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How do I recover data from a BTRFS Fedora partition if live images do not "see" the disk? (lemmy.wtf)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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I cannot get further than GRUB except to rescue mode, when I attempt to boot the main Fedora OS it gets stuck on searching for a disk indefinitely. Gets stuck on Job dev-disk-by\<many symbols>.device/start running (1h / no limit) in the console.

I have a Windows partition on same drive, it also doesn't boot, it's rescue command prompt (from where you are instructed to open notepad to rescue files) doesn't "see" any disk but C: and X: (emerg boot).

I tried booting this machine with two live OS USBs: Fedora and SystemRescue. Neither of them list the SSD (or anything but the USB drive FS itself) in lsblk or the file manager.

Due to lack of storage mediums, I haven't done a backup in a while. How can I rescue the files? Many passwords are also stuck there, in Firefox manager I wasn't able to sync due to losing access to the 2FA email.

Edit: SOLVED! Needed to switch disk mode in BIOS/UEFI from RAID to AHCI. IDK how it got to RAID in the first place.

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[–] 2 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Sorry, I think my reading comprehension was shit there… I got fixated on rescue usb not seeing the disk.

No, I wouldn’t expect it to be a bad port if grub is loading (and the grub partition is on the same disk). Bios not booting at all with disk removed is strange too, I’d expect it to just boot the usb if that were plugged in while disk is not.

You said usb rescue lsblk doesn’t list the disk, guessing it doesn’t show up under /dev/disk/by-id either? lspci? How about with a windows install usb, does it see the disk?

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  • [–] [S] 1 point 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

    I think I tested the SSD-out scenario without live in.

    Only USB drive itself shows under by-id. I don't have a Windows install USB, the windows I talked about is a partition on the broken disk. It does see the Linux partition with DiskPart but can't mount it or extract files from BTRFS.

    LSPCI lists many cryptic names, "RAID bus controller" sounds like the most promising one. https://termbin.com/287u

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  • [–] 1 point 4 months ago* (1 child)

    It does look like your storage controller got switched to raid mode. Some ai generated slop-fix:

    Your storage controller actually is visible in the lspci output, but it is currently hidden inside a RAID cluster.

    Look closely at this specific line from your list:
    00:17.0 RAID bus controller: Intel Corporation Comet Lake PCH-H RAID

    Why Your Drive Seems Missing

    • Intel RST Active: Your motherboard BIOS is configured to use Intel Rapid Storage Technology (RST) RAID mode.
    • Controller Hiding: When RAID mode is active, the Intel controller intercepts individual NVMe or SATA drives.
    • Linux Limitation: The standard Linux kernel cannot see individual NVMe drives behind this specific Intel RAID controller without configuration.

    How to Fix It

    You need to switch your storage controller from RAID mode to AHCI/NVMe mode.

    1. Reboot your laptop and enter the BIOS setup (usually by pressing F2, F12, or Del at startup).
    2. Locate the Storage Configuration, SATA Mode, or VMD Setup menu.
    3. Change the setting from RAID or Intel RST to AHCI (or disable VMD).
    4. Save and exit. [1]

    **

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