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Trying to recover data from an external HDD using USB to SATA cable...advice needed please

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darrenkarp

New Member
Hi All,

Firstly, I'm new to all things Linux. I booted Ubuntu Live from a USB stick and the desktop showed the drive I need to recover, I saw the correct folder where all the data is in (called Share) but it was empty so I then installed ddsrecue-gui (after a little fun with repos, etc.) but I have no idea what device to select as it's input source as many appeared different devices were presented. How do I know the correct device to select?

Many thanks
Darren
 


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darrenkarp

New Member
Here you go (pasted from Ubuntu Live) hopefully I've captured what you need:-

[email protected]:~$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/loop0: 1.8 GiB, 1905045504 bytes, 3720792 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop1: 91 MiB, 95408128 bytes, 186344 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop2: 34.6 MiB, 36216832 bytes, 70736 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop3: 140.7 MiB, 147496960 bytes, 288080 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop4: 2.3 MiB, 2355200 bytes, 4600 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop5: 13 MiB, 13619200 bytes, 26600 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop6: 14.5 MiB, 15208448 bytes, 29704 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop7: 3.7 MiB, 3878912 bytes, 7576 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/sda: 465.8 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 33553920 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xbd61106d

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sda1 * 2008125 12016619 10008495 4.8G 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 12016620 974984849 962968230 459.2G f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 12016683 14024744 2008062 980.5M 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 14024808 974984849 960960042 458.2G 83 Linux


Disk /dev/sdb: 465.8 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 431055DE-DF59-11E8-86CA-708BCD53E0B4

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 923655 921608 450M Windows recovery environment
/dev/sdb2 923656 1128463 204808 100M EFI System
/dev/sdb3 1128464 1161239 32776 16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdb4 1161240 975724741 974563502 464.7G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sdb5 975726592 976771071 1044480 510M Windows recovery environment


Disk /dev/sdc: 232.9 GiB, 250059350016 bytes, 488397168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 5AB396FE-89D2-40E8-8357-A953F09637D9

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdc1 2048 923647 921600 450M Windows recovery environment
/dev/sdc2 923648 1128447 204800 100M EFI System
/dev/sdc3 1128448 1161215 32768 16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdc4 1161216 486603619 485442404 231.5G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sdc5 486604800 488394751 1789952 874M Windows recovery environment


Disk /dev/sdd: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xf9393dc8

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdd1 * 2048 206847 204800 100M 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdd2 206848 1952598015 1952391168 931G 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdd3 1952600064 1953521663 921600 450M 27 Hidden NTFS WinRE


Disk /dev/sde: 28.7 GiB, 30752636928 bytes, 60063744 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xcf685188

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sde1 * 2048 60063743 60061696 28.7G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
 
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darrenkarp

New Member
I should add that now I've booted back into my W10 machine the 1TB HDD I have is showing but says it needs to be formatted! I did try ddrescue-gui to restore to it but quit after about 60 seconds...so I've gone from confused to raging as I need the stuff on the 1TB HDD!
 
dos2unix

dos2unix

Member
It looks like your USB drive is likely a 32gig drive at /dev/sde1

It looks you have a windows drive at /dev/sdc (approx 466 GB)
and you also have a windows drive at /dev/sdd (approx 466 GB)

It looks like most of your windows data in /dev/sdc4 and /dev/sdd4

Try this at a console.

sudo mount /dev/sdc4 /mnt

Then cd /mnt
see if your data is there.
copy it someplace.

Once that is done you can do the same thing thing on the other drive.

sudo umount /mnt
sudo mount /dev/sdd4 /mnt
cd /mnt
see if you have anything important here. Copy it someplace.
 
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darrenkarp

New Member
Thanks very much for the reply. Before I try that do you have any advice on how I can get my 1TB drive back from being RAW (I obviously played around with ddrescure and overwrite the W10 partition)?
 
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darrenkarp

New Member
and btw the drive I'm trying to recover is a 500GB WDC HDD. In my rig I have a 500GB SDD, a 250GB SDD and a 1TB mechanical HDD. The other WDC HDD is on a USB to SATA cable.
 
dos2unix

dos2unix

Member
The only 1TB drive I see here, is /dev/sda
/dev/sda2 is about 460 gig.
/dev/sda6 is also about 460 gig.

