Grub Help.

[SteveRiley]

I've a bit of a learning curve here, feel free to chime in please as I don't know where to start. I'm starting to read the online files to navigate it also.

Wish I could help you...but I've not used any of those tools. Perhaps someone else here at KFN has and will chime in.

Reading the docs is always good, too.

PS Will this ruin the drive if I fail?

There's no risk of physical damage. However, I'd recommend that you have a second drive connected, and ensure that you restore each recovered file to this second drive. That way, you aren't overwriting anything on the one you're trying to recover from.

[phonic-otg]

Photorec worked on the Linux partition of sda and files were recovered to the new 2TB drive I'd bought for backups and had only just started to use when this catastrophe occurred. Photorec has recovered hundreds of thousands of files yet they are in file formats that seem familiar yet they are not ie: .txt is mostly code in English and German .png and .svg seem to be photos or graphics templates for icons.

How do I find email and firefox setting files pdf files or open office files? As these are the four that are most important to me, i'd like to find those first.

[Qqmike]

Maybe this? --> http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/File_...ed_By_PhotoRec

[phonic-otg]

Thanks Qqmike, I was there already Photorec has created 1106 file folders filled with many (100's and or 1000's) of varying files they suggest another programme to sort, I'll give it a go. Well I went to here but the beginning starts of about windows and I'm not to sure on the other code/outputs on how to proceed.

I have tried by dolphin *.msf (mozilla files according to the list) but it searches with no results.

[phonic-otg]

This is the output of TestDisk 1st go.
Would someone kindly chime in to help me make some sense of what I'm looking at. I am reading the TestDisk documents as well ( a lot to take in ) to figure it out.

TestDisk 6.14, Data Recovery Utility, July 2013
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org

Disk /dev/sda - 320 GB / 298 GiB - CHS 38913 255 63

The harddisk (320 GB / 298 GiB) seems too small! (< 363 GB / 338 GiB)
Check the harddisk size: HD jumpers settings, BIOS detection...

The following partitions can't be recovered:
     Partition               Start        End    Size in sectors
>  Linux                14638   1 20 44209 197 20  475070464 [Media-Nova]
   Linux                14638  33 52 44209 229 52  475070464 [Media-Nova]
   Linux                14639   6 24 44210 202 24  475070464 [Media-Nova]








[ Continue ]
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock Recover, 243 GB / 226 GiB

This bit is interesting what dose it mean?

Disk /dev/sda - 320 GB / 298 GiB - CHS 38913 255 63

The harddisk (320 GB / 298 GiB) seems too small! (< 363 GB / 338 GiB)
Check the harddisk size: HD jumpers settings, BIOS detection...

TestDisk seems to have found the old Partition table maybe?

TestDisk 6.14, Data Recovery Utility, July 2013
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org

Disk /dev/sda - 320 GB / 298 GiB - CHS 38913 255 63
     Partition               Start        End    Size in sectors
  [COLOR="#B22222"] Linux                    0  32 31    31  26 57     497664[/COLOR]
   [COLOR="#B22222"]Linux                    0  32 33    31  26 59     497664[/COLOR]
   [COLOR="#0000FF"]Linux                    0  32 33 29571 228 33  475070464 [Media-Nova][/COLOR]
   [COLOR="#B22222"]Linux LVM               31  59 29 38913  70  5  624640000[/COLOR]
  [COLOR="#B22222"] Linux                   31  91 61 38389  49 60  616218624[/COLOR]
 [COLOR="#0000FF"]  HPFS - NTFS          14983   0  1 29571 254 63  234372285
[COLOR="#008000"]>  Linux                29572   0  1 37432 254 63  126286965 [Nova1104][/COLOR]
   HPFS - NTFS          29572   0  1 37432 254 63  126286965[/COLOR]
  [COLOR="#EE82EE"] Linux Swap           37433   1  1 38912 254 63   23776137
   Linux Swap           38389  49 61 38910 217 27    8380416
[/COLOR]










Structure: Ok.  Use Up/Down Arrow keys to select partition.
Use Left/Right Arrow keys to CHANGE partition characteristics:
*=Primary bootable  P=Primary  L=Logical  E=Extended  D=Deleted
Keys A: add partition, L: load backup, T: change type, P: list files,
     Enter: to continue
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large file Sparse superblock, 64 GB / 60 GiB

The colouring is mine. This seems to be what my partition looked like before the mishap. Except for the LVM and entries coloured red.

