Mount a drive without wiping it?

Hi all! I have installed Garuda Linux and I have an issue that I’m hoping you can help me figure out, as I’m still relatively new to this.

I have a drive (specifically a 500gb SATA SSD if it matters) that has files from my old Windows install that I want to keep (roughly 150 GB of data) The goal was to transfer these files to my new Garuda install without having to buy something like an external hard drive.

The problem is I can’t find how to view this drive without reformatting and wiping it. I’ve been searching online for “Can you mount a drive without wiping it”, “garuda linux see all partitions” and the like but I haven’t found anything but that I’m SOL.

If there is a way for me to do this? If there is a post on these forums about it, please link me there cause I can’t seem to find it. If not, I’d greatly appreciate the walkthrough. Thanks!!!

edit: for the record I also have no idea if this is possible in Windows either, so my plan may just be bad

Just use your file browser.
You do not follow the template, please post always the

garuda-inxi

from terminal.

Check if ntsf-3g is installed in your garuda DE.

pacman -Qi ntfs-3g
Name                     : ntfs-3g
2 Likes

You’re probably not finding much, because having to wipe an NTFS volume to read it is not really a thing. Windows OS drives can be a pain, though, as NTFS-3G errs on the side of paranoia, especially regarding hiberfil.sys. To get point easy GUI automounting, you need a cleanly shutdown system, and that file gone. If you can still boot Windows, run powercfg -h off in an admin command prompt, restart into Linux, and you should be fine. If you can’t get back into Windows, check out ntfsfix, which often works, and will do no harm if it can’t fix things.

if there is any problem with the disk this will be the problem. If you can boot to windows use chkdisk then you can mount.

My apologies here it is. I can’t see anything in my file explorer besides my home drive, I looked on Partition manager to see if it would give me the path but it wouldn’t let me access them.

