NFS drive install in PC?

[HomeUser]

I have a drive from a Snap Server that died. I believe it to be
formatted for Unix (NFS?). I would like to try to install this drive
in an old PC I have lying around, so that I can get the data that was
stored there. Is there any software out there that would let me
access this drive, once I've installed it as a second drive in a win98
PC. Alternatively, if I install a Linux client on this PC, will I be
able to access this NFS drive if I boot up in Linux?

Any suggestions or guidance welcome.

Thx.

 

[CJT]

I have a drive from a Snap Server that died. I believe it to be
formatted for Unix (NFS?). I would like to try to install this drive
in an old PC I have lying around, so that I can get the data that was
stored there. Is there any software out there that would let me
access this drive, once I've installed it as a second drive in a win98
PC. Alternatively, if I install a Linux client on this PC, will I be
able to access this NFS drive if I boot up in Linux?

Any suggestions or guidance welcome.

Thx.

You probably mean UFS. Unfortunately, even though I believe the
file systems themselves are reasonably standard, I expect you will
find differences in how the Unix variants available for PCs (e.g.
SCO, Solaris, ...) deal with disk partitioning, so more information
would be extremely useful. Happily, you should be able to do the
mounts read-only and do some experimenting if you have the time and
resources.

 

[Arno Wagner]

I have a drive from a Snap Server that died. I believe it to be
formatted for Unix (NFS?).

NFS is not an on-disk format. The disk will have some
other filesystem on it.

I would like to try to install this drive
in an old PC I have lying around, so that I can get the data that was
stored there. Is there any software out there that would let me
access this drive, once I've installed it as a second drive in a win98
PC. Alternatively, if I install a Linux client on this PC, will I be
able to access this NFS drive if I boot up in Linux?

You need to know what filesystem is on the drive. Then you
need to have a Linux kernel with support for that. If the standard
kernel has the support available, it _should_ work, but check the
notes in the kernel configuration tool of your choice.
You could also just compile a kernel with all filesystems and
partition types enabled and see whether it mounts with '-t auto'.

Here is the list of available 'misc'-filesystems on a stock 2.6.6
kernel from www.kernel.org:

< > ADFS file system support (EXPERIMENTAL) x x
< > Amiga FFS file system support (EXPERIMENTAL) x x
< > Apple Macintosh file system support (EXPERIMENTAL) x x
< > Apple Extended HFS file system support x x
< > BeOS file systemv(BeFS) support (read only) (EXPERIMENTAL) x x
< > BFS file system support (EXPERIMENTAL) x x
< > EFS file system support (read only) (EXPERIMENTAL) x x
< > Compressed ROM file system support x x
< > FreeVxFS file system support (VERITAS VxFS(TM) compatible) x x
< > OS/2 HPFS file system support x x
< > QNX4 file system support (read only) x x
< > System V/Xenix/V7/Coherent file system support x x
< > UFS file system support (read only)

Arno

 

[HomeUser]

Thanks for the tips so far. I checked with Snap...The file system is FFS.

Any tips as to what Linux client to download.

Was refered elsewhere to Xandros and Knoppix.

Thanks so much....if this works it'll be a life saver.

 

[Arno Wagner]

Thanks for the tips so far. I checked with Snap...The file system is FFS.

Any tips as to what Linux client to download.

Was refered elsewhere to Xandros and Knoppix.

Thanks so much....if this works it'll be a life saver.

It seems Xandros costs money. I have no experience with it.

If Knoppix has the right filesystem support in the kernel,
that would be easiest. Download from http://www.knoppix.org/,
burn to cd, boot, and see whether your partitions show up. If
not, you might have to compile your own kernel.

For this many methods are possible. Personally I would install
a Debian testing with LILO as bootloader, then download a 2.6.6 kernel
from www.debian.org and compile it with all the needed drivers (not
as modules, makes only work). I would not install X, since that is
not needed for simple data recovery.

I am sure there are easier ways for a linux newcomer, but that
is what I would do. Wit another dirtrubution or Debian stable,
better use Kernel 2.4.26, since 2.6.6. might not compile cleanly.

Arno