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"Lost Photos" Help Please!


Grogerf

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Hallo Folks :D ,A family member put her SD card with lots of photos into an EEEPC (4G Linux version) Sd card slot to view the photos - the photo's didn't appear so "something" was clicked :whistling: ;) The EEEPC had been switched off before I was asked to help :( Now when the card is put back into the camera no images are shown :( , however if the card is put back into the EEEPC it shows a lot of jpg files, all of which have the date of the 'something click' , but don't show a photograph :huh: I suggested a search on the EEEPC for *.jpg which didn't lead anywhere. Could someone with an EEEPC suggest how to do a complete search in simple to understand language? - I don't have the same machine and the family member is not used to doing anything 'technical'.I've told the family member to set the switch on the SD card to 'secure' to ensure that nothing else is written to the card and to send the card to me (must be a glutton for punishment). I'm supposing (hoping) that the files have been moved, or deleted and that the data is still on the SD card.I did a search and turned up this site http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec, and I've downloaded testdisk-6.9.linux26.tar.bz2 which is supposed to have both Testdisk & PhotRec. (Testdisk-6.8 is available via the MCC, but that version doesn't have PhotoRec)I haven't gone any further until the SD card arrives here (probably about a week). If/when the photos are recovered I'll burn them to a CD/DVD (dependant upon the recovered file sizes).Does anyone have any experience/advice as to how to recover files lost in this way?Looking forward to some ideas ;) Grogerf

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No experience/advice with lost photos . . . . but my guess is that they did not umount the SD card before removing or shutting down and that kind of "corrupted" the card. The good news is that probably all you will have to do is to give the files on the card the .jpg extension and are back in business ( don't let them do this, do it yourself when the card arrives so you can make a backup first. )As far as looking for .jpg files on the eeepc, here is what they can try: ( not sure if it uses sudo ? )

sudo updatedblocate *.jpg > /home/user/Desktop/jpg-listing.txt

This should make a nice list of ALL the jpg files on that eeepc and call the list "jpg-listing.txt" located on the Desktop.You can repeat the same "locate" with *.jpeg:

locate *.jpeg > /home/user/Desktop/jpeg-listing.txt

;) Bruno

Edited by Bruno
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No experience/advice with lost photos . . . . but my guess is that they did not umount the SD card before removing or shutting down and that kind of "corrupted" the card. The good news is that probably all you will have to do is to give the files on the card the .jpg extension and are back in business ( don't let them do this, do it yourself when the card arrives so you can make a backup first. )As far as looking for .jpg files on the eeepc, here is what they can try: ( not sure if it uses sudo ? )
sudo updatedblocate *.jpg > /home/user/Desktop/jpg-listing.txt

This should make a nice list of ALL the jpg files on that eeepc and call the list "jpg-listing.txt" located on the Desktop.You can repeat the same "locate" with *.jpeg:

locate *.jpg > /home/user/Desktop/jpeg-listing.txt

:( Bruno

Hallo Bruno :D Thanks for your reply ;) :whistling: - and the hope that all is not lost :huh: I'll get the family member to try running that code to see if it locates the "lost photos" ;) Thanks again :( GrogerfPSI guess that you meant to write the last line of code as (with jpeg replacing jpg after locate) :- "locate *.jpeg > /home/user/Desktop/jpeg-listing.txt"
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the photo's didn't appear so "something" was clicked
Gee, that's real helpful.The eeepc has a Photo Manager. Ask the relative if they have large icons. That's Easy mode. If so, tell them to go to the Play tab and click Photo Manager.When it opens, ask if there is a new album in there. Maybe the photos were copied from the card and put into the photo manager in a new album.If you get any other information, like if the person remembers what was clicked, post it and I will try and troubleshoot from my end. I have a 4G and I also have some SD cards with pictures. Since all my pictures have already been safely burned to a CD, I can experiment without fear of losing pictures.
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Gee, that's real helpful.The eeepc has a Photo Manager. Ask the relative if they have large icons. That's Easy mode. If so, tell them to go to the Play tab and click Photo Manager.When it opens, ask if there is a new album in there. Maybe the photos were copied from the card and put into the photo manager in a new album.If you get any other information, like if the person remembers what was clicked, post it and I will try and troubleshoot from my end. I have a 4G and I also have some SD cards with pictures. Since all my pictures have already been safely burned to a CD, I can experiment without fear of losing pictures.
Hallo zlim :D Thanks for your interest and help :whistling: ;) I'm pretty sure that the eeepc will be in the default mode - and I'm guessing that's the 'Easy' mode :D I'll try giving a call when the time zones overlap and get them to try the photo manager :huh: I hope I've been able to preserve what's still on the SD card by getting the switch moved to the 'secure' position ;) Thanks for your offer of help if/when I get some more information :D :( I'm almost looking forward to the challenge of tackling the SD card :( However the thought of said relative in a terminal with root power clicking away does give me cause for concern :) :) so I'll avoid that if at all possible.Grogerf
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PSI guess that you meant to write the last line of code as (with jpeg replacing jpg after locate) :- "locate *.jpeg > /home/user/Desktop/jpeg-listing.txt"
Yep sorry . . typo . . . LOL . . . I'll fix it in the original post. :)B) Bruno
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Cluttermagnet

