Write Bits Directly Onto a Hard Drive Platter?

kidcharles writes "I'm working on a project that requires writing bits to a magnetic hard drive platter in a completely controlled fashion. I need to be able to control exactly where 1s and 0s will appear physically on the platter. Normally when data is written to a drive the actual bits that get written are determined by the file system being used, as modified by whatever kind of error handling the drive itself is using (e.g. Reed-Solomon). All of the modern innovations in file systems and error handling are great for reliable and efficient data storage, but they are making my particular task quite daunting. My question for Slashdot: is there a way to get down to the 'bare metal' and write these bits? Any good utilities out there to do this? Obviously a free and open source solution would be preferable, but I'm open to anything at this point."

magic marker

[Rivalz]

It works for me. http://www.staples.com/Staples-Dry-Erase-Markers-Chisel-Tip-Black-4-Pack/product_607101?cmArea=FEATURED:SC1:CG11:DP1101 [staples.com] Now that someone has said it no one else can be a smart ass and they have to be informative.

May I suggest

[Blazarov]

May I suggest a magnetic needle and a steady hand? http://xkcd.com/378/ [xkcd.com]

Be careful!

[Anonymous Coward]

I can't help directly, but can give one important advice - careful how you distribute the bits! If too many ones get on the same side of the platter this will destabilize it, causing it to wobble due to the weight difference ( a one weighs quite a bit more than a zero, you know!) and potentially tearing the platter in two!

I tried it once

[Taco Cowboy]

Got myself a disk editor, and wrote something on the very first sector.

After that I can't use the HD anymore.

The computer can't even recognize it anymore.

There is a real possibility to do this.

[Anonymous Coward]

>Any good utilities out there to do this?

Yes. My solution involves a screwdriver and a sharpie. And you can write bits of information to the bare metal, like "this drive is broken, dont waste your time trying to fix it".

My colleague was not happy finding the drive on his desk and told me its a low level joke. Well, yes.

Re:Be careful!

[Anonymous Coward]

I can attest that improper bit stacking is a very real danger - one that almost cost me my life.

It was in 1999 in Sierra Leone, and my last assignment before I left for Sydney was to punt three hundred reams of bit-printed A4 four kilometres up the Moa to a nearby monastery.

It had been a hectic week and the crew the boss had assigned to load the raft had already worked a double shift. Subsequently, they failed to read the job sheet properly and loaded the raft with the all the paper with the zero-bit set on one side and the one-bit set on the other.

I got about three hundred meters from the dock when I was startled by a large black snake swimming past. I quickly moved from where I was sitting on the zero-bit stack to the one-bit stack, and of course the raft immediately capsized.

I was told when I reached the shore that the snake had most probably been a mamba - one of the deadliest snakes in Africa. If I had been bitten I would have been dead within minutes.

I hope this serves as a warning to anyone involved in any kind of data stacking. In short, always properly disperse your bits - your life may depend on it!

Re:too late?

[Anonymous Coward]

yup

Re:Data Recovery

[paulatz]

Once you can read, you can also write. I've learned it at schools some 20 years ago

Re:Data Recovery

[obarthelemy]

Good. Go write "Paulatz wuz here" next to the HOLLYWOOD sign.

That's nothing!

[L4t3r4lu5]

I'm working on a project that requires writing protons to an atom nucleus in a completely controlled fashion. I need to be able to control exactly where protons will appear physically on the nucleus. Normally when atoms are created during fusion the actual atoms that get created are determined by the energy input of the fusion reaction as modified by whatever kind of atoms are being fused (e.g. hydrogen into helium). All of the modern innovations in nucleosynthesis and alchemy are great for particle colliders and crackpots from the Middle Ages, but they are making my particular task quite daunting. My question for Slashdot: is there a way to get down to the 'bare metal' and transmute lead into gold in a cost-effective manner? Any good utilities out there to do this? Obviously a free and open source solution would be preferable, but I'm open to anything at this point.

Re:That's nothing!

[drewhk]

"transmute lead into gold in a cost-effective manner"

Rob a bank with a gun?

Are you sure that's your requirement?

