Urgent! Can't Boot! May Lose 4 month of data!

rfw · 12-22-2006, 09:22 PM

I have a dual booted PC. Windows XP and Fedora 5. I was trying to add a back-up drive /dev/sdb1, a 160 GB Seagate Drive. I ran into trouble and rebooted and deleted the partition I made for /dev/sdb and then repartition it.
I was told to reboot to make the changes effective.
When I did that, I couldn't boot my home drive /dev/hdb1.
I put the first CD for my Fedora install in and started the rescue Linux tool. But, I don't know the format for the mount table and I am not sure of its name (/etc/mnttab?)
Someone Please help me!

syg00 · 12-22-2006, 09:31 PM

Let's see the output from the following (as root) - "fdisk -l" (lower case ell)

jeelliso · 12-22-2006, 10:08 PM

Well, here is what my /etc/mtab looks like

Code:

jellison@blackbart:~> cat /etc/mtab
/dev/hda3 / reiserfs rw,acl,user_xattr 0 0
proc /proc proc rw 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs rw 0 0
udev /dev tmpfs rw 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,mode=0620,gid=5 0 0
/dev/hda1 /boot reiserfs rw,acl,user_xattr 0 0
securityfs /sys/kernel/security securityfs rw 0 0
/dev/hda4 /home reiserfs rw,loop=/dev/loop0,encryption=twofish256,acl,user_xattr 0 0

This only shows the partitions that are currently mounted (I think). The file /etc/fstab shows how the partitions are normally mounted. Here is what my /etc/fstab looks like:

Code:

jellison@blackbart:~> cat /etc/fstab
/dev/hda3            /                    reiserfs   acl,user_xattr        1 1
/dev/hda1            /boot                reiserfs   acl,user_xattr        1 2
/dev/hda2            swap                 swap       defaults              0 0
proc                 /proc                proc       defaults              0 0
sysfs                /sys                 sysfs      noauto                0 0
debugfs              /sys/kernel/debug    debugfs    noauto                0 0
usbfs                /proc/bus/usb        usbfs      noauto                0 0
devpts               /dev/pts             devpts     mode=0620,gid=5       0 0

Good Luck,
~Justin

rfw · 12-23-2006, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by syg00

Let's see the output from the following (as root) - "fdisk -l" (lower case ell)

Here is the requested output of fdisk -l and the cat of mtab. I had to copy them by hand.

Output from fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hdb 120.0GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 Secotor/track, 14593 Cylinders
Units = Cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start END Blocks ID System
/dev/hdb1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/hdb2 14 14593 117113850 8e Linux LVM

Disk /dev/sda 82.3 GB 82348277760 bytes
255, heads, 63 Sectors/track. 10011 Cylinders
Units = Cylinders of 16065*512=822280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks ID System
/dev/sda1 * 1 10011 80413326 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 Sectors/track, 19457 Cylinders
Units = Cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start END Blocks ID System
/dev/sdb1 1 19457 156288321 5 Extended

mtab

rootfs / rootfs rw00
/proc /rpoc proc rw00
/dev /dev tmpfs rw00
/sys /sys sysfc rw00
none /tmp raamfs ramfs rw00
none /tmp/ramfs rw00
/proc/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb isbff rw00
/tmp/loop0 /mnt/runtime squashff ro00
/selinus /selinus selinusfs rw00

Thank you offering to help. I have four disk on my PC/
There is a 40 GB IDE disk for Windows and a external SATA 80 GB drive from CMS to do back-ups of the 40 GB Drive. I have 120 GB IDE drive for Linux and I have a 160 GB SATA that I have been trying make the backup drive for Linux but I haven't be successful and I have run into Linux rescue situations. Right now I hope I can recover the Linux IDE drive.

Electro · 12-23-2006, 07:22 PM

Probably when you mount the new hard drive, you did not double check the wiring before powering on the computer. I do not see hda, so double check if the IDE connector is properly inserted for this drive. Though hdb could be your Linux drive.

