Large File Transfer Problems

[Casshern]

Hello,

I have a computer that crashed a couple days ago. Windows XP is not bootable (what a surprise) but I have about 30 gigs of data that needs to be backed up. I can get about 15 of it. The other 15 is files that are 7.5 gigs a piece. I am trying to transfer them to my external drive via usb but the process "unexpectedly dies" after it transfers 2 gigs. I have tried about 5-7 times now. Each one dies at the same point. I was wondering if there was a file transfer size limit in Knoppix.

Thanks,
Casshern

[Harry Kuhman]

The other 15 is files that are 7.5 gigs a piece.

I don't know of a transfer limit in Knoppix, but Linux (including Knoppix) can't safely write to NTFS partitions, and no FAT partition can hold a file 4 gig or more in size. What partition type are you transfering to and how are you doing it? By the way; I've had problems transfering files across a Windows network when they were larger than 2 gigs in size and both sides were running Microsoft software, so if you're trying to transfer files across a network the problem is very likely Microsoft and not Linux.

In the case of my problems transfering files larger than 2 gig on a Microsoft network (the Knoppix DVD ISO was one; I downloaded it on one computer but needed to move it to another with a DVD burner) I have had to use either of two techniques that both worked for me:

• 1) I split the large file into several parts. Moved the parts across the Microsoft network. Recombined them on the other side. verified the final file with an md5 checksum.
  
  2) The above was a bit of a pain, so the next tome I needed to do this I set up an FTP server on the receiving machine and transfered the files across the Microsoft network by FTP. That worked fine for a 3 gig file. Obviously for a 7.5 gig file you'll need to not be writing it to a FAT partition.

[Dave_Bechtel]

--The external drive is likely FAT32, which you can verify by doing ' fdisk -l ' as root. Files >2GB are not supported on Fat32 by linux (I've run into the same problem.) Which means I don't store my files on Fat32 or (God forbid!) NTFS unless I absolutely have to.

Your best bet may be reformatting the external drive as ext2, and using a Windows e2fs driver after copying the files.

http://www.fs-driver.org/index.html

To reformat the external drive: You should move any essential data off it 1st, otherwise it will be gone.

o ' fdisk /dev/sda ' == Assuming your USB drive is sda; and hit Enter after each command:
' p ' == Print partition layout
' t ' == Change partition type...
' 1 ' == ...of 1st partition, or whichever one it's using
' L ' == List types available (educational)
' 83 ' == Change to Linux
' w ' == Write to disk and quit

o Now to format it:
' mke2fs -m0 -v /dev/sda1 '

o Then you can mount it and copy the files:
' mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1 -onoatime,rw '

' time cp -apRv /mnt/hda1/* /mnt/sda1 ' == Assuming your Win files live on hda1 and it's already mounted

--From there, you can reboot, reinstall Windows and then install the ext2 driver from the link above, and hopefully it will detect your USB drive.

Hello,

I have a computer that crashed a couple days ago. Windows XP is not bootable (what a surprise) but I have about 30 gigs of data that needs to be backed up. I can get about 15 of it. The other 15 is files that are 7.5 gigs a piece. I am trying to transfer them to my external drive via usb but the process "unexpectedly dies" after it transfers 2 gigs. I have tried about 5-7 times now. Each one dies at the same point. I was wondering if there was a file transfer size limit in Knoppix.

Thanks,
Casshern