone to easily create BIOS-bootable media in order to workout and confirm the details of getting a machine to boot FreeDOS through a BIOS. Once the means of doing that has been determined, the media created by SpinRite can be booted and run in the same way.
The participants here, who have taken the time to share their knowledge and experience, their successes and some frustrations with booting their computers into FreeDOS, have created a valuable knowledgebase which will benefit everyone who follows.
You may click on the image to the right to obtain your own copy of BootAble. Then use the knowledge and experience documented here to boot your computer(s) into FreeDOS. And please do not hesitate to ask questions – nowhere else can better answers be found.
(You may permanently close this reminder with the 'X' in the upper right.)
What's so cool is that, as we've seen, it turns out that SpinRite is also able to repair SSD's! They suffer from different, but closely related, troubles due to their having so much data crammed into such a small space. Like “spinners”, they make extensive use of on-the-fly error correction.Can't wait, Steve -- SpinRite is still my goto program for drive repairs!!
That is a good question indeed. What precisely does the option to turn it off say? Perhaps what they're really disabling is secure boot or something?As an aside, what good is the ability to turn off UEFI if I can't boot a non-UEFI USB?
The Secure Boot option for None says: No keyset is installed and Secure Boot is disabled on the PC. Any boot software will execute on the PC.That is a good question indeed. What precisely does the option to turn it off say? Perhaps what they're really disabling is secure boot or something?
This is not disabling UEFI though. This is just disabled Secure Boot, which simply means that the boot loader will make no attempt to verify the image it finds to boot, but will simply proceed to execute it unconditionally. Secure Boot is a useful feature for security minded folks, as it can prevent boot/root kits. It unfortunately gets in the way of booting older software and experimental software that has no signature that the system can verify.Secure Boot is disabled on the PC
So I'm hosed. :-(This is not disabling UEFI though. This is just disabled Secure Boot, which simply means that the boot loader will make no attempt to verify the image it finds to boot, but will simply proceed to execute it unconditionally. Secure Boot is a useful feature for security minded folks, as it can prevent boot/root kits. It unfortunately gets in the way of booting older software and experimental software that has no signature that the system can verify.
Can't wait for 6.1 et al!Until we have a dedicated SpinRite forum here (as we certainly will), this is the best place to hang:
This user does not have permission to use the HTML BB code.
The link about is to a short 2-page PDF summary of the current plan (always subject to change) for SpinRite's future.
Until we have a dedicated SpinRite forum here (as we certainly will), this is the best place to hang:
This user does not have permission to use the HTML BB code.
The link about is to a short 2-page PDF summary of the current plan (always subject to change) for SpinRite's future.
Until we have a dedicated SpinRite forum here (as we certainly will), this is the best place to hang:
The link above is to a short 2-page PDF summary of the current plan (always subject to change) for SpinRite's future.
"recent" is a tad nebulous. Presumably, that would be narrowed down at some point.v7.0 will be a paid upgrade, with no-charge for recent SpinRite v6.x purchasers.
As much as I agree with you, I suspect this is a benevolent dictatorship.Hi Steve,
As I have already commented before it seems to me that UEFI support really needs to come as quickly as it can.
As much as I like the idea of USB support, UEFI support is deperately needed for Spinrite to work seemlessly as possible on modern PC based hardware.
So, reluctently, I'm voting for UEFI before USB, assuming this is a democracy with voting privlages
Kind Regards
Simon
Another issue - It seems that if a disk/volume is protected by FDE with Pre-Boot-Authentication turned on (which is one of the main reasons people install FDE), the startup bootloader of the Disk Imaging software would not work, because that bootloader conflicts with the bootloader of the FDE app. I wonder if the use of SpinRite would affect the effective working of the bootloader of either the Disk Imaging app or the FDE app?
SpinRite is NOT installed. It boots from media, and runs. It would NEVER be safe to attempt to install SpinRite on a disk that was potentially damaged.only 1 bootloader can be installed
Although SpiRite is not exclusively used on potentially damaged drives. It is billed as a maintenance and recovery tool.SpinRite is NOT installed. It boots from media, and runs. It would NEVER be safe to attempt to install SpinRite on a disk that was potentially damaged.
I found Steve around Security Now episode 7, went back to catch up from episode 1.Looking forward to the updates. Hard to believe I've been following you now for over 20-years ...where the hell does the time go!
