recover partitions?

[lanzcc]

Greets,

Does anyone out there know how to recover partitions? In installing 9.10 I checked the box that said "install side-by-side" but now I can't access the old OS. Using "mount" & "fdisk" have shown that the partitions are still there.

A complication is: there are two hard drives, and we know there's a raid involved because one of the displays says "Linux raid autodetect" on old partitions. How do you find out which raid protocol was used, and then how do you ask for access to the old partitions? And do I want to use the palindrome mdadm?

THANKS

[MAFoElffen]

Well... I see this unanswered so far. Before you start doing things that are going to overwrite what's there currently... Let's take a look at what you have. What was the "other" OS that won't start up now?

[Rubi1200]

Do you have an Ubuntu CD?

If yes, boot the computer and choose to try not install.

Then, click on the link at the bottom of my post and follow the instructions there.

Post the results back here.

This will give us a clearer picture of your setup and make offering solutions a lot easier.

Thanks.

:)

[lanzcc]

Hello again,

here are the results of boot_info_script

THANKS




Boot Info Script 0.55 dated February 15th, 2010

============================= Boot Info Summary: ==============================

=> Grub 2 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sda and looks on the same drive in
partition #11 for /boot/grub.
=> Grub 0.97 is installed in the MBR of /dev/sdb and looks on the same drive
in partition #1 for /grub/stage2 and /grub/menu.lst.

sda1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda7: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda8: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda9: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda10: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sda11: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 9.10
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sda12: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb1: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb4: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: Extended Partition
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb5: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb6: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb7: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb8: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb9: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb10: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: linux_raid_member
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

sdb11: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: ext4
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:
Operating System: Ubuntu 10.04 LTS
Boot files/dirs: /boot/grub/grub.cfg /etc/fstab /boot/grub/core.img

sdb12: __________________________________________________ _______________________

File system: swap
Boot sector type: -
Boot sector info:

=========================== Drive/Partition Info: =============================

Drive: sda ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xa4c339c9

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sda1 * 63 996,029 995,967 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sda4 996,030 976,768,064 975,772,035 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 996,093 10,779,614 9,783,522 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sda6 10,779,678 49,865,759 39,086,082 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sda7 49,865,823 59,649,344 9,783,522 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sda8 59,649,408 69,432,929 9,783,522 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sda9 69,432,993 78,541,784 9,108,792 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda10 92,887,893 976,768,064 883,880,172 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sda11 78,541,848 92,164,904 13,623,057 83 Linux
/dev/sda12 92,164,968 92,887,829 722,862 82 Linux swap / Solaris


Drive: sdb ___________________ __________________________________________________ ___

Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders, total 976773168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x18a34c38

Partition Boot Start End Size Id System

/dev/sdb1 63 996,029 995,967 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb4 996,030 976,768,064 975,772,035 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 996,093 10,779,614 9,783,522 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb6 10,779,678 49,865,759 39,086,082 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb7 49,865,823 59,649,344 9,783,522 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb8 59,649,408 69,432,929 9,783,522 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb9 69,432,993 78,541,053 9,108,061 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdb10 92,887,893 976,768,064 883,880,172 fd Linux raid autodetect
/dev/sdb11 78,542,848 92,166,143 13,623,296 83 Linux
/dev/sdb12 92,168,192 92,887,039 718,848 82 Linux swap / Solaris


blkid -c /dev/null: __________________________________________________ __________