[Zarf]

"I'm working on a project that requires writing bits to a magnetic hard drive platter in a completely controlled fashion."

Are you sure?

The reason I ask is I'm working on a project that requires me to move data faster than light. At least that's what I spent last Monday working up the math to prove that data replication between our different data centers has an upper bound enforced by the fabric of the universe and that it was impossible for me to achieve the project's stated goals without essentially inventing warp drive. As it turns out after a meeting it was determined that the goal was just a stated guideline. It also turns out the price of faster data transfer rates is prohibitive and after a further meeting the stated project goal was total baloney. Yes. Baloney. We had sandwiches. It was a nice meeting.

Re:That is gonna be hard

[troll8901]

... parametrize ... influence ... situation ... position ...

You sound like a corporate buzzword generator [andrewdavidson.com].

Re:Be careful!

[Anonymous Coward]

Virus: Let me trim the FAT off your hard disk. (Also works for solid state drives that support TRIM operation.)

By the way, compression makes your data occupy less space, by converting all the bits from 0 to 1. Because 1 weighs less. Also, it makes the hard drive faster (after defrag) because 1 is more aerodynamic than 0.

One more possibility...

[Schraegstrichpunkt]

Randall Munroe

It CAN be done!

[symes]

You will need a reasonably sized HD, like this [gizmodo.com] one where ones and zeros occupy a space of about postage stamp size.

Re:Wrong.

[xtracto]

No, its only that his writing algorithm a word.

Re:ob XKCD reference

[laejoh]

Nice, 'course there's an emacs command to do that, good old C-x M-c M-modintooblivion...

Re:Wrong.

[weirdcrashingnoises]

But how can be sure?

Re:One more possibility...

[bsDaemon]

Yeah, but he's a CIA troll who's writing a cyberpunk thriller one panel at a time, so isn't he the 'all of the above' option?

Re:Wrong.

[Anonymous Coward]

Your sentence is wrong, sorry.

Your sentience is wrong, sorry.

Re:Sure

[lavaboy]

damn. I was going to say "Call Woz."

Re:Slashdot trolled

[iamhassi]

"I hope he get his $100, and share with us if possible."

gives new meaning to "my 2 cents worth" [google.com]

Re:DRM?

[halcyon1234]

The cynic in me wonders if he is ... trying to develop a DRM scheme for a hard drive. The optimist in me wonders if he is trying to defeat such a scheme.

The romantic in me wonders if he is trying to create a piece of art. Next week's front-page headlines are like "Hard-Drive Hacker Recreates 'Starry Night' Directly On Platter".

Re:Be careful!

[gardyloo]

Oh, hell yeah. Sometimes on a slow day, when there's little wind and a crowd outside the building, my colleagues will send around a bunch of emails full of ones. The cables outside twist and swing, and people look around for the source of wind.

    Those recent communication satellite crashes? Too many ones got in their relay buffers, weighing them down and destabilizing their orbits.

     

Re:Sure

[Anonymous Coward]

> Not to mention that disks haven't actually written "zeros and ones" as such for at least 15 years

Roight--modern drives go to ELEVEN!

Re:Are you sure that's your requirement?

[TubeSteak]

The reason I ask is I'm working on a project that requires me to move data faster than light. At least that's what I spent last Monday working up the math to prove that data replication between our different data centers has an upper bound enforced by the fabric of the universe and that it was impossible for me to achieve the project's stated goals without essentially inventing warp drive.

I have a solution for your problem:
1. Declare your main data center King. This requires a coronation ceremony and a crown.
2. Declare your backup data center Crown Prince. This does not require a ceremony.
3. Push the big red button that kills your King (the main data center).

Thus, by the laws of royal succession, your backup data center will instantly become King with all the knowledge of its predecessor. And that is how you to move data faster than light without violating the laws of physics.

Re:Slashdot trolled

[SEWilco]

It is about impossible with modern drives. You'd have to replace the whole electronics with your own and drive the head and the motors with your own.

Find a drive with characteristics similar to what you want, and contract with the manufacturer to modify the drive to do what you want. The manufacturer has the tools and engineers to alter the existing firmware. It won't be cheap. If the manufacturer refuses the proposal, buy the company.