All, When I worked at T.I., we had an HD crash that left us without access to several irreplacable files. We sent the HD off to a data recovery facility where they recovered about 95% to 98% of the=20 files on the drive, and shipped the files and the remains of the drive back to us. The files were shipped on CD's (Probably DVD's now). All we had to do was copythe files to=20 the new hard drive. The service wasn't cheap (2-3K IIRC, and this was mid 90s dollars), but it was worth every penny bacause as I said, the files were virtually irreplacable. This situation seems similar. I can try to find the name of the recovery company and pass it on if you would like me to. =20 It would probably wind up being less expensive and certainly faster to have the original files recovered, rather than trying to regenerate them from object files, bit and pieces of support data, and=20 ones ability at programming in C. I would think the programming option could takes weeks to many months to regenerate the source code, if it could even be done. And if it could, as other have said, there are many other considerations to account for such as optimizations, the specific compiler, differences between versions, etc. A formidable task at best. =20 Regards, Jim > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: Re: [PIC] Code recovery expert needed > From: "Bob Ammerman" > Date: Tue, August 02, 2011 11:38 am > To: "Microcontroller discussion list - Public." >=20 >=20 > Reverse engineering to C source is likely to be quite difficult )-: >=20 > Have all reasonable attempts been made to recover the code from the hard= =20 > drive? It is quite likely that such a recovery, if possible, will be the= =20 > cheapest alternative. >=20 > How much has the app changed since the last backed up revision? >=20 > What version of "C" is being used? >=20 > How big is the app? >=20 > What type of PIC is targeted? >=20 > -- Bob Ammerman > RAm Systems >=20 >=20 > ----- Original Message -----=20 > From: "Dwayne Reid" > To: "pic microcontroller discussion list" > Sent: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 11:30 AM > Subject: [PIC] Code recovery expert needed >=20 >=20 > > Good day to all. > > > > We've been asked to assist a company recover from a fatal hard drive > > crash. Unfortunately, I suspect that we are not the right people for t= he=20 > > job. > > > > The situation is this: this company has a fairly mature PIC-based > > product that has undergone significant code changes over its > > lifetime. Most or all of the PIC code is written in C. > > > > The company has source code for previous versions of the product but > > has lost the current code base due to a hard drive crash. They do > > have current hex files for the PIC(s) used in the product and want to > > regenerate the C source code, starting with the previous versions of > > the source and changing as required. > > > > I'm not even comfortable working with C, let alone being competent > > with it. My co-worker is better with C than I am but he also does > > not feel adequate for the job. > > > > So: I'm looking for someone who IS competent with C and would be able > > to work with the resources that I have mentioned above. > > > > This can be handled one of two ways: we can simply hand the project > > off completely or we can act as a middle-man, where that person would > > subcontract to us. Either way, a non-disclosure agreement is required. > > > > Public discussion is welcome but private responses are appreciated. > > > > Many thanks! > > > > dwayne > > > > > > PS - comments regarding the lack of backup procedures is not > > necessary. I think that the people concerned have learned their lesson= .. > > > > dwayne > > > > --=20 > > Dwayne Reid > > Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd Edmonton, AB, CANADA > > (780) 489-3199 voice (780) 487-6397 fax > > www.trinity-electronics.com > > Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing > > > > --=20 > > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > > View/change your membership options at > > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist=20 >=20 > --=20 > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .