[gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

Hello, I woke up this morning and turned on my laptop to find that it
no longer boots.  It initially hung on starting hald, and once I
prevented hald from starting it hung on gdm, and once I prevented gdm
from starting I could log in as root but vi failed with a "Bus error".
 I booted a LiveCD, mounted /dev/hda3, and chrooted, but running
env-update then caused all kinds of drive errors.

I'd like to save the hard drive so I don't have to buy a new one and
build a new system on it, but if that's not possible I'd definitely
like to save my personal data from the drive.  I'm busy/stupid enough
to have made no backups and all of my photos etc. are on the drive.

I successfully wrote an iso of some important files after booting up
normally (minus hald, X, and vi) so that's good.  Is there a utility I
can run on the disk to see if there is permanent damage?  Should I try
re-emerging packages that are having trouble or should I try to emerge
-e world?

I suppose I should see if I can write and burn iso's of everything in
/home/grant/ right away.  Is there a good way to get a bunch of data
into multiple iso's that are each no larger than 650MB?  Also, I've
read man mkisofs and experimented before with trying to preserve
filenames perfectly but it never comes out quite right.  Can anyone
recommend mkisofs options for preserving filenames perfectly?

Thanks for your time.

- Grant
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Thomas Lingefelt]

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Hash: SHA256

Grant wrote:
> Hello, I woke up this morning and turned on my laptop to find that it
> no longer boots.  It initially hung on starting hald, and once I
> prevented hald from starting it hung on gdm, and once I prevented gdm
> from starting I could log in as root but vi failed with a "Bus error".
> I booted a LiveCD, mounted /dev/hda3, and chrooted, but running
> env-update then caused all kinds of drive errors.
> 
> I'd like to save the hard drive so I don't have to buy a new one and
> build a new system on it, but if that's not possible I'd definitely
> like to save my personal data from the drive.  I'm busy/stupid enough
> to have made no backups and all of my photos etc. are on the drive.
> 
> I successfully wrote an iso of some important files after booting up
> normally (minus hald, X, and vi) so that's good.  Is there a utility I
> can run on the disk to see if there is permanent damage?  Should I try
> re-emerging packages that are having trouble or should I try to emerge
> -e world?
> 
> I suppose I should see if I can write and burn iso's of everything in
> /home/grant/ right away.  Is there a good way to get a bunch of data
> into multiple iso's that are each no larger than 650MB?  Also, I've
> read man mkisofs and experimented before with trying to preserve
> filenames perfectly but it never comes out quite right.  Can anyone
> recommend mkisofs options for preserving filenames perfectly?
> 
> Thanks for your time.
> 
> - Grant

This _may_ help... http://www.partimage.org/Main_Page but I've never
used it in this case.

I would defiantly try to put the HDD in another computer and make an
image of it with ddrescue.

Other than that I would say to make a tarball of your home dir and use
split to break it down into CD size pieces if you can.  That would take
care of the file name preservation.  Plus you could use gzip to
compress.  This is of course if you have room to work with the files.
If you could hook a removable HDD to the laptop that would be spiffy.

Checking the disk for problems?  I would use the manufactures
proprietary utilities for that.  Something you can put on a bootable CD
or floppy.

Thomas

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

I ran 'fsck -t ext3 /dev/hda3' and it detected and corrected a bunch
of stuff.  After that, /bin/bash was missing so I copied it from a
LiveCD and now it's behaving exactly as it was before I ran fsck.

Do you know of any way to try and bring the hard drive in its current
form back to full usability?  Is emerge -e world possibly worth a try?

If I can't bring the drive back to life as it is now, it sounds like I
should use tar, split, and cdrecord to save /home/grant/, build a new
system either on the same drive or a new one, and copy in
/home/grant/.

Does anyone know of a way to find out if the hard drive is usable
without just installing a new system on it and seeing if it works?  I
can't find any information on the Fujitsu site.

- Grant

On 1/25/07, Thomas Lingefelt <tomtechguy@gmail.com> wrote:
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
> Hash: SHA256
>
> Grant wrote:
> > Hello, I woke up this morning and turned on my laptop to find that it
> > no longer boots.  It initially hung on starting hald, and once I
> > prevented hald from starting it hung on gdm, and once I prevented gdm
> > from starting I could log in as root but vi failed with a "Bus error".
> > I booted a LiveCD, mounted /dev/hda3, and chrooted, but running
> > env-update then caused all kinds of drive errors.
> >
> > I'd like to save the hard drive so I don't have to buy a new one and
> > build a new system on it, but if that's not possible I'd definitely
> > like to save my personal data from the drive.  I'm busy/stupid enough
> > to have made no backups and all of my photos etc. are on the drive.
> >
> > I successfully wrote an iso of some important files after booting up
> > normally (minus hald, X, and vi) so that's good.  Is there a utility I
> > can run on the disk to see if there is permanent damage?  Should I try
> > re-emerging packages that are having trouble or should I try to emerge
> > -e world?
> >
> > I suppose I should see if I can write and burn iso's of everything in
> > /home/grant/ right away.  Is there a good way to get a bunch of data
> > into multiple iso's that are each no larger than 650MB?  Also, I've
> > read man mkisofs and experimented before with trying to preserve
> > filenames perfectly but it never comes out quite right.  Can anyone
> > recommend mkisofs options for preserving filenames perfectly?
> >
> > Thanks for your time.
> >
> > - Grant
>
> This _may_ help... http://www.partimage.org/Main_Page but I've never
> used it in this case.
>
> I would defiantly try to put the HDD in another computer and make an
> image of it with ddrescue.
>
> Other than that I would say to make a tarball of your home dir and use
> split to break it down into CD size pieces if you can.  That would take
> care of the file name preservation.  Plus you could use gzip to
> compress.  This is of course if you have room to work with the files.
> If you could hook a removable HDD to the laptop that would be spiffy.
>
> Checking the disk for problems?  I would use the manufactures
> proprietary utilities for that.  Something you can put on a bootable CD
> or floppy.
>
> Thomas
>
> -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
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>
> iD8DBQFFuOdIUej1z0ta0fkRCCYuAJ96Faf8h2LSZ6icqB9JBm6IKyZ3QwCfUceR
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> =7VZt
> -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
> --
> gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
>
>
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

