[ SOLVED ] Home folder empty and Login Screen loop

[balloon]

I have used Puppy Linux in the past, but I have not had this experience.
Probably there will be cause for the operation.

but, Puppy Linux always operates files as root user.
It can easily kill the mounted partitions!
Therefore, you need to unmount unused partitions.

[Lite Potato]

My user account is having problems, even as of now. I have the Backups and Systemback programs installed for the possible event of having to restore the system files. May I have someone delete this new thread https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/other/repair-user-folder-or-copy-new-one-from-virtual-pc/, quoted below?

When I start LL, there appears a message mentioning lightdm-session and a folder or file named "profile" in the name.

Should I keep working on repairing my settings, or should I start over from a default user folder copied from VirtualBox?

Thank you for generously following through with finding me a solution.

[LL-user]

That's good news! Great job, man!

And from now on, please put a solid backup procedure in place
If you need help with that, let us now.

[Lite Potato]

Most of my user files have been recovered with R-Studio Emergency and PhotoRec. My LL setup on the HDD is now functional. Thank you all again.

[LL-user]

Hi Lite Potato,

I might be missing or have forgotten something here. Didn't you mention that you could not log in anymore after you deleted the old home folder via a Puppy session? Just wondering how you have been able to install the Lite Control Center.

For recovery I would start with the following tools:

extundelete
more info: http://extundelete.sourceforge.net/
a manual: http://linoxide.com/linux-how-to/linux-recover-deleted-data-extundelete/

testdisk and photorec
more info:
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk
http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec
TestDisk & PhotoRec can also be found on LiveCDs: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk_Livecd

 
ext4magic
more info: http://ext4magic.sourceforge.net/ext4magic_en.html

foremost
a manual: mailto:http://www.tecmint.com/recover-deleted-file-in-linux/

scalpel
more info: https://github.com/sleuthkit/scalpel
a few manual:
http://linuxpoison.blogspot.co.nz/2012/05/recover-deleted-files-using-scalpel.html
http://linuxaria.com/howto/recover-your-deleted-files-in-linux-using-scalpel-utility
mailto:http://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/Features/Recovering-Deleted-Files-with-Scalpel

VERY IMPORTANT: Do NOT boot (anymore) from the partition you try to rescue data from! Best practice is to usually create an image of that disk and work with this image. If you want to/have to use the original disk make sure it is mounted read only!

As the software mentioned above (of course there is more out there) is provided by the Linux Lite repository, you could just use a LL Live CD/USB, install the software temporarily and go from there. Or you might want to use one of the many LiveCDs specialized on trouble shooting/rescue - see also link under testdisk.

Good luck

[Lite Potato]

* How big was your original home folder?

The free space was the same as the system partition's; the used space was unknown to me.

* in your fstab I read this: "change from "/home2" to "/home""
- So you used this fstab entry to mount home2, didn't you?

Yes, I did.

- Did you use /home2 (as mentioned in fstab) or actually /mnt/home2?

The dedicated part was mounted as /mnt/home2 and then /home after the edit.

- Is this the fstab change you're referring to you have made via Puppy?

Thet is the one.

* Have you done anything more to your LL installation since you deleted your home folder than booting LL and trying to log in?
Specifically, did you write any data to it?

To solve an unrelated issue, I installed the-missing-from-3.0 Control Center from YouTuber TJ Wolf's set of packages ().

What free tool do you recommend the most for recovering ext3 files, to reduce my chances of having to start my account from scratch?

[LL-user]

Hi again, Lite Potato

Please check whether I've put your puzzle pieces together correctly?

1. You have LL installed  on sda2 and had it booted

2. Its home folder resided on the same partition

3. sdc5 got mounted to /mnt/home2

4. You performed:

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rsync -avhW --no-compress --progress /home /mnt/home2without noticing any error messages

5. You booted up PuppyLiveCD and made the change in fstab and deleted /home on sda2

6. sdc5 is empty


A few more questions:

* How big was your original home folder?

* in your fstab I read this: "change from "/home2" to "/home""
- So you used this fstab entry to mount home2, didn't you?
- Did you use /home2 (as mentioned in fstab) or actually /mnt/home2?
-> You should still see the mount point in LL on sda2 if you haven't deleted it.
- Is this the fstab change you're referring to you have made via Puppy?

