Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
I have an 80GB (MHT2080AH) laptop drive that I use with an BAFO (BF-2043) drive enclosure, that connects to the PC with USB cables. This drive was setup with the EXT2 file system on it so I could read/write to it in Linux and use the EXT2IFs driver so I can read an EXT2 file system from windows. This was working flawlessly. The problem is that I had it connected to a PC that was about to be formatted and have windows put on it, and the person doing this also removed the partition on this drive (done with the windows xp install). Now the drive can't be accessed and the lights on the BF-2043 drive enclosure don't even come on. With the lights not coming on the drive is not detected in windows and any tools I can find won't work. When I connect it to Linux (Slackware 12 with default kernel (2.6.21.5-smp)) and do a tail -f /var/log/messages I get the following (I recreating it for it on another machine):
Kernel: usb 1-7: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Kernel: usb 1-7: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Kernel: scsi4: SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage Devices
Kernel: usb 1-7: USB disconnect, address 3
Kernel: scsi: 4:0:0:0: SCSI: Device offlined - not ready after error recovery
I have tried this with another drive and the lights come on and it does show up and I can access it in windows and in Linux I can mount and copy files from it (not to it because it is a NTFS drive). Is there a way I can restore the partition and the information on the drive?
I have tried this in Windows and it didn't work also tried in Linux with same result. I think the problem here is I can't get access to /dev/sda1 (or whatever sda# that Linux wants to assign it) I just get the previously posted errors in the /var/log/messages file and if I run testdisk it is not in the selection of disks if I try and mount it (mount /dev/sda1 /mountpoint) I get "mount: special device /dev/sda1 does not exists" if I can get access to the drive in either Windows or Linux I could run testdisk and get it fixed so I could retrieve the data on it. I know the drive enclosure works because it works with another drive in it.
I have 2 enclosures but since this happened only been using the one until I get it fixed (for simplicity and correct diagnoses) the one I am using has a cord to go from the enclosure to the PC and a second one that is that has end like a power cord on the enclosure and the other end goes into usb port on PC (so 2 USB ports). If this is the case then something has caused it not to get enough power because it worked until the partition was deleted with the Windows XP install.
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.