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**monte48lowes** · Feb 27, 2008, 08:11 PM

Re: RESCUE Partitions & Data

Thanks Mike. I have used Photorec as well. It works.

Mike

**Qqmike** · Feb 28, 2008, 07:03 AM

Re: RESCUE Partitions & Data

Hi Mike & Thanks.
If you should think of any tips, please include them in a post here.
The only thing I sorta ran into in PhotoRec was searching for all the odt files; I may not have checked the right/best file family; no problems with txt or doc, though.
Thanks again,
--Mike

(I added a more detailed paragraph on TestDisk, searching deeper when a partition is not found initially.)

**Rog131** · Feb 28, 2008, 08:15 AM

Re: RESCUE Partitions & Data

HOWTO: Rescue data from hard disk
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/index.php?topic=11236.0

- Two examples: how to rescue data from hard disk with Ddrescue - Data recovery tool.
- Tried with ext and fat partitions.

**Qqmike** · Feb 28, 2008, 08:34 AM

Re: RESCUE Partitions & Data

Good, Thanks, Rog131.

ddrescue pops up in several places -- I think it may be the one on Knoppix (? -- a couple of these programs have names that are very similar to each other; Knoppix does have two or three such).

Main thing I picked up on, if you are copying data off a bad drive, one needs a program that will keep copying and not stop if it encounters errors (which it most certainly will encounter errors if the disk is bad). The classic dd command can be set with conv=noerror as an option, but I've even read where some implementations of dd do not work with noerror correctly (ie, it will stop on error). The DoD dd on Helix Live CD should work well in this regard.

--Mike

**Qqmike** · Jan 02, 2009, 09:59 AM

Re: RESCUE Partitions & Data

PhotoRec (Latest version: TestDisk & PhotoRec 6.10 (17 July 2008), Data Recovery)

Edited (for typos): 2-8-2014

More guidance/details, recent experience
Some tips for beginners to keep in mind using PhotoRec to recover your lost data.

> Successfully recovered family photos (jpg) and documents (OOo Writer).
Test:
A Kubuntu partition sdb3 became badly damaged (erased), no access to it, I used PhotoRec from another Kubuntu in sdb2 to recover important family pictures (.jpg files) and some documents in OOo Writer (.odt files).
Result:
Successful: All photos were recovered; all odt documents recovered.
Just one problem: Two documents were saved in Kubuntu as Microsoft .doc documents. I could not recover those. The recovered .doc files would not open or were damaged, although I tried to open them using OOo Writer in Kubuntu (and by changing the extension from odt to doc) and by using Microsoft Word in Windows XP.

> PhotoRec site:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec
PhotoRec is part of the more general TestDisk download:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

Recovery working from a Kubuntu partition:
We will assume you will install TestDisk/PhotoRec in a working Kubuntu/Linux OS to use for recovering data in another damaged partition.
However, these tips apply if you are using TestDisk/PhotoRec from a live CD (a recovery CD, like GParted Live CD, System Rescue CD, or Knoppix). For live CD rescue choices, see:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Livecd

To get PhotoRec: Three ways

-- Adept
You can use Adept Package Manager to get testdisk and it contains photorec.
After doing that, you would start PhotoRec at Konsole:
sudo photorec
and
sudo testdisk

Using this method, I had a few quirky things go on with PhotoRec that made it difficult to conduct more than one search in succession.
A better method would be one of the following two ways of getting PhotoRec.

Downloading TestDisk/PhotoRec to a personal directory.

> Create a directory for it:
Choose a directory to work in. Obvious choices might be your home or Desktop.
For the example, let's use /home/your_name/Desktop (which is the same as ~/Desktop).
Navigate to it, and create a subdirectory TestDiskPhotoRec:
/home/your_name/Desktop/TestDiskPhotoRec
Next, download TestDisk (and PhotoRec) to that directory.
Two ways:

-- Download TestDisk/PhotoRec from the site
Downloads at:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
Select Linux, the latest kernel version (the first one listed).
(Download TestDisk; PhotoRec is included with TestDisk)
Your browser may be set to download to Desktop, or you may be able to select the directory /home/your_name/Desktop/TestDiskPhotoRec for the download. In the former case, drag/Move the downloaded file testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2 into the TestDiskPhotoRec folder.

To extract the folder (and files) from the tar.bz2 file ...
> Right click on testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2 and select Open with Ark, then using Action or the Extract icon in ARK, Extract and navigate to the TestDiskPhotoRec folder as the extraction target.
> Or, simply right-click on testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2 (which is already in the folder TestDiskPhotoRec), then Extract here.

=> You want to keep everything—the tar.bz2 and the extracted folder/files-- in the folder TestDiskPhotoRec because it will be simpler to manage and contained where you can work with it. It is also the folder you probably want PhotoRec to save the recovered files to.

Explore it briefly to find the PhotoRec executable (program), photorec_static:
Click on the folder /home/your_name/Desktop/TestDiskPhotoRec/testdisk-6.10, then the folder linux, to see the executable (program) photorec_static. That's the program you'll run.

The third way to get PhotoRec:
-- Download TestDisk/PhotoRec using Konsole
To download and run TestDisk 6.10 (and/or PhotoRec) under Linux:
Change into the directory:
cd /home/your_name/Desktop/TestDiskPhotoRec
Then:
wget http://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2
Extract the files using
tar xvjf testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2
Or, to extract, you can navigate in GUI using Konqueror or Dolphin to TestDiskPhotoRec and extract the TestDisk folder and files using ARK as explained above.
(Then, to run TestDisk or PhotoRec from there:
cd testdisk-6.10/linux
sudo ./testdisk_static
Or,
sudo ./photorec_static
where the leading dot slash ./ means “the current working directory”)

Using PhotoRec

-- Starting PhotoRec
After downloading TestDisk/PhtotoRec from the site, to run PhotoRec, use the command
sudo /home/your_name/Desktop/TestDiskPhotoRec/testdisk-6.10/linux/photorec_static
which is the same as
sudo ~/Desktop/TestDiskPhotoRec/testdisk-6.10/linux/photorec_static
Or, you can change into the linux directory and do this:
cd TestDiskPhotoRec/testdisk-6.10/linux
sudo ./photorec_static
(note the period slash: ./)

Log file
Forensics users can use the parameter /log to create a log file named photorec.log; it records the location of the files recovered by PhotoRec.
Example:
cd ~/NEWtestdisk-6.10/testdisk-6.10/linux
sudo ./photorec_static /log

PhotoRec Step By Step Keep this link handy, it is good:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec_Step_By_Step
... and beyond that, a few tips I noticed:

Other tips for using PhotoRec
Working through the menus

> Select a media: Select the disk to search for files to recover. To accept Proceed or Quit, use the arrow keys, then Enter.

