750GB NTFS set to linux-swap by accident.

Optyx · 03-28-2015, 06:18 PM

So I was really drunk and playing with a few things on my laptop.
Unbeleivable stupidity on my part.

Please tell me this is reversible somehow.

Steps I've taken :

Booted, halted & swap-offd' / resumed.
- has not been initalised yet.

Downloaded parted, ran a scan which was not fruitious.
Scan showed 3 results. 1 400mb and 2 3mb - non mountable.

It was my thought that only the start of cylinders / head are written for partitions(in theory). I'm guessing this is something that isn't so *only* when you turn the entire drive in to swap partition. I could cry.

Code:

The partition in question : 
Disk /dev/sdb1: 721GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: loop
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start  End    Size   File system     Flags
 1      0.00B  721GB  721GB  linux-swap(v1)

print -a

Code:

(parted) rescue                                                           
Start? 512B                                                               
End? 4096B                                                                
(parted) print all                                                        
Model: SanDisk Cruzer Glide (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 7849MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start  End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 2      125kB  32.6MB  32.5MB  primary  fat16        esp


Model: ATA TOSHIBA MQ01ABD0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 750GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start  End    Size    File system     Name                  Flags
 1      827MB  722GB  721GB   linux-swap(v1)  Basic data partition
 4      722GB  738GB  15.7GB  ext4                                  boot, esp
 2      738GB  748GB  10.5GB  ext4
 3      748GB  750GB  1828MB  fat32


Model: Unknown (unknown)
Disk /dev/sdb1: 721GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: loop
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start  End    Size   File system     Flags
 1      0.00B  721GB  721GB  linux-swap(v1)

linosaurusroot · 03-28-2015, 06:35 PM

The first thing to do is back it up (for instance with dd) so you can work on it (or have someone else do so) without risking further loss.

photorec is often suggested as a means of recovering files from a damaged filesystem.

rknichols · 03-28-2015, 07:17 PM

If all you did was "mkswap /dev/sdb1" (or the equivalent in a GUI partitioning tool) and never actually used the partition for swap, then testdisk should be able to find the backup NTFS boot sector and repair the filesystem. Backing up the entire disk is still highly recommended. It is really easy to make a mistake with testdisk and cause further damage.