Possible file-system damage?

hacker supreme · 02-02-2008, 05:52 PM

A month or so ago, I got an external HDD so I could work on my IT coursework both at home and at college.
The drive was pre-formatted with NTFS, which I kept because it seemed to be the best FS for the purpose I got the drive for. (Win XP machines at college, Linux machines at home.)

Unfortunately if I run portable firefox, close it, and then click 'Safely Remove' I get an error message telling me that a program is still accessing the drive.
I then got fed up with waiting for it to finish, and just unplugged the drive.

A day or so ago, I noticed a few mp3s on the drive were unreadable, so I tried to delete them. Nothing happened.
I tried to use the terminal to delete them. First, the filename wouldn't autocomplete when I hit tab. So I typed in the filename manually.

Code:

[user@box Audioslave]$ rm Revelations.mp3
rm: cannot remove `Revelations.mp3': Input/output error

then I tried ls.

Code:

[user@box] Audioslave]$ ls
ls: cannot access Revelations.mp3: Input/output error
ls: cannot access Shape Of Things To Come.mp3: Input/output error
ls: cannot access Sound Of A Gun.mp3: Input/output error
ls: cannot access Until We Fall.mp3: Input/output error
total 0
-????????? ? ? ? ?                ? Revelations.mp3
-????????? ? ? ? ?                ? Shape Of Things To Come.mp3
-????????? ? ? ? ?                ? Sound Of A Gun.mp3
-????????? ? ? ? ?                ? Until We Fall.mp3

And even a windows box can't delete them, but I can't remember the error message that XP throws...

So, the nitty gritty ofthis long post...
Is this filesystem damage and, if so, is it a risk to my other documents and how can I fix it?
(Please note that I don't have any privileges on any of the windows machines that I can access, so a fix on a windows box is liable to fail.)

syg00 · 02-02-2008, 06:24 PM

The *big* issue with using NTFS at all is that there is (currently) no Linux utility to fix it.
Supposedly coming, but you need to keep a Windoze system to run "chkdsk /f".

moxieman99 · 02-02-2008, 06:28 PM

With unindicated snips...

Quote:

Originally Posted by hacker supreme

A month or so ago, I got an external HDD so I could work on my IT coursework both at home and at college.
The drive was pre-formatted with NTFS, which I kept because it seemed to be the best FS for the purpose I got the drive for. (Win XP machines at college, Linux machines at home.)

Unfortunately if I run portable firefox, close it, and then click 'Safely Remove' I get an error message telling me that a program is still accessing the drive.
I then got fed up with waiting for it to finish, and just unplugged the drive.

A day or so ago, I noticed a few mp3s on the drive were unreadable, so I tried to delete them. Nothing happened.

Is this filesystem damage and, if so, is it a risk to my other documents and how can I fix it?

1. What happens if you run chkdsk on it from a windows computer?

2. Is there a reason why you can't, once you recover and remove the files you need, convert the format to FAT32 and avoid the problem? I know what people say, and they are wrong; the fact of the matter is, Linux is still awkward with NTFS format.

hacker supreme · 02-02-2008, 07:44 PM

To answer your questions moxieman...
1) I have no windows boxen in the house. (not counting the VM, but that can't even see the drive anyway...)
The only place I can use a windows box is at college. Where all the PCs are locked down and I can't get to tools like chkdsk.

2) It's an 80GB drive, with a few files over 4 GB in size...

Quote:

Originally Posted by wikipedia

The maximum possible size for a file on a FAT32 volume is 4 GB minus 1 Byte (232−1 bytes).

I'd love to use a FS like reiserFS or ext3, but I do have to use the drive with windows boxen quite often.

armanox · 02-02-2008, 09:33 PM

Actually...the Maximum size for a FAT32 partition is...*drumroll*...

2 TB

From the Windows 98SE manual, pg 81:

Quote:

The FAT32 file system has the following advantages over FAAT16:

It allows programs to open more quickly, on average, 36 percent faster.
It uses a smaller cluster size, resulting in more efficient use of disk space - on average, 28 percent more disk space.
It allows a hard disk up to 2 TB to be formatted as a single drive, eliminating the need to partition the hard disk.
It can relocate the root directory and use backup copies of the file allocation table (FAT), making your computer less vunerable to crashes.

Microsoft limited the format utility in Windows XP in order to promote NTFS. You could use mkfs.vfat in Linux in order to reformat the drive.

jiml8 · 02-02-2008, 10:49 PM

You certainly have filesystem damage. Using the drive on a Linux system will compound the damage because, as has been pointed out, to this point there are no Linux tools to repair NTFS and running the drive in Linux will probably compound your problem.

You need to run chkdsk on the drive before using it again.

If I were you, I would format the drive ext2 (in fact, that is how I format my external drives) and install the ext2 fs on your windows systems.

Also, be certain that you "safely remove" before disconnecting; pending cached writes have to be committed to the disk before unplugging. If you have a problem with an open file that won't let it be dismounted, then you just have to solve that problem.

crashmeister · 02-03-2008, 06:49 AM

How do you connect the drive? Usb,Firewire?
Did you try different cables?

hacker supreme · 02-03-2008, 07:28 AM

Maybe I'm not making this clear enough.
I cannot install anything on any of the windows machines I have access to.

(sorry, but I have repeated myself a few times, and it is annoying me.)

Armanox: files != partitions.

Quote:

It's an 80GB drive, with a few files over 4 GB in size...
The maximum possible size for a file on a FAT32 volume is 4 GB minus 1 Byte (232−1 bytes).

crash: the drive is USB. I haven't tried other cables because none of the other cables I have with the appropriate connector work with that drive. (Possibly not being able to cope with the power draw?)

unSpawn · 02-03-2008, 08:19 AM

See if you can find info on Hiren's BootCD. It's a Live CD for ClippyOS (based on BartPE, IIRC). If you could boot that on any GNU/Linux at home that could get you access to the tools you need.

moxieman99 · 02-03-2008, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hacker supreme

Maybe I'm not making this clear enough.
I cannot install anything on any of the windows machines I have access to.

1. Ask the IT people at school to run chkdsk /f on it for you. They might do it, expecially if you explain your problem.

2. FAT32 will hold files over 4 gig, although it doesn't like it and I wouldn't trust it. What about persuading the IT people to look at installing EXT2 drivers into some or all of their Windows machines? www.fs-driver.org is but one of several possible solutions there.

jiml8 · 02-03-2008, 10:31 AM

When you said "locked down at school" I had interpreted that as you were on break and the computers were physically inaccessible to you, not that you couldn't access some basic tools such as chkdsk. My bad.

However your problem remains. You need to plug the thing into a Windows system and run chkdsk, period. End of debate. How you do that is totally up to you.

hacker supreme · 02-03-2008, 10:36 AM

ok, I think I misunderstood what you meant, and I'm sorry for shouting.

moxie: I'll try both of those, thanks.

jiml: it's my fault for not making it clearer.