System:
Kernel: 6.12.3-zen1-1-zen arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 14.2.1
clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-zen
root=UUID=4b8b0d6e-e675-45e3-abfb-d561d72f71a0 rw rootflags=subvol=@
quiet loglevel=3 ibt=off
Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 6.2.4 tk: Qt v: N/A info: frameworks v: 6.8.0
wm: kwin_wayland vt: 1 dm: SDDM Distro: Garuda base: Arch Linux
Machine:
Type: Desktop Mobo: Micro-Star model: B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (MS-7C02) v: 1.0
serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required>
UEFI: American Megatrends v: 3.70 date: 06/09/2020
CPU:
Info: model: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 2 gen: 2
level: v3 note: check built: 2020-22 process: TSMC n7 (7nm)
family: 0x17 (23) model-id: 0x71 (113) stepping: 0 microcode: 0x8701021
Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 8 threads: 16 tpc: 2
smt: enabled cache: L1: 512 KiB desc: d-8x32 KiB; i-8x32 KiB L2: 4 MiB
desc: 8x512 KiB L3: 32 MiB desc: 2x16 MiB
Speed (MHz): avg: 3600 min/max: 2200/4426 boost: enabled scaling:
driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: performance cores: 1: 3600 2: 3600 3: 3600
4: 3600 5: 3600 6: 3600 7: 3600 8: 3600 9: 3600 10: 3600 11: 3600 12: 3600
13: 3600 14: 3600 15: 3600 16: 3600 bogomips: 115203
Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3
Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
Device-1: NVIDIA GA106 [GeForce RTX 3060] vendor: eVga.com. driver: nvidia
v: 565.77 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free: 550.xx+ status: current
(as of 2024-09; EOL~2026-12-xx) arch: Ampere code: GAxxx
process: TSMC n7 (7nm) built: 2020-2023 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s
lanes: 16 link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s ports: active: none
off: DP-1,HDMI-A-1 empty: DP-2,DP-3 bus-ID: 2b:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:2503
class-ID: 0300
Device-2: Logitech Webcam C270 driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo type: USB
rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-1:2 chip-ID: 046d:0825
class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
Display: wayland server: X.org v: 1.21.1.14 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.4
compositor: kwin_wayland driver: X: loaded: nvidia unloaded: modesetting
alternate: fbdev,nouveau,nv,vesa gpu: nvidia d-rect: 3840x1080
display-ID: 0
Monitor-1: DP-1 pos: right res: 1920x1080 size: N/A modes: N/A
Monitor-2: HDMI-A-1 pos: primary,left res: 1920x1080 size: N/A modes: N/A
API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: nvidia platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia gbm:
drv: nvidia surfaceless: drv: nvidia wayland: drv: nvidia x11: drv: nvidia
API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 vendor: nvidia v: 565.77 glx-v: 1.4
direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060/PCIe/SSE2
memory: 11.72 GiB display-ID: :1.0
API: Vulkan v: 1.4.303 layers: 11 device: 0 type: discrete-gpu
name: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 driver: N/A device-ID: 10de:2503
surfaces: xcb,xlib,wayland
Audio:
Device-1: YUAN High-Tech Development vendor: Corsair Memory driver: N/A
pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 27:00.0 chip-ID: 12ab:0371
class-ID: 0480
Device-2: YUAN High-Tech Development vendor: Corsair Memory driver: N/A
pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 28:00.0 chip-ID: 12ab:0371
class-ID: 0480
Device-3: YUAN High-Tech Development vendor: Corsair Memory driver: N/A
pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 29:00.0 chip-ID: 12ab:0371
class-ID: 0480
Device-4: YUAN High-Tech Development vendor: Corsair Memory driver: N/A
pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 2a:00.0 chip-ID: 12ab:0371
class-ID: 0480
Device-5: NVIDIA GA106 High Definition Audio vendor: eVga.com.
driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
link-max: gen: 4 speed: 16 GT/s bus-ID: 2b:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:228e
class-ID: 0403
Device-6: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Starship/Matisse HD Audio
vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 4
speed: 16 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 2d:00.4 chip-ID: 1022:1487 class-ID: 0403
Device-7: Focusrite-Novation Scarlett Solo (3rd Gen.)
driver: snd-usb-audio type: USB rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0
bus-ID: 1-9:4 chip-ID: 1235:8211 class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
Device-8: Logitech Webcam C270 driver: snd-usb-audio,uvcvideo type: USB
rev: 2.0 speed: 480 Mb/s lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 bus-ID: 3-1:2 chip-ID: 046d:0825
class-ID: 0102 serial: <filter>
API: ALSA v: k6.12.3-zen1-1-zen status: kernel-api with: aoss
type: oss-emulator tools: N/A
Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.2.7 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 22:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
IF: enp34s0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
Info: services: NetworkManager,systemd-timesyncd
Drives:
Local Storage: total: 4.31 TiB used: 47.2 GiB (1.1%)
SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Seagate model: ST2000DM008-2FR102
size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: HDD rpm: 7200 serial: <filter> fw-rev: 0001 scheme: GPT
ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Western Digital
model: WD20EZAZ-00L9GB0 size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: HDD rpm: 5400 serial: <filter>
fw-rev: 0A80 scheme: GPT
ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Western Digital
model: WDS500G2B0A-00SM50 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 20WD
scheme: GPT
ID-4: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 vendor: Crucial model: CT240BX500SSD1
size: 223.57 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 052 scheme: GPT
Partition:
ID-1: / raw-size: 223.27 GiB size: 223.27 GiB (100.00%)
used: 47.2 GiB (21.1%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdd2 maj-min: 8:50
ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 300 MiB size: 299.4 MiB (99.80%)
used: 584 KiB (0.2%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sdd1 maj-min: 8:49
ID-3: /home raw-size: 223.27 GiB size: 223.27 GiB (100.00%)
used: 47.2 GiB (21.1%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdd2 maj-min: 8:50
ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 223.27 GiB size: 223.27 GiB (100.00%)
used: 47.2 GiB (21.1%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdd2 maj-min: 8:50
ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 223.27 GiB size: 223.27 GiB (100.00%)
used: 47.2 GiB (21.1%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sdd2 maj-min: 8:50
Swap:
Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
ID-1: swap-1 type: zram size: 31.29 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
comp: zstd avail: lzo-rle,lzo,lz4,lz4hc,deflate,842 max-streams: 16
dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
System Temperatures: cpu: 44.9 C mobo: N/A
Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A
Info:
Memory: total: 32 GiB available: 31.29 GiB used: 2.7 GiB (8.6%)
Processes: 393 Power: uptime: 2m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
avail: s2idle wakeups: 0 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
suspend, test_resume image: 12.46 GiB services: org_kde_powerdevil,
power-profiles-daemon, upowerd Init: systemd v: 256 default: graphical
tool: systemctl
Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 2425 libs: 601 tools: octopi,paru Compilers:
clang: 18.1.8 gcc: 14.2.1 Shell: garuda-inxi default: fish v: 3.7.1
running-in: konsole inxi: 3.3.36
Garuda (2.6.26-1):
System install date:     2024-12-05
Last full system update: 2024-12-08
Is partially upgraded:   No
Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager dracut nvidia-dkms
Windows dual boot:       No/Undetected
Failed units:

