From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

I need some help to re-communicate with a lost partition.
I have a large partition, on an SSD, for the storage of videos
and some document files. It was called m2SSD, and always came up on
Files, GNOME Commander, etc, as an option, which could be navigated to,
and accessed.
Recently, I noticed that it was not appearing as an option, and I
could not access it through any of the normal routes. 'Disks' showed it
still in existence, but with no label, only 'Partition 2', on
/dev/sda2. It had no mount point, which made some sense. GParted
basically confirmed this, identifying it also as /dev/sda2.
I used 'Disks' to give it a name, again 'm2SSD', and it now shows as
such in 'Disks'. I then tried to edit the Mount Point, and whatever
happened, it took me hours to finally get back to where I was just
before. 'Disks' now shows it to be mounted at: Filesystem Root. GParted
says that its mountpoint is: /,/var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell,
which means nothing to me and navigating to /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell shows only four files, none of
them mentioning m2SSD. The same for it in Filesystem Root, I can find no mention of it there.
So it is still there, somewhere, but I can't access it.

Any help most welcome. I am guessing that it is probably simple, if
only you know how.
--
Davey.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

Davey wrote:

I need some help to re-communicate with a lost partition.

A tool which I've only ever used once, but it saved the day, is gpart
(not gparted) which stands for GuessPARTition

<https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man8/gpart.8.html>

possibly also

<http://thewalter.net/stef/software/scrounge/>
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

On Tue, 26 Aug 2025 11:38:30 +0100
Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> wrote:

Davey wrote:

I need some help to re-communicate with a lost partition.

A tool which I've only ever used once, but it saved the day, is gpart
(not gparted) which stands for GuessPARTition

<https://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/trusty/man8/gpart.8.html>

possibly also

<http://thewalter.net/stef/software/scrounge/>

Thanks, but I have already used GParted:
"GParted says that its mountpoint is:
/,/var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell, ..."

Maybe I'll try to do with it I what I tried to do with 'Disks', and hope
for a different outcome!

Scrounge is for NTFS filesystems, but this partition is ext4.

Cheers,
--
Davey.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

I need some help to re-communicate with a lost partition.
I have a large partition, on an SSD, for the storage of videos
and some document files. It was called m2SSD, and always came up on
Files, GNOME Commander, etc, as an option, which could be navigated to,
and accessed.
Recently, I noticed that it was not appearing as an option, and I
could not access it through any of the normal routes. 'Disks' showed it
still in existence, but with no label, only 'Partition 2', on
/dev/sda2. It had no mount point, which made some sense. GParted
basically confirmed this, identifying it also as /dev/sda2.
I used 'Disks' to give it a name, again 'm2SSD', and it now shows as
such in 'Disks'. I then tried to edit the Mount Point, and whatever
happened, it took me hours to finally get back to where I was just
before. 'Disks' now shows it to be mounted at: Filesystem Root. GParted
says that its mountpoint is: /,/var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell,
which means nothing to me and navigating to /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell shows only four files, none of
them mentioning m2SSD. The same for it in Filesystem Root, I can find no mention of it there.
So it is still there, somewhere, but I can't access it.

First check if it shows up in your desktop file manager and if it allows you
to mount it from there.

Otherwise, in terminal type 'mount' and look for it in the list.

That list is rather polluted with Squashfs/NSFS mounts from snap, so you could do:

mount | grep -v squashfs | grep -v nsfs

to try to filter them out, or:

mount | grep sd

to look for anything with 'sd' in the name (will pick up some irrelevant
stuff but also show you any USB/SATA partitions like sda2)

Of course, if it's not mounted it won't show up. In which case, look in /etc/fstab to see if there's any record of it there.

