Linux stopped reading my 2nd HDD - Help!!

I have been running Win2k/FC8 on my first HDD (80Gb) and only FC5 on
my 2nd HDD (160Gb). MBR and Grub is on 1sr HD (sda). Things were going
smoothly until today, when I tried to boot my FC5 I got the error
"Filesystem unknown and Partition type 0x93". Grub could not load FC5.
My FC8 and Win2k are still working fine.

Using fdisk I could change the partition type to 0x83 on the 2nd HDD
(sdb) for the first 3 partitions but could not change the extended
partition, which still says unknown. See below

grub> geometry (hd1)
drive 0x81: C/H/S = 19457/255/63, The number of sectors = 312581808, /
dev/sdb
Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
Partition num: 1, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
Partition num: 3, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x15

Tried using the install CD to see if I can fix or upgrade my 2nd HD
but I got the message that partitions are not readable and the I need
to initialize the HD causing data loss.
I have all my important data on my 2nd HDD. Can some one pl. help me
on how I can resurrect the FC5 and or at least recover the data. I
have to scream HELP! HELP!

Thanks for your help
NS

It sounds like a hardware failure. The way out is to use your backups. You
do have backups?


sridhar <sribang@yahoo.com> writes:

>I have been running Win2k/FC8 on my first HDD (80Gb) and only FC5 on
>my 2nd HDD (160Gb). MBR and Grub is on 1sr HD (sda). Things were going
>smoothly until today, when I tried to boot my FC5 I got the error
>"Filesystem unknown and Partition type 0x93". Grub could not load FC5.
>My FC8 and Win2k are still working fine.

>Using fdisk I could change the partition type to 0x83 on the 2nd HDD
>(sdb) for the first 3 partitions but could not change the extended
>partition, which still says unknown. See below

>grub> geometry (hd1)
>drive 0x81: C/H/S = 19457/255/63, The number of sectors = 312581808, /
>dev/sdb
> Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 1, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 3, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x15

>Tried using the install CD to see if I can fix or upgrade my 2nd HD
>but I got the message that partitions are not readable and the I need
>to initialize the HD causing data loss.
>I have all my important data on my 2nd HDD. Can some one pl. help me
>on how I can resurrect the FC5 and or at least recover the data. I
>have to scream HELP! HELP!

>Thanks for your help
>NS

On Sat, 10 May 2008 03:19:07 -0700, sridhar wrote:

> I have been running Win2k/FC8 on my first HDD (80Gb) and only FC5 on my
> 2nd HDD (160Gb). MBR and Grub is on 1sr HD (sda). Things were going
> smoothly until today, when I tried to boot my FC5 I got the error
> "Filesystem unknown and Partition type 0x93". Grub could not load FC5.
> My FC8 and Win2k are still working fine.
>
> Using fdisk I could change the partition type to 0x83 on the 2nd HDD
> (sdb) for the first 3 partitions but could not change the extended
> partition, which still says unknown. See below
>
> grub> geometry (hd1)
> drive 0x81: C/H/S = 19457/255/63, The number of sectors = 312581808, /
> dev/sdb
> Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 1, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 3, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x15
>
> Tried using the install CD to see if I can fix or upgrade my 2nd HD but
> I got the message that partitions are not readable and the I need to
> initialize the HD causing data loss. I have all my important data on my
> 2nd HDD. Can some one pl. help me on how I can resurrect the FC5 and or
> at least recover the data. I have to scream HELP! HELP!
>
> Thanks for your help
> NS

You could try putting the disk into your freezer for a while and then see
if you can read it. The technique is to put the disk in a plastic bag and
freeze it for an hour. While it's still cold you reattach it and recover
your data. Here is a link that describes it.

http://geeksaresexy.blogspot.com/200...over-data.html

Since the other drive is only 80G you will need to add a new larger drive to your
system first so that you will have some place to copy off your files.

You should have been doing regular backups, if you had a backup a drive failure
wouldn't be a problem. All drives fail eventually, it's a cheap mechanical device
that operates at 7200RPM day in and day out. The wonder is that they last as long as
they do.

