OK, I re-ran the test with Vista mode enabled. No partition table, even after a Deeper scan:
Thu Aug 22 23:51:12 2013
Command line: TestDisk
TestDisk 6.13, Data Recovery Utility, November 2011
Christophe GRENIER <
grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org
OS: Linux, kernel 3.10.7-200.fc19.i686.PAE (#1 SMP Fri Aug 16 00:22:51 UTC 2013) i686
Compiler: GCC 4.8
Compilation date: 2013-03-01T11:07:56
ext2fs lib: 1.42.7, ntfs lib: libntfs-3g, reiserfs lib: none, ewf lib: 20130128
/dev/sda: LBA, HPA, LBA48, DCO support
/dev/sda: size 234441648 sectors
/dev/sda: user_max 234441648 sectors
/dev/sda: native_max 234441648 sectors
/dev/sda: dco 234441648 sectors
/dev/sdb: LBA, HPA, DCO support
/dev/sdb: size 160086528 sectors
/dev/sdb: user_max 160086528 sectors
/dev/sdb: native_max 160086528 sectors
/dev/sdb: dco 160086528 sectors
Warning: can't get size for Disk /dev/mapper/control - 0 B - CHS 1 1 1, sector size=512
Hard disk list
Disk /dev/sda - 120 GB / 111 GiB - CHS 14593 255 63, sector size=512 - ST3120827AS, S/N:3MS01V3C, FW:3.42
Disk /dev/sdb - 81 GB / 76 GiB - CHS 9964 255 63, sector size=512 - Maxtor 6Y080P0, S/N:Y2MKBXNE, FW:YAR41BW0
Disk /dev/sdc - 8006 MB / 7635 MiB - CHS 1021 247 62, sector size=512, FW:PMAP
Partition table type (auto): Intel
Disk /dev/sdc - 8006 MB / 7635 MiB
Partition table type: Intel
Analyse Disk /dev/sdc - 8006 MB / 7635 MiB - CHS 1021 247 62
Current partition structure:
Partition sector doesn't have the endmark 0xAA55
Ask the user for vista mode
Computes LBA from CHS for Disk /dev/sdc - 8013 MB / 7642 MiB - CHS 1022 247 62
Allow partial last cylinder : Yes
search_vista_part: 1
search_part()
Disk /dev/sdc - 8013 MB / 7642 MiB - CHS 1022 247 62
Results
interface_write()
No partition found or selected for recovery
search_part()
Disk /dev/sdc - 8013 MB / 7642 MiB - CHS 1022 247 62
Results
interface_write()
No partition found or selected for recovery
simulate write!
write_mbr_i386: starting...
Store new MBR code
write_all_log_i386: starting...
No extended partition
TestDisk exited normally.
As I wrote, I do have everything stored in image.dd, and I presume there's a way to use it. If needed, I can rebuild the file system and restore, but I'll need instructions. (If it helps, I did tech support for almost eight years for an ISP, and was considered a Windows Internals geek. In the last five or six years, I've turned myself into something of a Linux internals geek; I'm not in the least bit uncomfortable working with a CLI.) One of the few nice things about this is that as long as I still have that image.dd, I can always go back and try, try again if I mess up.