Nothing yet. We first need to finish the ReadSpeed benchmark (that work is being done over in GRC's less webby grc.spinrite.dev NNTP newsgroup. Once ReadSpeed is as ready as we can make it, it'll be released here for wider testing, which will finalize its technology. Then that tech will be moved into SpinRite and we'll have the first v6.1 beta. No idea when... but it has all of my attention.Are there any Beta versions of 6.1 we can get a hold of? The time and electrons necessary to scan my multi-terrabyte drives has precluded SpinRite maintenance on them.
Hey Steve, I noticed your plan to implement Beyond Recall for a secure wipe of systems through the use of cryptography. Will the wipe technology address concerns with remenant data on SSD's that are hidden due to the flash transition layer retiring an old storage space, or just be able to see what a traditional Operating System can see? Thanks.What's so cool is that, as we've seen, it turns out that SpinRite is also able to repair SSD's! They suffer from different, but closely related, troubles due to their having so much data crammed into such a small space. Like “spinners”, they make extensive use of on-the-fly error correction.
I asked this question on the GRC newsgroups, and the answer is basically "Steve is unlikely to code in ARM machine language, but only time will tell."when Apple moves to ARM based hardware
Beyond Recall for a secure wipe of systems
If the drive has already "given up" on sectors that had data that failed, there is nothing any code external to the SSD is going to be able to do to clear whatever remains. If the contents are that important (top secret++) you should NEVER assume that a software solution is sufficient. Wipe it securely with software, then incinerate it or similar... it's the only way to be sure.data on SSD's that are hidden due to the flash transition
Further, there's only one computer in my collection ( out of my current set of 10 ) that has SATA connected devices... and that's my 192TB server. Everything else is running NVMe exclusively. Has there been any testing on NVMe devices? I don't recall hearing you mention it on the podcast.
Right, I was specifically talking about PCIe interfaced NVMe devices. M.2 SATA should be... SATA, so that I would expect to work with the AHCI interface Steve is working on (practically done with).All the testing to date has been to get SpinRite working through AHCI rather than IDE interfaces. Although some of the utilities have detected NVMe drives, 6.1 will not support them directly. It is likely that it will support M.2 drives connected as SATA, but not if they are PCI-e
What will be the limit size of the hard drives for this new SpinRite. I seen they have 14 TB drives now and I think will have 20TB or maybe they all ready do.
-Raymond Day
If you need beta testers for Spinrite Steve let me know I’m interested. My current version 6.0 will not work on my large capacity HDs.
Until we have a dedicated SpinRite forum here (as we certainly will), this is the best place to hang:
This user does not have permission to use the HTML BB code.
The link above is to a short 2-page PDF summary of the current plan (always subject to change) for SpinRite's future.
Note that “ReadSpeed” is NOT YET READY. I wanted to get things setup here, first. I'll certainly be announcing it (and everything else) here. So be sure to “Watch” this forum (go up a level to Watch all new threads) for announcements. Thanks!
I don't agree. I mean we don't have a Gibsonian solution to disk wiping, but there are utilities from the manufacturer, as well as DBAN. DBAN should be sufficient for spinning media and the manufacturer utilities should handle SSDs. And you always have hammers and fire for the paranoid.Beyond Recall is sorely needed
What problems did you have with DBAN?I trust Gibson a lot more than the manufacturers for secure deletion. Secure deletion is a sensitive matter that requires the utility be from a highly trusted creator, trust in that that entity will do the right thing but also in technical know how. Manufacturers have gotten it wrong on both regards too many times in the past for me to have full trust in them. Had problems with DBAN in the past.
Thanks, Pajh. I won't bother defending my plans to anyone here, since no one knows what I have in mind. Suffice to say that I doubt you'll be disappointed by what I do have in mind, and that it will be as unique as all of the other things I have created. That's all of the fun!!Beyond Recall is sorely needed. Greatly looking forward to this in addition to SpinRite advancements.
In a word, Yes. Once we have a release that's stable enough for wider pre-release, it will be announced and made available for general release here. Users will need to have either their current SpinRite serial number — available in the SpinRite UI, or their original purchase transaction number from their receipt, if they have it. Either of those will identify the user as a currently-valid SpinRite v6 owner, which will enable them to download their own upgrade at any time.Can we also get access to the Beta versions of SpinRite and the associated doodads here? I've just gotten lost trying to get access elsewhere, and I used to use NewsGroups a lot.
