Data recovery

How to use TestDisk to recover lost partition
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dmarvelous
Posts: 6
Joined: 01 Feb 2023, 10:44

Data recovery

#1 Post by dmarvelous »

Hi,

I have been trying to recover data and repair drive but seems the problem is getting worse.

The issue is with external drive D

Image

Intitally using testdisk the drive was showing one partition. I went advanced and it showed boot sector bad and back up boot sector bad. I selected rebuild BS. At the end of the process the same screen came up boot sector bad.

Now when I connect the drive I click analyse and deeper search it now shows no partition found or selected for recovery.

Image

When I nowgo in advanced it says no partition available.

What can I do now to recover the data on the drive?

recuperation
Posts: 2720
Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)

Re: Data recovery

#2 Post by recuperation »

You could simply upload your pictures to this website using the attachments tab to the left at the bottom of the page.

dmarvelous
Posts: 6
Joined: 01 Feb 2023, 10:44

Re: Data recovery

#3 Post by dmarvelous »

Hi,

Please see a few screenshots. Excuse me not being able to explain myself properly, as I have little knowledge on this, I just really need this resolved.

Firstly when checking the drive it often shows as raw, so does not show partitions, or even hinting the type of partition etc

When it does read this and go to analyse and I now see the invalid NTFS and bad relative sector.

Previously when going to advance I would select rebuild BS and get the bad sector status bad response.

Now advanced screen shows image creation. I try this but the percentage progress doesn't rise.

Not sure what I am meant to do to create a back up and move files elsewhere.

On this disk has word documents and video files if this makes a difference
Attachments
Advanced screen.png
Advanced screen.png (18.81 KiB) Viewed 5232 times
Bad sector.png
Bad sector.png (22.23 KiB) Viewed 5232 times
Image creation not moving.png
Image creation not moving.png (20.88 KiB) Viewed 5232 times

recuperation
Posts: 2720
Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)

Re: Data recovery

#4 Post by recuperation »

dmarvelous wrote: 01 Feb 2023, 11:28 Hi,

I have been trying to recover data and repair drive but seems the problem is getting worse.
...
What can I do now to recover the data on the drive?
dmarvelous wrote: 04 Feb 2023, 12:21 Firstly when checking the drive it often shows as raw, so does not show partitions, or even hinting the type of partition etc
To check for possible physical errors, please post your smartmontools log file as explained here:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=10910

Please post your Testdisk log file as well.

Regardless of any signs found in the log file you can as well duplicate the drive using ddrescue as described in the manual.

dmarvelous
Posts: 6
Joined: 01 Feb 2023, 10:44

Re: Data recovery

#5 Post by dmarvelous »

Hi,

Now there are further issues....

I could not get the log for the drive so I copied what I got onto txt hoping this is the same?

The drive now does show as raw it simply "Cannot open volume for direct access" in the Command prompt.

On ddrescue I don't see the drive as recognised. When putting in "ddrescue /dev/sdb sdb.dd sdb.log" It says there's no file or directory.

I also try download the ddrescue gui version but this says not in file location
Attachments
ddrescue no directory.png
ddrescue no directory.png (139.85 KiB) Viewed 4958 times
External drive Myreport.txt
(22.68 KiB) Downloaded 357 times

recuperation
Posts: 2720
Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)

Re: Data recovery

#6 Post by recuperation »

dmarvelous wrote: 07 Feb 2023, 11:10 Hi,

Now there are further issues....

I could not get the log for the drive so I copied what I got onto txt hoping this is the same?
You must have ignored my step by step instructions. Shame on you!

The drive now does show as raw it simply "Cannot open volume for direct access" in the Command prompt.

On ddrescue I don't see the drive as recognised. When putting in "ddrescue /dev/sdb sdb.dd sdb.log" It says there's no file or directory.
You should combine that with administrative rights "sudo" and you should exactly specify the target location by keying in a full path. Make sure that your target is bigger than your source disk when writing into a file instead of duplicating onto another disk.
I also try download the ddrescue gui version but this says not in file location
The gui version is not required.

dmarvelous
Posts: 6
Joined: 01 Feb 2023, 10:44

Re: Data recovery

#7 Post by dmarvelous »

I try step by step then there's an issue.... I then have to research the fixing the issue to get to the point where I was working on the original issue. Going round and round all day everyday for the past week.

In regards to testdisk. The log overwrites when I use it so was blank. Trying to analyse and load for all of the day to get in the previous position I was to see the error wasn't working.

With ddrescue I am using sudo. The disk is not being recognised so I cannot see if the drive would be /dev/sdd,sdf,sr0 etc.

As for the file path I copied and paste the destination folder into the terminal.
Attachments
ddrescue file path.png
ddrescue file path.png (150.63 KiB) Viewed 4936 times

recuperation
Posts: 2720
Joined: 04 Jan 2019, 09:48
Location: Hannover, Deutschland (Germany, Allemagne)

Re: Data recovery

#8 Post by recuperation »

dmarvelous wrote: 07 Feb 2023, 12:53 I try step by step then there's an issue.... I then have to research the fixing the issue to get to the point where I was working on the original issue. Going round and round all day everyday for the past week.
I can't help with secret "issues".


In regards to testdisk. The log overwrites when I use it so was blank. Trying to analyse and load for all of the day to get in the previous position I was to see the error wasn't working.
I don't understand anything you say.

With ddrescue I am using sudo. The disk is not being recognised so I cannot see if the drive would be /dev/sdd,sdf,sr0 etc.
Use lsblk without any parameters and gather identity details either with hdparm oder "smartmontools -i".

As for the file path I copied and paste the destination folder into the terminal.
Your drive is about to die according to the attached log file. Duplicating the drive is strongly recommended.
Stop using your virtual environment. Use a pendrive linux like Gparted CD, Systemrescue CD, Knoppix or others to execute ddrescue or connect your drive to a linux machine.
If your drive remains invisible in Testdisk even in this recommended setup contact a professional recovery service.

You can always rerun ddrescue using your old logfile which is know called "map file" in the ddrescue manual. I would not use the -r parameter.

dmarvelous
Posts: 6
Joined: 01 Feb 2023, 10:44

Re: Data recovery

#9 Post by dmarvelous »

I am trying to follow each step but I can't understand without a step by step walkthrough when I don't know how to do it, plus hardly anything works so makes it worse.

I have tried to make a copy with photorec I do not think any files were saved in the directory. Only thing in the recup_dir files is the attached report.

using the lsblk doesn't show me the external drive.

I can get the drives to show on testdisk and photorec but I don't know how to recover the data, copy the data, or fix whatever is wrong with the drive
Attachments
visable drives.png
visable drives.png (110.28 KiB) Viewed 4782 times
report.xml
(1.44 KiB) Downloaded 341 times
recovery back up.png
recovery back up.png (19.68 KiB) Viewed 4782 times

dmarvelous
Posts: 6
Joined: 01 Feb 2023, 10:44

Re: Data recovery

#10 Post by dmarvelous »

Hi,

Also when trying to run unbuntu from a live CD I get errors "Failed to start live unbuntu live cd installer" Now I am getting "failed to start snap daemon" as seen in attached.
Attachments
Unbuntu live cd.jpg
Unbuntu live cd.jpg (497.08 KiB) Viewed 4609 times

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