Re: Not a bug but....

[Bob Proulx]

> I have a need to recover as much of some files as possible.  The files have
> errors in them on their source media.  There is a chance I can reconstruct
> some of the missing data from other sources.  I can't edit the files on
> their original media.
> 
> Unfortunately, cp stops as soon as it gets an error.  Can cp be "improved"
> by adding an option that says "convert errors to holes?"

Hmm...  Not sure.  That would be a question for the kernel mailing
list.  The cp command sits in a loop.  It read()'s and it writes()'s.
If an error occurs during a read() it is usually not possible to get
past the error.  If that is on a hard disk drive then the usual cause
is a failed disk and the usual outcome is lost data.  I would not hold
out much hope in that case.

I am not personally familiar with them but there have been programs
which read the disk media sector by sector and can possibly
reconstruct the files based upon file system structure.  I have no
idea where I would look to find such a program and you did not say
which operating system and which filesystem you were using.  That
information would be critical.  I would start with a google search and
see what it turned up.

Good luck.
Bob