Problem: MyBook World edition network drive failed...

[PZ]

I've a 1 Tb network drive that now refuses to mount - evidently XFS file system - can't be seen by Windows, however Linux sees it fine.  I installed Ubuntu (free linux-based OS), as a second boot option and I can see the drive fine, but still refuses to mount.  Disk management reports "a few bad sectors".

I'd like to recover as many files as I can (mostly my Picasa album and DVD rips) - anyone have any experience with recovery like this?

Making lemonaid out of lemons, I'm impressed with this Linux install - fast, didn't need to do any driver installs, and it installed in less time that it takes to do a MS Office install change.  A side benefit is that it comes bundled with lots of software (evidently MS Office compatible), and Firefox is the default browser, with Google as the default search engine.  Likely because hackers target primarily Windows machines, this OS will be much more secure.  Besides, it is much prettier than Windows  :-()

[Art Blade]

lemonaid

a lemon aid?  :-()

Man, that's not cool, a disk that refuses to w@&k.. the way you wrote about it I assume it has been part of the system before and only now quit working? Man.. I hope that there are more than one partition on that disk so you can try to repair the file system.

However, since I don't know what exactly happened, try this link (search result for repair hard drive at MS)

http://windows.microsoft.com/is-is/windows/search#q=repair+hard+drive

[PZ]

Yes, there are three partitions - to small ones that I assume are come type of control for the 3rd partition, which contains the data.  Unfortunately these drives cannot be accessed by the Windows OS, only Linux.  I'm digging for information, and have found a few data recovery solutions, but if the drive does not even mount, then I am not that hopeful.  Funny thing is that the drive is reported as healthy (in general), but that a few sectors are bad.  In Windows it is easy to repair bad sectors, but the same is not true of this Linux-based format.

[Art Blade]

I assume you used to use it under windows and that it does not contain a windows boot partition (not "C:\")? If it was a windows boot drive you could just delete that partition and re-create it with a new installation. The other partitions should still be accessible after that

[Art Blade]

Oh and, did you try to restore the MBR?

The simplest way to repair or re-create MBR is to run Microsoft's standard utility called FDISK with a parameter /MBR, like

C:\> FDISK.EXE  /MBR

[PZ]

Not exactly; it is a stand alone network drive with essentially a tiny computer built into the box with Linux that controls the drive.  This network drive enclosure has it's own RJ-45 jack in the back, and it's own IP address - there is a web interface that allows you to access the box and create shares on the standard WD drive to any OS you like, including Windows.  However, that is where the resemblance ends - Windows cannot do anything with the drive other than format it - Windows thinks it is a blank drive because it cannot interact with the Linux boot records.  Essentially, it is like having a Linux computer on your network that is willing to share with Windows.

I pulled the 1 Tb WD drive out of the enclosure because it is not recognized by anything any longer.  Now installed in my Windows PC, the drive appears blank to Windows, but the Linux install sees it fine - but because of a few bad sectors, is unable to mount it.  Now I have what amounts to a Linux formatted drive in my PC.  What I am hoping to find is software that I can either use through Windows to access XFS drives, or software that I can use through Linux to repair the bad sectors.

Somehow I need to be able to find some kind of utility that will mount the drive despite the bad sectors so I can recover what data I can - hopefully so.

[Art Blade]

TestDisk 6.14 open source, freeware.

virus-checked and reported clean by 37 AV progs:
for Windows http://download.heise.de/software/87985738da72377e538bd62f3a7bebe7/5267b6c0/95708/testdisk-6.14.win.zip
for Linux kernel 6.2.x http://download.heise.de/software/c19fcdf792fe4efd8675757f84d1ab51/5267b740/95711/testdisk-6.14.linux26.tar.bz2

The download site (heise.de) is from my favourite computer mag, renowned in Germany. The prog should be able to help you.

Here the manufacturer's site
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk

TestDisk can find lost partitions for all of these file systems:

... XFS, SGI's Journaled File System

TestDisk is powerful free data recovery software! It was primarily designed to help recover lost partitions and/or make non-booting disks bootable again when these symptoms are caused by faulty software, certain types of viruses or human error (such as accidentally deleting a Partition Table). Partition table recovery using TestDisk is really easy.