On Thursday 25 January 2007 19:28, Grant wrote:

> Matthias,
>
> I just realized that I still have a network connection with the laptop
> so I should be able to move its data to my desktop machine across the
> network as you suggest.  Can you recommend the best way to move
> /dev/hda3 and /dev/hda1 across the network to the desktop for later
> restoration to the laptop?

The following assumes you have sshd running on the target box, and ssh 
available on the source box.

If you want to copy whole partitions, you can use dd over ssh:

dd if=/dev/hda3 bs=<some_large_value> | bzip2 | ssh user@target "cat 
> /suitable/path/to/hda3.img.bz2"

Or, if you can mount the partition, you can use tar:

tar -cjvf - /mount/point/ | ssh user@target "cd /some/path ; tar -xjvf -"

Hope this helps.
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Kent Fredric]

> dd if=/dev/hda3 bs=<some_large_value> | bzip2 | ssh user@target "cat
> > /suitable/path/to/hda3.img.bz2"
>
> Or, if you can mount the partition, you can use tar:
>
> tar -cjvf - /mount/point/ | ssh user@target "cd /some/path ; tar -xjvf -"
>

you could also use netcat to transfer the files instead of ssh, would
probably be closer to the speen of the lan and have less CPU overhead

Target:
  nc -l -p 5999 > hda3.img
Source:
  dd if=/dev/hda3 | nc 192.168.your.ip 5999


if your hard drive is trashed like you say it is, you may want to use
ddrescue ( sys-fs/ddrescue )

And make sure for the love of sanity the drive you are copying is
_NOT_ currently mounted, at least not in write mode, or the image you
produce could be crufted.
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

My laptop is currently still copying everything to my desktop system
via tar and ssh.  I generally have to run rc on the desktop system
periodically to make sure network-dependent services are still running
as the desktop sometimes loses the wireless connection temporarily.
When I ran rc this morning, I saw that ssh started so it must have
stopped some time overnight as it usually does.  The laptop was still
running the tar | ssh command I had started the night before.  Could
the desktop be missing some of the laptop's data since the desktop
wasn't running ssh all night, or would it "catch up" now that ssh is
running?

The laptop doesn't run sshd and X is not working so I can't make a
comparison of the data on the two systems.

- Grant

On 1/25/07, Kent Fredric <kentfredric@gmail.com> wrote:
> > dd if=/dev/hda3 bs=<some_large_value> | bzip2 | ssh user@target "cat
> > > /suitable/path/to/hda3.img.bz2"
> >
> > Or, if you can mount the partition, you can use tar:
> >
> > tar -cjvf - /mount/point/ | ssh user@target "cd /some/path ; tar -xjvf -"
> >
>
> you could also use netcat to transfer the files instead of ssh, would
> probably be closer to the speen of the lan and have less CPU overhead
>
> Target:
>   nc -l -p 5999 > hda3.img
> Source:
>   dd if=/dev/hda3 | nc 192.168.your.ip 5999
>
>
> if your hard drive is trashed like you say it is, you may want to use
> ddrescue ( sys-fs/ddrescue )
>
> And make sure for the love of sanity the drive you are copying is
> _NOT_ currently mounted, at least not in write mode, or the image you
> produce could be crufted.
> --
> gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
>
>
-- 
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

I used Ctrl+Alt+Fn to determine that the sizes of the copied
directories on the desktop system do seem to correspond with their
original sizes on the laptop so that's good.

How should I copy the data from the desktop system back to the laptop?
 After the data is copied to the desktop, I'll make new filesystems on
the laptop's partitions, so how can I get the data back to the laptop?

- Grant

On 1/26/07, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:
> My laptop is currently still copying everything to my desktop system
> via tar and ssh.  I generally have to run rc on the desktop system
> periodically to make sure network-dependent services are still running
> as the desktop sometimes loses the wireless connection temporarily.
> When I ran rc this morning, I saw that ssh started so it must have
> stopped some time overnight as it usually does.  The laptop was still
> running the tar | ssh command I had started the night before.  Could
> the desktop be missing some of the laptop's data since the desktop
> wasn't running ssh all night, or would it "catch up" now that ssh is
> running?
>
> The laptop doesn't run sshd and X is not working so I can't make a
> comparison of the data on the two systems.
>
> - Grant
>
> On 1/25/07, Kent Fredric <kentfredric@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > dd if=/dev/hda3 bs=<some_large_value> | bzip2 | ssh user@target "cat
> > > > /suitable/path/to/hda3.img.bz2"
> > >
> > > Or, if you can mount the partition, you can use tar:
> > >
> > > tar -cjvf - /mount/point/ | ssh user@target "cd /some/path ; tar -xjvf
> -"
> > >
> >
> > you could also use netcat to transfer the files instead of ssh, would
> > probably be closer to the speen of the lan and have less CPU overhead
> >
> > Target:
> >   nc -l -p 5999 > hda3.img
> > Source:
> >   dd if=/dev/hda3 | nc 192.168.your.ip 5999
> >
> >
> > if your hard drive is trashed like you say it is, you may want to use
> > ddrescue ( sys-fs/ddrescue )
> >
> > And make sure for the love of sanity the drive you are copying is
> > _NOT_ currently mounted, at least not in write mode, or the image you
> > produce could be crufted.
> > --
> > gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
> >
> >
>
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Randy Barlow]

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Hash: SHA1

Grant wrote:
> How should I copy the data from the desktop system back to the laptop?
> After the data is copied to the desktop, I'll make new filesystems on
> the laptop's partitions, so how can I get the data back to the laptop?