OK so I selected the Nova1104 partition and typed "p" to list files it would seem the file structure is intact. This is the output.

TestDisk 6.14, Data Recovery Utility, July 2013
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org
     Linux                29572   0  1 37432 254 63  126286965 [Nova1104]
Directory /

>drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 29-Jul-2013 21:25 .
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 29-Jul-2013 21:25 ..
 drwx------     0     0     16384 26-Jun-2011 14:07 lost+found
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096  3-Aug-2013 13:03 var
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0     12288  3-Aug-2013 13:03 etc
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096  3-Aug-2013 09:43 media
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0     12288  2-Aug-2013 16:56 bin
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0     12288  2-Aug-2013 17:33 boot
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 26-Apr-2011 09:40 dev
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 23-Jun-2012 08:47 home
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096  1-Aug-2013 21:19 lib
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 14-Jun-2013 23:37 lib64
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096  1-Aug-2013 23:16 mnt
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 26-Apr-2011 09:26 opt
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 22-Apr-2011 02:51 proc
 drwx------     0     0      4096 24-Jul-2013 19:57 root
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0     12288  2-Aug-2013 09:41 sbin
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 21-Mar-2011 19:35 selinux
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 26-Apr-2011 09:26 srv
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 29-Mar-2011 07:21 sys
 drwxrwxrwt     0     0     12288  3-Aug-2013 13:03 tmp
 drwxr-xr-x     0     0      4096 23-Oct-2011 19:39 usr
 lrwxrwxrwx     0     0        33 29-Jul-2013 21:25 initrd.img
                                                   Next
Use Right to change directory, h to hide deleted files
    q to quit, : to select the current file, a to select all files
    C to copy the selected files, c to copy the current file

The above is my old file structure on my 12.04 partition.
When one looks at the discovered file/partition structure output (two code box's up), there should be * or P or L or E or D marked @ the beginning of each line, mine has none, I'm thinking of selecting

>  Linux                29572   0  1 37432 254 63  126286965 [Nova1104]

as bootable with *. Though I'm none to sure on how the others should be. I've coloured the newer ones mixing with media-nova & LVM in red, if I mark them to be deleted and leave the blue Media-Nova will it conflict any where? What are the blue HPFS - NTFS entries how should they be marked? The Pink is the swap do I need 2?
Now I'm stymied as to what to do? I've stepped back by quitting till I returned to Konsole commandline. Then exit konsole.
I think I should of ran TestDisk first 'eh. Oh well no harm done to HDD as Photorec just copied raw data files.
It would appear I've some chance after all.

...cont.
I'm not going further (YET) to see if I can change it and restore boot-ability until I comprehend what needs to be primary logical extended or deleted.

[SteveRiley]

You need to use PhotoRec, not TestDesk. TestDisk cannot recover files from EXT3 or EXT4 file systems:

TestDisk can undelete

* files from ext2 filesystem,
* files from NTFS partition since version 6.11,
* files and directory from FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32 filesystem.

If a lost file is still missing, give PhotoRec a try. PhotoRec is a signature based file recovery utility and may be able to recover your data where other methods failed. Note that it can recover deleted files from ext3 and ext4 filesystem.

PhotoRec knows how to recover files from EXT3 and EXT4:

PhotoRec ignores the file system; this way it works even if the file system is severely damaged.
It can recover lost files from at least

* FAT
* NTFS
* exFAT
* ext2/ext3/ext4 filesystem
* HFS+

[phonic-otg]

Thanks for chiming in again Steve, I have already used photorec and retrieved the files I just cant sort them as I dont have the time to go throught 100000 or more files individually.
TestDisk seems to indicate by its gramma that it can make the nova1104 drive boot-able (as the file structure is intact right down to the kernel image) and I require the file types mentioned above which are only on nova1104 I'm researching on how the partition entry should be prefixed. I don't care to much for the media-nova partition (which cannot be restored anyway, according to TestDisk).
I may have to ask the questions of the TestDisk development team.

[Qqmike]

I shouldn't even say anything since this can be so serious. I wrote a how-to on this, here, but can't find it. It has been a few years since I used TestDisk and I can't remember anything--besides, it's been updated. But ...

