Ext3 users - Apr 2005 - Help needed to recover data from ext3 file system where mkfs was issued accidentally

Hi,
I connected my harddisk which had ext3 filesystem and some files
archived in it as slave device and issued "mkfs /dev/hdb2"
accidentally.
Immediately I issued Ctrl C and stopped the process. But before that it
had deleted some 100 Blocks. 

After that I am unable to boot that hard disk as primary device. The
system is asking me "please insert a valid boot device and press
enter"

I am even unable to connect it as a slave device and mount it. The mount
is saying bad super block information.

mount -t ext3 /dev/hdb2 mnt_pt/
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hdb2,
or too many mounted file systems
(could this be the IDE device where you in fact use
ide-scsi so that sr0 or sda or so is needed?)

Please tell me how can I recover my data.

This disk is containing important data.

 

Regards

Kapil Sampath

 

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On Sun, April 24, 2005 14:06, kapil.sampath at wipro.com
said:
> mount -t ext3 /dev/hdb2 mnt_pt/
> mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hdb2,
> or too many mounted file systems
well, does ext2fsck do anything? if not, i guess you can only use the
"usual undelete attempts" via "cat /dev/hdb2 | strings" or
feed google
with "ext2 undelete" - there are some win32 GUI tools out there, which
were able to recover lots of data from a ext3 crash we had here.

thanks,
Christian.
-- 
make bzImage, not war

[Disclaimer: I'm NOT an expert, and what I say might not be the best 
method.]

On Sun, 24 Apr 2005 kapil.sampath at wipro.com wrote:
> I connected my harddisk which had ext3 filesystem and some files
> archived in it as slave device and issued "mkfs /dev/hdb2"
accidentally.
> Immediately I issued Ctrl C and stopped the process. But before that it
> had deleted some 100 Blocks.
Ouch.  :(

Before you do anything that will write to the drive, it might be a good 
idea to make a bitwise backup of the entire disk using dd.  That way, if 
something screws it up worse, you can fall back to your current 
situation.
> I am even unable to connect it as a slave device and mount it. The mount
> is saying bad super block information.
Have you tried using alternate superblocks?  Maybe one of the later ones 
hasn't been corrupted?  Of course, you'd want to fsck using one of the 
later superblocks.
> Please tell me how can I recover my data.
Assuming a fsck doesn't work, you're mostly screwed.  You might try 
getting The Coroner's Toolkit, available from porcupine.org or fish.com. 
But expect to spend a LOT of time.  It's unlikely your data is worth the 
effort.
> This disk is containing important data.
Oh, that makes it easier.... since all important data is backed up.  ;)

Damian Menscher
-- 
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-=#| <menscher at uiuc.edu> www.uiuc.edu/~menscher/ Fax:(217)333-9819 |#=-
-=#| The above opinions are not necessarily those of my employers. |#=-

Hello,
> Hi,
> I connected my harddisk which had ext3 filesystem and
> some files archived in it as slave device and issued 
> "mkfs /dev/hdb2" accidentally. Immediately I issued 
> Ctrl C and stopped the process. But before that it
> had deleted some 100 Blocks. 
>
> After that I am unable to boot that hard disk as 
> primary device. The system is asking me "please 
> insert a valid boot device and press enter"
>
can you mail the ouput of mkfs, which you ran accidentally?

niTin