Me too. (Surface, not the magic)Thanks for a glimpse of the future. I too won't be able to use SpinRite until I can boot my Surface Book 2 from a USB drive.
As an aside, what good is the ability to turn off UEFI if I can't boot a non-UEFI USB?
I very much want to get to USB-attached devices. And I WILL look at how big a deal that will be. The question is only whether USB or UEFI should come first. My inclination is to do the quicker of the two first so that we won't need to wait as long for the next feature bump. But first we need to get SRv6.1 out with high-speed support for directly connected IDE/ATA/SATA drives. And, of course, USB =will= still work... they'll just be pokey.
Now you're bringing back memories. I started assembly language coding on an IBM System 360 (mainframe). For personal computing I had a Sinclair ZX80 with cassette tape backup and a thermal printer. After that I got a Coleco*Vision Adam (because of the letter-quality printer) with CP/M. I programmed it in assembly, Logo and Basic. The best part is it used high-speed random access tape for storage. Finally, I bought an IBM 286 clone, loaded Windows 3.0 and never looked back.I think it is super that you program in Machine Language. I learned Z80 on the old TRS-80 before basic. The 6502 on the commodore 64 but never on the 686 I guess you call it. But doing Machine Language learned how to do electronics too because it's like about down to that doing Machine Language. Every Language converts down to Machine Language any way.
Yes... and that IS the path I expect to follow, for exactly that reason.Not sure about which is faster, but in terms of need I would vote for UEFI. Without it, the list of systems I own on which I can still use SpinRite shrinks day by day.
Every time that I've run SpinRite after running DBAN on a drive, SpinRite has shown in the "Raw Data Snapshot" window that the drive was well and truly zeroed out for as long as I ever bothered to watch the blankness go by. Yet another side benefit to running SpinRite!What problems did you have with DBAN?
Been patiently waiting for the update. I have amassed a nice collection for 6.1 when its ready.
Excited about the new operating speeds!
If the drive is recognized by the BIOS (not UEFI) then it should work (slowly).Does the current version (SpinRite 6.0) work on 1TB HDD?
OK, thank you for a quick and clear answer!If the drive is recognized by the BIOS (not UEFI) then it should work (slowly).
Yes. The current limitation is imposed by the 32-bit sector count supported by traditional partition tables.Does the current version (SpinRite 6.0) work on 1TB HDD?
@Steve, this response, minus the opening salutation, would be good to pin to the top of this thread.Glad to have you here, @jamesmberry. If you're curious, you can check today that SRv6.1 will run on any machine tomorrow by using the InitDisk utility with the /freedos command-line option to prepare a bootable USB “thumb-drive.” If you can get any machine to boot to DOS, then SpinRite will run on that machine. If it's not possible to boot and run FreeDOS on a machine — due to UEFI-only and no support for the traditional BIOS environment — then that machine will need SRv7.
@Steve After thinking about it and discussing it with a colleague I am feeling more comfortable sending the drive to you than I am with the data in tact sending it back to Seagate. The data is not sensitive, it is only a few archives of my original 4K and BluRay disks. (yes, I did purchase these and I have and do retain them in my library). I can't do a good wipe yet since Beyond Recall is not available, nor can I recover without a copy of 6.1 or later. If I return it under warranty then I feel my disks will end up on the dark web. I don't want that either.I completely understand, Chris. I think that you should pursue the warranty if you can. I don't want you to lose money on this. If you don't want to sell it, at least you can have any commercial software (SpinRite 7, Beyond Recall, etc.) at no charge... Because there's no way I could ever take your money. But, also... If you're not comfortable about what might be on the drive, I totally understand that, too.
Click on the little envelope up on the top right by your Avatar, Select the text "Start a new coversation..." and put Steve in for the user ID. From there it'll be similar to making a normal forum post, but it will be private between the two of you.I would rather not discuss the details on a public chat, how can we discuss privately the next steps?