/dev/sda6 is formatted as Linux drive.

/dev/sda2 still looks to be formatted as a Windows drive.
 
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darrenkarp

New Member
Really sorry but getting terribly lost with all this. What I'd like to do firstly is get my internal 1TB drive back. Then I can worry about the 500GB external drive. I ran the fdisk -l command before I ran ddrescue and clearly screwed something up!
 
dos2unix

dos2unix

Member
fdisk -l (make sure you use the "dash ell" doesn't change anything or format anything.
It just shows you what you have.

Unless you did some other commands or installed Linux on a drive, you should still have everything.

The most obvious places appear to be /dev/sdc4, /dev/sdd4, and /dev/sda2.
I would think whatever data was on these partitions is still there.
 
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darrenkarp

New Member
Thanks again. As it takes some time running the Ubuntu Live, installing the repos, etc. I'll do it tomorrow and hopefully you'll be able to advise on what I need to do!
 
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darrenkarp

New Member
Hi,

I've just come home from work and have booted up Linux Live. Below is the output from the fdisk -l command. It would appear that yesterday I stupidly managed to delete the windows partition on the 1TB drive. In Windows 10 I can see this drive in disk management showing as a RAW drive. How can I get this drive back and working? We can then hopefully deal with the 500GB HDD and recover the files on it:

Disk /dev/loop0: 1.8 GiB, 1905045504 bytes, 3720792 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop1: 91 MiB, 95408128 bytes, 186344 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop2: 34.6 MiB, 36216832 bytes, 70736 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop3: 140.7 MiB, 147496960 bytes, 288080 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop4: 2.3 MiB, 2355200 bytes, 4600 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop5: 13 MiB, 13619200 bytes, 26600 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop6: 14.5 MiB, 15208448 bytes, 29704 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop7: 3.7 MiB, 3878912 bytes, 7576 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/sda: 465.8 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 431055DE-DF59-11E8-86CA-708BCD53E0B4

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 2048 923655 921608 450M Windows recovery environment
/dev/sda2 923656 1128463 204808 100M EFI System
/dev/sda3 1128464 1161239 32776 16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sda4 1161240 975724741 974563502 464.7G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sda5 975726592 976771071 1044480 510M Windows recovery environment


Disk /dev/sdb: 232.9 GiB, 250059350016 bytes, 488397168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 5AB396FE-89D2-40E8-8357-A953F09637D9

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 923647 921600 450M Windows recovery environment
/dev/sdb2 923648 1128447 204800 100M EFI System
/dev/sdb3 1128448 1161215 32768 16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdb4 1161216 486603619 485442404 231.5G Microsoft basic data
/dev/sdb5 486604800 488394751 1789952 874M Windows recovery environment


Disk /dev/sdc: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x128ad46d

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1 * 2048 1953521663 1953519616 931.5G 6 FAT16


Disk /dev/sdd: 28.7 GiB, 30752636928 bytes, 60063744 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xcf685188

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdd1 * 2048 60063743 60061696 28.7G c W95 FAT32 (LBA)


Disk /dev/sde: 465.8 GiB, 500107862016 bytes, 976773168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 33553920 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0xbd61106d

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sde1 * 2008125 12016619 10008495 4.8G 83 Linux
/dev/sde2 12016620 974984849 962968230 459.2G f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sde5 12016683 14024744 2008062 980.5M 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sde6 14024808 974984849 960960042 458.2G 83 Linux
 
Last edited:
dos2unix

dos2unix

Member
Once the partition has been re-formatted, there is not much you can do.
Sometimes professional data recovery services can get the data back, but it is very $$$
and not always 100% effective.

But any of the partitions above that end with "Microsoft basic data"

should still have your data on them.
 
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darrenkarp

New Member
I've no problem seeing the data with recovery software and I never re-formatted any drive (just messed up the partition file format it would see) but the cost of the recovery software is like $200. Do you know of anything that's free?
 
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darrenkarp

New Member
no problem. Thanks very much for all your help. I was hoping to be able to recover the data of the 500GB with Ubuntu at least.
 
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