> Select the partition table type. To search your Windows or Linux data or operating system partitions, select Intel.

> Then highlight the partition you wish to search, but do NOT press Enter yet until you have examined the options at the bottom. Use Right-Arrow key to highlight File Opt and press Enter. Select the file types you want to search for: To clear all, type s. Highlight the type, then type an “x.”

=>
Open Office odt files Place an x next to:
Zip archive including OpenOffice and MSOffice2007

When done selecting file types, make sure Quit is highlighted and press Enter. Your partition selection should be highlighted, press Left-Arrow key to highlight Search, then press Enter.

> The filesystem type: ext2/ext3/ext4 (to search the damaged Kubuntu partition).

> Please choose if all space need to be analyzed:
[ Free ] Scan for file from ext2/ext3 unallocated space only
[ Whole ] Extract files from whole partition

If you only deleted some files and want to find them, select [Free]; if you damaged the entire partition, select [Whole] (as was my case in this example).

> Do you want to save recovered files in /home/your_name/Desktop/TestDiskPhotoRec/testdisk-6.10/linux ? [Y/N]
This is important. If you want to save the recovered files elsewhere, you must use the Up/Down Arrow keys to navigate to that location. Note the two dots .. means the parent directory of the current directory; use it repeatedly to navigate up the filesystem, select a final location, then type “y” to accept it.

> You'll get three passes Pass 0, 1, 2, until it finishes with the results.
You may then conduct another search by navigating back to the menu
[Search] [Options] [File Opt] [Quit]
and select [File Opt] to change the file types to search for, and repeat your search.

Finish message You'll get something like this:
629 files saved in /home/your_name/Desktop/TestDiskPhotoRec/testdisk-6.10/linux/recup_dir directory.
Recovery completed.
zip: 629 recovered

Sorting the results
If you have a large number of files, see the PhotoRec site for tips on sorting the results.
If you have a smaller, manageable number of files, navigate to the directory containing the results (/home/your_name/Desktop/TestDiskPhotoRec/testdisk-6.10/linux/ in this example) where you'll see one or more directories recup_dir.1, recup_dir.2, etc. In Konqueror/Dolphin open each directory, View > View Mode > Detailed List View, then sort by size or file type.

Locked folders: If you can't get access to some folders/files or can't delete them or move them, open Konqueror/Dolphin as root and try again:
In 8.10: kdesudo konqueror (or kdesudo dolphin)
In 8.04: kdesu konqueror (or kdesu dolphin)

Diskspace! Be careful! Managing large deletions

If you conduct several searches, you'll accumulate the recovered folders recup_dir.x, so you must be certain that you have the available space, and, for example, do not run low on your /home partition. You may have to move the recovered folders to a flash drive (or another such drive). Furthermore, you may have difficulty deleting the folders recup_dir.x, especially large quantities, and/or they may not go to the Trash and/or you can't Empty Trash.

Empty Trash at Konsole
It sometimes happens that you are unable to “Empty Trash Bin.” Or, you delete something, but it doesn't appear in the Trash Bin. Such items are here:
/home/your_name/.local/share/Trash
where you will see two folders: files and info. The directory called files contains deleted folders/files; and info contains information about such deleted items. You can manually empty files and info as follows:
cd /home/your_name/.local/share/Trash
ls
files info
sudo rm -r files/*
sudo rm -r info/*

In fact, you may remove the entire folders files and info and they will be re-created as they are needed; i.e., as you delete items:
sudo rm -r files
sudo rm -r info

Empty Trash
rm -r recup_dir.1
rm -r recup_dir.2

Deleting folders and files at Konsole
Similarly, if you can't delete a folder or file using Konqueror/Dolphin, you can do so at the command line. Navigate at Konsole to the directory containing the file or folder you want to delete.
To delete a file:
rm file
(or sudo rm file)
To delete afolder:
rm -r folder
(or sudo rm -r folder)
- - - - -

See Part 3 of this:
Commands at Konsole: Beginners
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3091607.0
In 3 parts, new/improved, complete basic tutorial.

**Qqmike** · Mar 16, 2009, 11:56 AM

sidux live UFD: Re: RESCUE Partitions & Data

sidux Live Persistent Flash Drive
-- an excellent medium for conducting rescue/repair work

Perfect candidate conducting rescue/repair work and for personal/fun use. It's compact, loads up quickly, is snappy, has many apps included, has excellent facility for accessing disks and partitions (Storage Media), has an excellent Manual and web site, is very easy to use, and has an excellent installer (install-sidux-to-usb). We will run it with the persistent capability and so can store personal settings, data, and updates to programs as well as personal programs.

sidux is continually changing, so check the site for the latest Manual references and links.
I did this with: sidux-2009-01-ouranos-kde-lite-i386-200902151242.iso (450 MB)

SUMMARY of Steps to Get Your Flash Drive Going
A Table of Contents

-- Prepare the flash drive
partitioning, format ext2, set Label and boot flag
Recommended: Zero-out the MBR (see below for how-to)
-- Install sidux to the flash drive using the sidux live CD:
K > System > install-sidux-to-usb
-- Set up your applications; examples (see below)
For non-free, edit your sources.list.
-- Set up special applications for system rescue and repair
GParted: included with sidux (check version/updates)
TestDisk: included with sidux (check version/updates)
See below for another neat way to do TestDisk/PhotoRec.
Midnight Commander: Included with sidux (as root)
rsync: Included with sidux
rdiff: Included with sidux
Virus and Rootkit Scanners
See the Manual, System Administration > Virus and Rootkit Scanners
http://manual.sidux.com/en/vir-rkits-en.htm#virus-rkits
Anything else you might want (Partimage, etc.)
dd: included with sidux
dcfldd: install it with apt-get install dfcldd
-- Disk Full!
Running out of space on your flash drive -- issues, tips to avoid/fix problems
How much space is available for your personal data/settings/apps?
Fixing it when your disk is full: The goal is to delete data, free-up space
Fixing the filesystem
Ways to keep your flash drive clean and plenty of free space available
-- TestDisk and PhotoRec -- another good way to set these up in a personal directory
-- dd & dcfldd
-- Cloning your live persistent flash drive
-- Troubleshooting tips in sidux live

-- REFERENCES

-- APPENDIX 1 Flash Drive Notes: Following the bytes as a % used
Capacities: Binary (e.g., GiB) and decimal (GB)
Different utilities report capacities differently
Monitoring your flash drive capacity after set up and loading sidux
Flash drive sidux files: your personal home and menu.lst
Boot parameters; What does boot=fll mean?
Flash drive wear-out: comments and links
Rx for wear-out worry: Use ext2, clone it, and use backups

-- APPENDIX 2: APT Commands, SUMMARY Sheet
Searching, listing packages
Repairing APT

********************
********************

Prepare the flash drive
partitioning, format ext2, set Label and boot flag
Recommended: Zero-out the MBR

You have many choices how to do this. Two ways are: You may do this in GParted Live CD (then re-boot into sidux live CD to install); or you may do this in sidux live CD, then install. We'll address both ways.