You could use netcat, as was previously suggested.
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:47:51 -0800, Grant wrote:

> My laptop is currently still copying everything to my desktop system
> via tar and ssh.  I generally have to run rc on the desktop system
> periodically to make sure network-dependent services are still running
> as the desktop sometimes loses the wireless connection temporarily.
> When I ran rc this morning, I saw that ssh started so it must have
> stopped some time overnight as it usually does.  The laptop was still
> running the tar | ssh command I had started the night before.  Could
> the desktop be missing some of the laptop's data since the desktop
> wasn't running ssh all night, or would it "catch up" now that ssh is
> running?

Use rsync to make sure the copy contains an exact copy of the laptop's
files.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

"Be strict when sending and tolerant when receiving."
 RFC 1958 - Architectural Principles of the Internet - section 3.9

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[kashani]

Neil Bothwick wrote:
> On Fri, 26 Jan 2007 09:47:51 -0800, Grant wrote:
> 
>> My laptop is currently still copying everything to my desktop system
>> via tar and ssh.  I generally have to run rc on the desktop system
>> periodically to make sure network-dependent services are still running
>> as the desktop sometimes loses the wireless connection temporarily.
>> When I ran rc this morning, I saw that ssh started so it must have
>> stopped some time overnight as it usually does.  The laptop was still
>> running the tar | ssh command I had started the night before.  Could
>> the desktop be missing some of the laptop's data since the desktop
>> wasn't running ssh all night, or would it "catch up" now that ssh is
>> running?
> 
> Use rsync to make sure the copy contains an exact copy of the laptop's
> files.
> 

Please use rsync. The idea of that tar ssh nonsense makes my head hurt 
especially if it's getting interrupted often. rsync has the ability to 
walk the filesystem and then only transfer the things that are missing 
in incomplete.

I'd use some variation on this command line
rsync -avz -e "ssh -c blowfish" /src $user@dest_server:/dst/

The Blowfish encryption requires the least CPU in my experience and that 
may make things faster.

You can also buy a standard IDE to laptop harddrive converter cable for 
under $10. Plug you laptop hard drive into your desktop, start you 
desktop, mount the laptop drive, and rsync away between your disk.

kashani
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Matthias Bethke]

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Hi Grant,
on Friday, 2007-01-26 at 09:47:51, you wrote:
> My laptop is currently still copying everything to my desktop system
> via tar and ssh.

That's good. dd would be easier on the HD in case it's breaking but if you have a filesystem
error you'd still have to fix that after copying back. If the HD is not
about to die, tar (or rsync as Neil mentioned) is much better.

> When I ran rc this morning, I saw that ssh started so it must have
> stopped some time overnight as it usually does.  The laptop was still
> running the tar | ssh command I had started the night before.  Could
> the desktop be missing some of the laptop's data since the desktop
> wasn't running ssh all night, or would it "catch up" now that ssh is
> running?

If the connection didn't break on the laptop side (ssh|tar reporting a
broken pipe), you should be fine.

cheers!
	Matthias
-- 
I prefer encrypted and signed messages. KeyID: FAC37665
Fingerprint: 8C16 3F0A A6FC DF0D 19B0  8DEF 48D9 1700 FAC3 7665

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

I really appreciate all the advice.  I have about 11 of 12 GBs copied
from the laptop to the desktop system now via the tar|ssh method so I
guess I'll let that complete.  Once it's done, how can I move the data
back over the network to the reformatted laptop?

- Grant

On 1/26/07, Matthias Bethke <matthias@towiski.de> wrote:
> Hi Grant,
> on Friday, 2007-01-26 at 09:47:51, you wrote:
> > My laptop is currently still copying everything to my desktop system
> > via tar and ssh.
>
> That's good. dd would be easier on the HD in case it's breaking but if you
> have a filesystem
> error you'd still have to fix that after copying back. If the HD is not
> about to die, tar (or rsync as Neil mentioned) is much better.
>
> > When I ran rc this morning, I saw that ssh started so it must have
> > stopped some time overnight as it usually does.  The laptop was still
> > running the tar | ssh command I had started the night before.  Could
> > the desktop be missing some of the laptop's data since the desktop
> > wasn't running ssh all night, or would it "catch up" now that ssh is
> > running?
>
> If the connection didn't break on the laptop side (ssh|tar reporting a
> broken pipe), you should be fine.
>
> cheers!
> 	Matthias
> --
> I prefer encrypted and signed messages. KeyID: FAC37665
> Fingerprint: 8C16 3F0A A6FC DF0D 19B0  8DEF 48D9 1700 FAC3 7665
>
>
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

All of the laptop's data has now been moved to the desktop system over
the network.  I still don't see how I can move the data back to the
laptop after reformatting it.  Is buying the laptop hard drive adapter
the only way?