Yes, definitely. When SpinRite needed to fall back to accessing drives through the BIOS it was unable to obtain SMART data. v6.1's full bypass of the BIOS for IDE/ATA/SATA (non-AHCI and AHCI) will always be able to show SMART. The only places it won't will be NVMe and USB-connected. But those will also come not long after.Is making SMART work again on the roadmap?
No. The concern being discussed here is over newer systems that might not have that option. As you noted, without that option, you could not run the current version of SpinRite. But you WOULD be able to run the new version, with or without having - or setting - that option. The new version should work either way.Currently I have my BIOS set to "Legacy" boot. Will that be affected by the new SpinRite? Will I need to change that setting? I couldn't get the current SpinRite to boot without that setting.
It depends on what you mean by "new version". As I understand it, SR version 6.1 will still rely on legacy-BIOS/non-UEFI boot for launching FreeDOS. The future SR version 7.0 however is projected to probably not need a separate DOS, and may therefore run under/after a non-legacy BIOS/UEFI boot. My comment may be unreliable because of faulty wetware memory.The new version should work either way.
Excellent point. And I do believe you are correct.It depends on what you mean by "new version". As I understand it, SR version 6.1 will still rely on legacy-BIOS/non-UEFI boot for launching FreeDOS. The future SR version 7.0 however is projected to probably not need a separate DOS, and may therefore run under/after a non-legacy BIOS/UEFI boot. My comment may be unreliable because of faulty wetware memory.
It depends on what you mean by "new version". As I understand it, SR version 6.1 will still rely on legacy-BIOS/non-UEFI boot for launching FreeDOS. The future SR version 7.0 however is projected to probably not need a separate DOS, and may therefore run under/after a non-legacy BIOS/UEFI boot. My comment may be unreliable because of faulty wetware memory.
See my UEFI posting way back.As a new-to-this-drive stuff, but experienced user otherwise. I was not aware of the wonderful world of UEFI vs BIOS, secure boot, and UEFI-CSM mode. I guess I come from the good old days when a BIOS was a BIOS.
As a result, just trying to create and book a disk image or ISO to run Spinrite was, well, fun on my machine. I finally figured out that I have to disable secure boot, reboot, then go back into (BIOS?) and only THEN can I pick any other USB drive or CD/DVD to boot from. Can't make it simple and just allow you to disable secure boot and set up alternate drives to boot from all in one session, can we? Noooooooo... There really aren't clear instructions for this stuff, so it was a lot of Googling and frustration before I figured it out.
Just wanted to say that now that I've mostly figured things out, I'm really loving Spinrite, as expected. I agree with the comments way earlier in this thread about making Spinrite work with UEFI. I'm guessing there are systems out there now that don't have CSM mode as an option? (if I'm understanding that properly...)
Thanks Steve and all of your staff. Happy to support you!
Should include a link to it.. I think you mean here?: https://forums.grc.com/threads/uefi-booting.33/See my UEFI posting way back.
Sorry, yes I should have. Could not work out how to include it at short notice!Should include a link to it.. I think you mean here?: https://forums.grc.com/threads/uefi-booting.33/
Hi!! If you need a beta tester - Sign me up!!
Nope! The new SpinRite, 6.1, will *not* care! There will be no need to change that setting for SpinRite 6.1.Currently I have my BIOS set to "Legacy" boot. Will that be affected by the new SpinRite? Will I need to change that setting? I couldn't get the current SpinRite to boot without that setting.
I have not caught the podcast yet. I'm thinking Steve hopes to announce the release of ReadSpeed 1.0 next week.listening to this weeks Security Now, sounds like next week will be a big announcement for 6.1.
SR 7.0 will add UEFI, as well as USB, compatibility to SR 6.1's BIOS compatibility.
Nope, SpinRite should continue to work just fine on drives it currently works on. SR 7 will increase its USB compatibility. I can't wait since all my devices ar MS Surfaces and require UEFI support.Right now, SR 6.0 handles my USB drives without issue. Is SR 6.1 not going to work with USB drives and I'll have to get SR 7.0 in order to get that ability again?
Barry is correct. SR 6.1 will work with USB HDD's pretty much just as SR 6.0 does now. The drive must be connected to the PC before power-up so the Bios - and SR 6.1 - can detect it. SR 6.1 however will be faster than SR 6.0.Right now, SR 6.0 handles my USB drives without issue. Is SR 6.1 not going to work with USB drives and I'll have to get SR 7.0 in order to get that ability again?
