/home 'wiped' by new distro install - can I get it back?
by echidnagirl from LinuxQuestions.org on (#59ENN)
I recently changed distro but this time (prob due to incoming migraine) I stuffed it and managed to 'wipe' the contents of my /home.
I have a backup - done several days before using rsync but its not 100% up-to-date.
Knowing that data doesn't actually get wiped even though I can't find it (using file manager) and hoping it hasn't all been overwritten I'd like to retrieve the previous /home with contents.
The system disk was 80GB and /home was 1TB (2 physically dif hdds - minus system stuff for each). Previous distro mint MATE new mint xfce. I changed because I felt I had stuffed the distro with too much fiddling sort of Frankensteined it.:doh:
New install somehow has this setup:
This computer
Home folder - /home/nina
tiggerbox - /
(both on 80 GB drive with 3.3 avail)
984 GB volume - /media/nina/a323985b-8f77-49f6-93b7-b5c9b973f009
(this is my old /home dir and hdd used for /home total 967.7 GB with 469.3 avail -> which likes the old data in /home is still there!)
I have an ext drive I can use and of course could just use the rsync backup but I'd rather dive in and try to retrieve the lot.
I have tried to install testdisk but got the following:
>After this operation, 1,457 kB of additional disk space will be used.
>E: You don't have enough free space in /var/cache/apt/archives/.
So, what can you recommend?
I have read:
>How to Recover Deleted (partly overwritten) Files in /home on ext3 fs, ubuntu 6.06 - from middle of 2010 but can't follow it to make it work for me.
also didn't get rsync copy back into new /home on first attempt to waiting with doing anything else to further foobar my system...am quite prepared to blow distro (quite a lot of things didn't install properly - yes iso was verified) and reinstall but FIRST would really like to retrieve old /home data and copy anew to ext drive.
Thanks in advance for your help,
I have a backup - done several days before using rsync but its not 100% up-to-date.
Knowing that data doesn't actually get wiped even though I can't find it (using file manager) and hoping it hasn't all been overwritten I'd like to retrieve the previous /home with contents.
The system disk was 80GB and /home was 1TB (2 physically dif hdds - minus system stuff for each). Previous distro mint MATE new mint xfce. I changed because I felt I had stuffed the distro with too much fiddling sort of Frankensteined it.:doh:
New install somehow has this setup:
This computer
Home folder - /home/nina
tiggerbox - /
(both on 80 GB drive with 3.3 avail)
984 GB volume - /media/nina/a323985b-8f77-49f6-93b7-b5c9b973f009
(this is my old /home dir and hdd used for /home total 967.7 GB with 469.3 avail -> which likes the old data in /home is still there!)
I have an ext drive I can use and of course could just use the rsync backup but I'd rather dive in and try to retrieve the lot.
I have tried to install testdisk but got the following:
>After this operation, 1,457 kB of additional disk space will be used.
>E: You don't have enough free space in /var/cache/apt/archives/.
So, what can you recommend?
I have read:
>How to Recover Deleted (partly overwritten) Files in /home on ext3 fs, ubuntu 6.06 - from middle of 2010 but can't follow it to make it work for me.
also didn't get rsync copy back into new /home on first attempt to waiting with doing anything else to further foobar my system...am quite prepared to blow distro (quite a lot of things didn't install properly - yes iso was verified) and reinstall but FIRST would really like to retrieve old /home data and copy anew to ext drive.
Thanks in advance for your help,