Can't access Ubuntu partition in XP even with tools

I installed Ubuntu 10.10 to dual-boot with XP Home on my Asus 1005HA netbook. The main hard drive is an OCZ Vertex 2 SSD. I've tried all the common tools for accessing the Ubuntu partition from inside XP, but none of them appears to work. Ext2IFS didn't let me assign drive letters - in fact, it doesn't seem to detect the Ubuntu partition at all. The Ext2IFS config tool in Control Panel looks like this (the SSD is 120 GB, and the Linux partition is 10GB as I recall):

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explore2fs doesn't even start. Linux Reader can't open any drive, including flash drives and external HDDs.

I can't think of anything irregular about my system except the SSD. Could that be it?

Tootsie Rolls

Posted 2010-10-03T15:45:56.517

Reputation: 139

Answers

Is your Ubuntu 10.10 installed with an ext4 filesystem? Ext2Read can access that filesystem in Windows. The two you mentioned only read ext2 and ext3.

fideli

Posted 2010-10-03T15:45:56.517

Reputation: 13 618

First answer of that question: "... It now supports LVM2 and EXT4 extents. ..." – Hello71 – 2010-10-03T22:35:56.077

Whoa, good call. When I went there the first answer was "Not at this time". I'll edit my answer. – fideli – 2010-10-03T23:37:03.423

Thanks for the link! That was an interesting possibility. I don't think that's the problem though, because even the Ext4-compatible readers can't access the Ubuntu partition. – Tootsie Rolls – 2010-10-04T00:37:22.877

There is an additional problem with default ubuntu partitioning, with inode size 256 bytes rather than legacy 128 bytes. All of the Windows ext2/3/4fs readers fail on 256 byte setups.

humble reader

Posted 2010-10-03T15:45:56.517

Reputation: 11

Why would you want to access the Ubuntu partition from XP?

As an alternative I would recommend installing Ubuntu with two partitions. One for "/" and the other one for "/home". You could format the "/home" partition in ext3 (I believe you can also format it in FAT32 but I am not sure of this) and "/" in etx4.

With this setup both applications should be able to see the linux data partition.

bruno077

Posted 2010-10-03T15:45:56.517

Reputation: 867

I'm learning Linux, but am keeping Windows because I'm wayyyy more familiar with, and productive in, Windows. If your solution involves eliminating Windows from the picture altogether then I'm afraid it's not quite what I was looking for. Thanks though. – Tootsie Rolls – 2010-10-04T00:36:22.223

I'm not suggesting you eliminate Windows in any way. If you are with a "default" ubuntu install (with this I mean, if it's possible for you to reinstall Ubuntu); I would suggest reinstalling with this partition scheme, and choosing the ext3 filesystem for the "home" partition. – bruno077 – 2010-10-04T17:16:47.943

Alright, will try! – Tootsie Rolls – 2010-10-04T19:01:11.913