637 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
637 lines
24 KiB
Plaintext
Partition-Rescue
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Revision History
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Revision 1 2008-11-24 09:27:50 Revised by: jdd
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mainly title change in the wiki
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Table of Contents
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1. Revision History
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2. Beginning
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2.1. What's in
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2.2. What to do right now?
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2.3. Legal stuff
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2.4. What do I need to know right now?
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3. Technical info
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3.1. Disks
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3.2. Partitions
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3.3. Why is there a problem?
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4. Solving the problem
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4.1. The simpler case
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4.2. A not-so-simple case
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4.3. The rich man's case
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4.4. PMagic
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5. References
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5.1. Authors
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5.2. Most recent version
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"Partition-Rescue HOWTO" - Jean-Daniel Dodin
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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1. Revision History
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Revision V4.1 - 2008-11-24 - Revised by jdd
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Title fix (the wiki have to get the exact name of the HOWTO)
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Revision v4 - 2008-08-29 - Revised by: jdd
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Major update - First complete revised wiki version
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Revision v3.7 - 2008-05-30 - Revised by: rm
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Minor update - lots of little punctuation, spelling, usage, and grammar nits
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:-)
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Revision v3.6 - 2008-05-25 - Revised by: jdd
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Major update - LDP wiki - addition about logical partitions
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Revision v3.5 - 2003-10-31 - Revised by: jdd
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Major update - new licence - some fixes in addresses - vi use :-)
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Revision v3.4 - 2002-08-22 - Revised by: jdd
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Minor update related only with docbook
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Revision v3.3 - 2001-11-17 - Revised by: jdd
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Minor update - docbook & revision history - emacs use.
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Revision v3.2 - 2001-09-25 - Revised by: jdd
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Major update.
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Whow! My disk is empty! My Linux is gone! If you have or fear to have one day
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or another such a problem, read this...
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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2. Beginning
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2.1. What's in
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This HOWTO addresses only the "lost partition table" problem. This can be
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when:
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* you have no more access to your computer, with the "no operating system"
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message;
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* you have installed a new system (i.e., MS Windows) and you see no more
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Linux, and MS Windows takes up all the capacity of the disk;
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* you have just partitioned the wrong drive with fdisk (for example, in the
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process of changing your hard drive).
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Here, you will learn that, if you know the right thing and do it, Linux comes
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usually safe from such things. MS Windows can, but it's luckier.
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We will first see what you can do before the problem to ease future recovery,
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and what you must do after to recover. There is little to do to prevent from
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erasing a disk; usually this is done by automatic MS Windows or Linux-install
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ill-behaved programs or users' mistakes - nothing can be done to prevent
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this, except care, but you are already careful, aren't you?
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It can also be done by the use of MS-DOS/Windows fdisk. Avoid it as most as
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you can, but you probably can't.
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I have done this many times, on my computer and on other guys' computers, and
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restored Linux most of the time and MS Windows sometimes. I wish you luck!
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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2.2. What to do right now?
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If you don't have any problem yet, if you read this by curiosity or are just
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seeking information, and you are on a running Linux system, do immediately
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the following :
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* open a root terminal or xterm;
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* key in /sbin/fdisk -l (that last character being l for Lima). Then do
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fdisk -u -l;
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You will be gratified to see a list of all current partitions, on all disks
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present on your computer. The second one gives the listing in units of
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sectors, in place of cylinders, and this is sometimes necessary.
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* Write this back on paper (or do "/sbin/fdisk -l | lpr" and "/sbin/fdisk
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-u -l | lpr" to print it) and save it in a safe place for future use. If
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you are not the system administrator, you should not be concerned by the
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problem, and can stop reading this.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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2.3. Legal stuff
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This HOWTO is Copyright (c) 2000-2008 by Jean-Daniel Dodin. As of November
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2003, the licence is LGPL.
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I am not responsible of any damage on any computer as a result of anyone
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reading this HOWTO. If you do any damage, it is YOUR fault, NOT MINE! Be
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careful when partitioning disks, and don't make any mistakes, because it can
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be fatal! Backup all your important data and check that everything you do is
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correct! What is described here worked on my computer, but it may or may not
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work on your computer. Although it should work for everyone, I can't
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guarantee anything. This is the last warning you get: BACKUP IMPORTANT DATA!
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Or, to put it concisely: Use at your own risk!
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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2.4. What do I need to know right now?
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You need to know that, in case of any major problem with your hard disk, you
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need to stop using it in write mode, at least until the time for you to
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understand what's happening. Information there is very volatile...