* Have you done anything more to your LL installation since you deleted your home folder than booting LL and trying to log in?
Specifically, did you write any data to it?


PS: As you're very familiar with all the technical background may I please encourage you for the next time you reach out for support to explain your issue similar to this list, indicating the general setup, connections (like between devices and mount points), chronological steps performed, and outcome. Rather give to much than little information. It will increase your chances for help dramatically and ensures the issue getting solved a lot faster

[LL-user]

Thanks for the listings. Will have a look and come back to you.
Fstab is by itself NOT changing any data. It "only" defines how disk partitions/filesystems are mounted into the OS filesystem

NOTE: In case you would consider data recovery if the need arises, please do not boot from the disk in question, especially don't change any data on there. Only mount it - as read only - within another OS running, like the Puppy LiveCD.
 

[Lite Potato]

Could you please post the output of

Code: [Select]

sudo parted --list
df -hT
cat /etc/fstab
mount | grep ^/dev


The lists:

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Model: ATA ST380011A (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  34.4GB  34.4GB  primary  ntfs
 2      34.4GB  70.9GB  36.6GB  primary  ext3         boot
 3      70.9GB  80.0GB  9081MB  primary  fat32        lba


Model: ATA WDC WD1200JD-00H (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 120GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number  Start   End     Size    Type      File system     Flags
 1      2096kB  120GB   120GB   extended                  boot
 5      2097kB  34.4GB  34.4GB  logical   linux-swap(v1)
 6      34.4GB  120GB   85.7GB  logical   ntfs


Model: ATA WDC WD2500AAKS-0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 250GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number  Start   End    Size    Type      File system  Flags
 1      1080kB  250GB  250GB   extended               lba
 6      1081kB  233GB  233GB   logical   ntfs
 5      233GB   250GB  17.2GB  logical   ext3

Code: [Select]

Filesystem     Type      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
udev           devtmpfs  2.4G     0  2.4G   0% /dev
tmpfs          tmpfs     496M  7.8M  489M   2% /run
/dev/shm       tmpfs    1002M  955M   48M  96% /cdrom
/dev/loop0     squashfs  910M  910M     0 100% /rofs
/cow           overlay   2.5G  546M  1.9G  23% /
tmpfs          tmpfs     2.5G   31M  2.4G   2% /dev/shm
tmpfs          tmpfs     5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
tmpfs          tmpfs     2.5G     0  2.5G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
tmpfs          tmpfs     2.5G   12K  2.5G   1% /tmp
cgmfs          tmpfs     100K     0  100K   0% /run/cgmanager/fs
tmpfs          tmpfs     496M   52K  496M   1% /run/user/999
/dev/sdc6      fuseblk   217G  210G  7.7G  97% /media/linux/Miscellaneous
/dev/sda2      ext3       34G   15G   17G  48% /media/linux/Linux_Lite
/dev/sdc5      ext3       16G   45M   15G   1% /media/linux/LinuxHomePart


Code: [Select]

#[Partition] [Mount Point] [File System Type ("auto" is recommended)] [Options] [Dump (zero is recommended)] [File System Check Order (Linux Part.->1; all other->2)]
#[Operating System Disk]
#Windows XP
LABEL=HP_PAVILION /mnt/WinXP ntfs defaults,x-gvfs-show,x-gvfs-name=Windows%20XP,windows_names 0 2
#Linux Lite
LABEL=Linux_Lite / ext3 errors=remount-ro,x-gvfs-show,x-gvfs-name=Linux%20Lite 0 1
#Windows Recovery
LABEL=HP_RECOVERY /mnt/Recovery vfat ro,comment=x-gvfs-show 0 2
#[Temporary Disk]
#Linux Swap
UUID=f1a0ed12-b1e3-4b34-926f-cf5ed281cab8 none swap sw,x-gvfs-show 0 2
#Temp. 2
UUID=5084FA3363A07CE2 /mnt/Temp2 ntfs defaults,x-gvfs-show,windows_names 0 2
#[Miscellaneous]
#Home (change from "/home2" to "/home" after Ubuntu re-install; add "#nodev,nosuid" to options)
#LABEL=LinuxHomePart /home ext3 defaults 0 2
#Misc.
LABEL=Miscellaneous /mnt/Misc ntfs defaults,x-gvfs-show,windows_names 0 2
#Clips and Games
#part=[param] /mnt/C&G auto defaults,x-gvfs-show 0 2
#Network
#Remote
#//[Server IP address or NetBIOS name]/[share folder]

