files missing after desktop repaired.

[Devapea]

linux mint 20.2 (64 bit)
computer repair guy did a stellar job at upgrading my desktop but now my files on 2 hard drives are missing. No photos, docs, videos,etc.

hard drive 1
1000 gb drive  96 Gb used  886.5 gb free
Linux mint OS is installed plus 1 doc 1 blender prog downloaded and 2 photos

hard drive 2
250 gb drive 24.4 gb used 220.6 gb free
Linux mint OS is installed but no other files

Would love to have my files back as I recently taught a linux class at Freegeek in SE Portland OR.
Thank you in advance! Great community!

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admin1@admin1-MS-7C95:~$ inxi -Fxxxrz
System:
  Kernel: 5.4.0-88-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.3.0 
  Desktop: Cinnamon 5.0.5 wm: muffin 5.0.1 dm: LightDM 1.30.0 
  Distro: Linux Mint 20.2 Uma base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: B550M PRO-VDH WIFI (MS-7C95) v: 1.0 
  serial: <filter> UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: 2.60 date: 01/14/2021 
CPU:
  Topology: 6-Core model: AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 
  L2 cache: 3072 KiB 
  flags: avx avx2 lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm 
  bogomips: 91204 
  Speed: 2199 MHz min/max: 2200/3800 MHz boost: enabled Core speeds (MHz): 
  1: 2209 2: 2198 3: 2200 4: 2200 5: 2200 6: 2200 7: 2199 8: 2200 9: 2200 
  10: 2200 11: 2195 12: 2200 
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU117 [GeForce GTX 1650] vendor: ZOTAC driver: nvidia 
  v: 470.63.01 bus ID: 2b:00.0 chip ID: 10de:1f82 
  Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.11 driver: nvidia 
  unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa resolution: 1920x1080~60Hz 
  OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650/PCIe/SSE2 
  v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 470.63.01 direct render: Yes 
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA vendor: ZOTAC driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
  bus ID: 2b:00.1 chip ID: 10de:10fa 
  Device-2: AMD Starship/Matisse HD Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI 
  driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus ID: 2d:00.4 chip ID: 1022:1487 
  Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-88-generic 
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak] driver: iwlwifi 
  v: kernel bus ID: 29:00.0 chip ID: 8086:24fb 
  IF: wlo1 state: up mac: <filter> 
  Device-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet 
  vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169 v: kernel port: f000 bus ID: 2a:00.0 
  chip ID: 10ec:8168 
  IF: enp42s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.07 TiB used: 87.48 GiB (4.1%) 
  ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Silicon Power model: SPCC Solid State Disk 
  size: 953.87 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 0A0 scheme: GPT 
  ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Seagate model: ST1000DM003-1CH162 size: 931.51 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: CC47 scheme: GPT 
  ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Seagate model: ST250DM000-1BD141 size: 232.89 GiB 
  speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: KC45 scheme: MBR 
Partition:
  ID-1: / size: 937.40 GiB used: 33.17 GiB (3.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 30.9 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 26 C 
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 50% 
Repos:
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list 
  1: deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/kdenlive-kdenlive-stable-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/kdenlive/kdenlive-stable/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
  1: deb http://mirror.os6.org/linuxmint.com/packages uma main upstream import backport
  2: deb http://ftp.usf.edu/pub/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
  3: deb http://ftp.usf.edu/pub/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
  4: deb http://ftp.usf.edu/pub/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
  5: deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
  6: deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/savoury1-blender-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/savoury1/blender/ubuntu focal main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/savoury1-ffmpeg4-focal.list 
  1: deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/savoury1/ffmpeg4/ubuntu focal main
Info:
  Processes: 321 Uptime: 23m Memory: 7.76 GiB used: 3.36 GiB (43.3%) 
  Init: systemd v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.3.0 alt: 9 Shell: bash 
  v: 5.0.17 running in: gnome-terminal inxi: 3.0.38

[SMG]

computer repair guy did a stellar job at upgrading my desktop but now my files on 2 hard drives are missing. No photos, docs, videos,etc.

What did the computer repair guy upgrade? Hardware, the operating system, something else?