I don't know that every BIOS will work this way, and in particular I don't know if UEFI will work this way at all (even with CSM mode active), but of course SpinRite needs version 7 for UEFI anyway.The drive must be connected to the PC before power-up so the Bios
UEFI is a whole new paradigm - NO Bios. I suspect Steve does not how that is going to work out yet. It is currently planned for SR 7.I don't that every BIOS will work this way, and in particular I don't know if UEFI will work this way at all (even with CSM mode active), but of course SpinRite needs version 7 for UEFI anyway.
That was my point. I don't think all BIOSes (in whatever form they take, including the BIOS Compatibility Support Module of UEFI) will support recognizing USB devices at boot. Additionally, this may work with USB 2.0 (or heaven forbid 1.1) but may NOT work with USB 3.x.the Bios will only see a USB HDD if it is detected on power-up
I would: the secret access code is: wait!Would someone be willing to share with me how to obtain the beta SpinRite software 6.1 with UEFI support
Have you read the beginning of this thread? It explains what you have asked.I feel now that we need a broad timeline from Steve as to when we as customers can expect 6.1 (if Practicable) and in the longer term Ver 7.0 and later.
I know you know @Steve that I meant that in no disrespect. I know how hard medium quality software is to make, so I also know that high quality software always takes longer that you plan for. I wanted to give you plenty of margin for the unexpected, and not to say it was in any way happening too slowly.Elsewhere, Paul (@PHolder) mused to someone else that they shouldn't expect to see SpinRite v6.1 before the summer of 2021. That seems quite far off, so I hope he's proven wrong.
Thank you for your response, I appreciate it.I would: the secret access code is: wait!
Unfortunately it doesn't exist yet. What does exist is a beta version of a disk speed test, and that should be released in the next week or so. Check back here in the new year, or stay tuned to Security Now.
You can never predict Steve and what will come up with issues as he develops and tests, but I wouldn't count on seeing a SR6.1 release any time before, say, June 2021 at the earliest.
Also, 6.1 will not have UEFI support. That will be 7.0, and that won't get released for at least a couple years if things go as they have been.
And based on conversations in the newsgroups, this probably doesn't make sense as a priority -- the R in RAID stands for Redundant, so RAID arrays will not need the data recovery features of SpinRite; though resurrection of a wonky drive is nice and saves some money, it may not be the most urgent need for SRRoadmap Suggestion: Tackle SAS drives next after 6.1
(....... CUT .....)
Steve,This user does not have permission to use the HTML BB code.
The link above is to the short 2-page PDF summary of the current, just updated, plan for SpinRite.
What happened, is that over the past three or four days, while I've been working on SpinRite v6.1, I've also been working to lay out a clear plan for the future past SR v6.1. After extensive research into many possibilities, there was one clear winner for the way to go forward: Dropping 16-bit DOS and switching to a 32-bit real-time operating system which can boot from either BIOS or UEFI.
SpinRite's next home for the rest of its long life will be the On Time RTOS-32 operating system. It is clearly the right solution for a great many reasons. So, SpinRite's Roadmap has been updated to explain the implications of this decision.
Yes. Easily. The 16-bit DOS SpinRite executable, and the DOS OS itself, will both easily fit into a single diskette with lots of room to spare. The SpinRite executable will be somewhat larger, but probably not much.Just out of curiosity, will v6.1 still fit on a 1.44 MB floppy?
Pessimist!I'm not being mean or insulting, but that should be able 2030
I understand. My Surface Books 1 and 3 are UEFI only and NVMe. That means I need to wait for 7.2. At least my external USB drive will only need to wait for 7.1.Being a fan of this software since V5 (I know, not THAT long ago), it's somewhat crippling not being able to use SR or RS, since newer hardware is UEFI only.
I have no special insight into that, but based on the lack of recent status reports, I wouldn't expect anything of consequence before July 2021. Also, the first news of it will probably be on his SpinRite Dev newsgroup, at least initially. Steve will probably eventually do a new post here when he has something newsworthy to share, but it might not be until after the group on the newsgroup works out any initial bugs.Spinrite 6.1 beta, any update on when that might be?