TestDisk can

    Fix partition table, recover deleted partition
    Recover FAT32 boot sector from its backup
    Rebuild FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 boot sector
    Fix FAT tables
    Rebuild NTFS boot sector
    Recover NTFS boot sector from its backup
    Fix MFT using MFT mirror
    Locate ext2/ext3/ext4 Backup SuperBlock
    Undelete files from FAT, exFAT, NTFS and ext2 filesystem
    Copy files from deleted FAT, exFAT, NTFS and ext2/ext3/ext4 partitions.

TestDisk has features for both novices and experts. For those who know little or nothing about data recovery techniques, TestDisk can be used to collect detailed information about a non-booting drive which can then be sent to a tech for further analysis. Those more familiar with such procedures should find TestDisk a handy tool in performing onsite recovery.

[PZ]

Thanks AB, I'll give it a go today  :)

[Art Blade]

thank me if it worked, good luck anyway  :)

[Art Blade]

epic failure?

[PZ]

Not sure yet. Did not get a chance yesterday. Life got in the way  ;D

[Art Blade]

I hope you can fix that  :-D

[PZ]

Finished configuring the Linux OS, installed Testdisk, and the first pass did not find a useable partition, even though they were listed.  Now I'm doing a deep scan - 121600 cylinders are discovered, and Testdisk is scanning each one - three read errors found so far.  It is a slow process, but at least it is doing something - will probably take 4-5 hours to complete the deep scan.

The bad sectors likely indicate physical damage to the drive, which is why it will not mount.  Hopefully I can get past the bad sectors with Testdisk, and then capture the actual data files themselves

[Art Blade]

prepare for 8-9 hours.. let it do its thing over night. Physical damage is a real problem, you will need professional help for that (which means exposing the content to them..)

[PZ]

... Physical damage is a real problem, you will need professional help for that (which means exposing the content to them..)

Wouldn't be a problem for me (only my pictures and ripped videos), but is typically very expensive.  If I were to lose the data, it would not be a disaster, but I would lose a couple of years of photos (the best of which I already have in an online album)

It is about 50% done now, and will likely not be finished before I need to be elsewhere, so I'll pick up tomorrow.

[PZ]

The good news is that I have not seen any additional errors thrown since the deep search started - looks like the problem might be in one of the raid partitions.  If that is the case, I might be able to retrieve all my data, which would be great.  So far, Ubuntu is correctly reporting the size of the data partition.

We'll see how it goes; this is the first time I've had to hack into a disk with XFS format

[Art Blade]

I hope all goes well, PZ

[PZ]

Thanks AB - there are 1459 bad sectors - some of which must be on the data partition, because I'm seeing some high sector identifiers now - at 71%.

Some good news (for me) is that I found yet another tb drive with at least 70% of my ripped DVD videos backed up.  It should be interesting to see if I can recover much of the data.

I think I'll get a fresh tb drive, and then perform a ddrescue to clone the bad disk onto the fresh one - then I can experiment at will  >:D

[Art Blade]

yep.. sounds like a plan. I have a 1TB external HD for stuff I really want to keep and a second PC which basically contains most of my backup data, too. And some USB sticks with some stuff, a third backup if you will. Backups are what most people ignore the most  :)

[PZ]

Yep - I know... just got lazy when my 8-port switch went down and I had to plug the network cables into the back of a 4-port wireless router.  Still haven't replaced that switch.

[PZ]

No joy so far - testdisk was not able to recover the data partition - however, I'll try photorec, which was designed to recover photos, but might be able to recover others as well - we'll see how it goes.  Only problem is that I'll need to install an internal tb drive because photorec does not recognize network shares

[Art Blade]

geez, that's quite a chore, man. I hope that you'll be able to recover at least some of your data.

[PZ]

I'll do ddrescue next and see where that goes - might get past the physical damage and allow the drive to mount.  Need to get a `1 tb internal first - will be an interesting experiment - I like challenges  :-()

[Art Blade]

Not me. I don't like all challenges there are just for the sake of it, but I will be very persistent when I have to cope with one. What you are dealing with is one I'd rather not have to cope with. :-D

[PZ]

Not me. I don't like all challenges there are just for the sake of it, but I will be very persistent when I have to cope with one. What you are dealing with is one I'd rather not have to cope with. :-D

Yeah, I'm kind of like you, but when I've resigned myself to the loss, the academic interest in solving the problem becomes the main focus - if I am successful, great - if not, then I'll simply move on and not give it another thought ;)