White Pine County
Summary
Even if you never heard of White Pine County, Nevada, the name evokes a peaceful sense and brings picturesque landscapes to mind. Named for its lush and plentiful pine trees, it is home to nature reserves and several historical sites. Sadly, there is crime even here.
In February of 2013, there was burglary in this area where the surveillance system, an LTD2316ME, was damaged. This was in an obvious attempt to prevent law enforcement from finding the culprits. Fortunately, the hard disk drive seemed intact. A detective from White Pine County Sheriff's Office contacted LTS seeking information on how to retrieve data from the salvaged drive.
Challenge
In a situation like this, it can be hard to retrieve data from the hard drive. The drive could have significant internal damage despite minor external damage. Files could have been corrupted when the device was improperly shutdown. The LTD2316ME came out two years ago and has 16 channels; heavy use could have left the drive in poor condition. The DVR is basically a simple computer running Linux; compatibility issues are unlikely but possible. User error and mean time between failures are factors too.
Solution
Normally, DVR backups can be quickly and easily retrieved. The controls are directly on the Main Menu. A common USB flash drive can store the files. This is obviously not an option if the DVR is not operational.
The first option we presented to the Sheriff's Office was to install the hard disk drive in a normal computer. There is no operating system on a standalone DVR’s drive; every byte of space is used for video storage. It needs to be connected as a secondary drive. If this option worked, the DAT files on the drive could be copied and played easily. We included the software to play the files in the initial e-mail (normally included when making a backup from the DVR).
If this failed, there were other options. The next one would be to try reading the drive in Linux. If the problem was compatibility with Windows, then this would solve it. Retrieving the files using another LTD2316ME seems like a simple solution, but it carries a hidden risk. By default, the DVR will recycle hard drive space by deleting old files. The DVR can be configured not to record at all, but there is a chance of user error.
Results
The first method, connecting the drive to a computer, worked without issue. Despite damage to the DVR, the drive was in good condition and the DAT files were uncorrupted. The files were easily played and the incident was indeed recorded by the DVR.
In the end, the White Pine County Sheriff's Office was “able to view the files and identify both subjects involved with the burglary, which led to their arrest.”
LTS is happy to have been able to provide assistance to the White Pine County Sheriff's Office. We are proud that our product was instrumental in bringing two criminals to justice.
