Ubuntu/Linux users, I need help ASAP!! - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

ewynn9 · 09-20-2012, 09:36 PM

Here's my situation. Been running Ubuntu for almost a year now because I hate Windows (made my HDD fail last year and lost everything). My windows partition now has a corrupt file and won't boot (small part of my problem). Now I was upgrading Ubuntu to 12.04 and somehow the upgrade failed and corrupted everything. Recovery mode doesn't work.

I've been searching and am pretty sure I need to use another computer to make a boot disc and do a fresh install. That seems to be my only option.

My question, will a fresh install erase the data on my linux partition? I'm not able to back up my files and am really worried I'm going to lose everything AGAIN. :(:(

pyr0b0y · 09-20-2012, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewynn9

Here's my situation. Been running Ubuntu for almost a year now because I hate Windows (made my HDD fail last year and lost everything). My windows partition now has a corrupt file and won't boot (small part of my problem). Now I was upgrading Ubuntu to 12.04 and somehow the upgrade failed and corrupted everything. Recovery mode doesn't work.

I've been searching and am pretty sure I need to use another computer to make a boot disc and do a fresh install. That seems to be my only option.

My question, will a fresh install erase the data on my linux partition? I'm not able to back up my files and am really worried I'm going to lose everything AGAIN. :(:(

It's been a while, but you SHOULD be able to make a Live CD and boot into Linux in safe mode, migrate all your files on a portable HDD, then do a clean install of 12.04...geez i hope this doesn't happen to me when I upgrade!

or did i read it wrong and you are trying to backup your windows files?

ewynn9 · 09-20-2012, 09:45 PM

No you read it correctly. If my windows was working, I'd just boot into windows and use that to pull files off the linux partition. BUT windows is F'd right now.

I'm about to try a live CD, I completely forgot about that.

Apparently alot of people are having problems with the upgrade to 12.04. I think my problem was that I left the installer running while I ran some errands. Forgot my computer was unplugged and it died right in the middle of downloading the files.

pyr0b0y · 09-20-2012, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewynn9

No you read it correctly. If my windows was working, I'd just boot into windows and use that to pull files off the linux partition. BUT windows is F'd right now.

I'm about to try a live CD, I completely forgot about that.

Apparently alot of people are having problems with the upgrade to 12.04. I think my problem was that I left the installer running while I ran some errands. Forgot my computer was unplugged and it died right in the middle of downloading the files.

Ya live cd sounds,like your best net, I think you could,get into safe,mode, other option is to take out HDD and extract data, but that would be last resort lol

SPARTAN sui · 09-20-2012, 09:55 PM

With a live CD you should be able to move your data and reload with a fresh install.

A bigger issue I could see is you might have is a failing HDD. With you talking about your windows partition being corrupt.

Hopefully, not, but just something to keep in mind.

Number one issue I deal with on a nearly daily basis. (bad HDDs)

ewynn9 · 09-20-2012, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPARTAN sui

With a live CD you should be able to move your data and reload with a fresh install.

A bigger issue I could see is you might have is a failing HDD. With you talking about your windows partition being corrupt.

Hopefully, not, but just something to keep in mind.

Number one issue I deal with on a nearly daily basis. (bad HDDs)

That's my thinking with the HDD too. The corrupt file is ntfs.sys. I could fix it if I had a recovery disc, just HATE calling or talking to Dell.

SPARTAN sui · 09-20-2012, 10:20 PM

What I've had to do in past is "obtain" an OEM copy of the OS I needed to reinstall. It's ridiculous that they just don't have it available for download. But it is out there on a certain "bay".

If you don't know about www.newegg.com, it's an excellent site to get computer components. I personally recommend the western digital caviar black series, if you're looking for a replacement drive.

Best of luck man!

ewynn9 · 09-20-2012, 10:48 PM

WOOOO!!!! Live CD worked. Wasn't able to recover everything tho. I guess it was pretty corrupt. Doing a fresh install now. I'll post whether it succeeds or not.

buckeyemike · 09-20-2012, 10:52 PM

Yeah the live boot is your best option and it should work properly.

ewynn9 · 09-20-2012, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPARTAN sui

What I've had to do in past is "obtain" an OEM copy of the OS I needed to reinstall. It's ridiculous that they just don't have it available for download. But it is out there on a certain "bay".

If you don't know about www.newegg.com, it's an excellent site to get computer components. I personally recommend the western digital caviar black series, if you're looking for a replacement drive.

Best of luck man!

I love newegg. I'm actually putting together a custom desktop right now.

SPARTAN sui · 09-21-2012, 08:36 AM

Sweet! What kind of specs are you looking at?

Steve Dallas · 09-21-2012, 09:10 AM

First, have you tried just deleting the partition and recreating it. Barring that, some disk manufacturers have a utility that can effectively restore the drive to original format. Not all, but some.

The drive could have gone bad for a variety of reasons including bad sectors...a physical problem that can be bad if it hits the file tables. I'm not anti Linux, but Windows can cause problems with the OS, but not the drive itself. That kind of thing can happen regardless of OS. Now, can Windows get corrupt (The OS & Boot sectors)? Of course. So can Linux. And that just means repartitioning and reinstalling the OS.

Windows, Linus...both have ways of deleting any partitions on the drive and recreating them. When you do that, the OS goes away...and your data. So this is why you always want backups on a different drive (such as a DVD/Blu-Ray) so that if you have bad sectors or drive damage (such as being dropped), you can still flatten the machine and reload the OS and get YOUR data back.