Theo
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

On 26 Aug 2025 13:31:27 +0100 (BST)
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:

Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

I need some help to re-communicate with a lost partition.
I have a large partition, on an SSD, for the storage of videos
and some document files. It was called m2SSD, and always came up on
Files, GNOME Commander, etc, as an option, which could be navigated
to, and accessed.
Recently, I noticed that it was not appearing as an option, and I
could not access it through any of the normal routes. 'Disks'
showed it still in existence, but with no label, only 'Partition
2', on /dev/sda2. It had no mount point, which made some sense.
GParted basically confirmed this, identifying it also as /dev/sda2.
I used 'Disks' to give it a name, again 'm2SSD', and it now shows as
such in 'Disks'. I then tried to edit the Mount Point, and whatever happened, it took me hours to finally get back to where I was just
before. 'Disks' now shows it to be mounted at: Filesystem Root.
GParted says that its mountpoint is: /,/var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell, which means nothing to me
and navigating to /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell shows only
four files, none of them mentioning m2SSD. The same for it in
Filesystem Root, I can find no mention of it there.
So it is still there, somewhere, but I can't access it.

First check if it shows up in your desktop file manager and if it
allows you to mount it from there.

No it doesn't, and I know it used to.

Otherwise, in terminal type 'mount' and look for it in the list.

$ mount: Extract: {/dev/sda2 on / type ext4
(rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro) securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)}

That list is rather polluted with Squashfs/NSFS mounts from snap, so
you could do:

mount | grep -v squashfs | grep -v nsfs

to try to filter them out, or:

mount | grep sd

This was the best of all.
~$ mount | grep sd
/dev/sda2 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
cgroup2 on /sys/fs/cgroup type cgroup2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate,memory_recursiveprot)
/dev/sda2 on /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell type ext4 (ro,noexec,noatime,errors=remount-ro)

So it found the /var/snap/~~~-hunspell location, whatever that is.
I have no idea what cgroup2 is, either.

to look for anything with 'sd' in the name (will pick up some
irrelevant stuff but also show you any USB/SATA partitions like sda2)

Of course, if it's not mounted it won't show up. In which case, look
in /etc/fstab to see if there's any record of it there.

Theo

The /etc/fstab file was what 'Disks' had corrupted when I tried before.
I now have the previous version back in place, and working, except for
the access to m2SSD. Looking at it, it has no reference to m2SSD, so
maybe my next step will be to try to construct a line to do that.
The attempt using 'Disks' added m2SSD to an existing line, and moved it
to the bottom. Basically, it failed.
So: Do I rewrite the fstab to delete the references to
/var/snap/~~~~hunspell, and just leave a mountpoint as / ?

Also, I have a copy of the fstab file from February, when access to
m2SSD was fine, and it doesn't mention m2SSD in there either. I'll take
another look for any other clues.

Thanks for help.
--
Davey.


--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

On 26 Aug 2025 13:31:27 +0100 (BST)
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:

Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

I need some help to re-communicate with a lost partition.
I have a large partition, on an SSD, for the storage of videos
and some document files. It was called m2SSD, and always came up on Files, GNOME Commander, etc, as an option, which could be navigated
to, and accessed.
Recently, I noticed that it was not appearing as an option, and I
could not access it through any of the normal routes. 'Disks'
showed it still in existence, but with no label, only 'Partition
2', on /dev/sda2. It had no mount point, which made some sense.
GParted basically confirmed this, identifying it also as /dev/sda2.
I used 'Disks' to give it a name, again 'm2SSD', and it now shows as
such in 'Disks'. I then tried to edit the Mount Point, and whatever happened, it took me hours to finally get back to where I was just before. 'Disks' now shows it to be mounted at: Filesystem Root.
GParted says that its mountpoint is: /,/var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell, which means nothing to me
and navigating to /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell shows only
four files, none of them mentioning m2SSD. The same for it in
Filesystem Root, I can find no mention of it there.
So it is still there, somewhere, but I can't access it.

First check if it shows up in your desktop file manager and if it
allows you to mount it from there.

No it doesn't, and I know it used to.

Otherwise, in terminal type 'mount' and look for it in the list.