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If ever, one morning, awaking, your computer says "can't load, no system
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installed", you must not begin reinstalling all the stuff.
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If you have MS Windows installed, I can't promise you can recover your data,
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but it's likely you will recover all your Linux stuff, provided it's not
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located too low (near the beginning of the disk) in the disk structure. This
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is because some MS Windows viruses erase the very first disk cylinder,
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whatever is on. However I didn't ever experiment with such viruses, and can't
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say for sure. Try recovering, anyway.
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You must also know that I give you all this information only for this -
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information purposes. Neither I nor any other people but you can be held
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responsible for any problem your data can have using this info. There are too
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many different systems on the world for anybody being able to promise
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anything. I can only wish you luck and hope that you, like me, will be happy
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recovering data.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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3. Technical info
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3.1. Disks
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A hard disk is made of sectors numbered from 0 to the max.
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dmesg gives, for example:
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hdb: ST34321A, 4103MB w/128kB Cache, CHS=523/255/63
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CHS means Cylinders, Heads, Sectors.
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523*255*63=8401995 sectors of 512 bytes, thus the 4103 MB. This is only a
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logical map; it's not necessarily what is written on the disk cover (except
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for the total size).
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The true size of the sectors is of no interest for us, given that we don't
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want to modify anything, but merely wish to restore a previous state. For us,
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the default size given by fdisk is all right.
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The size seen by the system is directly dependent on the work of the BIOS
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(Basic Input/Output System - the PC's ROM). The mode of the hard disk
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indicated in the BIOS is essential. On a new disk, it's better to use BIOS
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automatic hard disk recognition and say "yes". Anyway, any modification at
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this level may destroy all the data of the disk, so don't play with this
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without essential reason.
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This is probably what your disk already uses, so don't be afraid.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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3.2. Partitions
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Disk are now huge -- 500 GB drives are not rare -- so it's not really handy
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to have all this stuff packed in only one part. Only MS Windows does so, and,
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if you use Linux, maybe it's because you are aware of how inefficient the
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other is.
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So a hard disk is usually cut in some pieces called "partitions" (see the
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Partition HOWTO for details, also read README.fdisk on the web or on your
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disk - location vary).
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Let's get a look at (part of) my own print of fdisk -l :
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Disk /dev/hdb: 255 heads, 63 sectors, 523 cylinders
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Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 bytes
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Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
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/dev/hdb1 1 153 1228941 83 Linux
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/dev/hdb2 154 166 104422+ 82 Linux swap
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/dev/hdb3 * 167 291 1004062+ 83 Linux
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/dev/hdb4 295 523 1839442+ 5 Extended
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/dev/hdb5 295 422 1028128+ 83 Linux
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/dev/hdb6 423 523 811251 6 FAT16
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This is my second hard disk, tied to guesses and tries. (The first is too
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simple to be interesting.)
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/dev/hdb is my second ide disk (slave on the primary interface),
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/dev/hdb1 is the first primary partition, running from the first (1) block to
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the block 153.
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There can be four such primary partitions. If one wants more than 4, one of
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them must be repurposed as an "extended" partition (not necessarily the
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fourth), and all other partitions are "logical" and are located inside the
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extended one. Notice that partition number 5 and partition number 4 have the
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same beginning. Number five is logical, number 4 extended. Logical
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partitions' numbering always begins at 5, even if there are only 2 primary
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partitions.
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Here's the fdisk -u -l listing of an other disk:
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Disque /dev/hda : 240 t<>tes, 63 secteurs, 2584
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cylindres Unit<69>s = secteurs sur 1 * 512 octets
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P<EFBFBD>riph<EFBFBD>rique Amorce D<>but Fin Blocs Id Syst<73>me
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/dev/hda1 * 63 10357199 5178568+ c Win95 FAT32 (LBA)
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/dev/hda2 15452640 39070079 11808720 83 Linux
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/dev/hda3 10357200 15150239 2396520 f Win95 Etdue (LBA)
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/dev/hda4 15150240 15452639 151200 84 Lecteur C: cach<63> OS/2
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/dev/hda5 10357263 10463039 52888+ 83 Linux
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/dev/hda6 10463103 10780559 158728+ 82 Echange Linux
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/dev/hda7 10780623 15150239 2184808+ 6 FAT16
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Les entr<74>es de la table de partitions ne suivent pas l'ordre du disque.
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Don't worry about the French part, I'm French ... look at your own disk
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listing. Of course, numbers are bigger.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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3.3. Why is there a problem?
