All personal data lost

[nimame]

@data-medics: I know I'm a grasping German bastard!

You know, I would buy R-Studio, if someone would tell me that it can really repair my drive. I started this thread for a purchase recommendation, remember. However, if it just lets me selectively recover files/folders, I wouldn't, because that's what all the free programs do, as well. I'm really not that wealthy after all, even though living in Germany!

[data-medics]

Stop trying to "repair" your drive. Recover the data out to another drive, format it, and copy the data back. Problem solved.

[fzabkar]

Does DMDE still see the file system and does it recover your files? Can Ubuntu mount the file system?

BTW, don't bother with R-Studio. If you need to purchase a data recovery program, then DMDE can be had for €16.

[fzabkar]

Stop trying to "repair" your drive. Recover the data out to another drive, format it, and copy the data back. Problem solved.

The OP does not need to "recover" any data. The problem is that sector 2048 of the patient has been cloned to sector 0 of the donor. The easiest solution is simply to clone sector 0 of the donor to sector 2048 of a second donor. This can be done with DMDE or any number of free tools. The MBR can then be restored with a couple of clicks in DMDE. Of course this assumes that the original file system was not broken in any way.

[fzabkar]

@nimame, just FYI, my edits were trying to copy the method used by Akai in their MPC2000.

Akai MPC2000 MIDI / Music Production Centre - analysis of file system:
http://www.hddoracle.com/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=132&p=171

[jermy]

The problem is that sector 2048 of the patient has been cloned to sector 0 of the donor.

Maybe the entire drive (clone) is shifted 2048 sec. ?!
then the solution mentioned (fixing only sec. 2048 + MBR) ....

The easiest solution is simply to clone sector 0 of the donor to sector 2048 of a second donor. This can be done with DMDE or any number of free tools.

[fzabkar]

The problem is that sector 2048 of the patient has been cloned to sector 0 of the donor.

Maybe the entire drive (clone) is shifted 2048 sec. ?!
then the solution mentioned (fixing only sec. 2048 + MBR) ....

The easiest solution is simply to clone sector 0 of the donor to sector 2048 of a second donor. This can be done with DMDE or any number of free tools.

In an earlier post I stated that the entire drive had been shifted. I did not mean to imply that only a single sector needed to be moved.

[data-medics]

Stop trying to "repair" your drive. Recover the data out to another drive, format it, and copy the data back. Problem solved.

The OP does not need to "recover" any data. The problem is that sector 2048 of the patient has been cloned to sector 0 of the donor. The easiest solution is simply to clone sector 0 of the donor to sector 2048 of a second donor. This can be done with DMDE or any number of free tools. The MBR can then be restored with a couple of clicks in DMDE. Of course this assumes that the original file system was not broken in any way.

I agree with that, however you're trying to talk a guy through something he's clueless about. For you or I it'd be a quick fix that way, but he's been working on it since December for crying out loud. I'm just saying that if he hasn't figured it out by now, it's time to break down and buy a program to just recover the files out to another drive. What might be the "simple solution" to a pro, is impossibly complex to someone who doesn't understand the basic concepts.

[jermy]

In an earlier post I stated that the entire drive had been shifted. I did not mean to imply that only a single sector needed to be moved.

Oh, didn't noticed, sorry
ddrescue -o can be used to move the entire drive to his right position, them fix the missing MBR...