Use parted to recover broken flash drive?

Kenmcfa · 08-20-2008, 11:26 AM

(Sorry, I'm not sure which section to post this in. Mods, feel free to move this to a more appropriate section if you want.)

A while back I was transferring files from my friend's windows machine to my USB flash drive (a 2GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro), when Windows somehow broke it. Windows came up with a write error, and when I tried to open it from windows explorer I was informed that the disk was not formatted, would I like to format it now?

Of course I don't want to format it, I want my data back! I think that parted can do what I want. I think that all i need to do is re-apply the file system (I'm not sure if it would have been FAT or FAT 32, can anyone help me work that bit out?), and hopefully I can recover some or all of the data from the disk.
In parted, when I select the disk and type print, I get the following:
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 245s 3999743s 3999499s primary lba
so the first thing I tried was:
rescue 245 999743
This didn't give me any output, presumably meaning that it didn't find anything to rescue. So next I removed the partition using rm 1, and then typed:
mkpart primary fat32 245s 3999743s (I assumed that the system was FAT 32).
This seemed to work, so I tried print again, and got:
Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 245s 3999743s 3999499s primary lba
Back to exactly as it was when i started, completely sans filesystem. I then tried the same thing with FAT16 instead of FAT32, but that didn't work either. Can you help me work out how to re-apply the filesystem, and whether it should be FAT16 or FAT32?

dragonember · 08-23-2008, 09:42 PM

have you tried using a data recovery tool?

shuuhen · 08-23-2008, 11:26 PM

If there's a way to use parted for that, I don't know about it (although I don't design partitioning tools, so maybe?). Look into TestDisk and PhotoRec. I know there are some other tools out there, like Foremost, but haven't used them.

PhotoRec pulls files off of your drive, TestDisk tries to fix the partition map. I recommend making an image of the drive using the dd program and trying to recover the data off of that (PhotoRec can use images from dd).

Kenmcfa · 08-26-2008, 02:15 PM

Hmm, the parted theory doesn't really seem to work.

Dragonember, can you recommend any specific data recovery tool?

Shuuhen, thanks for the input, I'm trying these now.

Kenmcfa · 08-26-2008, 02:46 PM

Test disk might just have managed to fix the image file. However, I don't know how to check. How do I check? Is there a program that can normally view the contents of an image file? Or do I have to use dd to apply this new image to my drive, thereby wrecking everything if the image is not fixed?

08-20-2008, 11:26 AM	#1 (permalink)
Kenmcfa Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: A wretched hive of scum and villany (Bathgate, Scotland) Posts: 96 OS: Windows XP Pro x64, dual booting with XP Home for safety	Use parted to recover broken flash drive? (Sorry, I'm not sure which section to post this in. Mods, feel free to move this to a more appropriate section if you want.) A while back I was transferring files from my friend's windows machine to my USB flash drive (a 2GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro), when Windows somehow broke it. Windows came up with a write error, and when I tried to open it from windows explorer I was informed that the disk was not formatted, would I like to format it now? Of course I don't want to format it, I want my data back! I think that parted can do what I want. I think that all i need to do is re-apply the file system (I'm not sure if it would have been FAT or FAT 32, can anyone help me work that bit out?), and hopefully I can recover some or all of the data from the disk. In parted, when I select the disk and type print, I get the following: Number Start End Size Type File system Flags 1 245s 3999743s 3999499s primary lba so the first thing I tried was: rescue 245 999743 This didn't give me any output, presumably meaning that it didn't find anything to rescue. So next I removed the partition using rm 1, and then typed: mkpart primary fat32 245s 3999743s (I assumed that the system was FAT 32). This seemed to work, so I tried print again, and got: Number Start End Size Type File system Flags 1 245s 3999743s 3999499s primary lba Back to exactly as it was when i started, completely sans filesystem. I then tried the same thing with FAT16 instead of FAT32, but that didn't work either. Can you help me work out how to re-apply the filesystem, and whether it should be FAT16 or FAT32?

08-23-2008, 09:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
dragonember Registered User Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: The voices in my head disagree... Posts: 163 OS: Windows XP: Home Edition SP2/Ububtu 8.04 My System	Re: Use parted to recover broken flash drive? have you tried using a data recovery tool? __________________ Extrico subjectio quod verum ero evidens No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. -- Eleanor Roosevelt "it may be alright to be content with what you have; never with what you are."--B.C. Forbes

08-23-2008, 11:26 PM	#3 (permalink)
shuuhen Manager Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 988 OS: Mac OS 9.1, Mac OS X 10.5.8, WinXP Pro, FreeBSD 6.0, Gentoo Linux My System	Re: Use parted to recover broken flash drive? If there's a way to use parted for that, I don't know about it (although I don't design partitioning tools, so maybe?). Look into TestDisk and PhotoRec. I know there are some other tools out there, like Foremost, but haven't used them. PhotoRec pulls files off of your drive, TestDisk tries to fix the partition map. I recommend making an image of the drive using the dd program and trying to recover the data off of that (PhotoRec can use images from dd). __________________ Has it been a few days since I replied to your thread? Don't panic! I'm a busy college student and may forget a post if I'm extra busy (or it might just take me a while to be able to do a decent reply). If you still need help and are awaiting my reply after a few days, PM me about it. When posting what errors you get, please give the full message. It makes helping you much easier.

08-26-2008, 02:15 PM	#4 (permalink)
Kenmcfa Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: A wretched hive of scum and villany (Bathgate, Scotland) Posts: 96 OS: Windows XP Pro x64, dual booting with XP Home for safety	Re: Use parted to recover broken flash drive? Hmm, the parted theory doesn't really seem to work. Dragonember, can you recommend any specific data recovery tool? Shuuhen, thanks for the input, I'm trying these now.

08-26-2008, 02:46 PM	#5 (permalink)
Kenmcfa Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: A wretched hive of scum and villany (Bathgate, Scotland) Posts: 96 OS: Windows XP Pro x64, dual booting with XP Home for safety	Re: Use parted to recover broken flash drive? Test disk might just have managed to fix the image file. However, I don't know how to check. How do I check? Is there a program that can normally view the contents of an image file? Or do I have to use dd to apply this new image to my drive, thereby wrecking everything if the image is not fixed?