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The problem is that all installed operating systems must share the disks,
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and, since at start, the BIOS only scans the first one, there must be a so
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called "partition table" at the very beginning of this disk. This partition
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table is located in the Master Boot Record (MBR), side by side with the boot
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loader.
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Any misuse of the MBR by any of the OS's leads to problems. When trying to
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install any system, a "yes" answer at a question like "automatic
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partitioning?" is likely to give problems... This is specially true with MS
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Windows, and especially with custom MS Windows installations made by special
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makes' PCs (when no true "Windows" CD is included, as with many laptops). But
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it's also true with some "smart" (not so smart!) Linux installation programs
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included with some distributions (hopefully this is not more the case in
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2008).
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4. Solving the problem
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Please, beware! Following the explanations given here will lead you to revert
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back to a previous system, losing all your recent changes, if any! You must
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choose...
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4.1. The simpler case
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All is simple if you have at hand:
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* A disk (floppy, usb key or CD) able to start Linux by itself with fdisk
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available - most rescue disks of any distribution can do that;
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* A paper with the fdisk -l and fdisk -u -l content written down.
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It's enough to:
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1. Start Linux;
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2. Start fdisk /dev/hda (or whatever is the disk to rescue);
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3. Use fdisk to delete (d option) all the existing partitions on the damaged
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disk;
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4. Use fdisk to create all the primary (1 - 4) partitions mentioned on the
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paper;
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5. Give them the appropriate tag (t option) : 82 is for Linux swap, 83 for
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Linux main (L gives you the list), 5 is extended and must be done before
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creating logical partitions, c is MS Windows FAT32, and f is MS Windows
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extended when 6 is MS Windows FAT16.
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6. Create any logical partition.
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On my SUSE installation and any time I had to do this for other people, this
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has produced good results.
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However, I said that some fdisks may cut partitions on a sector basis, not
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cylinder. So the fdisk -u -l version of the paper.
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For using the fdisk -u -l listing one must start fdisk -u :-). In my opinion,
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using sector limit is a very bad idea, but it may have a real use I'm not
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aware of. The problem is that, with cylinder limit, it's easy to guess even
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if you don't have paper. With sector one, there are many more guesses...
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fdisk is a small and very smart programs. There are many other makes of
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fdisk, but I always prefer the bare bones one. (I speak of Linux ones, of
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course, not the others....)
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Be aware that fdisk doesn't write anything to disk before you hit w and
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return. If you fear a mistake, hit q (quit) or Ctrl C (^C) to quit safe
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without saving changes.
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When your new partition table is written, start your Linux. It's possible you
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might not be able to do that as usual: lilo/grub may have been damaged also,
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and you thus may need a boot floppy or CD. Choose the option "booting the
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installed partition".
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If you are accustomed to booting with lilo, as soon as you are logged in as
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root, key in "lilo" and hit return to reinstall your favourite boot loader.
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Right now, I'm not sure that the same thing is as easy with GRUB, but it
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should not be very difficult, either.
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Your Linux should be all here; test it. Try, also, to start MS Windows if
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applicable. If you can't, there is a (very small) chance you can read your
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data from Linux, maybe with a raw sector-by-sector read. If you can identify
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the disk sectors your data is on, using dd you can copy it to a file. This is
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wise for text only. This recovery is NOT in the scope of this mini-HOWTO.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4.2. A not-so-simple case
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4.2.1. By hand
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This is when the previous case can't be used, for lack of fdisk paper, or if
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it won't work for use of an out-of-date one.
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Warning
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You can only try primary partitions with no fear. logical partition uses
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ordinary sectors of the disk to store their own housekeeping data, so, each
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time you write some logical partition with fdisk, you write some sectors,
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erasing the data content, if any. There is still a chance you don't have any
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data there or the data is unimportant, but, the less often you do such tries,
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the better.
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First, be aware that as soon as you don't write to the disk (except with
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fdisk), you don't erase your data, so that you can use a block-by-block try.
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That is you need to know the beginning of the partition to start it. If, say
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a 153 doesn't fit, try a 154, and so on.
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This can be tiresome, but, if you remember approximately the size of the
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Linux partition, there is a chance to win.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4.2.2. Linux's own info and other hacks
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4.2.2.1. Kernel
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If you just destroyed your own partition table, but have not rebooted Linux:
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Don't reboot! You can still retrieve the partition information stored in the
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Kernel:
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cat /proc/partitions gives
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+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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|major |minor |#blocks |name |
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|------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------|
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|3 |0 | 19535040|hda |
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|------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------|
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|3 |1 | 2096451|hda1 |
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|------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------|
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|3 |2 | 4980150|hda2 |
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|------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------|
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| | | |hda3 <--- this |
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|3 |3 | 1|marks an extended |
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| | | |partition |
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|------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------|
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|3 |5 | 4980118|hda5 |
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|------------------+------------------+------------------+------------------|
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|3 |6 | 4972086|hda6 |
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+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4.2.2.2. hdparm
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hdparm -g /dev/hda1/dev/hda1 :
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geometry = 2432/255/63, sectors = 4192902, start = 63
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You'll need to do a few unit conversions. "blocks" are usually 1K in length.