Re-partition the new hard drive. It seems you screwed up partitioning it. Use cfdisk to help you partition it. In Linux reboot is optional after making changes to the partition table, but you will have to run hdparm -z [desire hard disk] to rescan the partition table of the desire hard drive.

I suggest using labels when formatting partitions with Linux filesystems. By using labels, it makes it easier to boot up from any computer and from SCSI storage devices such as SATA.

homey · 12-23-2006, 07:28 PM

Your output from fdisk -l and output from /etc/fstab don't jive.
At any rate, you should NOT do any more partitioning or formatting untill you get a better grip of the drive situatiton.

Quote:

Device Boot Start END Blocks ID System
/dev/hdb1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/hdb2 14 14593 117113850 8e Linux LVM

That looks like your /boot is on /dev/hdb1

Quote:

/dev/hda3 / reiserfs acl,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/hda1 /boot reiserfs acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/hda2 swap swap defaults 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0

That looks like the boot is on /dev/hda1

Try booting up with CD# and type: linux rescue
Then, run the command: fdisk -l to see if we can tell where your /boot is actually located.

Remember: No more partitioning or formatting yet.

syg00 · 12-23-2006, 10:11 PM

I'm inclined to agree with Electro re cabling - there's no 40 Gig drive (maybe/probably /dev/hda), so it looks like you may have accidently dropped the connector (check both ends) or power cable.
Are we to assume the missing drive was your boot drive, and now you don't have access to any system(s) ???. If so, recovering the Linux boot loader should be fairly simple - Windoze might be another matter.
Best to see if you can get that 40 Gig drive back in working order.

@Electro: this is a LVM system; I don't see how labels will help. Personally I don't them anyway - adding a disk with the same label (as currently mounted) fails to mount. Happens a lot with Fedora/Redhat.
@homey: I think you are confusing posts from 2 different people.

homey · 12-23-2006, 10:35 PM

Quote:

@homey: I think you are confusing posts from 2 different people.

You're right there

Must have scrolled to fast or something.

rfw · 01-01-2007, 02:35 PM

I need some more help. I found out my problem with my backup SATA drive is the card I was using. It came with a disk backup drive from CMS Products. It is a Windows only product and so is the Card. I have ordered a Linux SATA card from New Egg. It is a Promise card .

I have four disk drives on my computer. Two are Windows and two are Linux.

For Windows I have /dev/hda that is Windows only. It is dev/sda.

For Linux I have two Seagate drives.
/dev/hdb is an IDE drive, 120 GB. This is my home drive for Linux, which I can't boot.

My backup drive is to be the Seagate 160 GB, SATA, drive. I have the Promise card from Newegg on order for it. It is a Linux SATA card.

What in need from someone is to give me the mount table information for /dev/hdb. I have only one partition on this drive. In fact, this drive was populated with data by reading in my 5 Linux CDs, I created from Bit torrent.

I used Disk Doctor to view my drive from Windows. Disk Doctor can see vmlinux and several other directories. I went to root (/) and did a "find / home -print" looking for home. I also did a find looking for robertwessling (my home directory) and I couldn't find it.

Electro · 01-01-2007, 03:05 PM

Promise controllers works in Windows but it is different in Linux. Promise controllers are not Linux friendly. The reason for this is Promise uses special magic to use one channel for all their connectors. Few people got their Promise controllers to work and others just gets a setup that is quirky. I recommend Highpoint RocketRAID 1520, Highpoint RocketRAID 1540, Highpoint RocketRAID 1640, or any 3ware SATA controller when using SATA in Linux. I suggest cancelling your order as soon as possible.

rfw · 01-21-2007, 06:45 PM

This is my second attempt to post a reply. So, this maybe a duplicate. I got the High Point 1520. I installed it in my PC. I booted Window XP2 and it saw the new hardware. So,I right away booted Linux. It wouldn't boot. So, I took the 1520 out of my PC. Linux booted okay. I have been going over the 1520 documentation. It is confusing. It says it is for Ferora 5 in one place
and Fedora 6 in another. I am running Fedora 5. I have the installation CD from Highpoint and I made a Windows Floppy. So, how to install the 1520 on Linux? Or do I need to got to Fedora 6 first?