so a few more things have happened, I’ve confirmed that the drive isn’t mounted, nor are my 2 Hard disk drives. When attempting to mount from command line, I get

mount: /mnt/c: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sdc2, missing codepage or helper program, or other error.
dmesg(1) may have more information after failed mount system call.

when looking it up, I found recommendations to check FSCK. this is what happens when I try that

fsck from util-linux 2.40.2
e2fsck 1.47.1 (20-May-2024)
ext2fs_open2: Bad magic number in super-block
fsck.ext2: Superblock invalid, trying backup blocks…
fsck.ext2: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/sda2

The superblock could not be read or does not describe a valid ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193
or
e2fsck -b 32768

I checked the DMESG and this is the error it said for all the drives I tried mounting

[ 7371.114271] FAT-fs (sda2): bogus number of FAT structure
[ 7371.114277] FAT-fs (sda2): Can’t find a valid FAT filesystem

so far all that I can find ends up sending me in a circle

The following worked for me, no guarantee, adapt to your conditions.

Try to copy first your data.

Then

fdisk /dev/nbd0

Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.40.2).
Changes are initially only made in memory until you log in
decide to write them.
Be careful before applying the write command.

in short

fdisk  /dev/nvme0n1p6
e2fsck -f /dev/nvme0n1p6 # <- file check
mke2fs -n /dev/nvme0n1p6 # <- show superblock
e2fsck -f -y -b <superblock> /dev/nvme0n1p6 # <--repair superblock

Details

In this way you can see the distribution of the partitions. And with


e2fsck -f /dev/nbd0p1
e2fsck -f /dev/nvme0n1p6

carry out a file check. With

mke2fs -n /dev/nbd0p1
mke2fs -n /dev/nvme0n1p6

The super blocks are displayed, which are then included

e2fsck -f -y -b <Superblock> /dev/nbd0p1
e2fsck -f -y -b <Superblock> /dev/nvme0n1p6

repair. Finally, mount the partition again

mount /dev/nbd0p1 /mnt
1 Like

is mke2fs going to wipe the partition? when I run it I get this warning:

“/dev/sdc contains `DOS/MBR boot sector; partition 1 : ID=0xee, start-CHS (0x0,0,2), end-CHS (
0x3ff,255,63), startsector 1, 976773167 sectors, extended partition table (last)’ data
Proceed anyway? (y,N)”

I decided to try and put the drive in my partner’s Window’s pc, and it turns out that the drive got corrupted. I’m running disk recovery now, but it looks like this was an issue caused by my drive being Raided (something I thought it wasn’t) and because it was raided it ended up becoming corrupted at some point. Thank you all for your help, unfortunately I think it’s all in the hands of data recovery tools now

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