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"Sectors" are disk sectors, often 512 bytes. But usually the disk
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partitioning tools work in units of cylinders. (Here, 255*63=16065 sectors.)
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Using this information, you can build a new partition table.
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4.2.2.3. I know the start of the partition, but not the end.
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If you know the start of a Linux partition, but not the end, you can still
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mount it, and learn about the structure. Set the partition table start
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correctly, and set the end to something very large. See if you guessed
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correctly with:
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e2fsck -n /dev/hd??
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You can even mount the partition and check the size:
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mount -r /dev/hd?? /mnt
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df -T
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This won't directly tell you where the next partition starts, because of
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rounding issues. But it can help you get close. Be sure to use the "-n" and
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"-r" flags, to treat the system as read-only!!!
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4.2.2.4. Other places partition information is stored
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Some distributions record partition information in a file. Of course, you
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probably won't be able to get to this file when you need it. But, just in
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case:
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SuSE: /var/lib/YaST/install.inf
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(if you are aware of others, please e-mail the maintainer of this document)
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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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4.2.2.5. gpart
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But there is a better way if you can still access the Net or have "gpart" on
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hand. gpart is available in most distribution, at http://freshmeat.net/ or
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directly from http://www.stud.uni-hannover.de/user/76201/gpart.
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Please note that gpart is not gparted - the GNOME partition editor.
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"gpart - guess PC-type hard disk partitions" as the first line of the it's
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man page states (man gpart). And goes on to say:
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"gpart tries to guess which partitions are on a hard disk. If the primary
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partition table has been lost, overwritten, or destroyed, the partitions
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still exist on the disk, but the operating system cannot access them."
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This is exactly what we need. gpart is a very useful tool.
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The problem is the following: the first block of any partition is marked. But
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it's never "unmarked" if not overwritten. So, many "first partition block"
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exist on an old disk, and gpart tries to do its best guessing what is the
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good one. In fact, it's not too difficult to try; nothing is written on the
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disk by gpart.
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Here is the result of gpart on the previously seen disk, hdb:
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root@charles:/home/jdd > gpart /dev/hdb
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Begin scan...
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Possible partition(Linux ext2), size(1200Mb), offset(0Mb)
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Possible partition(Windows NTFS), size(1200Mb), offset(1200Mb)
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Possible partition(Linux ext2), size(1004Mb), offset(2402Mb)
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Possible partition(Windows NTFS), size(1600Mb), offset(4102Mb)
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End scan.
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Checking partitions...
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* Warning: partition(OS/2 HPFS, NTFS, QNX or Advanced UNIX) ends beyond disk end .
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Partition(Linux ext2 filesystem): primary
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Partition(OS/2 HPFS, NTFS, QNX or Advanced UNIX): primary
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Partition(Linux ext2 filesystem): primary
|
||
Partition(OS/2 HPFS, NTFS, QNX or Advanced UNIX): invalid primary
|
||
Ok.
|
||
Guessed primary partition table:
|
||
Primary partition(1)
|
||
type: 131(0x83)(Linux ext2 filesystem)
|
||
size: 1200mb #s(2457880) s(63-2457942)
|
||
chs: (0/1/1)-(152/254/61)d (0/1/1)-(152/254/61)r
|
||
Primary partition(2)
|
||
type: 007(0x07)(OS/2 HPFS, NTFS, QNX or Advanced UNIX)
|
||
size: 1200mb #s(2457880) s(2457944-4915823)
|
||
chs: (152/254/63)-(305/253/60)d (152/254/63)-(305/253/60)r
|
||
Primary partition(3)
|
||
type: 131(0x83)(Linux ext2 filesystem)
|
||
size: 1004mb #s(2056256) s(4919781-6976036)
|
||
chs: (306/61/49)-(434/60/47)d (306/61/49)-(434/60/47)r
|
||
Primary partition(4)
|
||
type: 000(0x00)(unused) size: 0mb #s(0) s(0-0) chs: (0/0/0)-(0/0/0)d (0/0/0)-(0/0/0)r
|
||
|
||
|
||
As you see, primary partition can be recovered, but, for extended ones, it's
|
||
still to be done.