Your system is showing three drives.
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 2.07 TiB used: 87.48 GiB (4.1%)
ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Silicon Power model: SPCC Solid State Disk
size: 953.87 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s serial: <filter> rev: 0A0 scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Seagate model: ST1000DM003-1CH162 size: 931.51 GiB
speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: CC47 scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Seagate model: ST250DM000-1BD141 size: 232.89 GiB
speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: KC45 scheme: MBR

Your current Mint install is on ID-1.
Partition:
ID-1: / size: 937.40 GiB used: 33.17 GiB (3.5%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2

If the current install was done on a new hard drive, then my guess would be your files are on ID-2 and ID-3. Can you see those two drives in the File Manager? If so, expand the home folder on them and see if the files you want are located on the other two drives.

[Devapea]

Brought in desktop cuz needed bios updated. Desktop was kind of ancient so Nick basically installed new motherboard, solid state hard drive which the OS is installed on,etc. I had checked both ID-2 and ID-3 and just saw the folders Documents, Downloads, etc. with nothing within them. Thot files might be hidden somewhere or on a partition. idk. Thanks for quick input tho

[Larry78723]

Your problem is the perfect example of why external backups of both the OS and your personal files are so important. Are your lost files worth $60US? That's the cost of a 480GB portable SSD on a major retailer's platform.

[kato181]

Did he clone your old drive or did he just do a fresh install of LM on the new ssd?
Do you still have the drive that is was installed on, if so then you can connect it to get the files.

[SMG]

Brought in desktop cuz needed bios updated. Desktop was kind of ancient so Nick basically installed new motherboard, solid state hard drive which the OS is installed on,etc.

I suggest contacting Nick as he would know what was done and would be most likely able to help you. We can only make guesses as what might have been done.

[Devapea]

Nick did a fresh install on the new ssd. The other two dices were in there an yes I realize the power of backing files up on an external hard drive. Just praying that all is not lost.

[SMG]

Nick did a fresh install on the new ssd. The other two dices were in there...

The Blender application/program is something you will need to install on your new SSD. You can not copy the software program to the new driver. However, you should be able to copy your Blender project files to the new SSD.

Based on what you have described, I would expect you could use the File Manager to get those "missing" files from the other disks. Maybe they are just in a different location than where you are expecting to find them.

[Petermint]

Different location or

permission

. If the file manager does not find them on those two disks, you can start the file manager as root with the following command then look at everything. Just do not change anything while running as root.

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sudo nemo

As a guide to anyone else performing a similar upgrade, do not trust anyone. This type of thing happens all the time. Buy a new disk for the new install. Keep the old disk as backup.

An example. I recovered everything from a faulty Windows disk for a friend. Replaced the rabid rotating rust with SSD. Started the work just for fun. Several days later... If I charged for the work at corporate rates, it would be $4,500. Cheaper to throw away the laptop and buy a new one. Lots of repairers just skip the nice bits so they can fit the work in for $90 or $50 or whatever.

[Devapea]

Tried searching for files as root an still not finding them. I have 4 internal hard drives:
rootMX19 32.5 gb used 458.7 gb free file sy type ext3/ext4
homeMX 10 gb used 183.7 gb free
250 gb drive 24.4 gb used 220.6 gb free

and

1000 gb drive 96. Gb used 886.5 gb free
1 doc 1 blender 2 photos.

I believe the 250 gb and 1000 gb drives were installed on that desktop and I find it very puzzling that for the most part the OS is the only thing that shows up on all of them. Ive got a (TBI) traumatic brain injury so some of this stuff is rather tricky for me (never get hit by a crazy guy driving a big truck while on a scooter! Ruins your day!) but I certainly appreciate all the help from this wonderful community. That all being said, I'm not ready to give up the ship and I just keep wondering where all my files are at? I had tons of photos, video, digital art projects, etc. Did my computer fix it guy who isn't super familiar with linux accidentally delete files?

[kato181]

They can be one to do that, which will be complicated for you..
You can remove that drive that the files were on, connect to a windows machine and install data restoring programs and try that, I'm afraid that would be the only way to retrieve them.
Aieesoft Data Recovery
Disk Drill Pro
Wondershare Data Recovery
Just to name a few. But remember to save the recovery data to another drive not the drive you are trying to recover from.