I would always want a digital camera which uploads photos via USB. I would never, not even on a bet, get into the habit of moving those fragile memory cards around. That is for the birds! For me, the lack of USB on a digital camera immediately disqualifies it from any further purchase consideration. So many times I have heard these unhappy stories about lost photos. You could even make that mistake on a camera with USB if you were really careless. Why add yet another layer of risk? It makes no sense... I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your friends' photos.

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I would always want a digital camera which uploads photos via USB
The problem is that if you download them from your camera, rather than a card reader, you better have a well charged battery if got a GByte or more of pictures!Bill
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i'd rather simply using the camera's flash card in a card reader
Me too, if there are very many there, or if they are important.Bill
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yep, a separate card reader is what I always recommend. Never rely on the camera, I've seen enough disasters of that. B)

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Yep sorry . . typo . . . LOL . . . I'll fix it in the original post. :)B) Bruno
Hallo Bruno :D ,Thanks for your confirmation :) No worries about the typo - we ALL do it B) Grogerf
I would always want a digital camera which uploads photos via USB. I would never, not even on a bet, get into the habit of moving those fragile memory cards around. That is for the birds! For me, the lack of USB on a digital camera immediately disqualifies it from any further purchase consideration. So many times I have heard these unhappy stories about lost photos. You could even make that mistake on a camera with USB if you were really careless. Why add yet another layer of risk? It makes no sense... I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your friends' photos.
Hallo Cluttermagnet :D ,Thanks for your reply. B) Both camera manuals I have actually recommend using a card reader o:) They both indicate less possibility of ESD damage to the camera this way, and less possibility of loosing photo's due to batteries going flat during a download.Guess you make your choice of the lesser evil :o Grogerf
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  • 2 weeks later...
Yep sorry . . typo . . . LOL . . . I'll fix it in the original post. :)B) Bruno
Hallo Bruno :D ,No luck with trying to get the family member to open a terminal :( . But the SD card finally arrived today with the switch in the 'secure' position :) When I look at meta info of the card (using a card reader) in Konqueror it tells me that the card is 61% full with 580.9MB. When I look into the folders there are two with images of a sort - one with 177 files and one with 113 files. The files show as "bildxxxx.jpg" (camera bought from a shop with a connection to Germany), all with a file size of 0 bits, file type shown as JPEG image, all of them modified on the same day and time, and with permissions -rwxr-xr-x, owner is shown as me with the group being root.So it seems that the information is still there on that SD card, but hidden for some reason. When I try to open the files with any of the graphics applications, it tells me the file is empty. When I look at the card in the MCC >local disks>manage disk partitions it tells me it's FAT 16.Using Konqueror I copied the data on the SD card to a 'MLostPhoto' folder - but this happened way too quickly for 580MB of data - so I'm not sure that anything much was actually copied over. Is there a command line I can use to be sure to copy all the data?I'm keeping the SD card switch in the "Secure" position until the pictures are recovered :wacko: When the data is copied and I can do something with it what should I do? :wacko: I really need guidance here! :D ;) Grogerf
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First if you have access to a windows computer, PC Inspector Smart recoveryhttp://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/smart_reco....htm?language=1is worth a try to see if it can get the data back. I've heard good things about this and probably the first recovery program I would try.If I were you, I wouldn't do anything to the card after you have gotten the pictures off. Send the card back, have the person unlock it. Have it placed back in the camera and format in the camera. That way it is ready to be used for more pictures.I've formatted SD cards using the camera's software after I've burned my pictures to a CD and double checked that I had them all. When I go on a trip, I like to start with a freshly formatted card.