- Grant

On 1/26/07, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:
> I really appreciate all the advice.  I have about 11 of 12 GBs copied
> from the laptop to the desktop system now via the tar|ssh method so I
> guess I'll let that complete.  Once it's done, how can I move the data
> back over the network to the reformatted laptop?
>
> - Grant
>
> On 1/26/07, Matthias Bethke <matthias@towiski.de> wrote:
> > Hi Grant,
> > on Friday, 2007-01-26 at 09:47:51, you wrote:
> > > My laptop is currently still copying everything to my desktop system
> > > via tar and ssh.
> >
> > That's good. dd would be easier on the HD in case it's breaking but if you
> > have a filesystem
> > error you'd still have to fix that after copying back. If the HD is not
> > about to die, tar (or rsync as Neil mentioned) is much better.
> >
> > > When I ran rc this morning, I saw that ssh started so it must have
> > > stopped some time overnight as it usually does.  The laptop was still
> > > running the tar | ssh command I had started the night before.  Could
> > > the desktop be missing some of the laptop's data since the desktop
> > > wasn't running ssh all night, or would it "catch up" now that ssh is
> > > running?
> >
> > If the connection didn't break on the laptop side (ssh|tar reporting a
> > broken pipe), you should be fine.
> >
> > cheers!
> > 	Matthias
> > --
> > I prefer encrypted and signed messages. KeyID: FAC37665
> > Fingerprint: 8C16 3F0A A6FC DF0D 19B0  8DEF 48D9 1700 FAC3 7665
> >
> >
>
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Mick]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 707 bytes --]

On Saturday 27 January 2007 16:38, Grant wrote:
> All of the laptop's data has now been moved to the desktop system over
> the network.  I still don't see how I can move the data back to the
> laptop after reformatting it.  Is buying the laptop hard drive adapter
> the only way?

Please try not to top post in this ML.

Boot your laptop using a Linux LiveCD.  Mount your hard drive (e.g. 
mount /dev/hda /mnt/hda. Start sshd.  Go to your desktop and run something 
like:

cat archive_file.bz2 | ssh -c blowfish user@laptop_ip_address "cd /mnt/hda ; 
tar -xjpvf archive_file.bz2"

WARNING: I haven't tried it out, but you could adjust/adapt it and experiment 
with it.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

> > All of the laptop's data has now been moved to the desktop system over
> > the network.  I still don't see how I can move the data back to the
> > laptop after reformatting it.  Is buying the laptop hard drive adapter
> > the only way?
>
> Please try not to top post in this ML.

Sorry about that.  In another stroke of bad luck my desktop's mouse
stopped working at the same time my hard drive started acting up so
I've been tabbing around firefox and using Gmail's "Quick Reply" which
(predictably) top-posts.  The mouse is working again now.

> Boot your laptop using a Linux LiveCD.  Mount your hard drive (e.g.
> mount /dev/hda /mnt/hda. Start sshd.  Go to your desktop and run something
> like:
>
> cat archive_file.bz2 | ssh -c blowfish user@laptop_ip_address "cd /mnt/hda ;
> tar -xjpvf archive_file.bz2"

I guess my problem is getting the laptop back on the wireless-only
network with a madwifi card when the LiveCD doesn't have a net.ath0
interface.

I did just try chrooting into my laptop's /dev/hda3 copy on my desktop
system with:

chroot /home/grant/hda3 /bin/bash

and the vi command always seg faults.  Does that mean the /dev/hda3
image is done-for and I should just start the laptop over from scratch
and import my /etc/ and /home/ directories when it's re-installed?

- Grant
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Michal 'vorner' Vaner]

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Hello,
On Sat, Jan 27, 2007 at 10:51:48AM -0800, Grant wrote:
> and the vi command always seg faults.  Does that mean the /dev/hda3
> image is done-for and I should just start the laptop over from scratch
> and import my /etc/ and /home/ directories when it's re-installed?

I would try putting it all back and re-emerge everything (emerge -vaD
--emptytree world). It would fix if anything bad happened to the compiled
things and you could start using the things which survived sooner.

Hope it works well for you

-- 
Anyone seen smoking will be considered on fire and will be put out immediately.

Michal 'vorner' Vaner

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

> > and the vi command always seg faults.  Does that mean the /dev/hda3
> > image is done-for and I should just start the laptop over from scratch
> > and import my /etc/ and /home/ directories when it's re-installed?
>
> I would try putting it all back and re-emerge everything (emerge -vaD
> --emptytree world). It would fix if anything bad happened to the compiled
> things and you could start using the things which survived sooner.

I tried re-emerging vim from within the chroot and I got:

/usr/portage/eclass/vim.eclass: line 342: make: command not found

What do you think?

- Grant
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Mark Kirkwood]

Grant wrote:
>> > and the vi command always seg faults.  Does that mean the /dev/hda3
>> > image is done-for and I should just start the laptop over from scratch
>> > and import my /etc/ and /home/ directories when it's re-installed?
>>
>> I would try putting it all back and re-emerge everything (emerge -vaD
>> --emptytree world). It would fix if anything bad happened to the compiled
>> things and you could start using the things which survived sooner.
> 
> I tried re-emerging vim from within the chroot and I got:
> 
> /usr/portage/eclass/vim.eclass: line 342: make: command not found
> 
> What do you think?
>

Have you checked the laptop drive? If it is faulty then re-installing is 
just wasting your time.

I would recommend checking the drive with smartmontools before going any 
further. Given the problems outlined above, I would make a package for 
it on your desktop and do a binary install of the result on the laptop.

Good luck

Mark
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

> >> > and the vi command always seg faults.  Does that mean the /dev/hda3
> >> > image is done-for and I should just start the laptop over from scratch
> >> > and import my /etc/ and /home/ directories when it's re-installed?
> >>
> >> I would try putting it all back and re-emerge everything (emerge -vaD
> >> --emptytree world). It would fix if anything bad happened to the compiled
> >> things and you could start using the things which survived sooner.
> >
> > I tried re-emerging vim from within the chroot and I got:
> >
> > /usr/portage/eclass/vim.eclass: line 342: make: command not found
> >
> > What do you think?
> >
>
> Have you checked the laptop drive? If it is faulty then re-installing is
> just wasting your time.
>
> I would recommend checking the drive with smartmontools before going any
> further. Given the problems outlined above, I would make a package for
> it on your desktop and do a binary install of the result on the laptop.