On 2008-05-10, sridhar <sribang@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> I have been running Win2k/FC8 on my first HDD (80Gb) and only FC5 on
> my 2nd HDD (160Gb). MBR and Grub is on 1sr HD (sda). Things were going
> smoothly until today, when I tried to boot my FC5 I got the error
> "Filesystem unknown and Partition type 0x93". Grub could not load FC5.
> My FC8 and Win2k are still working fine.
>
> Using fdisk I could change the partition type to 0x83 on the 2nd HDD
> (sdb) for the first 3 partitions but could not change the extended
> partition, which still says unknown. See below
>
> grub> geometry (hd1)
> drive 0x81: C/H/S = 19457/255/63, The number of sectors = 312581808, /
> dev/sdb
> Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 1, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 3, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x15
>
> Tried using the install CD to see if I can fix or upgrade my 2nd HD
> but I got the message that partitions are not readable and the I need
> to initialize the HD causing data loss.
> I have all my important data on my 2nd HDD. Can some one pl. help me
> on how I can resurrect the FC5 and or at least recover the data. I
> have to scream HELP! HELP!
>
Try gpart. It reads the entire drive looking for the beginnings of
partitions. Get a new drive of equal or greater capacity and use dd to
copy the contents of the old drive.

On Sat, 10 May 2008 03:19:07 -0700 (PDT), sridhar <sribang@yahoo.com>
wrote:

>I have been running Win2k/FC8 on my first HDD (80Gb) and only FC5 on
>my 2nd HDD (160Gb). MBR and Grub is on 1sr HD (sda). Things were going
>smoothly until today, when I tried to boot my FC5 I got the error
>"Filesystem unknown and Partition type 0x93". Grub could not load FC5.
>My FC8 and Win2k are still working fine.
>
>Using fdisk I could change the partition type to 0x83 on the 2nd HDD
>(sdb) for the first 3 partitions but could not change the extended
>partition, which still says unknown. See below
>
>grub> geometry (hd1)
>drive 0x81: C/H/S = 19457/255/63, The number of sectors = 312581808, /
>dev/sdb
> Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 1, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> Partition num: 3, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x15
>
>Tried using the install CD to see if I can fix or upgrade my 2nd HD
>but I got the message that partitions are not readable and the I need
>to initialize the HD causing data loss.
>I have all my important data on my 2nd HDD. Can some one pl. help me
>on how I can resurrect the FC5 and or at least recover the data. I
>have to scream HELP! HELP!

Were you messing around with a new boot manager or fiddling grub? The
*bad* partition IDs look suspiciously like the hidden versions of
regular IDs. At least 0x93 is hidden 0x82. 0x15 doesn't really match
teh hideen version of anything sane. For instance, 0x05 is a dos
extended partition for old small drives, and probably not what you had
originally.

You _might_ try changing 0x15 to what you know it should be. 0x0F
perhaps. On the other hand, that could whack what's left of your
drive. Continents could slide into the sea. Winged monkeys could
fly from you posterior. You get the idea. Try this WAG at your
own risk. It is just a _WAG_.

Here's a list of partition IDs in case you don't have one handy:

http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/partition...n_types-1.html

Bill
--
William D Waddington
william.waddington@beezmo.com
"Even bugs...are unexpected signposts on
the long road of creativity..." - Ken Burtch

On Sat, 10 May 2008 13:42:17 -0700, Bill Waddington
<william.waddington@beezmo.com> wrote:

>On Sat, 10 May 2008 03:19:07 -0700 (PDT), sridhar <sribang@yahoo.com>
>wrote:
>
>>I have been running Win2k/FC8 on my first HDD (80Gb) and only FC5 on
>>my 2nd HDD (160Gb). MBR and Grub is on 1sr HD (sda). Things were going
>>smoothly until today, when I tried to boot my FC5 I got the error
>>"Filesystem unknown and Partition type 0x93". Grub could not load FC5.
>>My FC8 and Win2k are still working fine.
>>
>>Using fdisk I could change the partition type to 0x83 on the 2nd HDD
>>(sdb) for the first 3 partitions but could not change the extended
>>partition, which still says unknown. See below
>>
>>grub> geometry (hd1)
>>drive 0x81: C/H/S = 19457/255/63, The number of sectors = 312581808, /
>>dev/sdb
>> Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
>> Partition num: 1, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
>> Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
>> Partition num: 3, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x15
>>
>>Tried using the install CD to see if I can fix or upgrade my 2nd HD
>>but I got the message that partitions are not readable and the I need
>>to initialize the HD causing data loss.
>>I have all my important data on my 2nd HDD. Can some one pl. help me
>>on how I can resurrect the FC5 and or at least recover the data. I
>>have to scream HELP! HELP!
>
>Were you messing around with a new boot manager or fiddling grub? The
>*bad* partition IDs look suspiciously like the hidden versions of
>regular IDs. At least 0x93 is hidden 0x82. 0x15 doesn't really match

