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Thread: File System Problem. Hidden Files in Fat32 ??

  1. #1
    Junior Member
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    Sep 2010
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    5

    File System Problem. Hidden Files in Fat32 ??

    My Problem:
    A Samsung 120 gig IDE hard drive will only show me 1 of 6 directories that are on it. Knoppix file manager lists only 1 directory (48 gigs) but confirms that the drive is 90% full of data that I copied to it earlier.

    A little background,
    My external 500gig lacie drive has a bad power supply so I had to tear out the SATA drive and access the XFS file system using Knoppix 6 which required me to open the directories as root to get write permissions.
    I decided I want to install the SATA hard drive in one of my winXP machines and in order to do that, I would need to remove all my data to another system and reformat the XFS file system to FAT32 so WinXP could use it.

    I have an old HP Pavillion computer with a Samsung 120 gig IDE drive and decided I'd tear out the drive and use that as a transfer device to get the data off the 500 gig drive and onto another computer that could burn DVD's.

    I removed the samsung 120 gig drive and hooked it up to my XP machine and attempted to format it from the windows explorer file manager. Windows refused to even attempt the format but I'm not sure why. (probably because it detected partitions or an operating system)

    I booted from the Knoppix CD, erased all existing files and directories and partitions using Gparted and the knoppix file manager and was left with about 120 gigs of unallocated space.

    I started up Windows XP again and attempted to format the drive to FAT32 and again failed. This time, I opened up a DOS window and used the format command and it worked. It took about an hour for the format to complete and a chkdsk command showed everything was OK.

    The next thing I did was to hook up the 500 gig Sata drive with the XFS file system and the 120 gig IDE drive with the FAT32 system to my machine and boot up from the knoppix cd rom so that I could transfer files from the 500 to the 120.
    I transfered about 100 gigs worth in 6 different directories.

    I removed the 120 gig drive and hooked it up to a different winXP machine so I could burn the files to a DVD. The winXP machine wouldnt recognize the drive as having any file system and asked if I wanted to Format it. HUH???

    I hook the drive back up to my WinXP machine and I get the same thing.

    I then boot from the Knoppix CD again to see what's going on and I find that there is only 1 directory showing in the file manager. The other 5 have disappeared..
    The 1 directory that is showing has about 48 gigs in it when it should have 68 gigs. The other 5 are just gone. But wait! There's more.

    When I open up a terminal window (looks like DOS to me) and I type DIR (on the freak chance that is actually a valid linux command), the directory listing shows all 6 directories !!!

    I figured out how to change directories in the linux/knoppix terminal window and was able to go into the 1 directory that shows up in the file manager window. When I try to go into any of the other 5 directories, I get an error "input/output error".

    I should also note that the knoppix file manager says that the 120 gig disc has only 18 gigs free even though it shows only 1 directory with 48 gigs in it.

    What is going on? HELP!

  2. #2
    Moderator Moderator
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    Jan 2010
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    Asheville, NC, USA
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    Whew! That's a lot to take in. First, if it was mine, I'd use GParted again to start over - it'll make your filesystem, too, so go ahead and make it in Knoppix, then transfer the same six folders. Here's a Linux command line that will show stuff in the order of size (important if you use FAT32 again):
    Code:
    ls -laSh
    That's "list files/dirs in long form, all (including .files), size-order, human-readable. If it scrolls off the screen you can either use the "elevator" on the right side of the window to scroll up and see the top, or use
    Code:
    ls -laSh|less
    to invoke a utility that stops it (use page up/dn, space bar, arrows, etc. to move around)

    What you need to be concerned about is stuff over 4 GB, which can cause trouble with FAT32. I'd just use the default Linux filesystem (ext2, I think) instead and be done with that worry - then boot Knoppix on the alternate system and do the transfer within it. NOTE: that's supposed to be risky, when writing to NTFS, but since it never causes me trouble (and I do it CONSTANTLY), that's what I'd do. Alternatively, make the format NTFS, which can handle the bigger stuff, and then it'll be Windows compatible.

    Good luck, have fun, and let us know how it goes.

    Cheers!
    Krishna
    Last edited by krishna.murphy; 09-18-2010 at 02:21 PM.

  3. #3
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    +1 on using gparted.

    One thing occurs to me, these are notebook drives? Maybe insure the USB drives have independent power supplies. Or at least use the USB cables with 3 connectors, the second port for extra power. Although the latter might not help if the laptop can't handle up to 3 drives and a CDRom.

    I'd entrust something like this to rsync. I wouldn't even open pcmanfm as to avoid it's mounting something. You can read about rsync at

    man rsync

    So, get the device designations (I am calling the 500G sdb1 and the 120G sdc1) and mount them ("#" indicates a root command prompt, "$" a user command prompt. Don't include those indications in your commands. The root terminal is on the Accessories menu, or you can type

    su

    at any prompt.)
    Code:
    # pmount /dev/sdb1
    # pmount /dev/sdc1
    Then
    Code:
    # rsync -av --log-file=/var/log/rsycn_rescue_op /media/sdb1/ /media/sdc1
    The trailing slash on sdb1 keeps a sdb1 directory level from being created in sdc1. Don't put a trailing slash on sdc1.

    If rsycn isn't on your CD, add it.
    Code:
    # apt-get install rsync
    I hope there are no errors in above. I didn't test run any of this. Somebody correct me if necessary!

    Afterward, hopefully all is there:

    Code:
    $ ls -alSH /media/sdc1
    Last edited by evenso; 09-18-2010 at 07:38 PM.

  4. #4
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    P.S. There remains a possibility of ownership issues.

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