Edited by zlim
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fwiw...i'd rather simply using the camera's flash card in a card reader... quick, painless and doesn't rely on the camera for anything...
I have to agree with you. I use a card reader and have never had a problem.Mel ;)
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all with a file size of 0 bits
This means that you will indeed make a good chance with recovery software ! ( And since the fileformat is FAT 16 you will need Windows software )I did hear good things about the PC Inspector software Liz linked to.;) Bruno
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First if you have access to a windows computer, PC Inspector Smart recoveryhttp://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/smart_reco....htm?language=1is worth a try to see if it can get the data back. I've heard good things about this and probably the first recovery program I would try.If I were you, I wouldn't do anything to the card after you have gotten the pictures off. Send the card back, have the person unlock it. Have it placed back in the camera and format in the camera. That way it is ready to be used for more pictures.I've formatted SD cards using the camera's software after I've burned my pictures to a CD and double checked that I had them all. When I go on a trip, I like to start with a freshly formatted card.
Hallo zlim :D Thanks for your help ;) I'll download PC Inspector Smart recovery and give it a go on a Windows machine.I'll report back on the results :) Thanks again :wacko: Grogerf
This means that you will indeed make a good chance with recovery software ! ( And since the fileformat is FAT 16 you will need Windows software )I did hear good things about the PC Inspector software Liz linked to.B) Bruno
Hallo Bruno :D Thanks for the encouraging words :wacko: Pity it can't be done on Linux :( , maybe I'll have another look for Linux software once the photos are safely recovered :) Grogerf
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First if you have access to a windows computer, PC Inspector Smart recoveryhttp://www.pcinspector.de/Sites/smart_reco....htm?language=1is worth a try to see if it can get the data back. I've heard good things about this and probably the first recovery program I would try.If I were you, I wouldn't do anything to the card after you have gotten the pictures off. Send the card back, have the person unlock it. Have it placed back in the camera and format in the camera. That way it is ready to be used for more pictures.I've formatted SD cards using the camera's software after I've burned my pictures to a CD and double checked that I had them all. When I go on a trip, I like to start with a freshly formatted card.
Hallo again zlim :D It worked!! Thank you!!PC Inspector Smart Recovery recovered 402 picture files and I was looking for 290 ;) There might be some duplicates or deliberately deleted photos there - but that's an excellent result. The family member can sort out what's wanted & what's not from the DVD I burned the photos onto :wacko: :D ( I actually burned the recovered photos to two separate DVD's to be double sure.)After having no photos it would have to be a good thing to have too many B) :) :( :clap: I did find another software that says it runs under Linux as well as other OS's called Photorec here http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/PhotoRec - it's released under the GNU Public License. I'm not sure which version to download, there are versions for kernel 2.4 and 2.6 as well as an rpm and a srpm :D This software "ignores the filesystem and goes after the underlying data, so it will still work even if your media's filesystem has been severely damaged or re-formatted" Sounds like magic :) If someone can give me a clue which version to download and install, I'll give it a whirl and see how it performs - then I'll send the SD card back where it came from. :D :wacko: Grogerf Edited by Grogerf
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If you' re runing a distro of 2008 (Mandriva for ex., Ubuntu 8.0.4, PClos 2007 or newer, Fedora 6 or newer, Debian 4.0r3) you have a 2.6.x kernel.A srpm is the source for the package, the rpm is ready to be installed on rpm based distros.http://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk-6.9-1.i386.rpmfor non 64bit systems with 2.6 kernels.They don' t have a version for 64 bit systems.This one:http://www.cgsecurity.org/testdisk-6.9.linux26.tar.bz2you can use with a 2.6 kernel based distro to compile it your self. Actually I think it would probably be possible to compile it on a 64 bit version.You' ll need the development packages for the distro in use, on debian based systems at least ' build-essential' ;

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Fantastic! :clap2: :clap2: :clap2: B) :( I love it when something works on the first try. Tell your family member to burn all photos do a CD or DVD before doing anything to them. I always do. In fact today, I got out my photo CDs, checked what was burned, added 4 more photos in a new folder to a data CD, copied the pictures to the computer to crop and print out, then put the card back in the camera and formatted it using the camera software.

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