I think the betas will be available for people who already have purchased V6 and provide their proof of purchase. It has gone a bit quite at the moment, Steve has just got married, and is a little pre occupied He says he went straight back to work, but I don't believe him!!!!!!!!!I see there has been some discussions earlier here about that there at some point will be a Spinrite 6.1 beta
No timing can be speculated. I have long thought that by July 01, 2021 is doable for a SpinRite 6.1 release. Although it is getting closer, there is still time - 2.5 months yet - for that to happen.I see there has been some discussions earlier here about that there at some point will be a SpinRite 6.1 beta, any update on when that might be?
Your proof of purchase is your private transaction code found in your original e-mail receipt (I still have mine from eight years ago).think the betas will be available for people who already have purchased V6 and provide their proof of purchase.
You can also reference your SpinRite unique serial number which shows up when the program is running.Your proof of purchase is your private transaction code found in your original e-mail receipt (I still have mine from eight years ago).
Just beat you by one year. Found mine from 2012 ;-)Your proof of purchase is your private transaction code found in your original e-mail receipt (I still have mine from eight years ago).
Your proof of purchase is your private transaction code found in your original e-mail receipt (I still have mine from eight years ago).
And I beat you both! Mine is from Feb 2011.Just beat you by one year. Found mine from 2012 ;-)
AmateursFeb 2011
Itemized Software Purchase Receipt
from Gibson Research Corporation
2007-02-16
Get in touch with Greg. He can help you out.I can't find my receipt at the moment, but I was certainly posting in the NewsGroups back in 2003. From the executable, it looks like my copy is dated June 2004.
Run SpinRite. Some of the screens should have your serial number on it. Go here:I can't find my receipt at the moment, but I was certainly posting in the NewsGroups back in 2003. From the executable, it looks like my copy is dated June 2004.
Start Stop Length Name Class 00000H 0E687H 0E688H CODESEG CODEThose lines show the current size of SpinRite's single 16-bit segment for its code. The current size is 0xE688 which is 59,016. The fixed and immutable maximum size of any 16-bit segment is 65,536. So SpinRite's code segment currently has 6520 bytes of space available. If I'm unable to fit the rest of the required new code into that remaining 6520 bytes of space, it will be necessary for me to switch SpinRite to a multi-code segment model. This is possible, but I REALLY hope it won't be necessary since it involves a lot of reworking. But I've been cognizant of this all along, so I've been working from the start to avoid that. The good news is that this available space has been holding relatively constant for quite a while even while I've been adding new code and capabilities, because I've been re-writing old code to be tighter when I encounter it and I've been writing the new code as economically as possible.
@PHolder That's old school. I remember those. This is slightly OT but, regarding nostalgia, I worked at Delta Air Lines in 1988 as a Flight Simulator Technician. At the time they had, I think, a few 8" floppy disks floating around. Also, They had removable multi platter disk packs that were 80 MB or 300 MB and 15" across, reel to reel tape, and a DC8 simulator that was programmed with punched cards. How things have changed. Not trying to hijack this thread. So, if we want to beat those topics to death, we could start a new thread I guess.5.25" floppy disk
Itemized Software Purchase ReceiptWould that be SpinRite 5? (It counts!)
I seem to recall IBM having an Amber/White combo I saw at work. I recall it being a largish tube display that was split into four smaller displays... with four different mainframe apps in each display. (Maybe/probably the display wasn't doing anything special, it was whatever was driving it between the mainframe and the display.)amber on black guy
Screen Thief could be worth a try: https://www.grc.com/dev/SpinRite/DOS_Screen_Thief_TSR_v2.04f.zip/threadjack...
With talk of 5.25" drives I decided to have some fun with old hardware last night. I think this is my oldest SpinRite... v1.2b.
I tried hard to get true screen grabs... DOS PowerTools "Capture" for ANSI graphics grabs onto 5.25" DSDD / 360K then copied onto 1.44 floppy then to USB attached 1.44 drive into DOSbox on a current computer but they weren't perfect so I just grabbed a camera to photo a few screens.
threadjack/
NewbyAmateurs
Of course due to changes in hardware, etc., it has been useless for my needs for at least 3+ years, so what if I need to wait 2 or 3 more years for an useable version.Itemized Software Purchase Receipt
from Gibson Research Corporation
2006-05-05 at 18:24 UTC
I used it through work from very early versions, on 5¼" floppy days, when an 80MB drive was a monster. My personal copy has recovered multiple drives over the years.I haven't been able to run SpinRite since I purchased my Surface Book 1 (I'm on Surface Book 3 currently). I can't complain though. It was worth the price as it got me out of several jams when I could run it. I will purchase 7.x when it can run under UEFI and my USB 3 connected external HDD.
