From owner-freebsd-questions Fri Oct 23 05:04:21 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id FAA22034 for freebsd-questions-outgoing; Fri, 23 Oct 1998 05:04:21 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from castor.chuck (lucy.bedford.net [206.99.145.182]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id FAA22029 for ; Fri, 23 Oct 1998 05:04:18 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from listread@bedford.net) Received: (from listread@localhost) by castor.chuck (8.8.8/8.8.8) id IAA11031; Fri, 23 Oct 1998 08:00:28 -0400 (EDT) (envelope-from listread) Message-Id: <199810231200.IAA11031@castor.chuck> Subject: Re: How can I un-newfs? In-Reply-To: <852566A3.0059DE43.00@pnotes1.polar.on.ca> from Oliver Wilcock at "Oct 20, 98 12:22:10 pm" To: ow@polar.on.ca (Oliver Wilcock) Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 08:00:28 -0400 (EDT) Cc: questions@FreeBSD.ORG X-no-archive: yes X-Echelon: aerosol dispersal modalities Reply-to: djv@bedford.net From: "Woodchuck" X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.4ME+ PL38 (25)] MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG Oliver Wilcock wrote: > > ---------------------- Forwarded by Oliver Wilcock/Emp/PolarSym on 10/20/98 > 12:21 PM --------------------------- > > To: freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG > Subject: How can I un-newfs? > > > > Is there a way to reverse the newfs process. I know the data I need > must still be on the slice because the newfs was so much faster than the > fsck. It couldn't have wiped my /usr partition completely clean in a few > seconds, could it? No, but it can sure wipe all the file-structure info, AKA metadata, in the twinkling of an eye. :( > I'm pretty desparate. I have no backup since May. Stupid, stupid, > stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid. I think you are probably hosed. You can get at the raw data with dd, but what are you going to do with it? In theory, you can reconstruct the whole fs by hand, but I think we're talking man-years here. As far as I know, there is no magic "just reset this bit" cure for this problem. I hope somebody else knows otherwise. You can "unformat" a FAT-DOG filesystem, but I think a unix fs gets its metadata (esp the bitmap, superblock etc) wiped. Dave -- Strangers know your loved ones' phone numbers!!!! To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message