NTFS question 1

[skiflyer]

Ok, I have a laptop with 3 partitions, through partition magic.

1 partition is about a meg big, with DOS on it.
1 partition is Linux with 4 or so gigs (Redhat 7.2)
1 partition is WinXP (NTFS)

The WinXP and Dos partitions crapped out... I get my XP splash screen, but then an "unmountable" message, and the DOS option from boot magic (the boot loader from partition magic) tells me the good old no system disk bit.

So I loaded up my Debian install disks and checked the partition tool, my HD partitions are still there.

I'm all for a clean install of XP to fix the problem, but I do have some data that's irreplacable on that partition... is there a way through linux I can mount the NTFS drive and try to salvage some things? Will it require an upgrade of Redhat? (I tried going to 9 and it said I didn't have the space, so I've just stuck with 7.2... I figure kernel versions are what matter anyway... but I'm pretty much a linux no nothing when it comes to administering the box)

Thanks for any ideas,
Rob

 

[AP81]

If Red Hat, you need the NTFS drivers. Not being a die hard Red Hat fan, I am unsure about previous versions, but RH9 out of the box doesn't support NTFS. Try:

mount -t nfts /dev/hdaX /mnt/xp

If that doesn't work, you will need the ntfs drivers; install them and then you can mount the ntfs partition. I think you can get the drivers from sourcefourge.net or the RedHat website.

 

[j1bber]

Did you try to upgrade to 9 or install? You should be able to fit RH 9 oh a 4G partition if it was an install. And the upgrade should fit over the top.
What version of PM are you using?

 

[skiflyer]

I tried to upgrade... and it didn't fit, I thought it should've too... it's closer to a 3.6 gig if that brings it to the limit... but that's unimportant... the programs I have installed there go back to classes I don't care about anymore, maybe I'll try to install over it if it matters... but Redhat versions shouldnt' matter right? I'll try the mount -t ntfs bit when I get home tonight. Thanks.

-Rob

 

[j1bber]

The only other thing I can think of is you have moved the partitions at all?
If you did the boot.ini file will be wrong now.
For instance if the other partitions have been inserted in front of the original NTFS partition after shrinking it then the entry in boot.ini will now be two partitions out.

If your boot.ini looks something like

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional" /fastdetect

Then you will need to change it in the partition number.

Easier said than done without write access to the partition. "Come back Norton Diskedtit all is forgiven". You may be able to fix it using the install CD but this will also blow away your MBR and your current linux booting.

What order did you install this lot in.

 

[skiflyer]

Haven't moved the partitions. Haven't done any install work or such in over 18 months. Worked fine early in the day kinda thing. No changes that I'm aware of, though someone else was using the computer.

I don't think it's the boot.ini because I get the windows splash screen, I can also pre-empt with an F8 (the safe mode button), and it reads a bunch of files from
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\....

before giving me the BSOD

-Rob

 

[skiflyer]

when I try the mount command I get a

mount point /mnt/xp does not exist... is there another place I need to specify that name? Seems silly since what I actually want to mount is /dev/hda1

-Rob

 

[skiflyer]

heh, so I needed to make a directory... now NTFS is not supported by the kernel... looks like I need an upgrade.

 

[danielhozac]

Just install the NTFS driver RPM from this website:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-ntfs/

//Daniel

 

[skiflyer]

What do you know, I was just coming to post this link

http://linux-ntfs.sourceforge.net/info/redhat.html

There you can find all the instructions and it works like a charm! I found an XP install CD, and it couldn't figure it out, but now I can read my data perfectly through Linux!!! I was giving up on linux, this might be enough to make me go back

I went ahead and re-installed 9.0 btw.... oh I'm so happy now

-Rob