-- Using GParted Live CD
Unplug the flash drive.
Put the GParted CD in the CD tray and reboot your PC.
Let GParted boot up. View your device (drive) list: Click GParted > Devices or click the drop-down list on the upper right of the screen to see the list of drives detected by GParted.
Plug the flash drive in.
Click GParted > Refresh Devices. Then view your device (drive) list again to see how GParted detects your flash drive. If it doesn't come up, do again this: GParted > Refresh Devices.

Open Terminal in GParted (double click on the Terminal icon, top row of the Desktop screen). Using sudo for root, type:
sudo fdisk -lu
You should see the flash drive in the list (sda, sdb, sdc, etc.). This tells you how the flash drive is seen in Linux terms.
=> Assume the flash drive is seen as sdX.

The Master Boot Record (MBR) is the first 512 bytes of the flash drive; that's the first sector of the flash drive. (A sector is 512 bytes.) Your MBR may be empty or it may have some past bootloader code in it or just some useless data. When GRUB is used, sectors following the MBR are also used for GRUB code. And when partitioning is done, usually the first partition starts at sector 63--after all this other stuff. Thus, to be safe, let's clear out (zero-out) the first 63 sectors of your flash drive by writing zeros to it, and that will restore it to its factory-new state.

CAUTION: The following dd command will write zeros to the MBR of drive sdX, so make sure you put the correct device name in for sdX! (Where do you think dd got its nickname of "data destroyer"?)

Still in the GParted Terminal, using sudo for root in GParted, zero-out the MBR and 62 more sectors:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=512 count=63

Optional: Zero-out the entire flash drive if it has been used a lot and if you wish to clear it:
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX
Let it run to completion; it takes awhile (e.g., 10-20 minutes for 4 GB); and you will not get a progress report as it goes along (but you'll see the blinking LED on your flash drive).
(NOTE: The special version of dd called dcfldd does give a progress report. See below.)

When finished zeroing-out out the flash drive, exit the Terminal by typing exit.

Partitioning:
NOTE: sidux must go on the FIRST partition.

If it is not open, open the GParted panel (double-click GParted icon at the top).
Highlight the unallocated space, then use Partition > New, create a partition, ext2, then click Apply.
set a Label (Partition > Label, then Apply; make up a word for your Label, e.g., sidux-UFD (where UFD = USB Flash Drive))
set a boot flag (Partition > Manage Flags, checkmark the boot box, then click Apply)

Re-boot into sidux Live CD, leaving the flash drive inserted, as follows:
GParted > Quit. Double-click the red Exit icon at the top, select Reboot from the menu.
When prompted, remove the GParted Live CD, insert the sidux live CD, leave the flash drive inserted, close the tray, press Enter.
(NOTE: This assumes your BIOS is set to boot first from the CD drive. If not, when your PC reboots and presents the Power-On Self Test (POST), enter BIOS setup and set it to boot from the CD.)
Reboot into sidux live CD.

(Troubleshooting: If you don't make it, are dropped to a prompt, but there are no error messages, type at the prompt startx, press Enter.)

Next:
]Skip to: Install sidux to the flash drive.

-- Doing all this work in sidux live CD, outline:
Unplug the flash drive.
Boot the sidux live CD.
Open Konsole (K > System > Konsole--Terminal Program). You must be root to do this work (to run both fdisk and dd):
sux
fdisk -lu
See how your drive(s) are denoted (e.g., sda, sdb, etc.). Keep Konsole open (as root, sux).
Plug in the flash drive, let it be recognized, say OK to open it, then close it (File > Quit or click the x at upper right). Find out what it is called as follows:
fdisk -lu
=> Assume the flash drive is seen as sdX (e.g., sdb, sdc, sdd, etc.).
Zero-out the MBR and 62 more sectors (see above for discussion):
dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdX bs=512 count=63
Optional: Zero-out the entire flash drive -- See above.
When dd is done, type exit (twice ) to quit Konsole.

Partitioning:
NOTE: sidux must go on the FIRST partition.
Open gparted (K > System > Partition Editor).
Highlight the unallocated space, using Partition > New, create a partition, ext2, then click Apply.
set a Label (Partition > Label, then Apply; make up a word for your Label, e.g., sidux-UFD (where UFD = USB Flash Drive))
set a boot flag (Partition > Manage Flags, checkmark the boot box, then click Apply)
The exit gparted (GParted > Quit).

Next:
See below: Install sidux to the flash drive.

********************

Install sidux to the flash drive

In the sidux Live CD session,
K > System > install-sidux-to-usb
Follow the instructions, which will require you to know how the flash drive is seen (from the USB Device drop-down list, select sda, sdb, sdc, sdd, etc.); if you want persistence, be sure to check the box labeled "persist." Click Apply to start the installation.
Finish, then K > Exit > Re-boot.

(Troubleshooting: If you are dropped to a prompt, restart manually as root:
sux, then shutdown -r now)

When prompted, remove the sidux live CD, leave the flash drive plugged in, let the PC re-boot, when you see the BIOS POST, enter BIOS setup, and set your BIOS to boot from the flash drive (Enable USB booting; adjust your list of drives according to your BIOS instructions; Save settings and reboot).

(Troubleshooting: You may have to re-boot again to get your BIOS to cooperate.)

Notes:

POST = Power On Self Test

BIOS:
Every PC BIOS is slightly different, and you must take time to study how yours works. Your BIOS must support "Boot from USB"!

Example:
Intel motherboard 915GAVL. To enter BIOS setup, you press F2. Cursor right to the Tab called Boot, highlight Enable USB Booting and press Enter. Then, still in Boot menu, highlight List of Drives and bump the flash drive to the top of the list. It will then also appear at the top of the Boot Order list. Save & re-boot to boot from the flash drive. In the future, when a bootable flash drive is plugged in, BIOS should see it and boot from it. If it fails to do so, do one or both of two things: enter BIOS setup again and reset everything to boot from the flash drive in the list of drives; and/or re-boot the PC and hope BIOS catches the flash drive properly. It works fine, just not perfectly every time.

=> Investigate your BIOS to see how it works.

********************

Set up your applications

Examples: This depends on you and what you need and want in your live sidux flash drive sessions. To give you some idea how to proceed, here are some personal examples.