Thanks. At my urging, Lorrie kept her last name. She's a professional who's known by her colleagues and clients by her last name. And I have zero ego associated with her taking my name. In fact, at this stage in our lives, it would feel sort of weird.Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Gibson!! Wishing you both all the very best in all things good! (Including SciFi!)
God bless you Steve for your good works and continued inroads into the new SpinRite.
All the best,
MG
CONGRATS! Same here when we got married 25 years ago. My wife was also a business professional at the time and her family was well known in those business circles. I've never had a problem with it. I've long since gotten over people sometimes calling me by her last name. Seems arcane in this day in age for a woman to have to change her name, not to mention a real pain as far as all the paperwork.Thanks. At my urging, Lorrie kept her last name. She's a professional who's known by her colleagues and clients by her last name. And I have zero ego associated with her taking my name. In fact, at this stage in our lives, it would feel sort of weird.
As do we all.I hope 6.1 is released soon.
Anyone who's interested in following SpinRite's development more closely should arrange to participate with the gang over in GRC's text-only grc.spinrite.dev newsgroup. Setup any NNTP newsreader (there are many to choose among) and aim it at our news server at news.grc.com. There's where all of the development work is going on. I will be posting updates here as major milestones are passed, but not the daily blow-by-blow.Well its now nearly september, any updates?
I tried setting up thunderbird email news account, and it won't download any messages?Anyone who's interested in following SpinRite's development more closely should arrange to participate with the gang over in GRC's text-only grc.spinrite.dev newsgroup. Setup any NNTP newsreader (there are many to choose among) and aim it at our news server at news.grc.com. There's where all of the development work is going on. I will be posting updates here as major milestones are passed, but not the daily blow-by-blow.
I was going to suggest Thunderbird. It works great and many of our participants are using it without any trouble. So, in short, it should work!I tried setting up thunderbird email news account, and it won't download any messages?
Is thunderbird compatible? Do I need to change port numbers or something?
Thunderbird is fully compatible. For more info see here:I tried setting up thunderbird email news account, and it won't download any messages?
Is thunderbird compatible? Do I need to change port numbers or something?
Anyone who's interested in following SpinRite's development more closely should arrange to participate with the gang over in GRC's text-only grc.spinrite.dev
Steve, even in that news group updates are pretty thin on the ground lately! How about a weekly update so we all know what's going on. Even SN has not had much SR update news.I will be posting updates here as major milestones are passed, but not the daily blow-by-blow.
Thanks for the update you now posted on the .dev group SteveAnd I do post updates periodically when I have anything to say.
Yeah, that's fine for reading, but what about posting and replying? Should the outgoing connection use an SMTP port or an NNTP port? How do you fake out TB's account wizards to set the outgoing Username+Password to be the same, while still putting a real reply-to email address in the From: field? While trying this, I exactly once thought I saw a Password input box. Subsequent attempts result in a failed outgoing connection, and do not ask for an updated password.Thunderbird is compatible. see
SMTP - That should be the default. I believe all you need is a unique user name. No need to specify that as the password.Yeah, that's fine for reading, but what about posting and replying? Should the outgoing connection use an SMTP port or an NNTP port? How do you fake out TB's account wizards to set the outgoing Username+Password to be the same, while still putting a real reply-to email address in the From: field? While trying this, I exactly once thought I saw a Password input box. Subsequent attempts result in a failed outgoing connection, and do not ask for an updated password.
Both? They're different things. SNMP is for email, NNTP is for usenet news. Steve's server only supplies NNTP, SNMP is supplied by your email supplier.Should the outgoing connection use an SMTP port or an NNTP port?
My TB setup is the same as Tazz.oth? They're different things. SNMP is for email, NNTP is for usenet news. Steve's server only supplies NNTP, SNMP is supplied by your email supplier.