I haven't checked the laptop drive yet.  Can I make a smartmontools
package for the x86 laptop on the amd64 desktop?  How can I do that?

- Grant
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Mark Kirkwood]

Grant wrote:
>> >> > and the vi command always seg faults.  Does that mean the /dev/hda3
>> >> > image is done-for and I should just start the laptop over from 
>> scratch
>> >> > and import my /etc/ and /home/ directories when it's re-installed?
>> >>
>> >> I would try putting it all back and re-emerge everything (emerge -vaD
>> >> --emptytree world). It would fix if anything bad happened to the 
>> compiled
>> >> things and you could start using the things which survived sooner.
>> >
>> > I tried re-emerging vim from within the chroot and I got:
>> >
>> > /usr/portage/eclass/vim.eclass: line 342: make: command not found
>> >
>> > What do you think?
>> >
>>
>> Have you checked the laptop drive? If it is faulty then re-installing is
>> just wasting your time.
>>
>> I would recommend checking the drive with smartmontools before going any
>> further. Given the problems outlined above, I would make a package for
>> it on your desktop and do a binary install of the result on the laptop.
> 
> I haven't checked the laptop drive yet.  Can I make a smartmontools
> package for the x86 laptop on the amd64 desktop?  How can I do that?
> 
> 

Actually, I just noticed that smartmontools is installed on the livecd, 
so just use that! Post the output of '/usr/sbin/smartctl -d ata -a 
/dev/hda' - (assuming that your hard drive *is* /dev/hda of course...)

Cheers

Mark

-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

> >> >> > and the vi command always seg faults.  Does that mean the /dev/hda3
> >> >> > image is done-for and I should just start the laptop over from
> >> scratch
> >> >> > and import my /etc/ and /home/ directories when it's re-installed?
> >> >>
> >> >> I would try putting it all back and re-emerge everything (emerge -vaD
> >> >> --emptytree world). It would fix if anything bad happened to the
> >> compiled
> >> >> things and you could start using the things which survived sooner.
> >> >
> >> > I tried re-emerging vim from within the chroot and I got:
> >> >
> >> > /usr/portage/eclass/vim.eclass: line 342: make: command not found
> >> >
> >> > What do you think?
> >> >
> >>
> >> Have you checked the laptop drive? If it is faulty then re-installing is
> >> just wasting your time.
> >>
> >> I would recommend checking the drive with smartmontools before going any
> >> further. Given the problems outlined above, I would make a package for
> >> it on your desktop and do a binary install of the result on the laptop.
> >
> > I haven't checked the laptop drive yet.  Can I make a smartmontools
> > package for the x86 laptop on the amd64 desktop?  How can I do that?
> >
> >
>
> Actually, I just noticed that smartmontools is installed on the livecd,
> so just use that! Post the output of '/usr/sbin/smartctl -d ata -a
> /dev/hda' - (assuming that your hard drive *is* /dev/hda of course...)

That command takes less than a second to complete and there is a lot
of output.  One thing that jumps out at me is:

ATA Error Count: 868

Is there anything else I should post?

- Grant
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Mark Kirkwood]

Grant wrote:
>> >> >> > and the vi command always seg faults.  Does that mean the 
>> /dev/hda3
>> >> >> > image is done-for and I should just start the laptop over from
>> >> scratch
>> >> >> > and import my /etc/ and /home/ directories when it's 
>> re-installed?
>> >> >>
>> >> >> I would try putting it all back and re-emerge everything (emerge 
>> -vaD
>> >> >> --emptytree world). It would fix if anything bad happened to the
>> >> compiled
>> >> >> things and you could start using the things which survived sooner.
>> >> >
>> >> > I tried re-emerging vim from within the chroot and I got:
>> >> >
>> >> > /usr/portage/eclass/vim.eclass: line 342: make: command not found
>> >> >
>> >> > What do you think?
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> Have you checked the laptop drive? If it is faulty then 
>> re-installing is
>> >> just wasting your time.
>> >>
>> >> I would recommend checking the drive with smartmontools before 
>> going any
>> >> further. Given the problems outlined above, I would make a package for
>> >> it on your desktop and do a binary install of the result on the 
>> laptop.
>> >
>> > I haven't checked the laptop drive yet.  Can I make a smartmontools
>> > package for the x86 laptop on the amd64 desktop?  How can I do that?
>> >
>> >
>>
>> Actually, I just noticed that smartmontools is installed on the livecd,
>> so just use that! Post the output of '/usr/sbin/smartctl -d ata -a
>> /dev/hda' - (assuming that your hard drive *is* /dev/hda of course...)
> 
> That command takes less than a second to complete and there is a lot
> of output.  One thing that jumps out at me is:
> 
> ATA Error Count: 868
> 
> Is there anything else I should post?
> 

Hmmm - sounds like its seen 868 read/write errors. However to advise you 
better we need to see the output. I suspect it is huge because there are 
error details for each of the 868 errors. How about post the first 200 
lines of the smartctl output to the list?

Cheers

Mark


-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

> Hmmm - sounds like its seen 868 read/write errors. However to advise you
> better we need to see the output. I suspect it is huge because there are
> error details for each of the 868 errors. How about post the first 200
> lines of the smartctl output to the list?

