Ubuntu-Rescue-Remix is a live cd/USB toolkit which includes the best Free/Libre, Open-Source data recovery software available.

I've been working on this for a little over a year with a little input here and there and I have been very happy with the results. The Rescue-Remix suits *my* needs perfectly. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't a lot of improvement that can be made.

I have found that I can recover as much if not more data using the free/libre tools than with the proprietary tools. Some of the advantages of using GNU/Linux tools for data recovery is that the command line provides a rich environment for dealing with mountains of raw data. I think a lot of the proprietary tools try too hard to provide a pleasant interface to the user, at the expense of leaving some data behind.

On the other hand, nearly every panicked user who, in searching for their lost/deleted files have stumbled upon Ubuntu-Rescue-Remix, have a hard time grocking the command line. That means that the Rescue-remix is not the best solution for everybody.

What can be done to improve this? Better documentation? A GUI?

If you haven't already guessed it, this is a Help Wanted ad. Apply within. Whether it's improving the live CD/USB, packaging your favorite tool, writing documentation or simply posting some of your experiences, any help is appreciated.

Oh, and if you want to create a GUI for all the Free/Libre data recovery tools available, that would be great too! Thanks!

az

I packaged version 1.8 of gnu ddrescue and uploaded it to my launchpad Personal Package Archive (ppa). This is an unofficial package but it seems to work fine.

If you want to stick with official Ubuntu packages, do not add my ppa to your sources.list. You can still install the ubuntu-rescue-remix metapackages by hand. However, if you add my ppa to your sources.list to install the ubuntu-rescue-remix metapackages, you will be getting (the unofficial) gddrescue-1.8.

My ppa:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/arzajac/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/arzajac/ubuntu hardy main

After playing around with the 8.04 ALPHA release I created an easy-to-install USB image for general use. Please test out the installation procedure and let me know if you have any problems:

(note: I updated this to point to the final stable release, version 8.04)

Step 1- Download the latest image:
http://rescubuntu.info/files/iso/ubuntu-remix-804.usb.gz

e480c4a72171203e1384c6a3e6990786 ubuntu-remix-804.usb.gz

Step 2- (This will erase the data on your USB device!) Plug in your USB device and unmount it. You can manually
create a partition for the Rescue Remix. You can even put that partition at the end of your device and create another partition at the beginning for storage or swap space. Make sure the rescue-remix partition is 166MB or greater or else the image won't fit.

Make the partition that will hold the image bootable (Use (g)parted or cfdisk); only one partition should be bootable or else that defeats the purpose.

If you put the storage partition after the rescue-remix image partition, you won't be able to access your storage partition from Windows-based operating system; It "just doesn't work."

Step 3- Write the image to the device:

If your device is the second partition on sdc, then you would run:

sudo zcat ubuntu-remix-804.usb.gz >/dev/sdc2

Step 4- Try to boot the device. If it doesn't boot, you need to put an MBR on the device.

sudo apt-get install mbr

sudo mbr-install /dev/sdc

And then reboot.

Again, if you have any problems, please let me know.

I split the ubuntu-rescue-remix metapackage up into two parts. If you are running a desktop version of Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu/Edubuntu, you don't need the live cd components to be installed on your system.

Install the ubuntu-rescue-remix-tools package instead.

Here are the apt lines for Hardy:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/arzajac/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/arzajac/ubuntu hardy main

and for Gutsy:
deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/arzajac/ubuntu gutsy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/arzajac/ubuntu gutsy main

You will need to enable the universe and multiverse repositories to install the ubuntu-rescue-remix-tools package.

To install the Ubuntu-Rescue-Remix on a regular Ubuntu install (hardy) add this to your sources.list

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/arzajac/ubuntu hardy main
deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/arzajac/ubuntu hardy main

and then run

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-rescue-remix

This is not ready for general use. I plan on separating the package into two smaller metapackages: ubuntu-rescue-remix-live and ubuntu-rescue-remix-tools. There is no need to install the live cd components on a regular Ubuntu install that already boots from a hard drive and uses a volume-manager to mount removable devices.

1- I will be creating a new documentation section for case studies. Each case study will demonstrate a specific problem and the steps taken to recover the data. I am hoping users can contribute their case studies as well.

2- I will be making a meta package for Ubuntu-Rescue-Remix. I will post it to my Launchpad PPA. (https://launchpad.net/~arzajac/+archive)

3- I will be putting together the pre-release for Hardy.

Stay tuned...

0- (As usual, any help is welcome!)

A recurring discussion I have with people is whether something that is free-libre can actually be as good (if not better) than a shrink-wrapped product that is sold.

I elaborated about that in the ABOUT section. The word "free" in free-libre open-source refers to freedom and not necessarily cost. The fact that the software is free in the Software Freedom sense opens the door to it being used in a commercial setting without the overhead involved with proprietary licensing costs. It also allows the software to be improved by anyone with the ability to look at the code and improve it.

So, the Ubuntu-Rescue-Remix can do just about anything the proprietary equivalents can do, except the Rescue-Remix will get even better with time for free.

The business model of free and open source software is services and support, not sales of a software product. That means no one will sell Ubuntu-Rescue-Remix in a shrink-wrapped box in a store.

It doesn't mean you aren't allowed to use it commercially, though. I encourage you to use it in any setting, including in a commercial environment.

Anyone is entitled to obtain it, use it and charge customers a fee for the service of recovering their lost data if they chose to do so.

In this case, I would try Testdisk or Parted to restore your partition table. I hope her note wasn't longer than 512 characters.

Good luck.

I think the OLPC project is great. I agree that computer hardware today is so redundant that it is an exercise in waste. To that end, in just over a month I will be buying an XO through the give one get one program.

Looking through the specs, I am certain the rescue-remix will be able to boot on it. By plugging in your storage hardware through USB2 ports, you should be able to accomplish any data recovery task you need.

I look forward to releasing the next version (8.04) of the Rescue-remix as XO-ready.