View files on a "slave" drive: Data Recovery help

[jsabarese]

i've created a problem for myself by executing a CLI function which I think actually renamed the Filesystem root directory (if that's even possible??).

this action looked something like this

## Note the 'current directory' at each point:

[USER@localhost usr/lib]$ mv /usr/lib/mozilla/ /usr/lib/mozilla-1.7.13*
**DENIED = Permissions
[USER@locahost usr/lib]$ su -- (or simple 'su')
pass: ****
[root@localhost ??]# (directory assumed by me is /usr/lib/ here and because of this assumption, 
a CLI shortcut was used. but dir was likely instead /root/ or even / -- so, i've indicated ?? to show my uncertainty)
[root@localhost ??]# cd ./mozilla/ 
[root@localhost ??]# mv ./mozilla-1.7.13/ ./*
(ie. ooops!)
[root@localhost ??]# ls -l
** no such command 'ls'
[root@localhost ??]# cd ~
** no such directory
etc

this was late Fri/ early Sat -- so over 72 hours by now... so, i don't recall exactly, and i have no real record of it logged. but, you see how it happened, right? where the shortcut { ./* } might have renamed the wrong directory?

needless to say, this drive will no longer boot. i get a "Kernel Panic" error. but unlike other Kernel Panic error cases i've seen, i think mine might require a novel fix.

since this "major boo-boo", using the Fedora CD-ROM's, and linux rescue mode, surprisingly, i was able to browse the Filesystem, so i know the data is still there-- just not working right w/ the normal boot sequence.
i've installed Fedora on a second HDD, and i've got the "original" as a "slave"

what i want to know: is there a 'safe' way that i can try to 'mount' the drive and go in there an manually fix / rename that directory back to it's original state? i'm assuming that doing so would put the drive back into a bootable state.

my concern for "safety" is because i've done similar actions on XP and somewhere in the process, data was written to a drive-- the drive already having MBR and/or partition table issues-- so the attempt to "browse it" was a fatal blow to the "existing data" (in truth, i was able to recover the XP data eventually using MediaToolsPro or some DOS toolkit-- but i'm trying to avoid such a hassle here) is there a way to do this under a "read only" mode at first?

what do you suggest?
thanks!!

[falko]

http://www.howtoforge.com/forums/sho...1&postcount=11

[jsabarese]

what i don't understand with the sort-of posthumous approach of this technique is basically this:
if i will be able to browse the data on that drive why couldn't i fix it that way too?

i realize it's going to be read only-- but that doesn't mean i can't get back to the faulty drive's command line again, right?

in other words-- what would i want to look for while browsing w/ the live CD-- so i can just make the changes from the commandline of the "bad" drive when it stalls out at the before loading the Kernel?

[falko]

Originally Posted by jsabarese

if i will be able to browse the data on that drive why couldn't i fix it that way too?

You can - if you know exactly what was deleted and where the problems are. I doubt that you know it (imagine: hundreds of files could have been deleted), so the easiest way would be simply to reinstall it.

[Betty_06]

I suggest you use data recovery software such as EASEUS DataRecoveryWizard to recover files.

Download demo version: http://www.easeus.com/download.htm

[jsabarese]

hey-- thanks for that! thanks for reminding me!! now that i have enough drive space, i'll bet i can do this!!
i actually attempted to get Knoppix on more than one occasion. seems every time i work on getting that Torrent, i spend half-an-hour trying to install torrent software, configuring firewall / ports... fool around w/ YumEx for another hour, and by then so distracted and behind schedule from wasting my own time, that i concede to return another day! haha... ugh!

I assume you have experience w/ this as being a "best-of-breed" data recovery for Fedora Core 5? (anyone?)

NOTE:
below is just my own little anecdotal account of "data loss", data recovery utilities, patience, and ignorance-- not specific to the Fedora Core 5 Filesystem issue i presented above, but perhaps useful for someone's search terms. to learn of my experience may help someone to prevent their own disaster. If you're in a hurry to find Fedora-specifc data recovery info, this probably isn't a thread for you...