NOTE: sux
In a given Konsole session, you only need to invoke root one time using the command
sux
In the examples that follow, I have included sux before key commands; in practice, you only need to do it once.

NOTE: apt-get
See the sidux Manual for using apt-get.
Based on the Manual, I've prepared a summary sheet of commands to keep handy--see Appendix 2 of this how-to.

Boot into your live-persistent sidux flash drive.

Set up Iceweasel (Firefox), flashplugin, Icedove (Thunderbird)
Open K > System > Konsole, then root console:
sux
apt-get update
(Then to search for correct package names: apt-cache search firefox, apt-cache search thunderbird, apt-cache search flashplugin. apt-cache search iceweasel, etc.)

apt-get install iceweasel
(Then import bookmarks.html; get NoScript add-on)
apt-get install icedove
(Then bring in address books from a saved profile: abook.mab and history.mab.)

Word processor? spell checker? If you want one, you have to install it.
Otherwise, simply create and use text files (right-click in your home or Desktop, Create New > Text File).
Example:
apt-get install openoffice.org-writer
For spell checker (USA):
apt-get install myspell-en-us
(or search: apt-cache search myspell; apt-get search spell checker)

Nonfree: Update the sources (/etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list.) to include non-free sources
See the sidux Manual, the chapter "dist-upgrade and package management", the "Sources List" section, in the introductory paragraphs find the links to non-free sources sidux.list and debian.lst.
Example:
> sidux.list:
http://sidux.com/files/misc/sources.list.d/sidux.list

# sidux e.V., Germany
deb http://sidux.com/debian/ sid main contrib non-free fix.main fix.contrib fix.non-free
#deb-src http://sidux.com/debian/ sid main contrib non-free fix.main fix.contrib fix.non-free
> debian.list:
http://sidux.com/files/misc/sources.list.d/debian.list

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free
#deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free

#deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free
#deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ testing main contrib non-free

#deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ experimental main contrib non-free
#deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ experimental main contrib non-free

=> As root, add these to your /etc/apt/sources.list.d/*.list.
=> Run the update, as root:
sux
apt-get update

Install any nonfree packages
First do as root:
sux
apt-get update

Examples: flashplugin-nonfree and libarts1-xine
To watch YouTube,
apt-get install flashplugin-nonfree
For Konqueror thumbnails (of pics and movies):
apt-get install libarts1-xine

********************

Set up rescue/repair packages; check version information for updates
Examples, notes

-- GParted
It is included with sidux (K > System > Partition Editor)
Open it, see if it is the version you want. To check for updates,
sux
apt-get install gparted

-- TestDisk
(includes PhotoRec)
Included with sidux.
Open a root console, enter sux, type testdisk, check the version (e.g., 6.10).
Also, run
after sux
apt-get install testdisk
to check for updates.
=> See below for another way to install and run TestDisk and PhotoRec.

-- dcfldd
(a modified version of dd, very useful; give progress reports; verification)
sux
apt-cache search dcfldd
apt-get install dcfldd
Manual:
man dd
man dcfldd
(See below, "Using dcfldd")

See the sidux K menu -- there are many apps included:
-- Midnight Commander: Included with sidux (as root)
-- rsync: Included with sidux
-- rdiff: Included with sidux
-- Virus and Rootkit Scanners
See the Manual, System Administration > Virus and Rootkit Scanners
http://manual.sidux.com/en/vir-rkits-en.htm#virus-rkits
-- The sidux Manual
-- sidux-browser-Generic (Konqueror)
Tip: In Konqueror, gg:searchstring will call a google search for searchstring.
Tip: K > System > File Manager > Superuser Mode (Konqueror)
-- ELinks WWW browser (lightweight)
-- Kate, KWrite: Utilities > Editors
-- Many apps under K > Debian > Applications:
Shells: Bash, Dash, Python, Sh; Terminal Emulators: Konsole, Xterm

Install anything else you might want (e.g., Partimage).
For ideas, See SystemRescueCD:
http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page
(System-tools, left side bar)
(btw, SystemRescueCD also has a live USB install option)

********************

TestDisk and PhotoRec ... another good way to set these up
=> Downloading TestDisk/PhotoRec to a personal directory.
(Thanks to Christophe GRENIER for this tip, TestDisk dev)
In this case, you will probably want to remove the existing testdisk to save space:
Konsole:
sux
apt-get remove testdisk

-- How to set up and run TestDisk & PhotoRec from a personal directory:
> Create a directory for it:
Choose a directory to work in. Obvious choices might be your home or Desktop.
For the example, let's use /home/your_name/Desktop (which is the same as ~/Desktop, where ~ is the same as your personal home: home/your_name).
Navigate to it, and create a subdirectory TestDiskPhotoRec, so you now have
/home/your_name/Desktop/ TestDiskPhotoRec
Next, download TestDisk (PhotoRec comes with TestDisk) to that directory.
> Download TestDisk/PhotoRec
Downloads at:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Download
Select Linux, the latest kernel version (the first one listed). (Download TestDisk; PhotoRec is included with TestDisk.) Your browser may be set to download to Desktop, or you may be able to select the directory /home/your_name/Desktop/ TestDiskPhotoRec for the download. In the former case, drag/Move the downloaded file (e.g., testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2) into the TestDiskPhotoRec folder.
> To extract the folder (and files) from the tar.bz2 file ...
Right click on testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2 and select Open with Ark, then using Action or the Extract icon in ARK, Extract and navigate to the TestDiskPhotoRec folder as the extraction target. Or, another way, simply right-click on testdisk-6.10.linux26.tar.bz2 (which is already in the folder TestDiskPhotoRec), then Extract here.
=> You want to keep everything—the tar.bz2 and the extracted folder/files-- in the folder TestDiskPhotoRec because it will be simpler to manage and contained where you can work with it. It is also the folder you probably want PhotoRec to save the recovered files to, BUT READ the section below: Disk Full!
> Explore it briefly to find the PhotoRec executable (program), photorec_static:
Click on the folder /home/your_name/Desktop/TestDiskPhotoRec/testdisk-6.10, then the folder linux, to see the executable (program) photorec_static. That's the program you'll run.
> To run the programs
Change into the directory (cd) and issue the command, like so:
cd /home/your_name/Desktop/testdisk-6.10/linux
sux
./testdisk_static
Or,
sux
./photorec_static
where the leading dot slash ./ means “the current working directory."

********************

dd & dcfldd
dcfldd is based on dd and is an enhanced version of dd. was developed at USA Dept. of Defense. dcfldd is no longer available on free Helix CD as of Feb 2009. dcfldd includes progress reporting and verification, as well as various methods for ensuring accuracy and speed.