Here are the first 91 lines.  After that it looks like error
specifics.  Please let me know what you think or if you need more
info.

smartctl version 5.36 [i686-pc-linux-gnu] Copyright (C) 2002-6 Bruce Allen
Home page is http://smartmontools.sourceforge.net/

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Fujitsu MHT2xxxAT/MHU2100AT series
Device Model:     FUJITSU MHT2040AT
Serial Number:    NN50T481446T
Firmware Version: 0022
User Capacity:    40,007,761,920 bytes
Device is:        In smartctl database [for details use: -P show]
ATA Version is:   6
ATA Standard is:  ATA/ATAPI-6 T13 1410D revision 3a
Local Time is:    Sat Jan 27 15:47:38 2007 UTC
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x00) Offline data collection activity
                                        was never started.
                                        Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0) The previous self-test routine completed
                                        without error or no self-test has ever
                                        been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection:                 ( 293) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities:                    (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
                                        Auto Offline data collection
on/off support.
                                        Suspend Offline collection upon new
                                        command.
                                        Offline surface scan supported.
                                        Self-test supported.
                                        Conveyance Self-test supported.
                                        Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003) Saves SMART data before entering
                                        power-saving mode.
                                        Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01) Error logging supported.
                                        No General Purpose Logging support.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time:        (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time:        (  40) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time:        (   2) minutes.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE
UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x000f   100   093   046    Pre-fail
Always       -       169149
  2 Throughput_Performance  0x0005   100   100   030    Pre-fail
Offline      -       15663104
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0003   100   100   025    Pre-fail
Always       -       0
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   099   099   000    Old_age
Always       -       1012
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   100   100   024    Pre-fail
Always       -       8559870279687
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   100   100   047    Pre-fail
Always       -       3006
  8 Seek_Time_Performance   0x0005   100   100   019    Pre-fail
Offline      -       0
  9 Power_On_Seconds        0x0032   075   075   000    Old_age
Always       -       12656h+03m+48s
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0013   100   100   020    Pre-fail
Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age
Always       -       926
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age
Always       -       103
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   066   066   000    Old_age
Always       -       340716
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   100   070   000    Old_age
Always       -       43 (Lifetime Min/Max 13/66)
195 Hardware_ECC_Recovered  0x001a   100   100   000    Old_age
Always       -       4244
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age
Always       -       124838871047
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0012   091   091   000    Old_age
Always       -       10
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0010   092   092   000    Old_age
Offline      -       16
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x003e   200   196   000    Old_age
Always       -       143
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x000f   100   100   060    Pre-fail
Always       -       28028
203 Run_Out_Cancel          0x0002   100   100   000    Old_age
Always       -       433780032038
SMART Error Log Version: 1
ATA Error Count: 868 (device log contains only the most recent five errors)
        CR = Command Register [HEX]
        FR = Features Register [HEX]
        SC = Sector Count Register [HEX]
        SN = Sector Number Register [HEX]
        CL = Cylinder Low Register [HEX]
        CH = Cylinder High Register [HEX]
        DH = Device/Head Register [HEX]
        DC = Device Command Register [HEX]
        ER = Error register [HEX]
        ST = Status register [HEX]
Powered_Up_Time is measured from power on, and printed as
DDd+hh:mm:SS.sss where DD=days, hh=hours, mm=minutes,
SS=sec, and sss=millisec. It "wraps" after 49.710 days.

Error 868 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 12653 hours (527 days + 5 hours)
  When the command that caused the error occurred, the device was
active or idle.

- Grant
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Mark Kirkwood]

Grant wrote:

> === START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
> SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED

Well - although says its passed - if you run any of the self-tests I
would expect to see a change to 'failed'. You might want to run the
'short' or 'long' tests (-t short or -t long) and see what happens....
but given the state indicated below... I'd conclude 'She's dead Jim' at
this point and start looking for another disk (also check the warranty 
for your laptop).

> 
>  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x000f   100   100   047    Pre-fail
> Always       -       3006

> 196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age
> Always       -       124838871047
> 197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0012   091   091   000    Old_age
> Always       -       10
> 198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0010   092   092   000    Old_age
> Offline      -       16
> 199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x003e   200   196   000    Old_age
> Always       -       143
> 200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x000f   100   100   060    Pre-fail
> Always       -       28028


These indicate things are not well.

> 
> Error 868 occurred at disk power-on lifetime: 12653 hours (527 days + 5 
> hours)
>

Well yes - 868 actual errors ... not good.

The last disk I got replaced under warranty did not have a SMART report
as bad as this (4 offline uncorrectable and 10 read errors)....


regards

Mark

-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

> >> >> >> > and the vi command always seg faults.  Does that mean the
> >> /dev/hda3
> >> >> >> > image is done-for and I should just start the laptop over from
> >> >> scratch
> >> >> >> > and import my /etc/ and /home/ directories when it's
> >> re-installed?
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> I would try putting it all back and re-emerge everything (emerge
> >> -vaD
> >> >> >> --emptytree world). It would fix if anything bad happened to the
> >> >> compiled
> >> >> >> things and you could start using the things which survived sooner.
> >> >> >
> >> >> > I tried re-emerging vim from within the chroot and I got:
> >> >> >
> >> >> > /usr/portage/eclass/vim.eclass: line 342: make: command not found
> >> >> >
> >> >> > What do you think?
> >> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >> Have you checked the laptop drive? If it is faulty then
> >> re-installing is
> >> >> just wasting your time.
> >> >>
> >> >> I would recommend checking the drive with smartmontools before
> >> going any
> >> >> further. Given the problems outlined above, I would make a package for
> >> >> it on your desktop and do a binary install of the result on the
> >> laptop.
> >> >
> >> > I haven't checked the laptop drive yet.  Can I make a smartmontools
> >> > package for the x86 laptop on the amd64 desktop?  How can I do that?
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >> Actually, I just noticed that smartmontools is installed on the livecd,
> >> so just use that! Post the output of '/usr/sbin/smartctl -d ata -a
> >> /dev/hda' - (assuming that your hard drive *is* /dev/hda of course...)
> >
> > That command takes less than a second to complete and there is a lot
> > of output.  One thing that jumps out at me is:
> >
> > ATA Error Count: 868
> >
> > Is there anything else I should post?
> >
>
> Hmmm - sounds like its seen 868 read/write errors. However to advise you
> better we need to see the output. I suspect it is huge because there are
> error details for each of the 868 errors. How about post the first 200
> lines of the smartctl output to the list?

