From: nospam@needed.invalid   
      
   On Tue, 2/17/2026 7:24 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:   
   > On Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:48:33 -0500, Paul wrote:   
   >   
   >> On Tue, 2/17/2026 4:38 PM, Lawrence D’Oliveiro wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>> On Tue, 17 Feb 2026 05:30:23 -0500, Paul wrote:   
   >>>   
   >>>> And that is suitable for disaster recovery (a "bad disk").   
   >>>   
   >>> So really an all-or-nothing restore? No ability to selectively   
   >>> restore particular files that were deleted/corrupted/etc?   
   >>   
   >> I couldn't get anything to touch the partimage. I tried Archive   
   >> Manager, but it was not interested.   
   >>   
   >> When the partimage is decompressed, like a TAR, you can see the   
   >> datablocks in there with your hex editor. It really should share   
   >> some characteristics with dynamic VHD, VDI and so on. I haven't   
   >> found a way to mount one. But maybe I'm not looking hard enough.   
   >   
   > The KISS principle may be important in lots of software, but it seems   
   > to me to be vital in backup software, particularly. This is because   
   > the restoration function will often be exercised in a time of stress,   
   > when data loss has already occurred, the customer/boss is breathing   
   > down your neck, or in general your life is going to be seriously   
   > buggered up if you can’t get the data back.   
   >   
   > That is not the time to be discovering whether or not the restore   
   > function actually works.   
   >   
      
   I tried harder.   
      
   I found a method to mount a clonezilla partclone image and gain random access.   
      
   1) First, we use Clonezilla (a LinuxMint DVD is fine for this), and   
      make a backup of our source disk (sda) to BACKUP on (sdb).   
      
      When the dialog questions have all been answered, and Steve shows you   
      the command that is about to execute, you pretend to be advancing and   
      there is a chance to quit by answering "N" for No (one stanza later).   
      
      Now, you can enter the created-command and make small changes. Like   
      changing the compression option to -z0 from whatever Steve tells you.   
      This leaves the partclone images uncompressed.   
      
      /usr/sbin/ocs-sr -q2 -c -j2 -z0  -i 0 -sfsck -scs -senc -p true savedisk   
   "2026-02-18-21-img" sda   
      
   2) Now, acquire a LiveDVD which has /dev/ndb block devices compiled into the   
   kernel.   
      You are running as root, and so no "sudo" is required in the following.   
      
      Github   
      Name: rescuezilla-2.6.1-64bit.oracular.iso   
      Size: 1498515456 bytes (1429 MiB)   
      SHA256: 7EAA7318634D4831D9BDF2B683ACDCD68FB8DD42835FEE0DB8CB908DDFED2C74   
      
      cd to the BACKUP partition and the clonezilla image you just made.   
      
      cd /media/ubuntu/BACKUP/2026-02-18-21-img   
      partclone-nbd -c sda1.ext4-ptcl-img.uncomp      # This makes the partclone   
   a block device   
      
      In another terminal, you can mount the block device on a mount point (/mnt).   
      
      mount /dev/nbd0 /mnt     # Guess-work, as to which /dev/nbd item to use   
      
      Now, cd to the random access file you were after.   
      
      cd /mnt/home/bullwinkle/Downloads/   
      cp background.bmp  /path/to/destination...   
      
   3) When you are ready to exit...   
      
      In the copy-file terminal, unmount the /mnt   
      
      cd ~   
      umount /mnt   
      
      In the client nbd terminal   
      
      ctrl-c            # The partclone-nbd program intercepts this, does orderly   
   takedown on nbd0   
                        # Ignore the printed notion an error occurred.   
      
      Now the LiveDVD can be shut down, just unmounting /media/ubuntu/BACKUP   
      remains as a command for cleanup before shutdown.   
      
      umount /media/ubuntu/BACKUP   
      
   The colorful session with terminals all over the screen, is here.   
      
        [Picture]  Use "Download Original" if not clear   
      
         https://i.postimg.cc/d39BTprb/Mounting-Uncompressed-Partclone-Img.gif   
      
     Paul   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)