Top 10 Knoppix rescue tricks

To the Rescue

Article from Issue 147/2013
Author(s):

The Knoppix Live Linux distro is packed with powerful tools for fixing broken systems. We ask Knoppix creator Klaus Knopper for his favorite Knoppix rescue tricks.

The Knoppix Live Linux distribution has been used by thousands to rescue lost files, systems, partitions, and hard disks. We asked Knoppix creator Klaus Knopper to name the top 10 most important rescue scenarios. Some of these solutions are based on a single tool, and others use a combination of tools or tool alternatives. Master all 10 of these techniques, and you'll be well on your way to becoming the office expert in system rescue.

But a word of warning: Data forensics and data rescue are not tasks for the beginner; you should always be familiar with the procedures before you work in a real-world setting; otherwise, you might end up destroying more data than you can possibly rescue.

1 dmesg and the /proc and /sys Filesystems

The dmesg command reveals a lot about the sequence in which hardware has been detected and initialized by the kernel and also shows errors that are otherwise invisible. dmesg might be the first way to detect a hard disk error (Listing 1).

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