$ mount: Extract: {/dev/sda2 on / type ext4
(rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro) securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)}

That appears to be the root fs of the system you are currently booted into.
ie either there's an OS on m2SSD and you booted into it, or there's another drive on /dev/sda2 and you're booted into that, and m2SSD is somewhere else.

That list is rather polluted with Squashfs/NSFS mounts from snap, so
you could do:

mount | grep -v squashfs | grep -v nsfs

to try to filter them out, or:

mount | grep sd

This was the best of all.
~$ mount | grep sd
/dev/sda2 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
cgroup2 on /sys/fs/cgroup type cgroup2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate,memory_recursiveprot)
/dev/sda2 on /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell type ext4 (ro,noexec,noatime,errors=remount-ro)

So it found the /var/snap/~~~-hunspell location, whatever that is.
I have no idea what cgroup2 is, either.

cgroups are a containerisation feature. The above is likely a 'bind mount', which allows you to mount one part of the filesystem tree at another place. That's a red herring for your purposes.

I think your drive is not /dev/sda at all. Try:

sudo dmesg | grep sd

and see if it's appearing with another letter. If it's in a motherboard M.2 slot or in a Thunderbolt adapter you might also try:

sudo dmesg | grep nvm

Theo
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes:

I think your drive is not /dev/sda at all. Try:

sudo dmesg | grep sd

and see if it's appearing with another letter. If it's in a motherboard M.2 slot or in a Thunderbolt adapter you might also try:

sudo dmesg | grep nvm

I would start with lsblk; it will tell you what drives are actually
attached, what partitions they have, and where they are moutned (if
anywhere).
--
https://www.greenend.org.uk/rjk/
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

On Tue, 26 Aug 2025 17:50:04 +0100
Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:

Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes:

I think your drive is not /dev/sda at all. Try:

sudo dmesg | grep sd

and see if it's appearing with another letter. If it's in a
motherboard M.2 slot or in a Thunderbolt adapter you might also try:

sudo dmesg | grep nvm

I would start with lsblk; it will tell you what drives are actually
attached, what partitions they have, and where they are moutned (if anywhere).

Thanks, Richard and Theo. Work for tomorrow.
Cheers,
--
Davey.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

On 2025-08-26, Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:

Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

On 26 Aug 2025 13:31:27 +0100 (BST)
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:

Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

I need some help to re-communicate with a lost partition.
I have a large partition, on an SSD, for the storage of videos
and some document files. It was called m2SSD, and always came up on
Files, GNOME Commander, etc, as an option, which could be navigated
to, and accessed.
Recently, I noticed that it was not appearing as an option, and I
could not access it through any of the normal routes. 'Disks'
showed it still in existence, but with no label, only 'Partition
2', on /dev/sda2. It had no mount point, which made some sense.
GParted basically confirmed this, identifying it also as /dev/sda2.
I used 'Disks' to give it a name, again 'm2SSD', and it now shows as
such in 'Disks'. I then tried to edit the Mount Point, and whatever
happened, it took me hours to finally get back to where I was just
before. 'Disks' now shows it to be mounted at: Filesystem Root.
GParted says that its mountpoint is:
/,/var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell, which means nothing to me
and navigating to /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell shows only
four files, none of them mentioning m2SSD. The same for it in
Filesystem Root, I can find no mention of it there.
So it is still there, somewhere, but I can't access it.

First check if it shows up in your desktop file manager and if it
allows you to mount it from there.

No it doesn't, and I know it used to.

Otherwise, in terminal type 'mount' and look for it in the list.

$ mount: Extract: {/dev/sda2 on / type ext4
(rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro) securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type
securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)}

That appears to be the root fs of the system you are currently booted into. ie either there's an OS on m2SSD and you booted into it, or there's another drive on /dev/sda2 and you're booted into that, and m2SSD is somewhere else.

NVMe "disks" are names /dev/nvme0n1p1 (As an example) p = partition, n is first NVMe disk/strip.

