Help with not valid volume bitmap

[KONEY]

I'm trying to recover a boot partition which suddently became invalid. It's a CF card attached to a Vampire 2 accelerated A600.

Now I moved to WinUAE to try and fix it. DiskSalv and QT tools won't do anything because bitmap is invalid. So I quick-formatted it and unformatted it with DiskSalv only to go back to the initial scenario of a DH0 unavailable.

Any suggestion? How can I validate its bitmap?

Thanks!

[AMIGASYSTEM]

If it allows you to copy data (it should at least allow it for much of the data), copy everything on a windows folder or HardFile (recommended), done this format the CF better if you use a more robust filesystem (SFS o PFS) and copy everything.

--------- Italiano -----------

Se ti permette di copiare i dati (dovrebbe permetterlo almeno per gran parte dei dati), copia tutto su una cartella di windows o Hardfile (consigliato), fatto questo formatti la CF meglio se usi un filesystem più robusto (SFS o PFS) e ricopia tutto.

[KONEY]

I cannot access the files, DH0:Busy...

[AMIGASYSTEM]

DiskSalv shows you the data? tried to restore them to another volume?

------------- Italiano ----------

DiskSalv ti mostra i dati? provato a recuperarli su altro volume?

[KONEY]

I made a SALVAGE to a new location and all I got is a list of weird-named directories, most of them empty...

[AMIGASYSTEM]

It may be that the CF is corrupt or has some physical problem, unlike HD, on CF, SD, Pendrive etc .. data recovery is more difficult even on Windows. You did not say what filesystem you used on that CF, as a last test you could delete the partition and recreate it "same size and same filesystem" and try the recovery again.

------- Italiano ---------

Può essere che la CF sia corrotta o abbia qualche problema fisico, a differenza degli HD, sulle CF, SD, Pendrive etc.. il recupero dei dati è più difficile anche su Windows. Non hai detto che filesystem hai usato su quella CF, come ultima prova potresti eliminare la partizione e ricrearla "stessa dimensione e stesso filesystem" e riprovare il recupero.

[KONEY]

FFS. I'll try the last resort you advise, thanks!

[AMIGASYSTEM]

On Su WinUAE make sure you have checked "Lock" in HardDrive Setting !

---------- Italiano -------

Su WinUAE accertati di aver spuntato "Lock" in HardDrive Setting !

[thomas]

You should never write to a disk which is already corrupted. Especially actions with "format" in their name are a very stupid thing to do.

Is the disk larger than 4GB? DiskSalv does not work with partitions which cross the 4GB border or are located beyond it.

[KONEY]

No it's a 200mb partition. Well I had no way to access the files so I tried a few suggestions

[AMIGASYSTEM]

Possibly for the tests, which you had to do before, clones the CF with "USB Image Tool" and then mount the image created as HardFile (rename extension .HDF)

---------- italiano -----------

Eventualmente per i test, cosa che dovevi fare prima, clona la CF con "USB Image Tool" e poi monta l'immagine creata come HardFile (rinomina estensione .HDF)

[meynaf]

Originally Posted by KONEY

I made a SALVAGE to a new location and all I got is a list of weird-named directories, most of them empty...

First you could try running HDToolBox to check if your partition table hasn't been damaged. An improperly mounted partition can lead to the situation you describe.

If the partition is ok, then try DiskSalv, in Salvage mode.
It says the number of files, dirs, and errors it finds. It also shows file names as it finds them.
So pay attention to what it says.
Look in all the dirs it creates in the new location, and in all their sub-dirs.

You may then try "recover lost/deleted files" option in QBTools.

If both options fail then you can consider the data as permanently lost.
Then reformat the CF.
Then put new files on it.
Then check if it works normally or not.
If not, it is physically damaged.

Note that DiskSalv has "Validate" option and perhaps you could have started doing that rather than quick-formatting, but in your case it seems the damage is more important than just an invalidation and writing to the disk can only damage it further.

[KONEY]

Thanks, as a matter of fact I did use DiskSalv Validate option which, after working for a while says something like "OK, everything fine now!" but the partition is still not valid.

HdToolBox shows nothing strange, the partition has been there for months.

Originally Posted by meynaf

Note that DiskSalv has "Validate" option and perhaps you could have started doing that rather than quick-formatting, but in your case it seems the damage is more important than just an invalidation and writing to the disk can only damage it further.

[KONEY]

Quick update with some weird things going on... after deleting ad re-creating the partition the volume is now visible. But it's name is something I definitely haven't set myself:

wanagi-wachipi

Anyone knows what it is? Maybe a virus??

[thomas]

Google found two references to that name, both saying that it was made by DiskSalv trying to repair something which is beyond repair.

My question above is still valid. You say that the partition is 200 MB, but how big is the CF card? Are there other partitions outside the 4GB area? Which file system (version) is used for each partition?

Maybe you could run this program: http://thomas-rapp.homepage.t-online.../hddreport.lha
It should answer all the questions.

[AMIGASYSTEM]

Originally Posted by KONEY

Quick update with some weird things going on... after deleting ad re-creating the partition the volume is now visible. But it's name is something I definitely haven't set myself:

wanagi-wachipi

Anyone knows what it is? Maybe a virus??

Use hddreport as recommended by thomas, if I see well in the screenshot shows a size of 301 MB Free this means that it is not the partition you've used lately but it could be an old partition made previously. DiskSalv, if I remember correctly, also recovers old partitions created previously.

---------- Italiano ------------

Usa hddreport come consigliato da thomas, se vedo bene nello screenshot mostra una grandezza di 301 MB Free questo significa che non è la partizione che hai usato ultimamente ma un vecchia partizione fatta precedentemente. DiskSalv se ricordo bene recupera anche vecchie partizioni create precedentemente.