I did a fresh format and install with the GTK installer from a LiveCD
and on the second boot errors are detected in the file system.  I
guess it's over for this drive?

- Grant
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Kent Fredric]

> I did a fresh format and install with the GTK installer from a LiveCD
> and on the second boot errors are detected in the file system.  I
> guess it's over for this drive?
>

If its within its warranty, send it back and ask for a replacement.
Make sure try get a technical explanation of what exactly is wrong
with it.


-- Kent
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Kent Fredric]

On 1/28/07, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:

> I haven't checked the laptop drive yet.  Can I make a smartmontools
> package for the x86 laptop on the amd64 desktop?  How can I do that?
>
> - Grant
> --
> gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list
>


... that could also possibly explain why vim is dying, if you've
compiled amd64 in 64 bit mode some of your 32bit apps might complain.
;)


-- 
/<ent Fredric
(aka theJackal)
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Kent Fredric]

On 1/28/07, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:

> I did just try chrooting into my laptop's /dev/hda3 copy on my desktop
> system with:
>
> chroot /home/grant/hda3 /bin/bash
>
> and the vi command always seg faults.  Does that mean the /dev/hda3
> image is done-for and I should just start the laptop over from scratch
> and import my /etc/ and /home/ directories when it's re-installed?
>

You may have neglected to setup /dev /proc and /sys for the chroot environment.

The gentoo install handbook will *should* show you how to get these going.


-- Kent
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Neil Bothwick]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 441 bytes --]

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 08:38:23 -0800, Grant wrote:

> All of the laptop's data has now been moved to the desktop system over
> the network.  I still don't see how I can move the data back to the
> laptop after reformatting it.

The same way you copied it from the laptop in the first place: boot from
a live CD and copy it with rsync or that tar+ssh hack.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Suicide is the most sincere form of self-criticism.

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Neil Bothwick]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 466 bytes --]

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 23:09:22 +0000, Neil Bothwick wrote:

> The same way you copied it from the laptop in the first place: boot from
> a live CD and copy it with rsync or that tar+ssh hack.

And as your laptop's drive may not be trustworthy, I'd run rsync a second
time, immediately after the first. If it tries to copy any files again,
something is most likely amiss with the drive.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Top Oxymorons Number 17: Clearly misunderstood

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

> > All of the laptop's data has now been moved to the desktop system over
> > the network.  I still don't see how I can move the data back to the
> > laptop after reformatting it.
>
> The same way you copied it from the laptop in the first place: boot from
> a live CD and copy it with rsync or that tar+ssh hack.

The problem with booting into the LiveCD is I can't get on the
network.  I don't have a crossover cable to connect to the Gentoo
router (although I'm ordering a switch), and I don't think the LiveCD
supports madwifi since it doesn't have a net.ath0 interface.  I had
just booted normally and copied /dev/hda3 over before.

- Grant
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Neil Bothwick]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 741 bytes --]

On Sat, 27 Jan 2007 16:05:31 -0800, Grant wrote:

> > The same way you copied it from the laptop in the first place: boot
> > from a live CD and copy it with rsync or that tar+ssh hack.  
> 
> The problem with booting into the LiveCD is I can't get on the
> network.  I don't have a crossover cable to connect to the Gentoo
> router (although I'm ordering a switch), and I don't think the LiveCD
> supports madwifi since it doesn't have a net.ath0 interface.  I had
> just booted normally and copied /dev/hda3 over before.

I mentioned "a live CD" not "the live CD". It doesn't have to be a Gentoo
install CD, and Knoppix includes madwifi.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

If you got the words it does not mean you got the knowledge.

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 189 bytes --]

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

> > I really appreciate all the advice.  I have about 11 of 12 GBs copied
> > >from the laptop to the desktop system now via the tar|ssh method so I
> > guess I'll let that complete.  Once it's done, how can I move the data
> > back over the network to the reformatted laptop?
>
> Well, tar|ssh simply done the other way round should do the trick. But
> Kashani has a point---if your connection is unstable, rsync has a big
> advantage over tar, so better just try his commandline.

The thing I'm confused about is how I can get anything back to the
laptop when it won't even have an OS on it.  I could boot a LiveCD but
I don't think I'll be able to connect to the wireless network.  The
laptop's card is a madwifi/ath0.  When booted into the LiveCD, lspci
does recognize the card but there is no net.ath0 interface.  I don't
have any ethernet connectivity to the Gentoo router since I don't have
a crossover cable.

- Grant
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Matthias Bethke]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 638 bytes --]

Hi Grant,
on Saturday, 2007-01-27 at 09:34:47, you wrote:
> The thing I'm confused about is how I can get anything back to the
> laptop when it won't even have an OS on it.  I could boot a LiveCD but
> I don't think I'll be able to connect to the wireless network.

Hum...that's pretty much a show stopper. In that case, setting up a
wired network (if they have wlan, these machines would have wired lan as
well, no?) or buying that 2.5" IDE adapter is probably the least hassle.

cheers!
	Matthias
-- 
I prefer encrypted and signed messages. KeyID: FAC37665
Fingerprint: 8C16 3F0A A6FC DF0D 19B0  8DEF 48D9 1700 FAC3 7665

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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

> > The thing I'm confused about is how I can get anything back to the
> > laptop when it won't even have an OS on it.  I could boot a LiveCD but
> > I don't think I'll be able to connect to the wireless network.
>
> Hum...that's pretty much a show stopper. In that case, setting up a
> wired network (if they have wlan, these machines would have wired lan as
> well, no?) or buying that 2.5" IDE adapter is probably the least hassle.