So I agree that /dev/sda2 is the second partition on a SATA disk.

I would clone the NVMe drive ASAP as it has your data on it.

Use Gparted to fine out where the boot flag is on.

Another angle, press F12 (or key for your MB) to get the bios boot menu and see
how many boots you can achieve.

That list is rather polluted with Squashfs/NSFS mounts from snap, so
you could do:

mount | grep -v squashfs | grep -v nsfs

to try to filter them out, or:

mount | grep sd

This was the best of all.
~$ mount | grep sd
/dev/sda2 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
cgroup2 on /sys/fs/cgroup type cgroup2
(rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate,memory_recursiveprot)
/dev/sda2 on /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell type ext4
(ro,noexec,noatime,errors=remount-ro)

So it found the /var/snap/~~~-hunspell location, whatever that is.
I have no idea what cgroup2 is, either.

cgroups are a containerisation feature. The above is likely a 'bind mount', which allows you to mount one part of the filesystem tree at another place. That's a red herring for your purposes.

I think your drive is not /dev/sda at all. Try:

sudo dmesg | grep sd

and see if it's appearing with another letter. If it's in a motherboard M.2 slot or in a Thunderbolt adapter you might also try:

sudo dmesg | grep nvm

Theo

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

Gordon <Gordon@leaf.net.nz> wrote:

NVMe "disks" are names /dev/nvme0n1p1 (As an example) p = partition, n is first NVMe disk/strip.

Except if they're in USB adapters, when they turn into /dev/sd*
But when they're in Thunderbolt adapters they remain as /dev/nvme*

Those two can look physically identical (some adapters even do both
protocols) but since Thunderbolt is more expensive an adapter is probably
USB unless you know otherwise.

So I agree that /dev/sda2 is the second partition on a SATA disk.

Or a USB disc.

Theo
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

On 28 Aug 2025 10:47:37 +0100 (BST)
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:

Gordon <Gordon@leaf.net.nz> wrote:

NVMe "disks" are names /dev/nvme0n1p1 (As an example) p =
partition, n is first NVMe disk/strip.

Except if they're in USB adapters, when they turn into /dev/sd*
But when they're in Thunderbolt adapters they remain as /dev/nvme*

Those two can look physically identical (some adapters even do both protocols) but since Thunderbolt is more expensive an adapter is
probably USB unless you know otherwise.

So I agree that /dev/sda2 is the second partition on a SATA disk.

Or a USB disc.

Theo

Ok. Going back to basics.
I ran GParted, and it found this:

1. /dev/nvme0n1p1 /boot/efi ext4 953/695/259 (Size/Used/Unused GiB).
This I have always assumed is my working partition.

2. sda:
/dev/sda1 EFI System Partition fat32 /boot/efi 512/13/499
/dev/sda2 m2SSD ext4 953/871/82 This I believe is my video files
partition.

For completeness, there is also a USB HDD that I keep for incremental
.doc and Spreadsheet files. All looks good there.
I went to my desktop PC, which has no additional memory, and it shows
one /dev/nvme01p1 (very small) and one /dev/nvme01p2, which makes sense
as a boot partition and a working partition. The latter has no Name,
but has the same Mount point as mentioned earlier for the laptop, ie: var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell.
Back to this later, life intrudes.
--
Davey.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

On Thu, 28 Aug 2025 12:44:36 +0100
Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

On 28 Aug 2025 10:47:37 +0100 (BST)
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:

Gordon <Gordon@leaf.net.nz> wrote:

NVMe "disks" are names /dev/nvme0n1p1 (As an example) p =
partition, n is first NVMe disk/strip.

Except if they're in USB adapters, when they turn into /dev/sd*
But when they're in Thunderbolt adapters they remain as /dev/nvme*

Those two can look physically identical (some adapters even do both protocols) but since Thunderbolt is more expensive an adapter is
probably USB unless you know otherwise.

So I agree that /dev/sda2 is the second partition on a SATA disk.

