LS-XH2.0TL failed drive recovery using Linux

[wyzass9277]

So, my LinkStation Pro failed after an abrupt power failure...so I need to run a firmware update...but...and most annoyingly...I need to recover data off the drive first before the rebuild.
It's an old unit so I'm not worried about any warranty so took the drive out of the box and hooked it up to my pc's SATA connection and booted into a Linux Mint distro.
I can see the drive but going to Accessories/Disks it just says 2.0TB Unkown - no partitions shown...so cannot see my data.
Tried to mount using sudo but no joy - get list of possible errors - including bad superblock which sounds ominous...
Then tried to recover the superblock using a backup location but again no joy - asks whether it is a zero length partition...
Obviously it is not a zero length partition but being a Linux noob I'm not sure what else to try...
Any help is greatly appreciated...have some family photos on there that are not yet backed up....!!!!!!!

[davo]

Hang on, if you say it needs a firmware update then is it just in em mode?

If so just reinstall the firmware? It doesn't effect the data.

[wyzass9277]

Buffalo Tech state that all the data will be lost - this is their reply:

The data will be lost. We don't do data recovery, you can contact data recovery specialist. You can open the case and connect the disk to your computer sata connector. the computer should have has Linux operating system. If you open the case without permission you will void your warranty. To get permission please write to helpdeskcare@buffalo-technology.com

If you have any additional issues or feedback please do not hesitate to contact us again

Regards,

Taleb

Buffalo Technology Helpdesk

So this is why I'm trying to get the data using a Linux distro

[joma90]

If you want to recover the data you first have to fix the superblock,google will help you with this. OOOORRRR get UFS Explorer. It might beable to get around it and grab the data you need.

Never tried to repair a superblock so cant say you data will be there. Not sure if that tech that emailed you knows the whole issue. IF your unit is in EM Mode, a simple firmware update will resolve the issue and you data should still be there. Never seen where the data is not. If you drive has failed as well.... well.. I wish you the best of luck to do your own data recovery.

[wyzass9277]

Thanks - tried fixing the superblock issue but got a message asking if the partition was zero size...

Have been running Testdisk for over 4 hours and only 2% into the disk...all read errors reported so far...

Might try photorec over the weekend to see if that shows anything...

It's the fact that under the disks info in Mint it shows no partitions...scares the hell out of me...

Can download UFS Explorer as well and try that - I'll try anything at the minute...