To get dcfldd:
sux
apt-get install dcfldd
man dcfldd
Syntax and many command-line options are the same as for dd.

dcfldd: references
> dcfldd(1) - Linux man page
http://linux.die.net/man/1/dcfldd
> See also, dev notes re verify:
http://www.networksecurityarchive.or.../msg00004.html
> dcfldd - Latest version 1.3.4-1
http://dcfldd.sourceforge.net/

********************

Disk Full!
Running out of space on your flash drive -- issues, and tips to avoid and fix problems

Avoid filling up your flash drive!
You will want to maintain as much free space on your flash drive as possible so you'll have enough room to store new data and apps. Also, if your sidux partition becomes too full, you will not be able to log into your KDE. Ditto for kdm: you may encounter log-in looping, not able to log in. The recommendation, to be safe, is to maintain 85% free space.
See the sidux Manual:
Window Managers > Login problems to the system under KDE.
http://manual.sidux.com/en/wm-kde-en.htm#kde-login

-- How much space is available?
As explained in the sidux Manual, you can continue adding persistent data to the flash drive until there is no more room left on the sidux partition. sidux must occupy the first partition of the flash drive, it is to be formatted FAT32 or preferably ext2 (or ext3). The persistent file will continue to fill up until the flash drive is full.
See the Manual, Installation Options > Boot "fromiso", and the section
General information on fromiso with persist
http://manual.sidux.com/en/hd-instal...en.htm#fromiso
Quote:
ext2/3 file systems
With ext2/3 the full partition will be used, the current root is taken and a directory /fll is created which is used for the persist allowing the usage of all free place in the device for the persist system.
[End quote]

Example: Do NOT try this yet!!! Not until you read this entire section.
I installed sidux USB to a 4 GB flash drive, configured a few things, and had 18% used space, 92% free space. Then I used the following command to create a file TestFile and fill it with zeros.
sux
dd if=/dev/zero of=TestFile
The output of the dd command was this:
dd: writing to `TestFile': No space left on device
6163049+0 records in
6163048+0 records out
3155480576 bytes (3.2 GB) copied, 568.907 s, 5.5 MB/s
As you can see, it wrote 3.2 GB of zeros into the persistent area of the live sidux partition. At that point, working in sidux became impossible as there was no space left for anything, and upon re-booting, I was not able to log in. (The file TestFile kept accepting zeros and growing until it took up all available space on the flash drive.)
=> Thus, you can store as much data/apps as your flash drive sidux partition will hold. (That is, the size of your persistent file in not arbitrarily fixed but will expand until the entire sidux USB partition is full.)

-- What to do if your partition becomes "full."
Don't panic just yet.
Manual reference:
Login problems to the system under KDE
http://manual.sidux.com/en/wm-kde-en.htm#kde-login

Overview (quick summary)
-- Full partition -- 4 ways to fix it
1 You can try to log in using either KDE or the lighter-weight Fluxbox, then clean out any unused/unnecessary files and re-boot.
2 Or, when you are dropped to a prompt, you can work at the command line to explore your partition and remove files using cd, ls -al, and rm (rm file and rm -r directory).
3 Or, you can chroot into the partition using a Live CD and clean out your flash drive.
4 Or, you can boot into another OS on your PC, insert the sidux flash drive, and clean out the flash drive sidux partition. You may do so at Konsole as root or open Konqueror as root.
5 After cleaning up, you may also have to fix the sidux-partition filesystem and/or start with a new /.kde.

Tools (quick summary)
To see your drives:
sux and then fdisk -lu
Open Konqueror as root:
sux and then konqueror; or:
kdesu konqueror
To see all your mounted filesystems: df -hT
To see space used/available: du -sh * (or, just du -sh)
Then, for more detail: du -h * (or, just du -h)
Dropped to a prompt
Use commands cd, pwd, ls -al, and rm (rm file or or rm -r dir)
To get a terminal: Ctrl+Alt+F1
Check/fix the filesystem
FIRST UNMOUNT sdX1 !!!
First sux, then fsck -vt /dev/sdX1
and/or, for ext2/3: e2fsck -vt /dev/sdX1
Set a root password: passwd
Rename your KDE folder (called /,kde):
mv /home/sidux/.kde /home/sidux/kdesaved
Then get a graphical log-in screen by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F7

Check these (see below for details, tips):
kcontrol
If you have booted into sidux live flash drive, run: kcontrol
click Privacy, Clean
As root (sux), apt-get clean
Thunderbird: Compact Folders
Trash: Empty it.
The home directory of root: /root
PhotoRec -- see Tips below

Detailed Decision Tree

Step 1 Rescue your data
If the data stored on the flash drive is important to you, copy it off now. Boot into a live CD or any OS on your hard drive. Plug in your sidux flash drive, access/mount it, copy your data to a safe location.
Example: Your flash drive may show up as /dev/sdc1, mounted as /media/disk. Your personal data and settings are located in the following directory:
/media/disk/fll/cow/home/sidux

Mounting at CLI; using Konqueror as root
> To mount the flash drive manually, plug it in, open Konsole, get root by typing sux, then type fdisk -lu to see how it comes up (e.g., sdc1, sdd1, etc.). Suppose it appears as sdX1. Then (continuing as root--sux):
mkdir /media/disk
mount /dev/sdX1 /media/disk
where X is your device (X= a, b, c, d, etc.)
When you are done working, unmount it and exit:
sudo umount /dev/sdX1 /media/disk
exit
> You may have to open Konqueror as root to do some/all this work:
Open a regular user terminal, then
sux
konqueror
(or, you can do: kdesu konqueror)

-- Next Steps

Step 2: Are you able to boot into the sidux flash drive? If not, go to Step 3.
If you able to boot into the sidux flash drive, then:
Boot into it. Find the folders/files containing your data, delete/remove any data you don't need.

Tools at Konsole: df and du
Help (Manual pages):
man df
man du

Try df:
df -hT
to see all your mounted filesystems

Better, du:
First, change directory into the directory you would like to check out.
For example, you might try your home directory:
cd ~
(Your home in sidux live flash drive will be designated as "user name" = sidux, NOT your name, but it is your home.)
Then (s = summary):
du -sh *
(or, just du -sh)
Then, for more detail:
du -h *
(or, just du -h)

Note about root's home: /root
Root's home is designated by /root.
Often, it is the culprit. Inadvertently, data--stuff--may have ended up there (e.g., from PhotoRec or from running dd as root or other commands as root). Thus, you must access /root as root, by using sux at Konsole, or a root terminal, or opening Konqueror as root. After identifying the data you feel you can safely delete/remove, do so.

KDE: kcontrol
If you have booted into sidux live flash drive, you may also run at Konsole
kcontrol
click Privacy, then Clean (the button at lower right)

APT: clean
At Konsole, run sux and then apt-get clean

Thunderbird:
Highlight Local Folders, then File > Compact Folders (See below.)