SMTP is the simple mail transfer protocol. Normally on port 25. (But probably on 825 or something these days, if SSL is involved... I haven't configured SMTP or POP or IMAP since I got GMail in like 2004.) Steve doesn't supply email services that I am aware of.I presume Steve's GRC news server therefore uses SMTP?
No, he does not!Steve doesn't supply email services that I am aware of.
Thank you very much. That PDF file is exactly what I needed.Okay I figured it out. The secret passphrase needs to be compatible with an SMTP username; it cannot contain any special characters that a password generator may come up with. The attached PDF is a how-to, with screenshots.
I use Interlink Mail & News - a modern and actively developed incarnation of the Thunderbird-style technology base, built on a modern and actively developed incarnation of UXP, the best application platform from the Mozilla of old.
Interlink is much more capable of handling my demanding email usage than recent versions of TB, and doesn't crash nearly as often.
To clear up confusion above, *reading* from a news server uses an NNTP port on an incoming connection, while *posting* to a news server uses an SMTP port on an outgoing connection. This does *not* mean the server accepts email. Both connections can be an SSL port or a non-SSL port.
Might have to take another pass at this. Cancel worked a few times, and then I continued changing things supposedly to agree with the how-to, and eventually Cancel became greyed out. Duh. Will try again tomorrow.Thank you very much. That PDF file is exactly what I needed.
Thanks for the PDF! Very useful.Cancel worked a few times
Steve has been concentrating on SpinRite 6.1 for the last 6+ months, doing a complete re-code. He has very recently been running the new code on his hardware, flushing out and fixing coding errors, edge cases, etc. Good progress is being made.Any news on Spinrite progress? No update on roadmap post since March!
More like 21+ months! Did he not start after the completion of SQRL in January 2020Steve has been concentrating on SpinRite 6.1 for the last 6+ months,
Depends on your perspective, I'd say.More like 21+ months! Did he not start after the completion of SQRL in January 2020
Excellent. I have joined newsgroups server. Lots of info there, thanks!I'll point you at this recent-ish post from Steve:
I guess so, but all the work was necessary for 6.1 development.Depends on your perspective, I'd say.
Forgot about that! Wow over 2 years so far. My prediction of it taking 3 years is not going to be so far off.if you include the 4 months of 2013 activity
The current release is 6.0. https://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htmI've used SpinRite since it first released, but I've not kept up with the latest releases.
How do I get in touch with you for the current one?
C:\>initdisk.exe freedos
Personally, I wish there were a 'Sticky' post here to help wannabe Spinrite 6.1 testers find their way, as there are a number of non-obvious steps that have to be taken. There's a very clear post in the Gitlab forum at this URL:Would be glad to do anything testing on 6.1.
It is that way for two reasons. One is for bot control as you noted. The other is to minimize the number of members for now. There are already plenty of testers there.It's frustrating and almost seems like they intentionally make it hard to get started and participate. But it does work and there are a lot of very bright, committed users working on testing things out.
Well the trick is that the ONE specific page https://dev.grc.com/users/sign_up is protected with old style HTTP Auth protection. It needs a specific hard coded userID and password, which Steve has requested stay only listed on the Newsgroup. (If you don't provide it, you will receive an error: 401 Authorization RequiredI guess I'll be waiting.
Steve has already fixed the 6.0 crashes in 6.1. How does 6.1 Alpha 21 handle that drive? You'll have to connect it to a SATA port since Alpha 20 limits BIOS drives (USB, SAS, NVMe, RAID, etc) to 137 GB due to the discovery of a severe memory corruption issue in multiple BIOSes.Following your description in Ep 912 of 6.1 crashing on certain disks, I ran 6.0 today on a 2013 HGST 1TB drive from 2013 and spinrite crashed while doing a level 2 scan (at 80% along the 2nd partition which is 850G in size),
see attached. The drive was connected via a USB3 station (Blueendless HD05), hope this is informative and useful.
In general Steve has explicitly said he is NOT receiving SpinRite feedback for development versions here in these forums. The only place he wants to receive such feedback is on his newsgroup which has information and links for a specific GIT wrapper for opening report tickets. If you are interested in being involved at that level, start by going here: https://www.grc.com/discussions.htm (Read the instructions carefully.... and Steve's newsgroup server is currently having an issue with secured connections, so you'd need to configure your reader to not use them.)hope this is informative and useful.