# How to find hidden data and/or check a disk for damage?



## tamazero (Sep 3, 2013)

I'm able to properly mount the partition ata1g, and I see the log files of the system; I'm looking for the /etc directory of the system. The partition ada1a contains only the /boot directory (with all files in it) and the file /etc/fstab. I think there are probably hidden data or the disk is damaged. How can I test if there is data in the ata1f partition?

Best regards.


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## fonz (Sep 3, 2013)

If there's only /boot and /etc/fstab, that's usually an indication that said partition is a _boot partition_ only. That kind of setup is typically used when the root partition has been encrypted. Can you post the contents of the files /etc/fstab and /boot/loader.conf? (Please wrap them in [CODE] tags!)


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## tamazero (Sep 3, 2013)

Here are the files:

/etc/fstab

```
/dev/ufs/firmware0 / ufs rw,noatime 1 1
```

/boot/loader.conf

```
autoboot_delay="-1"
beastie_disable="YES"
hw.intr_storm_threshold="2000"
hw.ata.wc="1"
hw.ata.atapi_dma="1"
kern.cam.scsi_delay="100"
hint.sc.0.disabled="1"
vfs.root.mountfrom="ufs:ufs/firmware0"
bootfile="kernel.200906290"
```


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## fonz (Sep 3, 2013)

tamazero said:
			
		

> Here are the files:
> 
> /etc/fstab
> 
> ...



The highlighted lines above indicate that your partition /dev/ada1g is indeed only used for booting. The actual root partition is some sort of firmware thing. I'm not an expert on that, but maybe someone else knows more about that.

P.S. Thanks for the formatting


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## wblock@ (Sep 3, 2013)

tamazero said:
			
		

> Here are the files:
> 
> /etc/fstab
> 
> ...



This is not a normal FreeBSD system.  What is it, exactly?


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## tamazero (Sep 5, 2013)

I don't know exacly: I know it's an old disk containing a custom program. The disk is breaking and so I wanted to access the configuration and the data it contains. It could also be that the data is corrupt (sometimes the disk does not start). The data, however, is not very important so I do not make other attempts.


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