Can't see my partitions in external drive
Posts: 5
I've got a problem!
I want to partition and format my old Linux box. I took its IDE hard drive (Seagate ST380021A, 80 GB), inserted it into an USB 2.0 case and connected it to my main box (running MEPIS) so as to store there my valuable data. But now I can't see the partitions.
It has 1 reiserfs, 1 ext3 and 1 fat32 partitions. cfdisk /dev/sda tells thereis only 1 partition, 80025.27 MB, and filesystem OnTrackDM6, quite strange. QTParted tells there are 3 partitions: number 01 (/dev/sda-1), type "free", size=0.00 MB; number 02 (/dev/sda), type unknown, size=74.53 GB, and number 03 (/dev/sda-1), type "free", size=0.48 MB.
I'd like to access my old partitions and data! Is there any non-destructive way?
Thanks in advance.
drfelip
Posts: 858
Andy's correct, support for usb devices is still a little incomplete in Mepis, but they're getting there & probably very soon, most of the devices that hook to usb ports are gonna be much more supported.
Please, let me suggest you to use Knoppix, & try to see those partitions with it.
Man fears Time, yet Time fears the Pyramids -- Arab Proverb
update
Posts: 363
As Q notes, usb support is getting better. I just tried it again, now that I have updated to the current Mepis beta. Still no hot swap support, but transfer speed is v2.0 now, and it sees partitions just fine.
USB can be finicky. You might try another physical port. I have had best luck with ports on the motherboard rather than one cabled to the front of the case, say. And please let us know what progress you make.
Back to the salt mines tomorrow (Monday), no more 12 hour computer sessions for another week. 
Andy
Thanks for your suggestions.
Posts: 5
Thanks for your suggestions. I'm now in progress of solving it... The Microsoft way. Using Windows XP and Explore2fs I can see my partitions and copy the files. Sadly I didn't find the Linux way, but what's important is to have things done. Thanks to everybody!
There are (almost) always ways :-)
Posts: 363
Not all OSes and implementations handle USB equally well. I have 2 Asus motherboards that handle usb v2.0 just fine in W2K, but not in W98SE, where speeds are about usb v1.1, about the same as DOS. I think usb is still a work in progress for Mepis.
There are alternative methods, hardware and software. If you are comfortable with the Linux command line you could try System Rescue, a live-CD Linux.
http://www.sysresccd.org/
SysRescue is about a 100 MB download, and it does at least see external usb drives. I used Midnight Commander to find files on my usb drive, but I have not actually transferred any files that way so I can't speak about transfer speed. This can be a problem. If you have a lot of data you could spend (many) hours transferring at v1.1 speeds.
A hardware possibility is using mobile racks. These are my preferred method for removable storage. This would involve your opening up your main computer and using an available 5 1/4" bay. I have used cheap racks (about $8 + shipping from computergeeks.com et al) for several years with no problems. Purists will complain that these violate IDE standards by extending the length of the IDE cable and introducing additional connectors in the signal path, but 50,000 nerds can't be wrong! They work just fine with Mepis.
Andy