Do you think it's a lost cause anyway since after a format/reinstall
the system still detects errors on the disk?

- Grant
-- 
gentoo-user@gentoo.org mailing list

Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Uwe Thiem]

On 28 January 2007 19:15, Grant wrote:
> > > The thing I'm confused about is how I can get anything back to the
> > > laptop when it won't even have an OS on it.  I could boot a LiveCD but
> > > I don't think I'll be able to connect to the wireless network.
> >
> > Hum...that's pretty much a show stopper. In that case, setting up a
> > wired network (if they have wlan, these machines would have wired lan as
> > well, no?) or buying that 2.5" IDE adapter is probably the least hassle.
>
> Do you think it's a lost cause anyway since after a format/reinstall
> the system still detects errors on the disk?

A lost drive rather than a lost case. ;-) (Well, it could also be the 
controller. So you better let the people where you have bought the box check 
it.) Get a new harddrive. After that, you might still be able to get your 
data back. Neil suggested earlier today to use a LiveCD that supports 
madwifi - Knoppix would do.

If that is too much of a hassle, how difficult can it be to get your hands on 
a crossover cable? If you can't crimp one yourself, buy one for approximately 
$2.99. I can do that even here in Africa. Shouldn't be too big a problem 
whereever you live.

Uwe

-- 
A fast and easy generator of fractals for KDE:
http://www.SysEx.com.na/iwy-1.0.tar.bz2
Proof of concept of a TSP solver for KDE:
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Mark Knecht]

On 1/28/07, Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > The thing I'm confused about is how I can get anything back to the
> > > laptop when it won't even have an OS on it.  I could boot a LiveCD but
> > > I don't think I'll be able to connect to the wireless network.
> >
> > Hum...that's pretty much a show stopper. In that case, setting up a
> > wired network (if they have wlan, these machines would have wired lan as
> > well, no?) or buying that 2.5" IDE adapter is probably the least hassle.
>
> Do you think it's a lost cause anyway since after a format/reinstall
> the system still detects errors on the disk?
>
> - Grant

Grant,
   At this point if you cannot get a clean bill of health for this
drive from 2 or 3 different tools then it seems the drive is shot and
needs to be replaced. I cannot imagine that it is a good use of your
time installing Gentoo only to have it fail in the middle of the
install or worse yet a day or two after you finish and start using the
machine again.

   Are laptop hard drives really that expensive or hard to replace? I
should think that you could get a small computer shop to drop
something in for under $100, depending on your needs of course.

   Anyway, don't fight the trend. It seems this drive, or possibly
this laptop but probably the drive, needs to be fixed. Without a solid
laptop foundation your Gentoo building will soon come crashing down.

Just my 2 cents,
Mark
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Grant]

> > > > The thing I'm confused about is how I can get anything back to the
> > > > laptop when it won't even have an OS on it.  I could boot a LiveCD but
> > > > I don't think I'll be able to connect to the wireless network.
> > >
> > > Hum...that's pretty much a show stopper. In that case, setting up a
> > > wired network (if they have wlan, these machines would have wired lan as
> > > well, no?) or buying that 2.5" IDE adapter is probably the least hassle.
> >
> > Do you think it's a lost cause anyway since after a format/reinstall
> > the system still detects errors on the disk?
> >
> > - Grant
>
> Grant,
>    At this point if you cannot get a clean bill of health for this
> drive from 2 or 3 different tools then it seems the drive is shot and
> needs to be replaced. I cannot imagine that it is a good use of your
> time installing Gentoo only to have it fail in the middle of the
> install or worse yet a day or two after you finish and start using the
> machine again.
>
>    Are laptop hard drives really that expensive or hard to replace? I
> should think that you could get a small computer shop to drop
> something in for under $100, depending on your needs of course.
>
>    Anyway, don't fight the trend. It seems this drive, or possibly
> this laptop but probably the drive, needs to be fixed. Without a solid
> laptop foundation your Gentoo building will soon come crashing down.

Thanks to everyone for helping me out here.  I do think the drive is damaged.

- Grant
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Re: [gentoo-user] Hard Drive Crash - Please Help

[Matthias Bethke]

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Hi Grant,
on Thursday, 2007-01-25 at 08:20:37, you wrote:
> I successfully wrote an iso of some important files after booting up
> normally (minus hald, X, and vi) so that's good.  Is there a utility I
> can run on the disk to see if there is permanent damage?  Should I try
> re-emerging packages that are having trouble or should I try to emerge
> -e world?

As Thomas said, use the manufacturer's tools. Maybe smartmontools if
you don't have anything more specialized.

> I suppose I should see if I can write and burn iso's of everything in
> /home/grant/ right away.  Is there a good way to get a bunch of data
> into multiple iso's that are each no larger than 650MB?  Also, I've
> read man mkisofs and experimented before with trying to preserve
> filenames perfectly but it never comes out quite right.  Can anyone
> recommend mkisofs options for preserving filenames perfectly?

I'd recommend trying it over a network or USB/IEEE1394 to another disk
if at all possible. If the HD is dying anyway, writing ISOs to it while
reading many files from another region of the disk at the same time will
kill it very quickly. Same thing with a damaged file system: the more
you write, the greater the damage. I'd try to connect an external HD or
export a partition on some machine on the net, mount the partition
read-only and back it up using tar. Then it's at least reformat/restore
if not swap HD/format/restore.

good luck!
	Matthias
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