HDD recovery problems, not visible in Testdisk or GParted

**Kyran** · 07-21-2011, 10:49 PM

Hello forums!
Got a bit of a problem with a WD 2TB HDD. Ever since I moved my computer to my new place I haven't been able to access this drive. It shows in file manager as 'DATA' mounted at sdb1 which would be correct but it seems to always be busy, can't do anything with it. It won't show up in Testdisk or GParted. I managed to unmount it via terminal and still nothing. Originally I was able to view it in Knoppix but the partition table was messed up. I had tried restoring it with Testdisk to no avail. Eventually it stopped showing up in Testdisk and GParted at which point I gave up (A few months ago).

Now I just want my drive back, I've given up on recovering the data (although that would be fantastic) I just can't make do with my little 500 GB backup drive anymore, those 2 TBs would really come in handy. The drive shows in BIOS as well, just not useable from knoppix. It shows in Windows as a drive but has no info. It does have correct information in Knoppix regarding size and gives a believable reading for free space from what I remember.
Does anyone have any clue as to what the problem could be or what I could do to remedy it? I'm sure there's a command result I should be posting but I'm fairly new to Linux, especially Knoppix so treat me as a noob

Let me know if any additional information is required.

Thanks in advance!

System specs:
Asus P6t6 WS mobo
Core i7 920
6 GB Mushkin 1600Mhz RAM
Saphire Radeon HD 4870 2GB
Intel 80 GB SDD (Reserved for Windows and Ubuntu)
WD 500 GB HDD
WD 2 TB HDD (WD20EADS-00R) -Drive in question
Running Knoppix from 1 GB usb stick, kernel version 2.6.36.1

**Werner P. Schulz** · 07-22-2011, 11:14 AM

... first of all open a console and tell us the output from

Code:

blkid

and from

Code:

fdisk -l

You can also try (don't post it)

Code:

hwinfo --disk

Code:

hwinfo --partition

and have a look at all the lines "Config Status:"

Perhaps the drive is physically damaged.

Greetings Werner * http://www.wp-schulz.de/knoppix/summary.html
Own Rescue-CD with Knoppix (Knoppix V6.4.4 remaster)

**Kyran** · 07-22-2011, 06:27 PM

blkid returns:

Code:

/dev/loop0: UUID="389f6935-7d64-40ab-b57f-82f18e1a200b" TYPE="ext2" 
/dev/cloop0: LABEL="KNOPPIX_FS" TYPE="iso9660" 
/dev/sda1: LABEL="Windows" UUID="5327842A1B02EB54" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sda5: UUID="908a7b0b-3d0d-4706-9a65-99ec28298cb8" TYPE="swap" 
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="Data" UUID="EA4C906C4C903573" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sdc1: LABEL="New Volume" UUID="989851F09851CCFE" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sdd1: LABEL="PENDRIVE" UUID="08FF-2B38" TYPE="vfat"

fdsisk -l returns:

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 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: 0x001a7501

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        5104    40992768    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2            9328        9729     3229065    5  Extended
/dev/sda5            9328        9729     3229033+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdc: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 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: 0xd7976d0b

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1               1       60801   488384001    7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdd: 1000 MB, 1000341504 bytes
16 heads, 32 sectors/track, 3816 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 512 * 512 = 262144 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdd1   *           1        3816      976880    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Nothing in there about the disk...

ran hwinfo --disk and the info regarding sdb is:

Code:

55: IDE 200.0: 10600 Disk
  [Created at block.243]
  UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/storage_model_WDC_WD20EADS_00R
  Unique ID: WZeP.M7rkuYeOTfF
  Parent ID: w7Y8.tYR4Y_IlQjE
  SysFS ID: /class/block/sdb
  SysFS BusID: 2:0:0:0
  SysFS Device Link: /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1f.2/host2/target2:0:0/2:0:0:0
  Hardware Class: disk
  Model: "WDC WD20EADS-00R"
  Vendor: "WDC"
  Device: "WD20EADS-00R"
  Revision: "01.0"
  Driver: "ahci", "sd"
  Driver Modules: "ahci"
  Device File: /dev/sdb
  Device Number: block 8:16-8:31
  Drive status: no medium
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #24 (SATA controller)

using --partition got this:

Code:

59: None 00.0: 11300 Partition
  [Created at block.412]
  UDI: /org/freedesktop/Hal/devices/volume_uuid_EA4C906C4C903573
  Unique ID: h4pj.SE1wIdpsiiC
  Parent ID: WZeP.M7rkuYeOTfF
  SysFS ID: /class/block/sdb/sdb1
  Hardware Class: partition
  Model: "Partition"
  Device File: /dev/sdb1
  Device Files: /dev/sdb1, /dev/block/8:17, /dev/disk/by-uuid/EA4C906C4C903573, /dev/disk/by-label/Data
  Config Status: cfg=new, avail=yes, need=no, active=unknown
  Attached to: #58 (Disk)

Any clue what this could mean?