Can't mount partititon, I think I screwed up... [SOLVED]

[viper37]

I'm on KDE 18.1.

I used KDE partition manager to delete a partition I no longer needed. Since that was the first partition, I moved and resized the 2nd one with the partition manager. I took a very long time, close to a day.
When I came back, there was an error message saying the operation was aborted.

Now, I can't seem to be able to access the files there. I can't see the drive in the file manager, and the partition does not appear to be mounted.

KDE partition manager does not report anything on it, the "used" column is blank.

How do I get my files back?

EDIT: The partition was BTRFS. It contained files that I'd like to get back, some of which I no longer have the discs.

EDIT2: It's not the system partition, in case that wasn't clear.

[viper37]

No response? Nothing comes to mind? The only KDE user here is gone on vacation?

Look, if any of you know or another forum where I can ask this kind of questions and where I'm likelier to get an answer, I'll take it, no harm done, I understand the Mint KDE user base is quite small, but maybe other distros using KDE could help me. I know Ubuntu doesn't allow questions relating to Mint, but there might be non commercial communities.

[deleted]

Can you boot a live session and see the files?
-H

[viper37]

KDE or Cinnamon live release give the same thing:

File manager view:

Screenshot_20170404_220326.png

There should be another 6tb drive there.

KDE Partition manager:

Screenshot_20170404_220326.png

/dev/sdb1 is where the should be something.
I have the option to "restore" something when using KDE Partition manager, but I have no idea what to do with that...
http://tinypic.com/r/15z0949/9

Basically, I'm in way over my head with KDE and it was my 2nd stupid mistake, installing this instead of Cinnamon while I'm tired and in an extreme rush.

[deleted]

Is this a live session?
And do you have the btrfs-tools installed?
KDE/Cinnamon doesn't matter.
-Hinto

[viper37]

Not a live session, KDE is installed and working. I also tried a live session just to see if it was working.
I don't think I had BTRFS reinstalled, I will check it tonight when I can access the computer.

[deleted]

If I *thought* I had disk problems, I'd never run off the disk since it writes back to the disk. I'd use a live session.
-H

[viper37]

Btrfs-tools was installed. Btrfs-tools-debug is not. Should I install it?

I have 3 drives
SSD - Where the OS lies. This drive is fine.
6TB #1 : Where my files used to live. That's the problematic one.
6TB #2: Where I have my other files, this volume is fine.

I'm no running from the problematic disk. It's the same as a live session, I think... ?

[deleted]

no, you don't need debug.
installing btrfs-tools on a live session (if it isn't already there) makes sure that you'd be able to see btrfs file systems.
do you see files/directories when you go to that drive and do:

ls -la

in a terminal?

-H

[viper37]

that drive does not appear in file manager.

I managed to go to media/films/films where they are supposed to be and I have this:

Code: Select all

total 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Apr  3 17:30 .
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Apr  3 17:30 ..

[powerhouse]

Start a live session, as suggested earlier. Then check these pages for a start: https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Btrfsck and https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Restore.

Don't use the standard GUI tools - in most cases they are a waste of time. Try the btrfs specific recovery tools to see if they find something.

I can feel your pain, seeing 6 TB of movies down the drain. Unfortunately I'm not an expert in KDE, nor in BTRFS. I very much try to stay clear of KDE (long long time ago I had some bad experience with it), and I use the standard Linux file systems that are well supported, together with LVM for flexibility.

[deleted]

KDE is irrelevant.
BTRFS is.
-H

[viper37]

Ok, thank you very much, I will try that with the live session.

[powerhouse]

KDE is irrelevant.
BTRFS is.
-H

KDE may be irrelevant, but it provides its own set of tools - file manager, partition manager, etc. I was under the impression that the OP was trying to solve his/her issue with the GUI tools provided by KDE. Whether KDE, Gnome, Cinnamon, or Mate the regular GUI tools are most often not enough.

I won't say more about KDE, except that it didn't really conquer earth.

[deleted]

Not for BTRFS.
-H

[powerhouse]

Ok, thank you very much, I will try that with the live session.

Be careful when trying out the utilities I mentioned. See if you can discover some data.

Also, read the following on the Arch Linux website: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Btrfs

Hint: Arch Linux has the best documentation. Period.

[viper37]

Doesn't look good so far
"no valid BTRFS found on /dev/sdb"

Doesn't matter what I tried with the tools, I'm always back at this. Looking around the web, there does not seem to be any solution to my problem, other than forget about everything and start anew

Well, I still have a few more things to try.

[viper37]

I found Testdisk. It can see something... Long analysis required to see if I can get my files back... I migh be on to something

[powerhouse]

I found Testdisk. It can see something... Long analysis required to see if I can get my files back... I migh be on to something

Good luck - you'll need all you can get. Just never forget: there are worse things in life than loosing your HDD data.

[viper37]

I think it worked...

Testdisk was able to find my partition, but then I needed to reboot... and on a live session, that meant I lost all my scan info. So i booted off my usual SSD, installed testdisk, ran it, it found my lost partitions, I was able to write them, copy the files to a temporary drive, and now all I have left to do is repartition the original drive correctly and recopy the files. Another 4hrs and I'm done!

I haven't checked all files, but the few I checked seemed allright.

Thanks all for the help, pointing me toward ArchLinux helped me find Testdisk.