Arch Linux

idjut

Member

From: Oslo

Registered: 2006-05-15

Posts: 177

Harddisk rescue operation

Hi, my laptop suddenly died, probably out of age. It was an old toshiba. I thought oh well, and thought I could save what was on the disk at least. So I took the hd out and put it in a external cabinet.  However I couldnt do anything to discover the partitions. In kde the disk didnt automatically show up. And I couldnt manage to mount any partition otherwise either. I used knoppix livecd.

Next I tried to use hiren's boot cd for rescuing hds, but none of the programs I tried managed to find the disk either. Hiren is made for dos filesystems I guess though.

Failing both of these methods I though the disk was blanked out. My surprise was big then when I booted with the disk connected via usb (without intention) and it boots into my old system as far as to the kernel panic.

My questions are then the following:

a) Does this mean that the partition table went bonkers, if so can I rewrite it without erasing the contents?

b) Is there some linux disk rescue boot cd like Hiren or some other tools that can be used (I think I exhausted the possibilities in knoppix)?

c) This one is a bit on the side, but can I somehow rebuild the kernel and run the system from the usb external drive on this pc even if it is not recommended as arch is not a live format?

Thanks for your attention

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Linux user #403491

"Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect." - E. A. Poe from Eleonora

deej

Member

Registered: 2008-02-08

Posts: 395

Re: Harddisk rescue operation

Try PartedMagic:

http://partedmagic.com/

Deej

toad

Member

From: if only I knew

Registered: 2008-12-22

Posts: 1,775

Website

Re: Harddisk rescue operation

yep, there is a programme called testdisk on there - it may give you some satisfaction...

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never trust a toad...
::Grateful ArchDonor::
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sirocco

Member

Registered: 2008-03-10

Posts: 149

Re: Harddisk rescue operation

b) Is there some linux disk rescue boot cd like Hiren or some other tools that can be used (I think I exhausted the possibilities in knoppix)?

rip (Recovery Is Possible) linux

Last edited by sirocco (2009-06-29 17:37:32)

idjut

Member

From: Oslo

Registered: 2006-05-15

Posts: 177

Re: Harddisk rescue operation

Thanks deej, toad and sirocco. I will try your suggestions now.

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Linux user #403491

"Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect." - E. A. Poe from Eleonora

R00KIE

Forum Fellow

From: Between a computer and a chair

Registered: 2008-09-14

Posts: 4,734

Re: Harddisk rescue operation

Be sure to check the output of dmesg to see if there are any errors when you plug the usb cable of the external box.
I have a disk that requires a bit more power than some usb ports can supply (I think thats the problem), so in my notebook and pc a it works fine bit not in pc b.
Be sure to check that as the solution is simpler than trying to recover lost data that may not be lost at all

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R00KIE
Tm90aGluZyB0byBzZWUgaGVyZSwgbW92ZSBhbG9uZy4K

idjut

Member

From: Oslo

Registered: 2006-05-15

Posts: 177

Re: Harddisk rescue operation

(...) the solution is simpler than trying to recover lost data that may not be lost at all

RIPlinux found the drive with no problems I don't get why knoppix didn't.

That problem is now off my chest. I should have asked the knowledgable and always helpful arch forums in the first place! Thanks

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Linux user #403491

"Men have called me mad; but the question is not yet settled, whether madness is or is not the loftiest intelligence– whether much that is glorious– whether all that is profound– does not spring from disease of thought– from moods of mind exalted at the expense of the general intellect." - E. A. Poe from Eleonora