Hi,
I am using lenovo B560 laptop with 500GB HDD. I have two OS(Opensuse 12.3 & Windows7) installed in the hard disk. Suddenly my linux became slow and started blocking me to see the login screen and login via GUI. So I thought of reformatting the linux root "/" partition from windows and reinstall it. So I open the disk partitions from the windows disk manager and tried to delete one of the linux partition. But it did not delete and hanged. So I cancelled the process and came out of the disk manager. But after that when I rebooted the system, I got a grub rescue shell saying unknown file system error. It is not allowing me to boot windows also. I have tried to reinstall linux(opensuse 12.3) or boot from live CD. But both are not loading saying like " Killing process" and IO error. If I try to boot from Windows 8 DVD, it is hanging to the welcome screen and there is no progress if I keep it like that for 1 hour also. I did not try with Win7 as I don't have that as of now.
If I remove the HDD and try to boot from live CD it is booting.
I tried to connect the HDD putting into external HDD case to the live linux session. But when ever I am connecting the same, it is getting hanged. If I connect the HDD to some other windows machine putting inside the eternal HDD case, the driver is not installing properly and it is not getting detected. All my important data is residing inside a windows NTFS partition of 400GB and I want to restore that from that HDD.
Please note: The linux partitions were formatted with BTRFS and it was LVM partition except the /boot.
Partition table was as below:-


swap
windows system partition of 200 MB
/boot - ext4 - non LVM
/ - btrfs - LVM -- tried to format this partition only
/home - btrfs - lvm
/var- btrfs - lvm
/tmp - btrfs - lvm
/windows/windows_C -ntfs
/windows/windows_D - ntfs :-- All data is stored here and it was untouched.

Please help me how to restore the data from D-drive.
Thanks in advance.

sounds like a hardware problem. first check SMART status of that hdd from LiveCD or another computer. you can use gnome-disk-utility or a bunch of other free programs. then, I'd try to rescue with (free) 'photorec'. (if you're using windows, then zeroassumptionrecovery or getdataback are good too)

1 members found this post helpful.

Hi Grange thanks for your suggestion.
I have already tried to boot from live cd. But if I keep the HDD connected to the laptop, live cds are not booting. For linux I am getting IO Error type of warning and kernel panic at last. Can you refer me any other live CD. By the way I tried with Opensuse 12.3 and Gparted live CD.

I'd try to find replacement 'electronics' (PCB) from identical drive. better yet, get a professional to salvage data (might be expensive, though). check the connectors and cables again, if you're lucky the problem is there.

its a very bad idea to keep important data on laptop, without backup. hdds are fragile, sensitive (to movement, esp. while spinning).

testdisk in GNU/Linux is a fine tool for this purpose for "do it yourself" people..

well, photorec is part of testdisk, but it can't help in drastic cases. he needs to somehow fix hardware first, if its faulty.

Thats not exactly easy. Then he would need to get the spin disk out of the hard drive enclosed metal case and read it with another case or equipment.

Most faults with hard drives are with the readhead, yeah?

probably, on laptops an external drives, mechanical impact can cause heads to crash on platters. but I doubt it would have described symptoms. most you can do ,without special equipment, is replace PCB.

some have opened discs, and claim it worked afterwards even without cleanroom conditions. I wouldn't advise that. perhaps they live on Arctic or something.

Suggestion One: stay away from LVM and btrfs as a Newbie.
Suggestion Two: buy an enclosure for your hard drive and only connect it to your laptop as a USB device.
Suggestion Three: Use gparted to delete all partitions except your three Win7 partitions.

I sincerely hope you have a Win7 Boot Disk made and are able to boot Win7 once the above is done.

I have downloaded the testdisk and also bought an external HDD case. But problem is that if I connect the HDD it is detecting in the BIOS but it is not detecting in the windows though it is installing the drivers successfully in windows. The disk is not showing in windows Disk management. One more thing if I connect the disk with laptop the disk is rotating and the red light in external cover is glowing.
@Hilyard: I have already tried the gparted. But it is not booting if I keep the disk connected. If I connect the disk after booting from gparted, my laptop is freezing and it is not responding.

1. Boot from a Live-CD with the faulty disk disconnected.
2. Connect the disk and see if it gets detected (run dmesg to see what happens after you connected the disk).
3. If the disk is detected use ddrescue to make an image of the partition with your data. Do not make any other rescue attempts durectly on the faulty disk, it is likely that this will decrease your chances to recover your data.
4. Make further rescue attempts on the image you created in step 3.
5. If this really is important data consider to let professionals do their job.

I tried to boot from Live CD and then connect the HDD to the machine. But when ever I am connecting the disk, the machine is getting slow or become hanged.

In that case, if it is not possible with your system to connect the machine without having problems I would recommend to contact a professional data recovery institute.

can you hear/feel it spinning?
does it make unusual noise? if so, you're SOL.

Yes I can feel it is spinning as it is vibrating. There is no unusual sound or noise also.