On Mar 3, 2011 6:14 AM, "Joel Roth" <joelz@pobox.com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Mar 03, 2011 at 09:51:14AM +0100, Alex Mestiashvili wrote:
> > On 03/03/2011 06:20 AM, Joel Roth wrote:
> > >Hi,
> > >
> > >I'm repairing a system for a friend with a FAT filesystem
> > >problem.
> > >
> > >There is a directory cycle, so that for example:
> > >
> > > rm -rf directory_with_cycle
> > >
> > >doesn't work, because rm encounters and endless succession
> > >of subdirectories.
> > >
> > >The directory content is not important, however I'd be
> > >interested in knowing some FAT references that could help
> > >me to eliminate the loop and remove the directory.
> > >
> > >Regards,
> > >
> > I would run the fsck.vfat ( dosfstools package) on the unmounted partition.
>
> I tried that; fsck.vfat gets stuck in a loop as it descends
> into a subdirectory that contains its own ancestor.
>
I thought fsck was a bit based integrity checker and didn't care about directories?... and how do you know what directory fsck is on anyway?
Either way, rsync the disk (I think there's a follow symlink option). Copy the first 454 bites of the disk. Reformat the disk, copy the data back, dd the mbr back.