Am I correct assuming you are not having a backup? And that you didn't check for the transferred files before you deleted the original? Or did you see them at some stage?

Forgot to ask:
Was your home on a separate partition?
Is that the one you're referring to by editing fstab?
How exactly did you delete it?

The only backup I had was unintentionally deleted;
the original /home was on the same partition as the system folders, but the new one wws not;
Yes, fstab appears to have done something with that folder;
and when home was assumedly copied in LL to the new part, I deleted the old folder in Puppy. Shortly following, both folders were possibly deleted in one instance.

[rokytnji]

Defaults for /home/username is usually in /etc/skel folder

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harry@biker1:/etc/skel$ ls -a
.              .config    .gconf           .llupgradebackup  Templates
..             .dbus      .gimp-2.8        .local            .thumbnails
.adobe         Desktop    .gksu.lock       .macromedia       Videos
.asoundrc      .dmrc      .gstreamer-0.10  .mozilla          .Xauthority
.bash_history  Documents  .gtk-bookmarks   Music             .xscreensaver
.bashrc        Downloads  .gtkrc-2.0       Pictures          .xsession-errors
.cache         .fonts     .ICEauthority    Public


[LL-user]

Simulating the transfer via rsync is done by the flag -n or --dry-run.

Could you please post the output of

Code: [Select]

sudo parted --list
df -hT
cat /etc/fstab
mount | grep ^/dev

Am I correct assuming you are not having a backup? And that you didn't check for the transferred files before you deleted the original? Or did you see them at some stage?

Forgot to ask:
Was your home on a separate partition?
Is that the one you're referring to by editing fstab?
How exactly did you delete it?

[Lite Potato]

The question is how and where was the separate HDD (portable?) installed/mounted?

The device in question was an internal SATA HDD's logical sub-partition mounted as

Code: [Select]

/mnt/home2/.

Can you remember the actual command line you used (check history)?

It might have been

Code: [Select]

rsync -avhW --no-compress --progress /home /mnt/home2. About whether there were trailing slashes, I am uncertain.

Have there been any error messages while you run rsync?

No error messages appeared. Is there a chance of rsync having only simulated a transfer without my knowledge?

Can you still see the ext3 partition? If yes, are there any files on there?

The partition is existing, but empty (no hidden files either).

How did you search for the copy of your home folder?

I looked in the root of the new part, of course.

In Puppy, I also edited fstab and deleted the old home after, if that matters.

[LL-user]

The rsync command is fine, copying the content of the folder src - not the folder itself due to the trailing / - to the folder dst.

The question is how and where was the separate HDD (portable?) installed/mounted?
Can you remember the actual command line you used (check history)?
Have there been any error messages while you run rsync?
Can you still see the ext3 partition? If yes, are there any files on there?
How did you search for the copy of your home folder?

Sorry to bombard you with all these questions. For me your description/ the situation is still quite vague. Still hard to come to any conclusion/ give any further advice.

[Lite Potato]

I installed an ext3 partition for it on a separate HDD, and then I performed rsync while on LL, and, if I remember well, I booted Puppy and deleted only the contents of the OS partition's /home.

Here is the command used found at http://serverfault.com/a/505758:

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rsync -avhW --no-compress --progress /src/ /dst/

[LL-user]

Hi Lite Potato,

Welcome to the Forum!

Could you please explain a bit more detailed your situation/setup?

How I understand your post so far is that you booted up your computer with Puppy Linux and rsync'd your home folder. Where did you copy it to?

Now you've booted up the same computer with Linux Lite and want to rsync it back - although you can't find the copy?

If you provide more info it's easier to help