Trash:
Empty it. (See below.)

More ideas: See below

Step 2 is completed now
Run df -hT and du -h (or du -sh or du -h * or du -sh *)
See if your efforts to free up space were successful.
Re-boot your sidux flash drive; hope for the best.

Step 3: If you are NOT able to boot into your sidux flash drive.
Now, this is a problem, but it is often solvable.
Symptoms
When you try to boot into sidux live flash drive, you get strange error messages. (Popular ones are "No write access to /home/sidux/.ICEauthority"; "Could not start ksnserver"; or "Disk full" messages). Or, you hit the log-in screen but are bounced back to a blank blue screen or to the log-in screen again (log-in looping).

Solutions
Remove excess data from the flash drive
As in Step 2, you must try to delete/remove as much unneeded data as possible from the flash drive. But since you can't log into sidux live flash drive, you'll have to do the work using a live CD or by booting into another operating system (e.g., sidux on your hard drive). In either case, you must access the flash drive from where you are, and that simply means you must boot into an OS (on disk or a live CD), plug the flash drive in, let it be recognized, perhaps run (as sux) fdisk -lu, then mount it if it is not automatically mounted, then click on the flash drive (icon) to open it and see the files on it.

Dropped to a prompt: Perhaps you can almost log in, but can't, and you are dropped to a prompt or are able to get a prompt (e.g., Ctrl+Alt+F1). In this case, you may be able to do the work at the command line, using commands like cd, pwd, ls -al, and rm (or rm -r dir).

See the tips in Step 1 (above), namely:
> Mounting the flash drive;
> Checking your personal files in home:
-- When you are in another OS (on a hard drive or live CD) viewing the live sidux flash drive ]filesystem, your personal data and settings are located in the following directory: /fll/cow/home/sidux;
-- When you are booted into a live sidux flash drive session, your personal data and settings are located in the following directory: /home/sidux;
> To open Konqueror as root: (first, sux) konqueror (or kdesu konqueror);
> Check also the home directory of root: /root;
> Use these commands (perhaps changing into /home/sidux first) to see the used space:
df -hT
du -h (or du -h *)
du -sh (or du -sh *)
> Remove as much data as you can;

Try now to re-boot into the flash drive
If you can, you are done!
If not, perhaps something got damaged and must be fixed. Continue:

Check/repair the filesystem
Find out how your flash drive is seen by running
sux
fdisk -lu
Let's say it is sdX1 (e.g., sda1, sdb1, sdc1)
First, Unmount the flash drive!!! <= VERY IMPORTANT!!!
(using sux, umount /media/<mount point> or umount /dev/sdX1)
Then (continuing as root using sux):
fsck -vt /dev/sdX1
And/or, for ext2/3:
sudo e2fsck -vt /dev/sdX1

After that's done, re-boot to test the flash drive.
If that works, your are done!
If not, continue:

KDE settings damaged
Re-boot, try to get to the log-in screen. If you can't get that far and you've done all the above, you will have to try something else--this guide will not help you further. Post the issue at a forum. See tips below, too.
If you can get to the log-in screen:
At the log-in screen, get a virtual console by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F1.
You may have to log in by typing root or sidux.
If you are asked for a password, set a new one:
passwd
then make one up; re-type it if asked. Hopefully, you'll get in.
Rename your KDE folder (called /.kde):
mv /home/sidux/.kde /home/sidux/kdesaved
Get a graphical log-in screen by pressing Ctrl+Alt+F7.
You may get a KDE wizard to help you build a new KDE configuration and/or a new /.kde folder will be constructed for you and you'll be booted into sidux live.
Try re-booting.

>>> From dibl:
Top 20 Kubuntu FAQ
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3099811.0
FAQ#16. Out of disk space, filesystem full, how can I tell where it went, etc. etc.
Also, to learn which directory is holding an unusual amount (number or size) of files, use
Code:
du -h --max-depth=1 | sort -n
first at the "/", or root directory, and then change to whichever directory appears to have an unusually large size, and use it again to see which sub-directory is unusually large.

>>> From Rog131:
FAQ: Free Disk Space
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3086353.0

>>> From Herman:
Fixing filesystems, damaged superblock:
Filesystems and Mounting (and fixing):
http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/p10.htm

Ways to keep your flash drive clean and plenty of free space available

-- Run the command (as root, using sux): apt-get clean
This is especially important in sidux where APT is used for package management (and downloads).
=> The option "clean" clears out the local repository of retrieved package files. It removes everything but the lock file from /var/cache/apt/archives/ and /var/cache/apt/archives/partial/. When APT is used as a dselect(8) method, clean is run automatically. Those who do not use dselect will likely want to run apt-get clean from time to time to free up disk space. See man apt-get.

-- PhotoRec
Be careful! It can fill up your disk quickly with files it finds.
Recovered files are written in recup_dir.1, recup_dir.2... sub-directories. It's possible to access the files even if the recovery is not finished.
Carefully decide where to direct PhotoRec output. If you direct the output to the live sidux flash drive, remember to clean it up afterwards as it can easily fill up the flash drive rather quickly.
>>> Tips on using PhotoRec:
In the last step of PhotoRec, you are asked, Do you want to save recovered files in /root? [Y,N]
If yes, then the home of root on the flash drive will be used to store the directories recup_dir.n.
Instead, you can choose other locations on a hard drive or an external USB HD or another flash drive.
If you use another flash drive or an external USB HD, you should first plug them in before opening PhotoRec, let sidux recognize them, open them, close them, then open PhotoRec and PhotoRec will also see them. You select the location for saving recovered files in the last step of PhotoRec by using up and down arrow keys to select a directory (one dot . is the current directory, two dots .. is the parent of the directory you are in). To select a directory you have highlighted, press the right arrow key. Continue until you are satisfied, then press Y to accept the destination for saving recovered files.

-- Thunderbird email: Compact your folders! IMPORTANT!
That's because when you delete email and empty the Trash, you don't physically delete the email--they are only hidden. These hidden e-mails are physically removed only when the folder is compacted. If you don't compact your mail folders periodically, they can grow very large, and erratic program behavior may occur.
How to COMPACT email folders:
Open Thunderbird, highlight Local Folders, then File > Compact Folders.
To set Thunderbird to automatically compact your email folders, Edit > Preferences > Advanced > Network & Disk Space > Disk Space > check the box Compact folders when it will save over 100 KB.

