From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Wed Jun 24 18:19:31 2015 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 198979164FB for ; Wed, 24 Jun 2015 18:19:31 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jd1008@gmail.com) Received: from mail-ig0-x22b.google.com (mail-ig0-x22b.google.com [IPv6:2607:f8b0:4001:c05::22b]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 (128/128 bits)) (Client CN "smtp.gmail.com", Issuer "Google Internet Authority G2" (verified OK)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id D638F107D for ; Wed, 24 Jun 2015 18:19:30 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from jd1008@gmail.com) Received: by igblr2 with SMTP id lr2so39569745igb.0 for ; Wed, 24 Jun 2015 11:19:30 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=message-id:date:from:user-agent:mime-version:to:subject:references :in-reply-to:content-type:content-transfer-encoding; bh=qrB4Spq/a+X4n3Hx7Pt0IjuHzYhSV+326IgHz4ZrSvY=; b=FFzOHO5h0erIO0sLX/jrzCR7BVhVN8e5li5TAGuLaEToQNh8U/spCzJ/FbuR4Oo5L9 pLsNnnZdhSXPdA+jIAAXvg1EfuIpi1ppDj+Rm4OwFkL3/+MgG3yn9yHQjW+yK7lWIDHT uGFBLf5Rn53iiflIDhGpPyIYOyN3+vJ9+71BLDCv1IciBW16dtVsFHcttsAN9B+0QyKn 0ZFXiYv+csHl1fEMUBL3Zw/zDxyKKJUaeRUnnzG7Nxsq94fiT/f2tJNBbiLi3BvDx9BO 48JIgQEeF5g/38JSN2u5alnVHb2gi1Pxo7n6mXNi1ZFVWlYKsTeNfTzrXOyOoR7AfPkk K5CQ== X-Received: by 10.42.170.74 with SMTP id e10mr37954415icz.71.1435169970248; Wed, 24 Jun 2015 11:19:30 -0700 (PDT) Received: from localhost.localdomain ([50.243.6.59]) by mx.google.com with ESMTPSA id o200sm17831444ioo.43.2015.06.24.11.19.29 for (version=TLSv1.2 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES128-GCM-SHA256 bits=128/128); Wed, 24 Jun 2015 11:19:29 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <558AF4B0.6030209@gmail.com> Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2015 12:19:28 -0600 From: jd1008 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64; rv:31.0) Gecko/20100101 Thunderbird/31.7.0 MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: hard drive problem References: <5589E2F9.3070604@gmail.com> <861th1tdj3.fsf@WorkBox.Home> <20150624153643.GB43640@neutralgood.org> <46363.128.135.70.2.1435160477.squirrel@cosmo.uchicago.edu> <558AF04A.8090206@gmail.com> <34851.128.135.70.2.1435169522.squirrel@cosmo.uchicago.edu> In-Reply-To: <34851.128.135.70.2.1435169522.squirrel@cosmo.uchicago.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.20 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 24 Jun 2015 18:19:31 -0000 On 06/24/2015 12:12 PM, Valeri Galtsev wrote: > On Wed, June 24, 2015 1:00 pm, jd1008 wrote: >> >> On 06/24/2015 09:41 AM, Valeri Galtsev wrote: >>> On Wed, June 24, 2015 10:36 am, kpneal@pobox.com wrote: >>>> On Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 08:57:20AM -0500, Brandon J. Wandersee wrote: >>>>> jd1008 writes: >>>>> >>>>>> does anyone have a way to unlock the master pword in >>>>>> a recent WD 2TB 2.5" drive? >>>>> "Master pword?" Is this a firmware-level encrypted drive? If so, no. A >>>>> "reset" feature would defeat the purpose of having encryption in the >>>>> first place. If the drive is self-encrypting you don't know the >>>>> password, the drive's a brick. >>>> My guess is that you can tell the drive to use a new password, but the >>>> contents of the drive are lost. That's assuming a firmware-level >>>> encryption. >>>> >>>> BTW, are there really 2TB _2.5"_ drives on the market? >>> It may be an enclosure with two 1TB 2.5" drives either concatenated, or >>> RAID0 thus presenting itself as 2 TB. Just a wild guess. >>> >>> Valeri >> This one is actually a 4 platter drive, thus rather thick (15mm). >> Goodby to 7.5mm 2.5" drives. Areal density has not reached the >> quantum level yet :) > Cool note! With magnetic domains in will not be quantum level though: it > will be at least about a hundred of individual atoms involved into each > individual magnetic domain. Bu I really like your comment! > > Oh, boy, I seemed to overestimate macroscopicity of physics here (IBM > managed it on 12 atoms...): > > http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/smarter_computing/article/atomic_scale_memory.html > >> But from the technologists I know who are >> and have worked at HD companies, I hear that mechanical drives >> are totally on the way out as the the RAM and FLASH electronics >> get every tinier and faster, and much more reliable and long lasting. >> > Holography, one might think, could be most dense way of packing > information (of what we know today). > > Thanks for your brilliant comment! It made my day! > > Valeri > Back in the 80's, scientists at the Univerwsity of California, Irvine created a cube made of a polymer that could be encoded 3 dimmentionally by lasers, with promise of holding tens of exabytes of data. A japanese company (do not recall the name), bought the rights and patents for it. I have not heard about that invention again since that time. Re: speed of electronics: The absolute speed limit of electronics is the speed at which an electron will jump from one shell to the next. We are so so far from that, I do not think that it is achievable. The circuits themselves are not at the level of one atom size, even if you consider the largest, non-radioactive atom.