Text 5594, 147 rader
Skriven 2005-03-22 12:28:06 av James Bradley (1:134/77.0)
     Kommentar till en text av Martin Atkins
Ärende: FAT scramble/image butcu
================================
MARTIN ATKINS wrote to JAMES BRADLEY, "FAT scramble/image butcu"

As you may have read by now, I'm back up. I did reply to you on TECH with the
skinny, but thought I'd clear some air here too.
 MA> <much cut>
 JB> I'm losing you here. The data to be burned to CD must first reside on
 JB> the primary Linux partition?

 MA> I have suggested no such thing. You have not sufficiently
 MA> described your set up. What i am doing is trying understand
 MA> what disks, partitions and operating systems you have on your
 MA> errant machine.

One Windows drive w/many partitions. One surrogate w/W98. The surrogate took
this time to confuse the bejeabers outa me, and while sinking, it appeared to
take the original with it. Sorry I was likely in a huff, but I was at the end
of a painful episode. (Bad hip makes this much troubleshooting, um...
Interesting. ;-)

As I seemed to have scared off Murphy at this time, I have the original drive
back to a basic W98 install, w/a connection to the network, so I'll be able to
burn to the CD again.
 JB> You wouldn't *have* to ISO it would you?
 MA> ...
 MA> where trying to install using an ISO nor do i know where you
 MA> are trying to install it from.

You say potato, and I say kumquat. <G>

You were assuming I was installing from an ISO, and I thought you meant I had
to first create an image ISO on the root before I could burn to a CDrw.
 MA> I was under the impression your main goal was to recover the
 MA> first partition on you master disk. I'm flying blind here
 MA> James. ;)

That would have been ideal, but as almost all the directories and salvaged
files were so convoluted, the most I could have picked out was a few batch
files with binaries tacked to their tails. What you gonna do, eh?
 MA> If it is a windows setup then can't you just reformat and
 MA> install the system again? Or maybe install over the top
 MA> of what you have and see if that fixes it.

 JB> How I've been trying. When 98's scandisk suggested I should run the
 JB> Windows version to fix the problem, and Setup wouldn't run until I do

 MA> Did you try running scandisk from DOS?

That was the roadblock. Scandisk from DOS was run a few times with /autofix,
where I'd have to "del file0*.chk" then "file1*.chk"... (Memory issues
w/booting from CD.) When I was done all that, I was still left with *one*
"Invalid long filename" so I did just format the partition. Until then, SETUP
would not run until I ran Windows Scandisk, and Windows Scandisk would not run
until I successfully ran Setup. (See the loop? ;-)
 JB> so... Just yesterday, I tried to diskdruid hda, but it seems to be
 JB> timing out.

 MA> That probably is the result of your suspected hardware problem
 MA> but it is not likely to be the result of a scrambled MBR.

Reaching for straws at the time. It was actually the botched surrogate I was
wrestling with at the time. hdb was the original then.
 JB> hdb, I don't feel like tearing up too much until I get a
 JB> chance to back up those other partitions. The trouble as I see it, is
 JB> Windows doesn't want to install until I run the Windows version of
 JB> scandisk. Go to jail. Do not collect $100.

 MA> James i have no intention of going to jail. Your problem as i
 MA> understand things is with the first partition on hda.

*I* was the one going to jail, and not collecting $100. You know, like in
Monopoly?
 MA> If it's Linux and you attempt to make it root you could end up
 MA> with a scrambled system.

 MA> It would only be problem _depending_ on the way you had
 MA> installed Linux but since you are trying to install Win you
 MA> needn't worry about it.

Just to clear the fog in my head, if I was successful in reassigning the C:
partition to ext3, how might I scramble the system? (NOT being confrontational
here!)

 MA> I could be a bad connection. I have one on the machine i'm
 MA> using and it is a PITA. It will work for weeks before going on
 MA> the blink.

For those who don't read TECH, I too had been suspecting a bad data
cable/connection/controller for years. I think now that the power connector was
the culprit though. Time will tell. Every test on the HD was showing up fine,
but an intermittent contact can be a bitch to find unless you can excite the
failure while digging into a running machine..
 JB> Ya, ya... Backups are for the unadventurous. <L like a maniac>

 MA> If you have a working Linux on the same machine then backing up
 MA> an entire disk can be (depending on the disk size) a very swift
 MA> operation.

I'm just eager to utilize the USB burner. I was reading from it fine with 98FE,
but was unable to write to it yet. I think a lot of my trouble with W98 has
been exacerbated by trying to utilize USB devices.
 MA> Remember we do this for fun. ;)

This is only a hobby. This is only a hobby... Fun or not, it allows me to
exercise the brain. With my physical limitations, it can be a... Um,
stimulating way to flex that muscle.
 MA> What long file name? Is this yet another piece of information
 MA> we don't have? :-}

Yup. Never had it. Never will! <BG>
 JB> I just worked on it a bit, and at least 98 started to install this
 JB> time, until:

 JB> Generic installer Error
 JB> Message SU99405
 JB> UpdateInis=Processing error
 JB> (0x195)

 MA> Forget windows for the time being. Your first priority is to
 MA> recover the first partition on your master disk or to see if we
 MA> have a problem with IDE 0. There is something you can do that
 MA> won't stress you out to much. Make a bootable DOS floppy with
 MA> FDISK and SYS on it.

That was the reason I tacked the surrogate into the mix. Even there, the
primary partition on the original was too far gone to be of any use. On one
hand, it'll be hard to cram all those inf files back in, but on the plus side,
I'll be sure to use a little more diligence this time. At least I'll try. <G+D>
 MA> After that we can move along and see if we can't grab this disk
 MA> by the balls.

Grabbed, twisted, AND squeezed! <LOL>
 MA> Above all don't get angry. Angry people make mistakes. We can
 MA> move to tech now take a deep breath and start again from
 MA> scratch. :-}

In the (im)mortal words of Kurt Cobain, "No, I don't have a gun." I'm sure
considering one though. <ROTF>
 MA> L8r. :)

Thanks for your interest, Martin. Sorry to burn your ear.


... I love the smell of ozone in the morning. Smells like... REVENGE!
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