|
||
|
||
DOS partitions are labelled "Windows NTFS" because they were created while
|
||
trying to install MS Windows 2000 (a very awful experience in year 2000!).
|
||
The "invalid" one is, in fact the extended partition.
|
||
|
||
With this, one can use fdisk and try re-creating the partition table.
|
||
(Remember, this is risk-free given the original one is already lost.)
|
||
|
||
gpart is updated on a weekly basis # and so new versions may be more powerful
|
||
than I know.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
4.2.2.6. Recovering partitions inside an extended partition
|
||
|
||
Extended partition information is scattered on the disk, not stored with the
|
||
primary partition. To recover these often requires more work. The process is:
|
||
|
||
1. Scan for the start of the first partition (using gpart's -k option);
|
||
|
||
2. Create a temporary primary partition entry with the true start position
|
||
and a fake end position. (This may drive you to delete an actual primary
|
||
partition if no one is available - this is risk free if you don't reuse
|
||
the sectors of the deleted partition);
|
||
|
||
3. Use "e2fsk -n", "mount -r", and "df" to determine the true end point.
|
||
Write this value down (warning: read the man page for each program
|
||
mentioned, and use the read-only options; you do not want to write to
|
||
your disk until all partitions are in the correct place);
|
||
|
||
4. Repeat this process for each partition to be recovered;
|
||
|
||
5. Build a complete new correct partition table.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
4.2.2.7. If your hard drive has errors
|
||
|
||
If your hard drive has errors, you may have real trouble mounting, checking,
|
||
or using data. (The drive read errors get in the way.) Gpart may not even
|
||
find it. But if you know the start of the partition, you can easily copy the
|
||
data to a temporary file stored on a different drive. Sectors with read
|
||
errors will usually be set to zero by this process:
|
||
|
||
* Copy the partition data to a file. You must know the start block of the
|
||
partition;
|
||
|
||
dd if=/dev/hd?? of=/tmp/recover_hd?? bs=512 skip=XXXX count=YYY
|
||
|
||
|
||
XXX is the sector start and YYY the sector count (can be guessed).
|
||
|
||
* Mount the file as a loop file system.
|
||
|
||
mount -r -t ext2 -o loop /tmp/recover_hd?? /mnt/recover
|
||
|
||
|
||
Use dd_rescue if the disk is really badly damaged.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
4.3. The rich man's case
|
||
|
||
Partition Magic is a commercial (and proprietary) software product, not so
|
||
cheap given the little use one can have (approx a hundred bucks in France),
|
||
but with a very high reputation all around there. However, I never use it and
|
||
will not rate it. It's said to be able to do anything with partitions,
|
||
including restoring them.
|
||
|
||
Ralf's original partition-rescue mini HOWTO was essentially based around the
|
||
use of Partition Magic, so I assume it's a very good solution, if you have
|
||
valuable data on your Linux partition and little Linux capability. However,
|
||
there are now much more recent releases of Partition Magic and I think it's
|
||
better for you to read the manual.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
4.4. PMagic
|
||
|
||
PartedMagic if the tool of choice for any partition work, including recovery.
|
||
Extremely good product (and open, of course). Read the HOWTO anyway, because
|
||
you may need it to prevent disasters, but all the tools are on pmagic, this
|
||
is the best recovery cd ever...
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
5. References
|
||
|
||
5.1. Authors
|
||
|
||
The author of this HOWTO is Jean-Daniel Dodin. I can be joined at My masqued
|
||
e-mail or simply searching "Jean-Daniel Dodin" on Google :-).
|
||
|
||
My Web site is at [http://www.dodin.net].
|
||
|
||
I want to thank Rolf Klausen, who wrote the previous partition-rescue mini
|
||
HOWTO. Even if I rewrote it almost entirely, he had first the good idea.
|
||
|
||
Every other member of the Linux community, and everybody who supports Linux
|
||
and writes documentation and programs for Linux, and all the authors of the
|
||
LDP, and virtually any person involved in anything which has to do with
|
||
Linux. Particularly Linus B. Torvalds - he is The King !!!
|
||
|
||
I want also to thank Michail Brzitwa (see Web site in the text) for writing
|
||
gpart !
|
||
|
||
Bryce Nesbitt <bryce at obviously dot com> did a very good job, "Linux's own
|
||
info" is from him as are some minor enhancements.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
5.2. Most recent version
|
||
|
||
The most recent version of this HOWTO will be found on the tldp wiki
|
||
|