LinuxQuestions.org
Download your favorite Linux distribution at LQ ISO.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Software
User Name
Password
Linux - Software This forum is for Software issues.
Having a problem installing a new program? Want to know which application is best for the job? Post your question in this forum.

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 06-06-2009, 02:10 PM   #1
jason143
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Jun 2009
Posts: 3

Rep: Reputation: 0
Exclamation Question marks in the directory attributes, need help fixing.


I have a raid 5 1.5TB partition that two of the three hard drives went offline at the same time the OS was writing to the hard drive. The computer locked up and I rebooted it. I went into the 3ware bios and started the raid 5 rebuild. After all that the OS (fedora 7) said it had to run fsck and dropped to a runlevel something and I ran fsck manually. It took about 4 hours then finally said can't find lost+found and gave an error.

I booted knoppix and debugfs /dev/sda2 on it. There is one folder /vm that has the question marks in the attributes. It says it isn't a directory but it is. stat /vm showed unknown.

I NEED the .vmdk files in that directory. How do I fix this directory so it IS a directory again with all the files? I can then mount a remote anything and copy the files off the server.

I don't know that much about how ext3 works, nor do I understand why fsck didn't find the file fragments and simple rename then in another folder similar to chkdsk /f /r c: in windows would have done.

I, obviously, have a vmware virtual machine in that folder than I need to retrieve the virtual hard drive files from. There is a directory that contains pictures that I failed to backup for over a month and my wife is super pissed. Please show me mercy and help me find these files.

Sorry so long but I have tried many things first before asking here. Oh I also dd the entire partition over to a 2TB external hard drive just in case.

Thanks.
 
Old 06-16-2009, 04:06 AM   #2
JZL240I-U
Senior Member
 
Registered: Apr 2003
Location: Germany
Distribution: openSuSE Tumbleweed-KDE, Mint 21, MX-21, Manjaro
Posts: 4,629

Rep: Reputation: Disabled
I don't really understand, I had hoped somebody more knowlegdeable would answer, but...

Well, lets see: why didn't you use debugfs in write mode and change the attributes? Is it impossible?
 
Old 06-18-2009, 05:53 AM   #3
jason143
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Jun 2009
Posts: 3

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 0
I didn't think anyone would ever respond...

I don't know how to use debugfs to change the directory back into a directoy. If there is a link I can go to and get help that would be great.
 
Old 06-18-2009, 06:07 AM   #4
JZL240I-U
Senior Member
 
Registered: Apr 2003
Location: Germany
Distribution: openSuSE Tumbleweed-KDE, Mint 21, MX-21, Manjaro
Posts: 4,629

Rep: Reputation: Disabled
Well, here is a comprehensive man page:

http://linux.die.net/man/8/debugfs

If I understand the structure of file systems, you'll have to go at the relevant inode. More information here:

http://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t...-dirindex.html
http://www.linux.com/articles/58142
http://www.xs4all.nl/~carlo17/howto/undelete_ext3.html
 
Old 06-20-2009, 11:32 AM   #5
jason143
LQ Newbie
 
Registered: Jun 2009
Posts: 3

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 0
I've seen the man page but I don't know what to look for to piece everything back together.
 
Old 06-22-2009, 01:17 AM   #6
JZL240I-U
Senior Member
 
Registered: Apr 2003
Location: Germany
Distribution: openSuSE Tumbleweed-KDE, Mint 21, MX-21, Manjaro
Posts: 4,629

Rep: Reputation: Disabled
This manpage has the commands for the writing mode. I found others without that.

You'll have to read up on ext3 to understand what to change. Need I tell you to try repairs only on an image?
 
  


Reply

Tags
ext3fs


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
question marks show when doing ll abylin1 Linux - Newbie 9 01-15-2008 02:54 PM
Two question marks next to unopened messages in KMail Aleksandersen Linux - Desktop 1 02-11-2007 06:14 PM
Quotes as Question Marks in Thunderbird. Matir Linux - Software 2 07-11-2005 02:54 PM
cdrom. contents show up as question marks extrasolar Linux - General 4 01-02-2005 01:50 PM
Apache Changing Quotes to Question Marks tictocdoc Linux - Networking 3 05-16-2004 12:48 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Software

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 09:36 PM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration