March 10 2011

Superblock Corruption Makes Linux Volume Unmountable

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Like other computer operating systems, Linux also comprise of various components, which include Superblock. Superblock is a significant metadata of the Linux operating system, which describes file systems on the Linux hard drive. The system components have interdependency and work together to keep your system functional. However, if any of these system components or data structures gets damaged, the system may not work properly and you can not access stored data from the hard drive. This behavior leads to critical data loss situations and require Linux Data Recovery to be fixed.

Under some situations, you can not mount your Linux file system and the data stored on the Linux hard drive volumes can not be accessed. Most of the problem occurs in a dual-boot system. When you try repairing your Linux file system on the root partition, process could not complete successfully. It renders your entire system inaccessible.

When you run fsck utility on the affected Linux hard drive, without ‘L’ option, you may come across the below error message:

“Leonzwei root # xfs_repair -nLv /dev/hdc3
Phase 1 – find and verify super block…
Bad primary super block – bad magic number!!!
Attempting to find secondary super block…
Found candidate secondary super block…
error reading super block 54 – seek to offset 57982058496 failed
unable to verify super block, continuing”

The repair process is interrupted after the above error message. In such cases, you need to identify the cause of this behavior and then perform Data Recovery Linux by resolving it.

Grounds of the problem

This behavior takes place because of corruption to the Linux Superblock. File system can not mount after Superblock corruption and thus your system can not boot up. Corruption may occur due to numerous reasons, such as virus infection, improper system shutdown, user errors, and more.

Solution

You can sort out this problem by replacing the damaged Superblock with its identical copy, which is maintained by Linux operating system to prevent such problems. However, if it is not possible, hard drive formatting is the only way to go. It actually removes all the data from hard drive and causes severe data loss. At this point, you need to use Linux Recovery applications to get your mission critical data back. The applications are particularly designed to methodically scan entire hard drive and extract all lost data from it, ensure absolute Linux Data Recovery.

Stellar Phoenix Linux Data Recovery is the most advanced and effective utility to ensure perfect recovery in all data loss situations. The software works well with all major distributions of Linux operating system, including Red Hat, SUSE, Fedora, and Debian. It Recover Linux from Ext4, Ext3, Ext2, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12 file system volumes.

March 08 2011

Aborting Linux Installation Causes Windows Partition Loss in Dual-boot System

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Modern computers enable you to install two or more operating systems on a single machine and use those operating systems independently. This configuration is known as dual-boot or multi-boot. The most popular combination of dual-boot system is Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems. In order to continue Linux installation on a Windows machine, you are required to create a /boot partition using the free disk space available on your hard drive. You are highly recommended to halt Linux installation process while creating space for the /boot partition. However, it may render your Windows hard drive partition inaccessible and cause serious partition loss. In such circumstances, you need to go for Partition Recovery Software to retrieve inaccessible and lost hard drive partitions.

 

In order to illustrate this problem, consider the underwritten scenario:

 

You use a Microsoft Windows installed machine that has two partitions- one boot partition and one data partition.

You run the Setup of Linux operating system to install it on free hard drive space.

You abort Linux installation process when it creates /boot partition for the Linux operating system.

You boot your computer with Microsoft Windows operating system and find out that your data partitions is not accessible.

Or

You are able to access the data partition, but if you use a tool that accesses information of partitions, it displays wrong information about the Windows partitions.

 

Root of the problem

 

The problem generally occurs due to corruption of MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table, when you abort installation process of Linux operating system. Hard drive errors might have been introduced by an interrupted installation of Linux operating system.

 

Resolution

 

In order to Recover Partition in such situations, you can try out the below steps:

Remove and recreate the damaged Windows partitions, if you have an updated and valid backup in place.

If the backup is not updated or is unavailable, you can opt for third party applications to recover lost or damaged hard drive partitions.

 

The Partition Recovery Software are suitable for virtually every partition loss situation in Microsoft Windows. They deploy advanced scanning techniques to efficiently handle partition loss and ensure absolute Windows Data Recovery. With simple and rich graphical user interface and non-destructive nature, these applications are totally easy and safe to use.

 

Stellar Data Recovery Software recovers lost, corrupted, damaged, inaccessible, or deleted Windows partitions. The software is designed for Microsoft Windows 7, Vista, 2003, XP, and 2000 operating systems. It salvages NTFS5, NTFS, FAT32, VFAT, FAT16, and FAT12 file system partitions.

 

March 07 2011

Fixing “Operation not permitted” Error in Linux

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Are you unable to change the ownership of your mountable Linux hard drive volumes to make them accessible on LAN? Does the process fail with both root user account and local account? Actually, this behavior occurs if you do not have appropriate permissions to change the ownership of the disk or some significant system files are damaged. Since the system files are damaged, they can not even be accessed by the regular users. This causes grave data loss situation and calls for Linux recovery, if the backup is not updated.

