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Thread ID: 71399	2006-08-04 21:57:00	Has Linux stuffed my ext HD?	Shortcircuit (1666)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
476128	2006-08-04 21:57:00	The continuing Linux saga... sigh. When I installed SuSE linux and plugged my external usb HD in the HD would show up on Linux as 5 or 6 separate usb devices. I swear all I did was LOOK at the device/s in the Linux media window, but when I plug the HD into my shiny new XP system it shows as a single removable E drive and I get the error; 'The drive is not formatted, do you want to format the drive?' If I click on format the drive shows as there being 8gig to format when the actual drive is 80gig. Of course I do have stuff on the HD that I want to keep (it's called back-ups), so I would like to get my back-ups back. What's likely to happen if I go ahead and format the 8gig... will the rest of my back-up files be lost forever? Go Linux... you'll never look back :thumbs:	Shortcircuit (1666)
476129	2006-08-04 22:10:00	I'm no Linux expert by a long shot nor do I have an external USB hard drive but once when I left my USB pen drive plugged in whilst booting up Linux the darn thing somehow got wiped. I had to actually reformat it in Windows before it could be used again. :( Hope you haven't got the same problem..... :waughh: Can you still see the HD's contents in Linux? I wouldn't go formatting anything just yet...	FoxyMX (5)
476130	2006-08-04 22:16:00	Foxy, The drive shows up in Linux as 1x 8.0gig, plus about 5 others of more or less 2.0-5.0gigs each. Of course I didn't have it plugged in when I originally installed SuSe, but thinking back I may have left it plugged in once when I shut down the comp and rebooted (as I would in Windows). It's not looking good :( PS I'm no Linux expert either :p	Shortcircuit (1666)
476131	2006-08-04 22:18:00	Have you tried using a partition reader to see if you can still read the files on it without using Windows? Paragon Partition Manager (http://www.partition-manager.com/) is a good version of this, it can read all filesystems, free demo, worth a try :thumbs: EDIT: One problem with this is that any changes you want to make, it will not allow it... PM me if you want more info ;)	The_End_Of_Reality (334)
476132	2006-08-04 22:45:00	It sounds like the partition table has changed. Just plugging the drive in is unlikely to have changed this. If it was plugged in during installation this could be an issue, although by default it only uses the largest drive. If your drive had a single partition on it before, you could try recovering the partition using parted or a simpler point and click interface such as qtparted (http://qtparted.sourceforge.net/). These can (sometimes) recover a partition given the start and end sectors (0 and the last sector on the disk).	TGoddard (7263)
476133	2006-08-04 23:17:00	The problem with Windows is it only recognises "Microsoft approved" partition types. As advised a third party partition manager is the best bet. The Universal Boot cd is a great tool although its probably got too much stuff on it and therefore gets a bit confusing.	dolby digital (5073)
476134	2006-08-04 23:50:00	Dunno if it makes much difference, but the drive was originally set up under Windows... ie never used in Linux. Just had a look at it with swiss knife and it shows 'primary partition 8423mb NTFS formatted'. I guess that's where my back-up files are, but strange that when I plug the HD in it doesn't recognise the NTFS? The rest of the disk shows as logical/extended/free unformatted.	Shortcircuit (1666)
476135	2006-08-05 01:23:00	Linux doesn't change partition tables without being told to . Linux doesn't reformat disks without being told to, esepecially to NTFS . :groan: . It doesn't assume that you would want to do these things, even if a disk is partitioned and formatted under another OS, unlike another OS . :D It just looks at it and, if it knows the file system, will see if it can read it . But it doesn't automatically do destructive things . It leaves that to users, who are much better at it, because they have had more practice . A badly designed USB device might be affected by transients if it's plugged in while a system is starting up . I suspect this is more likely to be one of those random things, which happened to occur while you were using the thing with the Linux machine . If you format the 8GB you would be very lucky to get the files back . Don't do it . Are any of the backup files plain text? If so, you can see if there's a reasonable chance of recovering them by using a couple of Linux utilities . df will show you what the disk is called at the hardrawe level . . . "/dev/something" . Then dd if=/dev/something | strings -4 will show you any strings of readable characters (which might be "words") 4 characters or more long . Ctrl/C will stop that . . . you won't want to go all through even 8 GB Any partitioning or formatting is likely to be disastrous . There are data recovery programmes around . One is called PCInspector, I think . . .	Graham L (2)
476136	2006-08-05 01:46:00	I've heard lots of things in the last few weeks that Linux doesn't do Graham... like not stuffing a Windows install when you do a dual boot :) I agree that users are very good at stuffing things up without any help, however in this instance I can categorically say that there was no intervention on my part... well, apart from leaving the HD plugged in between reboots. I just tried PC Inspector and it appears that there are no files to recover. Well, at least I had some of the stuff backed up to DVD... I assume that Linux couldn't get to that as it hasn't been near the box since Linux was installed. Thanks for your help anyway... we live and learn :rolleyes: PS, I would try your df suggestion... but I'm not going near Linux for a while :D	Shortcircuit (1666)
476137	2006-08-05 01:55:00	I've heard lots of things in the last few weeks that Linux doesn't do Graham... like not stuffing a Windows install when you do a dual boot That's the classic example of disastrous actions Linux leaves to the user. In order to stuff up the Windows installation, it has to be told to do that. Unfortunately there is no way to ensure that the user is really sure, and if so that the certainty is based on knowledge. :D	Graham L (2)
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