Re: Linux utility needed in Windoz

On 1/23/2022 3:50 PM, Robert Baer wrote:
> Paul wrote:
>> On 1/17/2022 9:52 PM, Robert Baer wrote:
>>>    What i need to do is turn on/off the boot bit(byte).
>>>
>>>    Right now i can copy one or more partitions, thereby adding the requisite 100MB system sector to a windows system, making it usable.
>>>    But without that magic mark, it is not fully testable.
>>>
>>>    Yes, one could use Partmagic, but that requires re-cabling the computer and switching the OS.
>>>    Big PITA.
>>>
>>>    The Linux DD routine has been emulated for Windoz, so why not a Linux routine for this?
>>>
>>>     Thanks.
>>
>> On a legacy partitioned disk (not a GPT) that would be
>>
>>     administrator command prompt
>>
>>     diskpart
>>     list disk           # keep diskmgmt.msc open on the screen while you are working...
>>     select disk 3
>>     list partition
>>     select partition 2
>>     active
>>     exit
>>
>> Diskpart has pretty good help, to help you
>> figure it out.
>>
>> Third party application "ptedit32.exe" from powerquest,
>> a free utility in their paid suite, could also do it.
>> But as utilities go, it whines a bit, and if it does
>> not like the partition boundaries, size, or any other
>> casual integer number, it can actually just bail on
>> you. The utility was offered for download for ten years
>> from an FTP server at Symantec, until they closed down
>> the server one day. It still exists as a package download,
>> on "one of those downloader sites" (filehorse or the likes).
>>
>> http://mistyprojects.co.uk/documents/ptedit/index.html
>>
>> PTEDIT32 is sometimes good, if you need to visualize the
>> numbers in the partition table in the MBR sector 0, as well
>> as displaying the chained list of logical partition declarations.
>>
>> But really, with the function in diskpart, look no further.
>>
>> Microsoft utilities are seldom uniform from one OS to the next,
>> and Robocopy is an example of that. Even the venerable CHKDSK,
>> has a few extra flags (poorly documented) that actually do
>> stuff you might appreciate. And you might have to boot an
>> installer DVD to use them. No, I have not done a comparative
>> study, just noticed there are differences. They don't believe
>> in backporting things, unless it is to MSFT advantage. For example,
>> "cleanmgr.exe", that WAS back-ported, which is at least one
>> example of a standup move by the corporation.
>>
>> Even Linux has utilities, such as "ntfsfix" for fixing the $MFTMIRR
>> that Windows 10 keeps breaking. This allows mounting NTFS
>> partitions that the Linux desktop told you they weren't going
>> to mount. I usually record the chit-chat that utility dumps to
>> terminal, in my "disk drive inventory" directory, for future usage.
>> That way, if at a future time, the partition is damaged, I can look
>> back and see if NTFSFIX might have played a part.
>    
>    WTH? Used DuckDuckGo to search for a source of the program, and no
> reference had it, and a large number of them screamed "virus".
> 
>     Thanks.

In Linux, if it's not present, you use the Package Manager (like Synaptic)
to find and install it from the Repository tree.

That's not a Windows executable, and it is not "ntfsfix.exe".
It's an ELF executable and is "ntfsfix".

https://linux.die.net/man/8/ntfsprogs

It's interesting, that in Linux Mint 20.3 Uma, it is not
in Package Manager, yet it is in the file tree as /usr/bin/ntfsfix.

    sudo ntfsfix /dev/sda2   # Assume /dev/sda2 is an NTFS partition

Attempts to find it, it does not even show in the tree, which
means some genius has repackaged it somehow.

    apt search ntfsprogs   # nothing shows up

Normally, executables are packaged somehow, so that they can be
updated if a bug shows up and a new one is released.

https://community.linuxmint.com/software/view/ntfsprogs

And as it says there, it is now ntfs-3g package

    apt search ntfs-3g

You should not need to be doing that sort of search, as
searching on ntfsfix should identify the package automatically.

Doing Properties in Synaptic, on the already-installed "ntfs-3g"
package, and checking the File tab, shows that the package
owns and controls ntfsfix program.

But for some reason, the convenient wiring is buggered. And this
was harder to trace down than you would expect.

    Paul