-- Empty Trash at Konsole or in Konqueror
It sometimes happens that you are unable to “Empty Trash Bin.” Or, you delete something, but it doesn't appear in the Trash Bin. Such items are here:
/home/your_name/.local/share/Trash/files and /home/your_name/.local/share/Trash/info.
where you will see two folders: files and info. The directory called files contains deleted folders and deleted files; and info contains information about such deleted items. You can manually empty files and info as follows:
cd /home/your_name/.local/share/Trash
ls
files info
rm -r files
rm -r info
The folders files and info will be re-created as they are needed.
>>> Use Konqueror: You can do the same thing in the GUI, using Konqueror.

-- Deleting folders and files at Konsole
If you can't delete a folder or file using Konqueror, you can do so at the command line. Navigate at Konsole to the directory containing the file or folder you want to delete.
If you need to be root, type sux at Konsole before proceeding.
> To delete a file:
rm file
> To delete a folder (and its contents):
rm -r folder
> To delete only the contents of a folder (not the folder itself):
rm -r folder/*

Caution: To be certain that the remove command (rm) used with the wild card * removes hidden files, you might run it this way:
shopt -s dotglob
rm -r folder/*
(or sudo rm -r folder/*)
You can configure your BASH file to do this automatically:
Edit the file
~/.bashrc
to include the following:
# This ensures that * includes hidden folders and files when using cp and rm
shopt -s dotglob
(Then File > Save, File > Quit)

-- Other files to delete
For many more places to look to delete unwanted files, see
Privacy Cleanup 101
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde....msg115011#new
(aka: Qqmike; written for Kubuntu, but many ideas apply to sidux)

********************

Cloning your live persistent flash drive
Boot into an OS (e.g., sidux on your hard drive or a live sidux CD), plug in your live sidux flash drive and plug in an empty flash drive of the same size (GBs); Suppose these are seen as sdc and sdd, respectively. (To know this, run sux and then fdisk -lu.)
To clone sdc, run, as root (using sux), the following:
sux
dd if=/dev/sdc of=/dev/sdd bs=4096 conv=notrunc,noerror
The dd copies everything--including GRUB bootloader, the MBR, the partitioning, and the formatted filesystems; the flash drive sdd is now ready to boot up: Test it.

********************

Troubleshooting tips

-- While booting up the live sidux CD, if you don't make it, are dropped to a prompt, but there are no error messages, type at the prompt startx, press Enter.

-- If you have problems re-booting after ending a live sidux CD session, when you are dropped to a prompt, restart manually as root:
sux
shutdown -r now

-- Password problems in live sidux
If you get stuck in a live session and it seems you need a password, then make one up:
Open a console
sux
passwd
Then, if needed
startx

This from the sidux manual:
Live Mode root password -- working as root in live session
http://manual.sidux.com/en/live-mode-en.htm#rootpw
Partitioning tools may request a root password, type sux. On a Live-ISO none is set just press 'enter' or type sux.

****************************************
REFERENCES

sidux (always lower case "s")
http://sidux.com/

sidux Manual (15 languages as of March 2009)
http://manual.sidux.com/

TestDisk (to recover lost/deleted partitions, recover MBR)
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
PhotoRec (to recover lost/deleted documents, pictures, movies)
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec

How To Make GRUB Thumb Drive
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081748.0
A toolkit for working with flash drives

Privacy Cleanup 101
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde....msg115011#new
(Places to look to delete unneeded files.)

dd Command
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3090824.0

RESCUE Partitions & Data
Data Rescue Links & Comments & Tips
TestDisk -- PhotoRec -- Knoppix (or other Live CDs)
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3091847.0

Commands at Konsole: Beginners
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3091607.0
In 3 parts, new/improved, complete basic tutorial.

How To GRUB Methods - Toolkit
http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3081671.0
GRUB ERRORS: See Reply #23

****************************************
APPENDIX 1 Flash Drive Notes: Following the bytes as a % used

UFD = USB Flash Drive

Some Miscellaneous Flash Drive Issues and Notes
Flash drive capacity (GB and GiB as seen from different utilities)
Flash drive setup and loaded with
sidux-2009-01-ouranos-kde-lite-i386-200902151242.iso (450 MB)
Flash drive sidux files (home and menu.lst)
Flash drive wear-out (comments and links--as of March 2009)

NOTE: GB and GiB (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GiB)
-- getting the prefixes correct

Gibibyte (a contraction of giga binary byte) abbreviated GiB.
1 gibibyte = 2**30 bytes = 1,073,741,824 bytes = 1024 mebibytes
Thus:
----------
decimal kilobyte = 1000 bytes
binary Kibibyte = 1024 bytes (2**10)
----------
decimal Megabyte = 1000*1000 = 10**6 =1,000,000 bytes = MB (or M)
binary Mebibyte = 1024*1024 = 2**20 = 1,048,576 bytes = MiB (or Mi)
----------
decimal Gigabyte = Megabyte * 1000 = 10**9 = 1,000,000,000 bytes = GB (or G)
binary Gibibyte = Mebibyte * 1024 = 2**30 = 1,073,741,824 bytes = GiB (or Gi)

Flash drive capacity (GB and GiB as seen from different utilities)

You will notice that quantities reported by various utilities may be approximate, rounded, and/or express in either binary (MiB's) or decimal (MB's). It's best not to get too obsessed trying to follow every single byte, but simply to keep an eye on the percent of space used on the flash drive. Also, be aware that of the total physical device you purchased, space is reserved on it for the controller (of the flash drive device) and for extra space for repairs (bad cells). Space is also required for partitioning and formatting.

Example Kingston 4 GB DataTraveler (DTI)

-- Zero-out the flash drive; check the capacity

This was done in GParted Live CD at Terminal using the following dd command (where the UFD is seen as sdc):
sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdc
Output of the dd comand:
7936001+0 records in
7936000+0 records out
4,063,232,000 bytes (4.1 GB)
1546.11 s, 2.6 MB/s [so, it ran 1546.11 seconds, almost 26 minutes]

NOTE: With this dd statement, 1 record = 512 bytes since the default block size was used (bs=512).
Writable or accessible capacity:
In the GParted Live CD session, the capacity of the writable space on the flash drive was noted using dd, GParted, and TestDisk (right-click on the GParted desktop to open testdisk). Thus:

dd 4,063,232,000 bytes (4.1 GB)
TestDisk 4063 MB/3875 MiB (and so rounded to about 4,063,000,000)
GParted 4,055,063,552 bytes (3.78 GiB)
Note: In GParted, right-click on the space (unallocated), select Information; 1 sector =512 bytes.

Next step:
Flash drive setup and loaded with
sidux-2009-01-ouranos-kde-lite-i386-200902151242.iso (450 MB)

After setting up the partition, there is 2% used space.
Details:
After using dd to zero out the flash drive, still in the Live GParted CD session, an ext2 partition was made, with Label sidux-USB, and the boot flag set on that partition. GParted then reported 68.29 MiB used => 68.29 MiB * 1,048,576 bytes/MiB = 71,607,255 bytes used to set up the partition => 2% used (as reported by GParted).

