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 Faq Rescue

German Version: FaqRescueDeutsch


Knoppix is a great rescue disc too. You can repair Linux or that other OS, backup data, recover passwords, etc. The following solutions assume that you have booted Knoppix on the machine that needs to be repaired.

Q: I need to get into my Debian system to update some packages as my system is unable to boot! How do I do that?

A: Boot with the Knoppix CD and mount that partition using the Knoppix root shell. For example:

  1. mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/hda1
  2. chroot /mnt/hda1

Gives you a root shell back in your old system! Now get the resolved and updated packages httphttp://www.debian.org/distrib/packages and dpkg -install them to fix the previous show stopping packages.

Q: My other Linux install is broken and I want to reinstall LILO.

A: Mount that partition and run LILO as root:

  1. e.g. "mount -o dev /mnt/hda1", if its already mounted, you'll have to clear the "nodev" flag: "sudo mount -o remount,dev /mnt/hda1".
  2. Enter that directory as root and run lilo: "chroot /mnt/hda1 lilo".

Q: Ok, I've booted Knoppix, now how do i rescue the data?

A1: See httpComputer First Aid Using Knoppix

A2: if you have a CD burner installed, use one of the various tools on Knoppix to create a CD. If you want to backup over the network, you can use NFS, Samba (windows share), scp (ssh copy), ftp, email or more... e.g boot knoppix on an other machine too, start ssh server there "kmenu->KNOPPIX->Servers->SSH Server", mount a HD, make it read/write. Then you can use scp on the broken box like "scp -r /mnt/hda1/importantdata/ knoppix@192.168.1.1:/mnt/hda1/backup/" for an entire directory (recursively, insert correct IP etc.).

Q: I'd like to backup/restore the MBR.

A: To backup use "sudo dd if=/dev/hda of=mbr.backup size=512 count=1" and "sudo dd of=/dev/hda if=mbr.backup size=512 count=1" to restore. Caution the MBR contains the partition table (the first four primary entries) it will break things if you changed the partition sice the backup.

Q: I forgot my password for an installed Windows/Linux!?

A1: Yeah, as if anyone would believe you! But in case you're really serious, you might try "john" and expect to wait a while.

A2: You can change password by chrooting into installed linux and running passwd. You may need to mount your linux read-write. "mount -o remount -rw /dev/hd.. ; cd /mnt/hd..; chroot . " and "passwd root".

Q: The other Linux/*nix box does not work correctly, but im sure the network is functional.

A: try "ssh" and/or "telnet" to log in on that remote box. you'll need to know a password, but after that you can use the shell to repair the box.

Q: Rescuing knoppix with knoppix :-) "I am a new user to linux and i just installed KNOPPIX on one partition, but then i installed windows 98 on another partition and now i can't get lilo to come back.... how do i make it so lilo will come back"

A:

You can boot the system with the boot floppy you got when you installed Knoppix on HDD. Then edit the file /etc/lilo.conf . After that start "lilo" as root.

Q: How do I load Windows (aka Samba) shares from Knoppix?

A: There are several ways but the easiest is probably:

Q: Are there any utilities on the knoppix disk to conveniently manage partitions, e.g. !DiskDrake?

A: Tried parted ? httphttp://www.gnu.org/software/parted/ httphttp://www.knoppix.net/search?q=parted&submit=Go

A2: For resizing, Solution 2 in the ntfsresize FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) httphttp://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfsresize.html#example usually works well.
For backup of a partition, Partition Image is great! httphttp://www.partimage.org/doc/index-3.html


Last edited on April 23, 2003 12:03 am.