Knoppix 3.7 and Captive NTFS

caps_phisto · 02-16-2005, 11:34 AM

I just downloaded Knoppix 3.7 to try with Captive NTFS. I have a laptop I am working on for someone and it gives the error, "Cannot Find \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\CONFIG\SYSTEM" and will not boot.

So I think no problem, I have a spare WinXP machine lying around (just for "spare parts") so I copy the system file from my WInXP machine (Using Knoppix) and shutdown and boot the laptop woth the Knoppix disk.

Captive finds all the required files for ntfs read/write (with a little coaxing by me) but it says that it cannot find any NTFS partions on the box.

I try mount -t captive-ntfs /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1 in a root terminal only to be confronted with a lock up of Captive. Can anyone help me out with this?

Thanks in advance.

Peacedog · 02-16-2005, 06:02 PM

Are you sure the hard drive isn't bad or going bad? What does fdisk -l say? How about dmesg?
good luck.

caps_phisto · 02-19-2005, 09:03 AM

Sorry for not getting back to you. I have that computer at work and I am off until Tuesday (2/21/2005). But I will get you that output when I get back.

caps_phisto · 02-23-2005, 09:12 AM

I guess I'll have to scrap figuring that out. The person I was fixing the machine for used Knoppix to backup their files (I was in the middle of doing this when I left, and they just continued the process), and re-installed WinXP.

I did get the fdsik -l output but not the dmesg, I can't remember the exact output but it was simialr to this:
/dev/hdc1 had 300 or 400 MB assigned to it for a Dell Utility parition.
/dev/hdc2 had 27 GB NTFS filesystem on it.

Oh well...

Peacedog · 02-23-2005, 04:56 PM

Maybe next time?

good luck.

caps_phisto · 03-16-2005, 08:12 AM

Hey! I am having the above problem again! This time with a desktop PC! I know I shouldn't be excited but it was really bugging me that I could not get this to work last time.

Here is the fdisk -l output for the desktop I am currently working on:

Code:

Disk /dev/hda: 15.3 GB, 15303075840 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1860 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/hda1   *           1        1860    14940418+   7  HPFS/NTFS

And here is the dmesg: (I did not put the whole output as it is very long. I did however get something releated to NTFS):

Code:

NTFS driver v1.1.22 [Flags: R/W MODULE]
NTFS: Warning! NTFS volume version is Win2k+: Mounting read-only
end_request: I/O error, dev 02:00 (floppy), sector 0
(lu_execute) - error executing command!

The above lines are the last four from the dmesg output.

Thanks again!

phatboyz · 03-16-2005, 10:19 AM

yes, knoppix mounts all drives as read only. When you boot up to the GUI the icons for the drive should be on your left. If you right click on them somewhere you can change the drive to writeable. It maybe under a sub-menu

caps_phisto · 03-16-2005, 10:45 AM

Yes, I am aware of changing the drives to read/write using right click. But the drive is NTFS, which Knoppix (or any Distro for that matter) cannot natively write to. I have tried changing the drive to read/write mode using Knoppix. It gives me an error stating that it may corrupt the drive and I will more than likely have to re-install the OS. It also states that it will not make any changes to how it is currently mounted and exits.

I cannot re-install the OS. I am trying to write a few missing system files to it so that it can work again. This is why I need Captive-NTFS, using that program the HD will not get corrupted and I will be able to write to it all I want.

phatboyz · 03-16-2005, 12:37 PM

This may sound stupid, but use your emergency disk for XP then go to a command line and do it the hard way. Most of the time XP will fix it self if you stick in the restore CD. What happens if you try to boot into safe mode?

You can try this.
http://kb.bitdefender.com/site/Knowl...s_XP_SP2_.html

caps_phisto · 03-16-2005, 02:11 PM

The rescue mode on the install disk does nothing. I cannot copy the files that are needed. I read that article you posted before, but tried it out again anyways. Captive just like before would go out and find the files it needed, but it would still report that there are no NTFS partitions on the drive. I followed the steps in that article to a "T" and it did not work.

I did however, try your suggestion from earlier with remounting it read-write with the right-click sub menu, after captive had done its thing. Again this did not work. It did however generate a different error message. It said that it could not mount the drive in read-write mode because another process was acting on the drive. I do not know how to check for this so I do not know if the error is correct.

Thanks

christigurl · 10-14-2005, 07:49 AM

I have exactlly the same problem described at the beginning of this thread.....When I try to mount a captive-ntfs partition, the mount command hangs. I am using:

mount /dev/hdd3 /mnt/hdd3 -t captive-ntfs.

I got captive-ntfs to work on Slackware 9.1 by downloading the captive-ntfs package (which BTW says it is the same as the version of captive-ntfs used in Knoppix....version 1.1.5 which is also the most recent and final version) and copying the exact same (XP SP 1 ntfs driver files which I used with Knoppix) to /var/lib/captive directory.

But I still can't get the Knoppix implementation to work.....mount command always hangs after displaying version information. Does anyone have any ideas? I see that captive-ntfs is no longer included with Knoppix 4.0, with either the CD or DVD version so there must be a reason for that.

christigurl · 10-14-2005, 07:51 AM

I didn't say at the beginning of the above post that this problem is with Knoppix 3.7, exactly as described in the post that began this thread.

Thanks.

okmyx · 10-14-2005, 08:01 AM

I've had the same problem with two computer here at work one laptop, one desktop.

The file that is corrupt is one that belongs to the system registry, so restoring one from another machine isn't going to work. There was also a note on the MS site saying that you can't restore it from backups if you have an OEM XP install.

I'am afraid the only/easiest solution (as with all windows OSs) is a reformat and re-install (backing up data first of course).

syg00 · 10-14-2005, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by caps_phisto
I am trying to write a few missing system files to it so that it can work again. This is why I need Captive-NTFS, using that program the HD will not get corrupted and I will be able to write to it all I want.

NTFS write (other than direct replacement of files, keeping file size the same) is *NOT* safe - simple as that. Work is being done, but it ain't there yet.
From the captive site

Quote:

Unfortunately, this project is no longer being maintained by its author. Mounting of NTFS devices usually works, but is no longer supported by the author of Captive.

How much clearer can it be said ???.