Next step:
Install sidux on the flash drive. That took (on my setup) about 4 minutes. Afterwards, GParted reported 14% used (about 535.67 MiB used).

Flash drive sidux files (home and menu.lst)

When you are in sidux installed on your hard drive and plug in the live sidux UFD, you will see this:
/fll/cow/home/sidux/Desktop and your other personal (home) files under /fll/cow/home/sidux.
When you are in a live sidux flash drive session, your will access your personal home files simply under /home/sidux/. Thus, the user name for your home is "sidux."

You might also wish to have a look at the GRUB boot menu, /boot/grub/menu.lst:
##ISO boot
title sidux (USB) 2.6.28-5.slh.3-sidux-686
kernel (hd0,0)/boot/vmlinuz-2.6.28-5.slh.3-sidux-686 boot=fll fromhd=UUID=cfc9149d-02ee-4a6e-b7ff-5af85a360239 fromiso nointro quiet persist lang=us vga=791
initrd (hd0,0)/boot/initrd.img-2.6.28-5.slh.3-sidux-686

The boot parameters are explained in the Manual:
Cheat codes
http://manual.sidux.com/en/cheatcodes-en.htm

What does boot=fll mean?
Answer (from a forum post):
fll (two ell's, not ones) is our fll-live-initramfs script, it is what sets up the modified 'live' mode of the sidux media. The boot= parameter lets the initramfs-tools init script know what boot script to execute. See initramfs-tools (man initramfs-tools).

Flash drive wear-out (comments and links--as of March 2009)
I am not treating the subject of flash drive wear-out except to offer these personal observations and some good links to get you started. Wear-out is a real possibility, but my reading suggests that in most realistic applications, wear-out would occur long after the useful life of the flash drive is reached (after the warranty period)--a matter of several years. Anecdotal evidence (hearsay) suggests that people have used their live flash drives as their main OS for two years or more. Remember, too, that internal hard drives and external USB drives also have a finite useful life and are also subject to random failures.

Rx: If you are worried about wear-out, do three things:
1 Use the ext2 filesystem to format your sidux partition (instead of the journaling filesystem ext3).
2 Clone you live sidux flash drive, and do so from time to time, keeping the clone as your backup.
3 Maintain timely backups of all important data kept on the flash drive; back up your data to another medium (e.g., another flash drive, a CD/DVD, an external USB HDD, or to an internal hard drive folder).

Start with these references to learn more and decide for yourself how important wear-out is to you:

Flash memory, wear-out, leveling, bad cells, etc.:
Crucial FAQ:
http://www.crucial.com/kb/answer.aspx?qid=4088
From Cosair:
https://www.corsairmemory.com/_faq/F...r_leveling.pdf
Kingston:
Kingston.com/flash_memory_guide
Samsung defends flash reliability in solid-state drives
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-9876557-64.html

****************************************
APPENDIX 2

APT Commands A Summary Sheet

Some of this information comes from the sidux Manual:
A small APT-Guide Cookbook
http://manual.sidux.com/en/sys-admin...n.htm#apt-cook

sidux uses APT, not a GUI (Adept or Synaptic)
APT is "Advanced Packaging Tool "

Help
apt-get help
man apt-get

Root: run the APT commands below using root ; i.e., by first typing
sux

Sources (of packages)
/etc/apt/sources.list –> where to look for and get packages
http://packages.debian.org/stable/allpackages.html – all Debian packages

All packages on your system: dpkg -l
Print this list to a file: dpkg -l > MyListDebian.txt

apt-get update
Run this after editing source.list and before using apt-get.
Run this before running apt-get install.

More on searching for packages and version information
Run apt-get update, then:
> Search: apt-cache search package_name
> find out which packages have new/newer versions (first install apt-show-versions):
apt-show-versions -u
> list of all packages, that contain or address "sidux" and "manual" is obtained by:
apt-cache search sidux manual
> for more information on a particular package, you can use (e.g., for package sidux-manual-en):
apt-cache show sidux-manual-en
> All installable versions of a package (they depend on your sources.list) can be listed by typing (e.g., for package sidux-manual-en):
apt-cache policy sidux-manual-en

General:
First: apt-get update
Search: apt-cache search package_name
Install: apt-get install package_name
Remove: apt-get remove package_name
apt-get --purge remove package_name
(--purge: deletes config files, too)
Clean: apt-get clean
(cleans /var/cache/apt/archives where packages are first downloaded)
apt-get autoclean
(removes old package files, out of date, no longer useful)
Find: Start at root: cd / && sudo find -name name_of_file
Start at directory dir: cd / && sudo find -name dir name_of_file

.deb
Installing .deb packages that are already downloaded to you:
dpkg -i package.deb

Repair APT

This may be a “best” choice:
apt-get -f install

There are two separate commands:
dpkg –configure or dpkg –configure -a
(configures unconfigured packages)
dpkg-reconfigure or dpkg-reconfigure -a
(reconfigure already configured packages)
-a option
with the -a option, both commands will configure all packages that meet the criteria
(dpkg-reconfigure -a may take a while)

Usual scenarios where you want to use them:
dpkg --configure -a
When upgrade has been interrupted by errors or crash, to complete the installation of packages
dpkg-reconfigure <package_name>
When you want to change the package behavior, it will ask debconf questions (again)
so you can change your answers and modify the configuration.

**Qqmike** · Mar 29, 2009, 06:58 AM

Flash drives: Re: RESCUE Partitions & Data

The above how-to post, sidux Live Persistent Flash Drive, has undergone a major revision, expansion, and improvement.

The Summary--Table of Contents will give you a quick idea what is included.

Lots of good stuff that applies in general to Kubuntu (e.g., avoiding "Disk full," and what to do if your disk/partition is full).

Also serves as a guide to using flash drives: preparing, zero-out, partition/format, booting.
Use of apt-get.
Using GParted Live CD.
Flash drive wear-out (Appendix 1)

and more

This will apply also to putting Kubuntu on a live persistent flash drive (using usb-creator) for rescue/repair -- see the REFERENCES.
(More on Kubuntu later on.)

**Qqmike** · Feb 08, 2014, 09:34 AM

Edited Post #6 (on Photorec) for typos (in some filename paths):

https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post161927

**Qqmike** · May 14, 2015, 02:10 PM

Fix UEFI+GPT with Testdisk & gdisk -- Deleted partitions & damaged GPT structure

https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post372417

The present how-to, Rescue Data and Partitions, contains a lot of useful stuff, but it needs to be updated. I'm placing the GPT-repair work under GRUB 2 along with other UEFI+GPT information.