As a practical example of this problem, you may encounter the below error message every time you try to change the ownership of mounted hard drive on Debian Linux operating system based computer:

“debian:/# chown -v ryan:ryan /mnt/hdc1
failed to change ownership of `/mnt/hdc1′ to ryan:ryan
chown: changing ownership of `/mnt/hdc1′: Operation not permitted
debian:/# chmod -v 777 /mnt/hdc1
mode of `/mnt/hdc1′ changed to 0777 (rwxrwxrwx)
debian:/# ls -l /mnt/
total 16
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 16384 1969-12-31 17:00 hdc1
debian:/#”

The “Operation not permitted” error may also occur if you try to mount a Linux hard drive volume, access data from a volume, move data from a location to another, or change the active partition.

Root of the problem:

This behavior may occur due to any of the below reasons and put you in need of Linux hard drive recovery alternatives:

One or more attribute bits of the directory or file are set incorrectly. It prevents you from changing disk permissions using the chmod command.

The root directory, which is repository of all sub-directories and stored data, is damaged. Thus operating system is unable to read structure of the disk.

System data structures, like file system, superblock, and iNode are either missing or corrupt. These reasons are responsible for making your Linux hard drive unusable.

Resolution:

To fix this problem, you need to repair or replace the corrupted data structures with new ones. It is possible by formatting the hard drive and reinstalling the operating system. But, this process eventually removes all your data from hard drive and causes further data loss.

In such cases, Linux hard drive recovery software come to your rescue. They are advanced commercial utilities, which thoroughly scan your hard drive using high-end scanning methods and retrieve all lost data. The Linux recovery tools are easy and safe to use.

Stellar Phoenix Linux Data Recovery software successfully recovers lost, missing, inaccessible, and deleted data from Linux hard drive. The software salvages data from Ext4, Ext3, Ext2, FAT32, FAT16, and FAT12 file system volumes of all major Linux distributions like SUSE, Debian, Red Hat, and Mandriva.

March 04 2011

Linux Certification to Strengthen One’s Resume

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Linux is a clan of operating systems similar to UNIX, based and is fast emerging as an embedded platform for many netbooks and smartphones. The use and development of Linux is at a demanding rate and this comes with an added demand for professionals who are adept at Linux. A Linux certification is always a bonus in such a scenario to display one’s aptitude in the Linux operating system. Linux training is always helpful for future job prospects and is an added feature in one’s resume. Many companies and franchises provide Linux certification courses to help one harness his/her Linux skills.

Many companies provide certification programs in Linux throughout the country. Rates and duration may depend from franchise to franchise and also upon location and the level of additional experience provided. Almost all course providers have an assessment oriented curriculum wherein the candidate is tested with regular or a final exam to display his/ her competence at the Linux language and showcase his skills. Many companies also offer certain experience to their applicants, as a part of their Linux certification courses, by engaging them some or the other practical work.

A beforehand practise or working experience is always a tag to carry around in case one is interested in Linux administration; it is bound to increase further job prospects. Companies may provide a complete training course or domain specific training in Linux. Course content may vary but mostly consists of in depth knowledge of Linux installation and process, network and group management etc. All courses are professionally formulated keeping in with the latest trends and technology.

A Linux Certification has undoubtedly many advantages to professionals and amateurs alike. Linux Training always increases your value and status as a Linux administrator and as a programmer. It gives one a chance to display his/ her expertise at this fast developing operating system. A certification course in Linux is an ideal place to start learning Linux at a deep knowledge level and it also provides one with the right platform to fast pace or jump start one’s career in Linux administration. A lot of companies and enterprises employ professionals practised at Linux and project them as a selling tool for better market acquisition. A certification in Linux morally boosts the morale of IT personnel who have to make extensive use of the related technology.

March 02 2011

Linux the Free Operating System for Your Computer

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If you have taken the time to read my bio you will notice that I’m biased towards the belief that computer operating systems should be inexpensive or even better free. Several years ago I stumbled upon Unix while working out in the field as a computer support specialist. I became fascinated by this different type of operating system controlling one of the servers at a client’s place of business. Wanting to know more I decided to do some research as to what Unix was all about. It was during this time I was introduced to the world of free operating systems and free software.

I have spent a great deal of time researching all the information I could find on why someone would go to the trouble of creating an operating system that he would give away for free. It is through this research that I discovered a whole community of people dedicated to ensuring the Linux operating system would remain free as well as free software to go with it. These people remain, to this day, dedicated to improving Linux as well as creating software that meets or exceeds the needs of the those choosing to use the above.

Ubuntu is just one such version of Linux that is fast becoming the most user friendly operating systems. Ubuntu comes packaged with software most used by all of us. You will find applications such as Open Office, equivalent to the Windows version of Microsoft Office. You will find everything from games to Internet browsers, programming to sound and video and much much more. All of this free and supported. Have a problem with a certain software package? You will find the anwers available only a few keystrokes away. Type your problem in a browser and you will find a forum or website with the answer. If the answer isn’t there, just submit your request for help and someone will be eager to help you.

Since Ubuntu Linux is free and open source this means the program coding is also accessible. For those who are familiar with programming, this becomes a great advantage to changing the operating system or software as you see fit. Another advantage is that you can get involved by providing feedback as to your likes or dislikes. If you are a programmer you can tweek some of the software and submit it to be passed along to other like minded people wanting to see that Linux and the software packages remain free to use for everyone.

This article is meant as an introduction to the world of free operating systems and software. Stay tuned for more articles where I will be writing more in depth reports on the Linux operating system as well as the many available software packages that can be used with Linux.

March 01 2011

Unmounted Hard Drive or Volume? LINUX Data Recovery Solution Is Available

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The Linux operating system is supposed to be the most regularly updated operating system among its counterparts. Apart from this fact, for its advanced technology and features, a large number of users prefer Linux. But, in Linux, the user can not get everything preloaded just like Windows. There is an unique command for each operation in Linux and from the long list of regularly used commands, the ‘mount’ command lets the operating system to learn about the file system and lists in the file system hierarchy of the computer, which lets us access the the particular drives. However, sometimes, the ‘mount’ command fails to work and the OS can not be able to learn the drives resulting in the inaccessibility of them. In such situations of data loss or inaccessibility, Linux data recovery can help you recover your valuable data back.

There can be a possible file system corruption, which has led this abrupt behavior of the Linux system following the failure of the ‘mount’ command. The ‘fsck’ is a built-in command-line utility in Linux operating system, which checks the consistency of the file system and repairs the same, if finds any error. After encountering the above situation, if you try to mount the drives using the ‘fsck’ command, you may encounter some more error messages. The error messages may be read as below:

“[/dev/mapper]fsck -a /dev/mapper/mpath0p1
fsck 1.35 (28-Feb-2004)
ext2fs_check_if_mount: Input/output error while determining whether /dev/mapper/mpath0p1 is mounted.”

OR

“fsck.ext2: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/mapper/mpath0p1
/dev/mapper/mpath0p1:
The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
file system. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
file system (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>”

The above error messages clearly state that the file system has been corrupted. In order to resolve the issue, you need to boot the Linux system from the safe mode and run the ‘fsck’ command to repair the corruption. However, if the file system has been severely corrupted, ‘fsck’ simply exits without doing anything. In such a case, if you are an expert user, you can input the next super-block address or the size of the same to the ‘fsck’ command, which can help the utility to gather the information from the next super-block and do the job.

However, failing to the above resolution method, you need to opt for any Linux drive recovery software to bring back your precious data.

Stellar Phoenix Linux Data Recovery
is an efficient as well as 100% risk-free Linux recovery utility of the current time. The utility has been trusted by a number of users for its power-packed scanning algorithms and ability to recover lost, deleted, formatted or inaccessible data from any troubled Linux drive irrespective of the complexity of the data loss situations.

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February 23 2011

Linux Distribution: A Brief Introduction

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A Linux distribution is also known as the GNU/Linux distribution by some. It is basically a family member of the Unix-like software distributions and these distributions are called “distros”. Linux kernel lies as the basis of these distributions. They contain a number of software applications comprising database applications, media players, spreadsheets and word processors. The Linux operating system consists of the Linux kernel along with a set of utilities and libraries from the GNU and the X Window System for graphic support.

Some Linux distributions may be optimized for size and may not come with X. These use compact alternatives to the GNU utilities, which may include dietlibc, uclibc or busybox. At present, there are more than 300 Linux distributions and many of them are in the active mode. This means that these distributions are being constantly studied, and revised to be improved. The Linux distributions are available in different forms because most of the kernels and supporting packages used are combination of open source and free software. They may take the form of a fully featured desktop or server operating system or can also be used in minimal environments. This is the reason why they are widely used in embedded systems and for things like booting from a floppy disk.

Actually, leaving aside the custom software aspect, the word distribution here simply means a specific assortment of some applications that are installed on top of a set of libraries, along with a version of the kernel. This is created in such a manner that the “out-of-the-box” capabilities are met with most of the requirements of its specific end-user base. There are many kinds of Linux distributions, such as community, corporation and others. The known ones including Fedora (Red Hat), Mandriva Linux, Ubuntu (Canonical Ltd.), and openSUSE (Novell) are backed commercially. The community distributors consist of Gentoo and Debian. The others are driven by neither a community nor a corporation. The most famous one is Slackware.

A basic Linux distribution for desktop consists of a Linux kernel, GNU libraries and tools, documentation, additional software, window manager, a window system and a desktop environment. Most of the software and sources that form a part of this operating system are free software and open source. This means that the users can compile the original code or can modify as per their own needs. Nevertheless, in some cases the software might not be available in the source code form.

Before the Linux distributions came into existence, a would-be Linux user had to be a Unix expert. A would-be user had to be aware of the details about the placement and configuration of the files in that system. This distribution has made the task of using Linux as the operating system easier.

Summary: Linux distribution works on the Linux kernel and some other software applications. With its emergence, it has become easier for the users to use it as an operating system on desktops and laptops. There are three types of distributions: community based, corporation based and others. Being made from the open source, the user can made certain modifications too.