"Can't Read Superblock" when mounting a second hard drive

Maeltor · 01-17-2007, 07:57 PM

Hi all,

I have a linksys EFG120 NAS that quit working on us so I pulled the hard drive out to get the data off. I know the NAS uses a linux file system so i booted up a laptop with the Ubuntu Live CD to try to mount the partition.

Ubuntu recognizes it as a "Volume" in the Computer browser BUT when i try to mount it i get:

"Unable to Mount Volume:
Mount: /dev/sda1: can't read superblock
error: could not execute pmount"

Any ideas?

syg00 · 01-17-2007, 08:09 PM

Try "file -s /dev/sda1", and see if it's a type Linux knows about.

Maeltor · 01-18-2007, 12:46 AM

I'll give that a try when i get back to work tomorrow morning. Thanks.

Maeltor · 01-18-2007, 10:40 AM

Ok so I tried that out, and I get the following response:

file -s /dev/sda1
/dev/sda1: SGI XFS filesystem data (blksz 4096, inosz 256, v2 dirs)

It appears that the Linksys NAS is using the SGI XFS filesystem. I'm boned aren't I?

Maeltor · 01-18-2007, 11:34 AM

After doing some more reading, it looks like Knoppix can read XFS partitions. I downloaded Knoppix, booted it, and sure enough it recognized the drive, and saw it as XFS, but it still can't mount it.

I get a similar error: "Can't read superblock"
Is this a permissions issue, or a screwed up partition, and if so is there a way to fix it without destroying the data on the drive?

pixellany · 01-18-2007, 11:35 AM

You can always use low-level data recovery tools

If the data is really valuable, then maybe get it to a data recovery specialist.

I wonder if Linksys would be able to help you...

syg00 · 01-18-2007, 12:55 PM

I thought that XFS for Linux *was* the SGI code open-sourced.
Of course if it was (one) part of a RAID set or somesuch, I'd reckon you are out of luck.
Haven't tried anything like this, so no help I'm sorry.

Maeltor · 01-18-2007, 01:13 PM

The Linksys NAS had only one drive in it. I got the linksys back up and working but it won't recognize the drive which leads me to believe that the drive has lost its partition information and can't be mounted.

Sounds like i'm going to have to move on to a low level solution.