Can`t find my files using knoppix live cd.

[cityjoker]

Hi guys, my hard drive died so I bought a knoppix live cd to retrieve files. I have a HP g70, I put the live cd into the drive and it seems to work fine, everything shows up on screen except a way to retrieve my files, I`ve looked everywhere on knoppix but nothing to do with my files shows up on screen. I have loads of pics and music I need to retrieve before I replace the hard drive. Any help is appreciated.

[cityjoker]

Not sure if anyone is using this site anymore, but if anyone can give me some information I would really appreciate it. I figured it would be easy to retrieve files once I bought the disk, but it`s not so I need some help. My other concern is I bought a corrupt disk from Knoppix. Any thoughts? Anyone having the same issues with a paid for live cd from Knoppix?
Thanks......

[cityjoker]

I need help as soon as possible, i`ve been trying for a month now to retrieve my files, I can`t replace my hard drive till I have them. I don`t want to lose everything but I need to get my pc up and running. Does anyone know if Ubuntu is a better disk than Knoppix? I have a feeling I should have used Ubuntu now.

[Werner P. Schulz]

First of all try Forum search: "recover" "restore"

Did you start the filemanager PCManFM?

[cityjoker]

Thanks for your reply. Not sure what the filemanager PCmanFM is or how I start it? Details would be appreciated, I`m a newbie to doing this stuff.
Thanks again Werner.

[Werner P. Schulz]

Within the menu: => Accessories => Filemanager

But why did you not try the icons within the panel or doesn't you see the graphic screen?

[cityjoker]

I seem to have everything on the graphics screen, menu=accessories=filemanager, but then on the left side of the panel it only has
Knoppix
Desktop
Applications
Knoppix_FS
Knoppix
That`s all and i`ve checked them for my files but couldn`t see them anywhere. I guess i`m doing something wrong?
Thanks Werner I appreciate your help.

[cityjoker]

Not sure if my last post went through. Anyway, I went onto the file manager and on the left side it had Knoppix listed a 3 times, desktop, applications and that`s it, nothing that seemed to say where my files were. Any suggestions?

[Werner P. Schulz]

Ok, this looks bad.
Open the LXTerminal (Accessories) and type
fdisk -l(little L).

If "fdisk" doesn't list the disk and the partitions of the drive your harddrive is damaged. Time to use your backup.

[cityjoker]

I`ve tried my backup disk that I had made at the store when I bought, unfortunately, it didn`t help and wouldn`t do anything. I typed in fdisk-1, it says command not found. Does this mean all my files are lost?
Thanks again for your help Werner

[cityjoker]

Ok tried the fdisk-1 again and it did something different this time. This time this comes up:
fdisk; invalid option - - '1'
usage:
fdisk [options] <disk> change partition table
fdisk [options] - <disk> list partition tables
fdisk -s <partition> give partition size (s) in blocks
options;
-b <size> sector size (512, 1024, 2048 or 4096
-c switch off DOS-compatible mode
-h print help
-u <size> give sizes in sectors instead of cylinders
-v print version
-C <number> specify the number of cylinders
-H <number> specify the number of heads
-S <number> specify the number of sectors per track

[Werner P. Schulz]

fdisk -l (<= little L)

[cityjoker]

Does the fact this stuff comes up now mean that It`s not so bad and the hard drive isn`t damaged, something i`m able to fix? obviously with your help Werner. Is this all to do with the partitions?

[cityjoker]

sorry, i`ve been putting in a 1 instead of an l, will do it again and let you know what comes up.

[cityjoker]

ok, now on the screen it says:
Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320072933376 bytes
255 head, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
sector size (logical/physical) : 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal) : 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

Disk /dev/sda doesn`t contain a valid partition table

Hope this helps, sorry for my mistake.

[Werner P. Schulz]

Ok, your disk is still alive. Try the recovery with "testdisk" (within the Knoppix CD)

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
especially: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Step_By_Step

Read all carefully! It's not a job for beginners!

[cityjoker]

I`ll give that a go, thanks again Werner. I`ll post again either later or tomorrow to let you know how it goes.
I appreciate your help.