Pet peeve of mine is business' that don't back up data. I've seen companies go under far too often because of incompetent IT.

ewynn9 · 09-21-2012, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SPARTAN sui

Sweet! What kind of specs are you looking at?

Antec Illusion case
AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6GHz 8-core processor
ASRock 970 Extreme 3 (6Gb/s SATA and USB 3.0)
Gigabyte Radeon HD 7870 2GB 256-bit GDDR5
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB DDR3 1866
Dual 1TB HDD 7200RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s

That's the basics so far.

lscamaro · 09-21-2012, 04:23 PM

If I wanted to learn linux, how would I go about this? I'm a computer science major in college and feel like it would be fun to learn how to work linux. We've touched on the basics of it but I'd like to learn more

09-20-2012, 09:36 PM	#1
ewynn9 Drives: IOM 1LT/RS Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: McKinney TX Posts: 596	Ubuntu/Linux users, I need help ASAP!! Here's my situation. Been running Ubuntu for almost a year now because I hate Windows (made my HDD fail last year and lost everything). My windows partition now has a corrupt file and won't boot (small part of my problem). Now I was upgrading Ubuntu to 12.04 and somehow the upgrade failed and corrupted everything. Recovery mode doesn't work. I've been searching and am pretty sure I need to use another computer to make a boot disc and do a fresh install. That seems to be my only option. My question, will a fresh install erase the data on my linux partition? I'm not able to back up my files and am really worried I'm going to lose everything AGAIN. :(:( __________________

09-20-2012, 09:45 PM	#3
ewynn9 Drives: IOM 1LT/RS Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: McKinney TX Posts: 596	No you read it correctly. If my windows was working, I'd just boot into windows and use that to pull files off the linux partition. BUT windows is F'd right now. I'm about to try a live CD, I completely forgot about that. Apparently alot of people are having problems with the upgrade to 12.04. I think my problem was that I left the installer running while I ran some errands. Forgot my computer was unplugged and it died right in the middle of downloading the files. __________________

09-20-2012, 09:55 PM	#5
SPARTAN sui PC Technician Drives: 2016 Hyper Blue 2SS Join Date: May 2012 Location: North Dakota Posts: 2,161	With a live CD you should be able to move your data and reload with a fresh install. A bigger issue I could see is you might have is a failing HDD. With you talking about your windows partition being corrupt. Hopefully, not, but just something to keep in mind. Number one issue I deal with on a nearly daily basis. (bad HDDs) __________________

09-20-2012, 10:20 PM	#7
SPARTAN sui PC Technician Drives: 2016 Hyper Blue 2SS Join Date: May 2012 Location: North Dakota Posts: 2,161	What I've had to do in past is "obtain" an OEM copy of the OS I needed to reinstall. It's ridiculous that they just don't have it available for download. But it is out there on a certain "bay". If you don't know about www.newegg.com, it's an excellent site to get computer components. I personally recommend the western digital caviar black series, if you're looking for a replacement drive. Best of luck man! __________________

09-20-2012, 10:48 PM	#8
ewynn9 Drives: IOM 1LT/RS Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: McKinney TX Posts: 596	WOOOO!!!! Live CD worked. Wasn't able to recover everything tho. I guess it was pretty corrupt. Doing a fresh install now. I'll post whether it succeeds or not. __________________

09-20-2012, 10:52 PM	#9
buckeyemike Drives: 2012 Camaro LS Join Date: Sep 2012 Location: Scott AFB Posts: 597	Yeah the live boot is your best option and it should work properly.

09-21-2012, 08:36 AM	#11
SPARTAN sui PC Technician Drives: 2016 Hyper Blue 2SS Join Date: May 2012 Location: North Dakota Posts: 2,161	Sweet! What kind of specs are you looking at? __________________

09-21-2012, 09:10 AM	#12
Steve Dallas Commits weekly crime Drives: 2017 Camaro 1LT Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Camano Island, WA Posts: 9,513 View My Garage	First, have you tried just deleting the partition and recreating it. Barring that, some disk manufacturers have a utility that can effectively restore the drive to original format. Not all, but some. The drive could have gone bad for a variety of reasons including bad sectors...a physical problem that can be bad if it hits the file tables. I'm not anti Linux, but Windows can cause problems with the OS, but not the drive itself. That kind of thing can happen regardless of OS. Now, can Windows get corrupt (The OS & Boot sectors)? Of course. So can Linux. And that just means repartitioning and reinstalling the OS. Windows, Linus...both have ways of deleting any partitions on the drive and recreating them. When you do that, the OS goes away...and your data. So this is why you always want backups on a different drive (such as a DVD/Blu-Ray) so that if you have bad sectors or drive damage (such as being dropped), you can still flatten the machine and reload the OS and get YOUR data back. Pet peeve of mine is business' that don't back up data. I've seen companies go under far too often because of incompetent IT. __________________ 2017 Camaro 1LT - Blue Barchetta IV I fire up the willing engine, responding with a roar. Tires spitting gravel I commit my weekly crime.

09-21-2012, 04:23 PM	#14
lscamaro Drives: 2011 CGM Camaro LS A6 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: San Antonio, Texas Posts: 10,305	If I wanted to learn linux, how would I go about this? I'm a computer science major in college and feel like it would be fun to learn how to work linux. We've touched on the basics of it but I'd like to learn more __________________ Click Picture for Build Thread