0x93 -> 0x83 (of course)

>teh hideen version of anything sane. For instance, 0x05 is a dos

man, what a typist...

>extended partition for old small drives, and probably not what you had
>originally.
>
>You _might_ try changing 0x15 to what you know it should be. 0x0F
>perhaps. On the other hand, that could whack what's left of your
>drive. Continents could slide into the sea. Winged monkeys could
>fly from you posterior. You get the idea. Try this WAG at your
>own risk. It is just a _WAG_.
>
>Here's a list of partition IDs in case you don't have one handy:
>
>http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/partition...n_types-1.html

Hopefully you get the idea through the bad keyboarding. Like I said
though, it's just a WAG...

Bill
--
William D Waddington
william.waddington@beezmo.com
"Even bugs...are unexpected signposts on
the long road of creativity..." - Ken Burtch

On May 11, 5:34 am, Bill Waddington <william.wadding...@beezmo.com>
wrote:
> On Sat, 10 May 2008 13:42:17 -0700, Bill Waddington
>
>
>
> <william.wadding...@beezmo.com> wrote:
> >On Sat, 10 May 2008 03:19:07 -0700 (PDT), sridhar <srib...@yahoo.com>
> >wrote:
>
> >>I have been running Win2k/FC8 on my first HDD (80Gb) and only FC5 on
> >>my 2nd HDD (160Gb). MBR and Grub is on 1sr HD (sda). Things were going
> >>smoothly until today, when I tried to boot my FC5 I got the error
> >>"Filesystem unknown and Partition type 0x93". Grub could not load FC5.
> >>My FC8 and Win2k are still working fine.
>
> >>Using fdisk I could change the partition type to 0x83 on the 2nd HDD
> >>(sdb) for the first 3 partitions but could not change the extended
> >>partition, which still says unknown. See below
>
> >>grub> geometry (hd1)
> >>drive 0x81: C/H/S = 19457/255/63, The number of sectors = 312581808, /
> >>dev/sdb
> >> Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> >> Partition num: 1, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> >> Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
> >> Partition num: 3, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x15
>
> >>Tried using the install CD to see if I can fix or upgrade my 2nd HD
> >>but I got the message that partitions are not readable and the I need
> >>to initialize the HD causing data loss.
> >>I have all my important data on my 2nd HDD. Can some one pl. help me
> >>on how I can resurrect the FC5 and or at least recover the data. I
> >>have to scream HELP! HELP!
>
> >Were you messing around with a new boot manager or fiddling grub? The
> >*bad* partition IDs look suspiciously like the hidden versions of
> >regular IDs. At least 0x93 is hidden 0x82. 0x15 doesn't really match
>
> 0x93 -> 0x83 (of course)
>
> >teh hideen version of anything sane. For instance, 0x05 is a dos
>
> man, what a typist...
>
> >extended partition for old small drives, and probably not what you had
> >originally.
>
> >You _might_ try changing 0x15 to what you know it should be. 0x0F
> >perhaps. On the other hand, that could whack what's left of your
> >drive. Continents could slide into the sea. Winged monkeys could
> >fly from you posterior. You get the idea. Try this WAG at your
> >own risk. It is just a _WAG_.
>
> >Here's a list of partition IDs in case you don't have one handy:
>
> >http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/partition...n_types-1.html
>
> Hopefully you get the idea through the bad keyboarding. Like I said
> though, it's just a WAG...
>
> Bill
> --
> William D Waddington
> william.wadding...@beezmo.com
> "Even bugs...are unexpected signposts on
> the long road of creativity..." - Ken Burtch


Just an update.