"TestDisk seems to indicate by its gramma that it can make the nova1104 drive boot-able (as the file structure is intact right down to the kernel image) and I require the file types mentioned above which are only on nova1104 I'm researching on how the partition entry should be prefixed."

Yes, you should be able to RESTORE that partition, easily, BUT ... I'm pretty sure that puppy will be restored right back on the disk it was lost/deleted on, so be very careful if you have already re-partitioned that disk! Yes, the developer, granier?, at one time was very helpful in personally responding to email for help. But, also, the instructions on the site should clearly indicate how to select a partition to be restored -- it's fairly fast and easy, as I recall. Sorry I can't be of more specific help to you now, but to encourage you to move forward. As I recall, I teased, pushed, TestDisk to the max, and it consistently performed wonders.

[Qqmike]

Btw, when I messed with TestDisk, it was all on legacy setups--GRUB Legacy, legacy MBRs. TestDisk assumed Grub was setup and ready to boot. It then would restore the partition table for you if it was "deleted" (and so you could then access any partitions it could find and identify as un-damaged), you could re-boot, and access partitions as usual.

[phonic-otg]

NEW UPDATE:

After TestDisk wrote my selection for NOVA1104 as " * " (Primary and boot) and the other partition that was the second Linuxswap as "L" (Logical) and nothing selected for the others, I exited and shutdown for the night. I Started up next morning and began to research Partitions for a few hours and took a break to play Startrek Armada in wine then downloaded a file and went to open the file with Dolphin and noticed a drive entry for NOVA1104.

I immediately opened it up and began backing up the home folder.

I then opened the Partition manager and Moved the sda2 partition to the beginning of the drive and resized it to take the up the unallocated space leaving the swap.

So now I am back to installing a Bootmanager on the drive.

Steve, if your still watching/reading, will I be able to now try to get rEFInd 0.7.1 installed on the sda drive or should I stick to grub?

[phonic-otg]

This is my current output from, sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders, total 625142448 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes                                                           
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes                                            
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes                                                
Disk identifier: 0x0009160b                                                                      
                                                                                                 
   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System                                   
/dev/sda[COLOR="#FF0000"]2 [/COLOR]  *       16065   601361144   300672540   83  Linux                                    
/dev/sda[COLOR="#FF0000"]3 [/COLOR]      601361145   625137344    11888100   [COLOR="#FF0000"] f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)      [/COLOR]                    
/dev/sda5       601361208   625137344    11888068+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 2000.4 GB, 2000398934016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0002f740

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *          63  3907024064  1953512001   83  Linux
Partition 1 does not start on a physical sector boundary.

Disk /dev/sdc: 8004 MB, 8004304896 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 973 cylinders, total 15633408 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00098029

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1              63    15631244     7815591    b  W95 FAT32

Disk /dev/sdd: 16.0 GB, 16008609792 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1946 cylinders, total 31266816 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000101ca

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdd1   *        2048    22878207    11438080   83  Linux
/dev/sdd2        22880254    31264767     4192257    5  Extended
/dev/sdd5        22880256    31264767     4192256   82  Linux swap / Solaris

The red highlight above are for my questions. With the sdaX numbering is that changeable without destroying data? Should the ID for sda3 be "5" like sdd2 and not the "f" ?
Also trying to boot to sda (320Gb Drive) still gives missing operating system error yet the /boot & /etc/defult/grub and all grub folders are there

()

So is it a mater of getting a 12.04 usb install to correct the grub on sda?

[SteveRiley]

I need a little more clarification first. Aside from the altered partition numbering, is all normal functionality restored?

[phonic-otg]

Sorry I was otherwise occupied. I decided to not continue with reconfiguring the 12.04 partition to boot instead I extracted the pertinent information required, with the 13.04 USB drive (as it recognised the file structure and could read the partition), after TestDrive rewrote the drive partition table for the 320GB drive.

I then reinstalled the latest 12.04LTS and moved all pertinent files either to their required location (email) or a new one of my choosing (Docs & Pics). Also the fresh install of the LTS fixed the wine issues I was having. So all in all a fun/frustrating journey of learning of which I'm a little wiser. Thanks to all whom participated. I'm about to save and build a new (for me) quad core 16GB usb3 capable momma, whilst looking into Audrino.
PS I will honour my word and kick back to the community in the near future.

[phonic-otg]

[SteveRiley]

Hey, I was away for a while too. It appears you've been able to recover your information. Cooooooooool.