@crowgirl A possibly helpful page on full disk encryption on Ubuntu, especially the way TPM could be used.

https://documentation.ubuntu.com/security/security-features/storage/encryption-full-disk/

@crowgirl

Is there someone you trust that’s knowledgeable enough to work on this with you in person or with a screen share?

When I’ve gotten myself in situations like this, anxiety kicks in and I miss things. A second head can be helpful.

Agree with imaging the drive, it’s a good first move. Good luck. If you feel ok with it, shout out a general location, maybe someone can suggest a local group.

@crowgirl Ive been there before but didn't have encryption to contend with. Take a breath. It'll be ok, one step at a time.

I'll second all the people suggesting to make a backup with dd or whatever. You can't go wrong making a backup as long as you're comfortable with the tools you're using to create it.

I dont know your level of experience, so I'm gonna throw some questions and suggestions at the metaphorical wall to see what sticks. Feel free to ask questions or disregard if Im just not helpful.

We'll start easy, what do you see when you turn on the computer? BIOS splash? OS loading screen? Login screen?

If it's just desktop and graphics drivers that are screwed up, you might see nothing, just black, or maybe a login screen that just doesn't work. Press Ctrl-Alt and any one of the F keys. This should take you to a terminal only interface where you can log in. Usually F7 is the default for a normal desktop, but that varies depending on distro.

@crowgirl you said you already mounted something from the live cd? maybe you have a separate home and root partition, and only the former is encrypted?

if so, I would run
sudo chroot /path/to/mount /bin/bash
to do troubleshooting on the root partition like you would on a powered system. mainly, trying to trace back your steps

never used drive encryption before, so excuse me if I'm lost on the technicalities

@crowgirl
Here's the content from your Reddit post, for convenience:

Linux partition crisis, I need data recovery, help!
I was using Kubuntu 24.04 without problems for well over a year.

Then some update messed with my NVIDIA drivers and I couldn't launch any of my Steam Linux games, Vulkan errors.

After messing around with various NVIDIA driver packages, I lost my ability to boot into my operating system.

I am now running Kubuntu 20.04 from a LiveCD.

Help me!

I tried all kinds of things with truecrypt, veracrypt, cryptsetup. No success.

LiveCD OS does see the Kubuntu 24.04 partition. It's /dev/nvme1n1p2, mounted on /media/kubuntu/kubuntu_2404

I know the password to that partition. But it doesn't seem to use LUKS encryption.

Cryptsetup and LuksOpen doesn't work because I get "/media/kubuntu/kubuntu_2404 is not compatible" and "/dev/nvme1n1p2 is not compatible"

Trying to install from LiveCD is a scary risk because when I tried the installer, there was no indication that it would preserve my documents in the old /dev/nvme1n1p2 24.04 partition.

So I'm not trying that.

A book that I owe Kickstarter backers is on that partition.

I know the password for whatever encryption is on there!

And it is ext4.

But it doesn't seem to be LUKS encryption.

And I can't figure out what it used for encryption. Or how to use the OS sudo password I was using to log into 24.04 to decrypt it so I can recover it.

Help!

I am in a crisis. 😭😭😭

@crowgirl if you cannot afford to lose the data, start with creating a full disk image. Get yourself an external (or internal in case of a desktop) HDD (fast enough for a backup, no need to break the bank) that is big enough.
Boot into the live cd/usb. The dd command should look something like (make sure to replace sdX with the correct letter for the target drive):

dd if=/dev/nvme1n1 of=/dev/sdX statusprogress bs=1M

Try to find a local linux group, hands-on support is a lot easier!

@crowgirl heya, from the live cd, what happens if you run:

file -s /dev/nvme0n1p[2

@crowgirl maybe as a starting point:

lsblk --output vendor,model,name,label,size,fstype,fsused,uuid

should give you a first overview on the storage, partition and partition types found.

From there you can hopefully narrow down the issue. 🤞

@crowgirl Putting the comment I just put there here as well:

I wrote up a whole thing about "yeah try the file command on the partition" before realizing... wait, it's mounted? Check out the contents of that partition, /media/kubuntu/kubuntu_2404.

It might be home encryption with, um, ecryptfs? I think it's called? It's file-based encryption, your files stored as encrypted files instead of a whole encrypted block device.

@crowgirl @_L1vY_ Whatever you do, be extremely cautious of ANY instructions around (g)parted or dd. You could lose the whole thing very easily if you’re not familiar with how these tools work and mix up, swap or typo the syntax.

I would recommend hiring an expert if you have an entire book on the line, if that’s an option.

@crowgirl I wrote you this in Reddit but I put it here also for visibility

here's what I think is happening: The home directory is probably encrypted with ecryptfs (file-based encryption), not the whole disk with LUKS. This is a common Ubuntu setup option.

Try this:

Open a terminal and run: ls /media/kubuntu/kubuntu_2404/home

Can you see your username folder? Can you see files inside it, or does it look like gibberish/encrypted filenames?

If it looks encrypted, you need to decrypt your home folder:

sudo apt install ecryptfs-utils

sudo ecryptfs-recover-private /media/kubuntu/kubuntu_2404/home/.ecryptfs

It'll ask for your login password (the one you used to log into 24.04).

@crowgirl

My way, make a live antiX usb stick, boot explore your installed system

you give sparse details in the reddit thread. Is your whole setup encrypted, if so you have a massive problem, especially as it seems you have no backups.
But
If your root partition is not encrypted pls give info here. That would mean you have a repair chance.

But go slow, change too much too fast and you lose all data

@crowgirl i can hop on a call and try to help if you like. I have a calendar link on my mastodon profile so you can schedule from there.

Firstly though, try to make a clone of your storage so that you can experiment without the fear of losing your data

@crowgirl

I recommend the English-language Linux support from LinuxGuides, which is subject to a fee.

Nevertheless, the quality is very good. And to my knowledge, you do not have to pay/will receive a refund if the support team is unable to find a solution.

https://linuxort.com/linux-support/

@crowgirl I haven't read all the comments here or on Reddit, and the focus is clearly on lvm issues which I can't comment on, but here are some thoughts:

- Is the nvme device removable? (I presume so, but who knows.) If so, you might consider removing it until you get your computer back up and running with no risk of the install process messing up the nvme drive.

The following seem to me less likely to be relevant, but I thought I'd mention them.

- Also, you can get m.2 nvme enclosures from ugreen on Amazon for not too much money that with allow you to plug in the drive via usb at up to 10Gb/s. I mention this because it would avoid having to open up your machine to install the nvme drive during the recovery process, so just a but less messing around.

- I suggest making a full block level copy of the nvme drive that way if something goes wrong during recovery you should be able to recreate it and try again. The nvme enclosure mentioned above could make that slightly more convenient.