i learned the value of patience from an experience i had a few years ago when i ruined the MFT on a 120GB NTFS WinXP drive. i had just spent a weekend consolodating 'the stuff' from several 40GB drives onto my "huge-at-the-time" 120GB HDD (so later, i'd wipe the little ones, use for building 'new' systems). once i had finished the consolodation, i proceeded to use PQ Partition Magic / Boot Magic to create a "dual boot" setup for my 'master system'. When Boot Magic (a WinXP Utility) performs its actions (as i distantly recall), it goes through a re-boot process in which it writes certain data to the 'slave' drive-- essentially for making it part of the new dual-boot setup, thereby modifying the standalone properties of that slave drive (very naughty for it to do so w/out ample "this is going to muck w/ your slave drive!" warning signs) -- a modification which renders that 'slave drive' useless if not allowed to complete. as if the hand of Evil pushed my own, midway in the re-boot (at powerdown) i decided i didn't want that dual-boot afterall, so i halted the process. it was my own ignorant intervention which, by interrupting the PQ Boot / Boot Magic process, i had effectively 'hidden' all of that consolodated data under a totally whacked MBR-- and not even Partition Magic could undo what it had begun (naughty PM that it is!). so there i was w/ a ton of data on one drive, and several 'empty' smaller drives. it would be over a year before i finally found the time and patience to extract, piece by piece using Runtime Software's "Get Data Back"-- an most EXCELLENT, superior tool in my opinion-- QUITE IMPRESSIVE in its ability to sniff out those folders while offering multiple possible 'images' it offers the user to preview. in action, it was very cool because some snapshots were paritially recognizeable by folder-name, while others were obviously "Not right", and only one stood out as the obvious, correct impression-- but the fact that i was able to try each 'recovery' w/ limitless indecision was really nice. at no time was anything written to that drive, so i had no fear of further data loss. i kept the Get.Data.Back "image" on my working Desktop because i would frequently dip into the 'damaged' drive for a file or two-- and 'recover' them individually, as needed (tedious, and time consuming, but effectively protected the data). had i the resources to 'dump' the entire Get Data Back image onto another drive, my problems would have been over-- as if nothing had happened, but i wasn't so financially endowed at the time. so, because i know how frustrating it can be to land in that kind of situation, i hope that maybe someone will pick up on this via Google if they need it. i say that because, of the entire process-- the most difficult part was finding Get Data Back would do precisely what i needed. i cringe at the countless hours spent looking at DOS floppy utilities (of which ACR "Media Tools Professional", i believe was head of its class-- very powerful, advanced skill required, more than i needed, and probably less friendly for that particular situation).

for the record, i've been using other resources since the drive discussed in this thread became unbootable. hence my gradual loss of concern for it [by 'it', meaning the 'stuff' on there, not the actual learning to solve the problem] in general-- it's why i've not done any major actions to the drive yet. short of any natural disaster, i'd rather not lose that data for laziness / not properly educating myself... so, it became a temporarily insurmountable task-- by which i hope to learn some real Linux "recovery" skills. this has been a good experience-- i would otherwise not have known the Forensic value of Knoppix, but since learning of it here-- i see it all over, described for precisely these uses (forensics, and data restoration).
funny how the learning takes place-- some of the best stuff learned outside of the classroom!

[jsabarese]

Originally Posted by Betty_06

I suggest you use data recovery software such as EASEUS DataRecoveryWizard to recover files.

Download demo version: http://www.easeus.com/download.htm

either this is a smart-bot spam scam, or Betty_06 doesn't know much about Linux:

Originally Posted by EaseUs

Software Requirements

Microsoft Windows 95, 95 OSR2, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP and 2003.

what punks! remind me to BAN THEIR SOFTWARE.
i'm sorry, but that kind of marketing is just bullchips.

[falko]

Originally Posted by jsabarese

what punks! remind me to BAN THEIR SOFTWARE.
i'm sorry, but that kind of marketing is just bullchips.

I'll keep an eye on her...

[jsabarese]

i thought i replied last night... must not have saved it...

i finally got Knoppix 4 to come down as DVD iso. i booted into Knoppix w/ the singular 'faulty' drive attached (EIDE). knoppix read the drive but only the Grub (?) side, and not the Filesystem partition side. said something about "can't mount hda2 - unable to determine filesystem and none was given.

i tried, similarly, w/ a 'good' Fedora drive attached -- so i had hda1 hda2, and hdb1, hdb2 (to my recollection those were the designations).
Knoppix wouldn't read the Filesystem partition on either drive. both of course were kept as read only, but only the boot part would read.

now that i have enough space to dump that 'faulty' drive onto this 120GB drive (the bummer is a 40GB, and maybe half used), is there any other method i might try for just getting what i need from there? of course the windows recovery software is probably not going to work-- but perhaps you'd recommend some data-recovery software for this OS?

thanks so much for your persistent review of this thread!

[Braedon]

now that i have enough space to dump that 'faulty' drive onto this 120GB drive (the bummer is a 40GB, and maybe half used), is there any other method i might try for just getting what i need from there? of course the windows recovery software is probably not going to work-- but perhaps you'd recommend some data-recovery software for this OS?

thanks so much for your persistent review of this thread!

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