[Petermint]

Windows likes NTFS and FAT but not Ext4. I often use Linux to recover Windows disks due to the problems with Windows.

So what did the technician do? If you have a spare disk, you can try this yourself. Open the Disks application and point it at the spare disk. You can format the whole disk. At the start of the disk is a list of the partitions on the disk. Formatting the whole disk replaces that list of partitions which means everything disappears. Anything new is written over anything on the disk. Recovery of old stuff using magic software only works of the software can read the raw disk blocks and understand the file system that was on the disk before the overwrite.

When a disk has the MBR or GPT partition list at the start of the disk, you can add/delete/resize partitions. Deleting a partition deletes the pointers to the start of the partition when means there is no way to work out where a file system starts which means there is no way to find the file system list of files. Special software can guess where a file system starts only if nothing was written over those blocks when a replacement file system is added. This would happen if the technician changed a partition from NTFS to Ext4 or if she/he chose the format option.

Your disk could have the files in place with just the indexes missing. The installation of Linux would overwrite 20 GB on one partition. Formatting a partition overwrites a few percent of the partition with various structural blocks. Magic software might find a few small files that are complete. Large files might have bits missing.

Every time you boot, the system partition gets a bunch of temporary files written almost randomly over that partition. For anyone looking at broken systems with a view to recovering files, use a boot from a live USB stick so those temp OS files are not written to the disks you want to recover.

You might also use something like Clonezilla to copy a disk and experiment with recovery on the copy. Make sure the disk clone process is set to copy every block, not just the blocks that might contain data.

[kato181]

He maybe able to retrieve data from this drive..
ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Seagate model: ST250DM000-1BD141 size: 232.89 GiB
speed: 6.0 Gb/s rotation: 7200 rpm serial: <filter> rev: KC45 scheme: MBR

[Petermint]

Definitely worth a test on all disks.
Clone a disk using a full disk imager or gnuddrescue type program.
Run foremost and similar on the cloned disk. The worst you can do is break the copy.
https://linuxconfig.org/how-to-recover- ... t-on-linux

Use a different computer so you are not writing to the disks you are cloning. You might have to do all this at midnight under a full moon or something. If it works to recover just a few useful files, you are ahead.

[mikeflan]

I find it very puzzling that for the most part the OS is the only thing that shows up on all of them.

Are you saying there is no /home/ directory on any of them? Especially the only one specified as type ext3/ext4? Are the other 3 drives formatted as NTFS?

Please put as many of the drives into the computer as practical, open a terminal, and type:

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df -Th

Show us the results in your next post.

[Devapea]

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admin1@admin1-MS-7C95:~$ df -Th
Filesystem     Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev           devtmpfs  3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /dev
tmpfs          tmpfs     795M  1.6M  794M   1% /run
/dev/sda2      ext4      938G   36G  855G   5% /
tmpfs          tmpfs     3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /dev/shm
tmpfs          tmpfs     5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs          tmpfs     3.9G     0  3.9G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
/dev/sda1      vfat      511M  5.3M  506M   2% /boot/efi
tmpfs          tmpfs     795M   48K  795M   1% /run/user/1000
/dev/sdb2      ext4      916G   44G  826G   5% /media/admin1/6600d41c-16a6-488d-a1c7-00ab84827772
/dev/sdc1      ext4      458G  7.0G  428G   2% /media/admin1/rootMX19

gonna try that other highly technical procedure involving a full moon and candles during the witching hour next. Thanks a bunch!

[mikeflan]

Please open a terminal and report the results when you type this:

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$PWD

When you type this do you see any of your files:

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ls -laR /home/admin1

If there is too much output you can output to a file:

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ls -laR /home/admin1 > output.txt

[Devapea]

Thank you once again. Searching forever and racking my brain trying to figure out how to upload the txt file.

[mikeflan]

If the file is less than 200 KB then you can attached the file (hit 'Attachments' tab) and 'place inline'. Or you can just change the command to this:

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ls -laR /home/admin1 | nc termbin.com 9999

and give us the URL to the data.

[Devapea]

https://termbin.com/f54u