Cannot mark a partition logical on testdisk

[appiazzolla]

My hard disk broke and I am trying to recover all the data I can from the largest of three partitions.

At the moment I have replaced the hard disk for another and I am trying to recover the data from the broken HDD from a case that lets me connect the disk via USB to my laptop, running Debian 10 buster, at /dev/sdb

fdisk gives me Input/Output error e2fsck as well

Testdisk 7.0 is able to see all the data in the partition I am interested in recovering, and also sees all the partitions, as follows

TestDisk 7.0, Data Recovery Utility, April 2015
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org

Code: Select all

Disk /dev/sdb - 1000 GB / 931 GiB - CHS 953869 64 32
     Partition               Start        End    Size in sectors
>D Linux                    1   0  1 39771  63 32   81451008
 D Linux                36723   0  1 953868  63 32 1878315008
 D Linux Swap           39773   0  1 47878  63 32   16601088

Structure: Ok.  Use Up/Down Arrow keys to select partition.
Use Left/Right Arrow keys to CHANGE partition characteristics:
*=Primary bootable  P=Primary  L=Logical  E=Extended  D=Deleted
Keys A: add partition, L: load backup, T: change type, P: list files,
     Enter: to continue
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large_file Sparse_SB Backup_SB, 41 GB / 38 GiB

I am not able to recreate the partition table, the option "Logical" does not appear when using Left/Right arrows. I would like to set the first partition as Primary bootable, the second as Logical and the third is Swap, so I don't know.

Afterwards I plan to use e2fsck and then copy the information somewhere else.

Could anybody help me?

Thanks everybody.

[cgrenier]

The 3 listed partitions overlap.
As fdisk and fsck repots I/O errors, you should clone the disk to a new empty disk using ddrescue as described in https://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk.pdf
Once it's done, remove the original disk and try to access your data from the clone.

[appiazzolla]

Thank you so much! I recovered the data.
If you indulge me with one more thing... How can I fix the overlapping partitions if fdisk, parted and fsck give me input/output error?
Thanks again!

[recuperation]

You should only set the partition containing your data as "Primary".

[appiazzolla]

Thank you. I did that twice, always writing the testdisk changes and then disconnecting the disk and reconnecting it afterwards.
When I connect it again I still get Input/Output in fsck, fdisk, parted... So I can't format the disk
Here's my testdisk output

Code: Select all

TestDisk 7.0, Data Recovery Utility, April 2015
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org

Disk /dev/sdb - 1000 GB / 931 GiB - CHS 953869 64 32
     Partition               Start        End    Size in sectors
>D Linux                    1   0  1 39771  63 32   81451008
 D Linux                36723   0  1 953868  63 32 1878315008
 D Linux Swap           39773   0  1 47878  63 32   16601088

Structure: Ok.  Use Up/Down Arrow keys to select partition.
Use Left/Right Arrow keys to CHANGE partition characteristics:
*=Primary bootable  P=Primary  L=Logical  E=Extended  D=Deleted
Keys A: add partition, L: load backup, T: change type, P: list files,
     Enter: to continue
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large_file Sparse_SB Backup_SB, 41 GB / 38 GiB

Is there any way to write the correct partition table?
Thank you!

[recuperation]

Thank you. I did that twice, always writing the testdisk changes and then disconnecting the disk and reconnecting it afterwards.
When I connect it again I still get Input/Output in fsck, fdisk, parted... So I can't format the disk
Here's my testdisk output

Code: Select all

TestDisk 7.0, Data Recovery Utility, April 2015
Christophe GRENIER <grenier@cgsecurity.org>
http://www.cgsecurity.org

Disk /dev/sdb - 1000 GB / 931 GiB - CHS 953869 64 32
     Partition               Start        End    Size in sectors
>D Linux                    1   0  1 39771  63 32   81451008
 D Linux                36723   0  1 953868  63 32 1878315008
 D Linux Swap           39773   0  1 47878  63 32   16601088

Structure: Ok.  Use Up/Down Arrow keys to select partition.
Use Left/Right Arrow keys to CHANGE partition characteristics:
*=Primary bootable  P=Primary  L=Logical  E=Extended  D=Deleted
Keys A: add partition, L: load backup, T: change type, P: list files,
     Enter: to continue
ext4 blocksize=4096 Large_file Sparse_SB Backup_SB, 41 GB / 38 GiB

Is there any way to write the correct partition table?
Thank you!

Looks like you did not use ddrescue as proposed.

[recuperation]

I would ask that question on every forum available:

https://superuser.com/questions/1534625 ... n-testdisk

[appiazzolla]

As I said before, I could recover the information and is OK.
I just want to be able to format the disk, that is all.
Of course, any forum would do.

[recuperation]

Zero out your disk at the expense of loosing its content.

Of course, any forum would do.

Consider reading about Netiquette.

[recuperation]

Zero out your disk at the expense of loosing its content.
Use smartmontools to check for failures.
Further use may probably not be recommended anymore.

Of course, any forum would do.

Consider reading about Netiquette.