I was able to resolve the corrupt partition issue by using testdisk.
It is an unbelievable utility at "http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/
TestDisk". It worked like a charm. So easy and yet powerful. It
analyzed all the HDD and suggested a partition which was exactly as
before. It allows to look into each partition/folder to see if all the
files are ok. Once you feel ok you can write the partition. The wiki
also has step by step instructions! Thanks to cgsecurity. It is just
beautiful and now I feel so much more confident. I had to update you
all on this. Thanks for your suggestion

NS

On Sun, 11 May 2008 22:38:39 -0700, sridhar wrote:

> On May 11, 5:34 am, Bill Waddington <william.wadding...@beezmo.com>
> wrote:
>> On Sat, 10 May 2008 13:42:17 -0700, Bill Waddington
>>
>>
>>
>> <william.wadding...@beezmo.com> wrote:
>> >On Sat, 10 May 2008 03:19:07 -0700 (PDT), sridhar <srib...@yahoo.com>
>> >wrote:
>>
>> >>I have been running Win2k/FC8 on my first HDD (80Gb) and only FC5 on
>> >>my 2nd HDD (160Gb). MBR and Grub is on 1sr HD (sda). Things were
>> >>going smoothly until today, when I tried to boot my FC5 I got the
>> >>error "Filesystem unknown and Partition type 0x93". Grub could not
>> >>load FC5. My FC8 and Win2k are still working fine.
>>
>> >>Using fdisk I could change the partition type to 0x83 on the 2nd HDD
>> >>(sdb) for the first 3 partitions but could not change the extended
>> >>partition, which still says unknown. See below
>>
>> >>grub> geometry (hd1)
>> >>drive 0x81: C/H/S = 19457/255/63, The number of sectors = 312581808,
>> >>/ dev/sdb
>> >> Partition num: 0, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
>> >> Partition num: 1, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
>> >> Partition num: 2, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x83
>> >> Partition num: 3, Filesystem type unknown, partition type 0x15
>>
>> >>Tried using the install CD to see if I can fix or upgrade my 2nd HD
>> >>but I got the message that partitions are not readable and the I need
>> >>to initialize the HD causing data loss. I have all my important data
>> >>on my 2nd HDD. Can some one pl. help me on how I can resurrect the
>> >>FC5 and or at least recover the data. I have to scream HELP! HELP!
>>
>> >Were you messing around with a new boot manager or fiddling grub? The
>> >*bad* partition IDs look suspiciously like the hidden versions of
>> >regular IDs. At least 0x93 is hidden 0x82. 0x15 doesn't really match
>>
>> 0x93 -> 0x83 (of course)
>>
>> >teh hideen version of anything sane. For instance, 0x05 is a dos
>>
>> man, what a typist...
>>
>> >extended partition for old small drives, and probably not what you had
>> >originally.
>>
>> >You _might_ try changing 0x15 to what you know it should be. 0x0F
>> >perhaps. On the other hand, that could whack what's left of your
>> >drive. Continents could slide into the sea. Winged monkeys could fly
>> >from you posterior. You get the idea. Try this WAG at your own risk.
>> > It is just a _WAG_.
>>
>> >Here's a list of partition IDs in case you don't have one handy:
>>
>> >http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/partition...n_types-1.html
>>
>> Hopefully you get the idea through the bad keyboarding. Like I said
>> though, it's just a WAG...
>>
>> Bill
>> --
>> William D Waddington
>> william.wadding...@beezmo.com
>> "Even bugs...are unexpected signposts on the long road of
>> creativity..." - Ken Burtch
>
>
> Just an update.
>
> I was able to resolve the corrupt partition issue by using testdisk. It
> is an unbelievable utility at "http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/
> TestDisk". It worked like a charm. So easy and yet powerful. It analyzed
> all the HDD and suggested a partition which was exactly as before. It
> allows to look into each partition/folder to see if all the files are
> ok. Once you feel ok you can write the partition. The wiki also has step
> by step instructions! Thanks to cgsecurity. It is just beautiful and now
> I feel so much more confident. I had to update you all on this. Thanks
> for your suggestion
>
> NS

I hope you've learned a lesson from this and will do frequent backups in
the future. Also you should replace that drive.