fsck on FAT32 filesystem?

[Polytropon]

On Sun, 15 Jul 2012 11:51:57 -0700, Ronald F. Guilmette wrote:
> 
> In message <CA+tpaK0H=L8pcSkOxxAekfy2rQV49-sWof0FDPsutb8=04buUQ at mail.gmail.com>
> , Adam Vande More <amvandemore at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> >On Sun, Jul 15, 2012 at 2:23 AM, Ronald F. Guilmette
> ><rfg at tristatelogic.com>wrote:
> >>
> >> Is there any such a tool (as fsck for FAT32) available for freeBSD?  If so,
> >> where would I find it?
> >>
> >
> >/sbin/fsck_msdosfs
> 
> 
> Thank you.  That sure sounds like it ought to do the trick.

It will do its job: Check the file system's integrity.

>From that point, you will either have the answer that everything
is okay, or you have to go into the direction of recovery. In
that case, different tools need to be used.

For example, make an 1:1 copy using dd (or ddrescue or dd_rescue)
of the disk. Work with a copy of that copy. Do not alter the disk.
Then use tools that do the job of recovery (see my list postings
about that topic, they contain a good list of tools you can use
on UNIX). The suggestion of SpinRite is also good, even though
the program is expensive. I'm confident it's worth its money.
But if you are willing to _learn_ (which means to read and to
experiment), the free recovery tools available through the
Ports Collection are really good.

Example: I had to recover data from a USB stick that "Windows"
had "repaired", so no files could be read anymore. Getting a
copy of the stick required a long time (because it was already
damaged), but with the help of the free programs, I could recover
_all_ files from the stick, and hand them over to a happy customer.

But as I said, it may be possible that you don't have to walk
the rugged streets of data recovery. :-)

Suggestion: First use fsck_msdosfs without any parameters so
it will ONLY CHECK the disk without altering anything (also
see "man fsck" for -n, -v and maybe -d).

Addendum:

For dealing with non-standard file systems (such as FAT/msdosfs),
the use of the _native tools_ seems to be the best solution in
most times. In exceptions, it makes things worse. Still in most
situations it just does the right thing.


-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...