Device UUID TYPE LABEL

/dev/loop0 squashfs
/dev/sda10 68e72387-438c-49f4-41de-df0008d68651 linux_raid_member
/dev/sda11 bfc2125c-0742-4e7e-b70e-b46d5d387653 ext4
/dev/sda12 acae8bae-3666-42ee-9ec7-7d6e94f64290 swap
/dev/sda1 ec69d9a4-0586-318b-4c3d-6cc0d02a2e33 linux_raid_member
/dev/sda5 ab05eb26-d512-b056-6438-696aa857a347 linux_raid_member
/dev/sda6 194d37c0-d072-eb34-4ca5-7fe9b269e413 linux_raid_member
/dev/sda7 c511370a-fa1d-c998-f127-edb1df6c7252 linux_raid_member
/dev/sda8 15d71d59-ac78-7579-84dc-f2beab63e6d8 linux_raid_member
/dev/sda9 8c7779d6-ea63-4611-943e-cffa86f357da swap
/dev/sdb10 68e72387-438c-49f4-41de-df0008d68651 linux_raid_member
/dev/sdb11 d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca ext4
/dev/sdb12 58dd760f-fbce-47f2-9034-1baf93981298 swap
/dev/sdb1 ec69d9a4-0586-318b-4c3d-6cc0d02a2e33 linux_raid_member
/dev/sdb5 ab05eb26-d512-b056-6438-696aa857a347 linux_raid_member
/dev/sdb6 194d37c0-d072-eb34-4ca5-7fe9b269e413 linux_raid_member
/dev/sdb7 c511370a-fa1d-c998-f127-edb1df6c7252 linux_raid_member
/dev/sdb8 15d71d59-ac78-7579-84dc-f2beab63e6d8 linux_raid_member
/dev/sdb9 641b05d1-0b87-4e48-9c8a-2ab337aa3709 swap

============================ "mount | grep ^/dev output: ===========================

Device Mount_Point Type Options

aufs / aufs (rw)
/dev/sr0 /cdrom iso9660 (rw)
/dev/loop0 /rofs squashfs (rw)


========================== sda11/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ==========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s /boot/grub/grubenv ]; then
have_grubenv=true
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
save_env saved_entry
prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,11)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set bfc2125c-0742-4e7e-b70e-b46d5d387653
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/white
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
set quiet=1
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,11)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set bfc2125c-0742-4e7e-b70e-b46d5d387653
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=bfc2125c-0742-4e7e-b70e-b46d5d387653 ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
menuentry "Ubuntu, Linux 2.6.31-14-generic (recovery mode)" {
recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi
insmod ext2
set root=(hd0,11)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set bfc2125c-0742-4e7e-b70e-b46d5d387653
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic root=UUID=bfc2125c-0742-4e7e-b70e-b46d5d387653 ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
menuentry "'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { (on /dev/sdb11)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd1,11)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
menuentry "'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os { (on /dev/sdb11)" {
insmod ext2
set root=(hd1,11)
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca ro single
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

=============================== sda11/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda11 during installation
UUID=bfc2125c-0742-4e7e-b70e-b46d5d387653 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sda12 during installation
UUID=acae8bae-3666-42ee-9ec7-7d6e94f64290 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

=================== sda11: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


42.9GB: boot/grub/core.img
42.9GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
43.5GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.31-14-generic
42.7GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.31-14-generic
43.5GB: initrd.img
42.7GB: vmlinuz

========================== sdb11/boot/grub/grub.cfg: ==========================

#
# DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
#
# It is automatically generated by /usr/sbin/grub-mkconfig using templates
# from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
#

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
load_env
fi
set default="0"
if [ ${prev_saved_entry} ]; then
set saved_entry=${prev_saved_entry}
save_env saved_entry
set prev_saved_entry=
save_env prev_saved_entry
set boot_once=true
fi

function savedefault {
if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then
saved_entry=${chosen}
save_env saved_entry
fi
}

function recordfail {
set recordfail=1
if [ -n ${have_grubenv} ]; then if [ -z ${boot_once} ]; then save_env recordfail; fi; fi
}
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,11)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca
if loadfont /usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2 ; then
set gfxmode=640x480
insmod gfxterm
insmod vbe
if terminal_output gfxterm ; then true ; else
# For backward compatibility with versions of terminal.mod that don't
# understand terminal_output
terminal gfxterm
fi
fi
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,11)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca
set locale_dir=($root)/boot/grub/locale
set lang=en
insmod gettext
if [ ${recordfail} = 1 ]; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=10
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###
set menu_color_normal=white/black
set menu_color_highlight=black/light-gray
### END /etc/grub.d/05_debian_theme ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,11)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca ro quiet splash
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.32-21-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
recordfail
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,11)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca
echo 'Loading Linux 2.6.32-21-generic ...'
linux /boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic root=UUID=d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca ro single
echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
initrd /boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
}
### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,11)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin
}
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
insmod ext2
set root='(hd1,11)'
search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca
linux16 /boot/memtest86+.bin console=ttyS0,115200n8
}
### END /etc/grub.d/20_memtest86+ ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
if [ ${timeout} != -1 ]; then
if keystatus; then
if keystatus --shift; then
set timeout=-1
else
set timeout=0
fi
else
if sleep --interruptible 3 ; then
set timeout=0
fi
fi
fi
### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###

### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
# This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
# menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
# the 'exec tail' line above.
### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###

=============================== sdb11/etc/fstab: ===============================

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s UUID' to print the universally unique identifier
# for a device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name
# devices that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sdb11 during installation
UUID=d0d984d0-67eb-4bd6-9c13-ee08c1e6dbca / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# swap was on /dev/sdb12 during installation
UUID=58dd760f-fbce-47f2-9034-1baf93981298 none swap sw 0 0

=================== sdb11: Location of files loaded by Grub: ===================


42.6GB: boot/grub/core.img
42.6GB: boot/grub/grub.cfg
42.6GB: boot/initrd.img-2.6.32-21-generic
42.6GB: boot/vmlinuz-2.6.32-21-generic
42.6GB: initrd.img
42.6GB: vmlinuz

[presence1960]

To get rid of the raid arrays try this:

There is a bug in 9.10 that mounts raid arrays that you have deleted. To fix it first turn off raid in your bios. Then load up the 9.10 live CD and open gparted. If you get a drive with a funny name like nvidia_ahahdhjdfsjkf then you have mounted a raid drive that you don't want.

To get rid of it, Open a terminal and type dmraid -E -r /dev/name_of_your_disk. Note you want the disk name not the partition name. You can see your disk names in gparted. Mine was sda and sdb and my partition names were sda1 and sda5 and sdb1. I had to do both sda and sdb.

Once you have erased the raid meta data you should see the funny named disk disappear after restarting gparted.

Once you have verified the raid disk is gone reboot and your OS should boot.

Then I would reboot & go into BIOS and set sdb as first in the hard disk boot order. Save changes to CMOS & boot the 10.04 Live CD. Boot to the desktop, open a terminal and run
sudo mount /dev/sdb11 /mntThis will mount your 10.04 / partition.

Next in terminal run
sudo grub-install --root-directory=/mnt/ /dev/sdbThis will put GRUB on MBR of sdb. Reboot without the Live CD and boot into 10.04. Open a terminal and run
sudo update-grub

Next open a terminal and run
sudo dpkg-reconfigure grub-pc

When you get to the screen which allows you to choose which disk to keep grub on use the space bar to unselect sda and then use the space bar to select sdb. This will insure when GRUB 2 is updated that the updates go to the MBR of sdb.

[lanzcc]

OK, thanks for the excellent detailed advice, I'll try it ASAP.

Unfortunately, I can find no way to "turn off raid in my Bios". There is only one mention of "raid" in my BIOS and that's where I get options to enter "Legacy mode", "Raid mode", or "disable", and disable is already selected by default.

I have looked around the forums, and read lots of posts on turning off raid, but none seem to apply to my system.

If I find good doc'n on my motherboard, is that likely to help?

THANKS

[presence1960]

OK, thanks for the excellent detailed advice, I'll try it ASAP.

Unfortunately, I can find no way to "turn off raid in my Bios". There is only one mention of "raid" in my BIOS and that's where I get options to enter "Legacy mode", "Raid mode", or "disable", and disable is already selected by default.

I have looked around the forums, and read lots of posts on turning off raid, but none seem to apply to my system.

If I find good doc'n on my motherboard, is that likely to help?

THANKS

if RAID is disabled in your BIOS then proceed with the instructions I posted.

dmraid -E -r /dev/name_of_your_disk =
dmraid -E -r /dev/sdXwhere X is the name of your disk a, b,c, etc