Member Avatar for randolph555

I mistakenly partitioned my external firewire drive. IS there any way I can recover the data?

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Dani AI

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Short answer: recovery is often possible — but only if the drive hasn’t been written to since the partitioning. As noted, every write reduces the chance of full recovery, so stop using the FireWire disk immediately and don’t try repairs on the original media. (cgsecurity.org)

Practical, low-risk workflow you can follow (try this only if you’re comfortable working with disk tools; otherwise skip to the last paragraph for professional help):

  1. Do not mount or copy files to the drive. Make a sector‑by‑sector image of the entire device and work from that image. Use a block copier that supports a resumable mapfile so you can safely interrupt and resume (GNU ddrescue is the standard tool for this). Creating an image protects the original and maximizes future recovery options. (gnu.org)

  2. Run partition-recovery tools against the image (not the original device). TestDisk can scan the image, find lost partition structures (Apple Partition Map, GUID, HFS/HFS+, etc.), and either restore the table or let you copy files off the found partitions. If TestDisk locates usable partitions, copy recovered files to a different drive. (cgsecurity.org)

  3. If TestDisk can’t restore the partition table, run file‑carving on the image (PhotoRec is a reliable, free option). PhotoRec ignores the filesystem and extracts files by signature — it’s slower and often loses filenames/folders, but it can retrieve many file types when the filesystem metadata is gone. (cgsecurity.org)

Example ddrescue invocation (run on a different machine; substitute the correct device and paths):

sudo ddrescue -f -n /dev/diskX /path/to/drive-image.img /path/to/ddrescue.log

If the drive shows mechanical problems, lots of I/O errors, or the data is irreplaceable, stop and consult a professional data‑recovery lab — software attempts can make physical problems worse. For a FireWire external used with Macs, note that older Macs used Apple Partition Map/HFS+ while newer systems use GUID/APFS; mention the drive type/OS when contacting a lab or helper. (cgsecurity.org)

As pointed out, there are tools available, and the safe sequence is: stop, image, then attempt recovery from the image.

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Member Avatar for Dani_mac

hi there,

if you go to and search for "recover"
there are some tools for recovering lost data.
The most are not free, but maybe you will find something for you.

cu
dani_mac

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

You might find a tool that will recover a partition-wipe as long as you have not saved any new data to the drive. Otherwise, it is very difficult to recover that sort of material, because re-partitioning is designed to clearly prepare the disk for the new environment / conditions that you set it up for.

I would be looking to restore from backups.

If you do get the data back from a partition tool, save it off onto another device, and when you are done recovering, reformat it to clean up any residue.

Christian

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