Or a USB disc.

Theo

Ok. Going back to basics.
I ran GParted, and it found this:

1. /dev/nvme0n1p1 /boot/efi ext4 953/695/259 (Size/Used/Unused GiB).
This I have always assumed is my working partition.

2. sda:
/dev/sda1 EFI System Partition fat32 /boot/efi 512/13/499
/dev/sda2 m2SSD ext4 953/871/82 This I believe is my video files
partition.

For completeness, there is also a USB HDD that I keep for incremental
.doc and Spreadsheet files. All looks good there.
I went to my desktop PC, which has no additional memory, and it shows
one /dev/nvme01p1 (very small) and one /dev/nvme01p2, which makes
sense as a boot partition and a working partition. The latter has no
Name, but has the same Mount point as mentioned earlier for the
laptop, ie: var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell.
Back to this later, life intrudes.

Correction: In the last paragraph, the references should be: nvme0n1p1
and nvme0n1p2.
--
Davey.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

On Thu, 28 Aug 2025 12:46:13 +0100
Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

On Thu, 28 Aug 2025 12:44:36 +0100
Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

On 28 Aug 2025 10:47:37 +0100 (BST)
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:

Gordon <Gordon@leaf.net.nz> wrote:

NVMe "disks" are names /dev/nvme0n1p1 (As an example) p =
partition, n is first NVMe disk/strip.

Except if they're in USB adapters, when they turn into /dev/sd*
But when they're in Thunderbolt adapters they remain as /dev/nvme*

Those two can look physically identical (some adapters even do
both protocols) but since Thunderbolt is more expensive an
adapter is probably USB unless you know otherwise.

So I agree that /dev/sda2 is the second partition on a SATA
disk.

Or a USB disc.

Theo

Ok. Going back to basics.
I ran GParted, and it found this:

1. /dev/nvme0n1p1 /boot/efi ext4 953/695/259 (Size/Used/Unused GiB).
This I have always assumed is my working partition.

2. sda:
/dev/sda1 EFI System Partition fat32 /boot/efi 512/13/499
/dev/sda2 m2SSD ext4 953/871/82 This I believe is my video files
partition.

For completeness, there is also a USB HDD that I keep for
incremental .doc and Spreadsheet files. All looks good there.
I went to my desktop PC, which has no additional memory, and it
shows one /dev/nvme01p1 (very small) and one /dev/nvme01p2, which
makes sense as a boot partition and a working partition. The latter
has no Name, but has the same Mount point as mentioned earlier for
the laptop, ie: var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell.
Back to this later, life intrudes.

Correction: In the last paragraph, the references should be: nvme0n1p1
and nvme0n1p2.

Some more information from GParted on the laptop:
Partition nvme0n1p1 is not mounted. Hmmm.
/dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 are both mounted.

So it does indeed look as though I am not working from the partition I
thought I was.
The fstab from February had: UUID=0c5b5565-c6d0-48bb-878d-9c31721df408
on /dev/sda2.
Also: /boot/efi was UUID=CA01-E287 was on /dev/sda1 during installation.

Current GParted shows UUID=0c5b5565-c6d0-48bb-878d-9c31721df408 in
partition /dev/sda2 and named m2SSD mounted on /./var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell.
It looks as though there has been a swap somewhere.
--
Davey.

--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

On Tue, 26 Aug 2025 17:50:04 +0100
Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid> wrote:

Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> writes:

I think your drive is not /dev/sda at all. Try:

sudo dmesg | grep sd

and see if it's appearing with another letter. If it's in a
motherboard M.2 slot or in a Thunderbolt adapter you might also try:

sudo dmesg | grep nvm

I would start with lsblk; it will tell you what drives are actually
attached, what partitions they have, and where they are moutned (if anywhere).

Indeed. Partially:
sda 8:0 0 953.9G 0 disk
roLroCsda1 8:1 0 512M 0 part /boot/efi
rooroCsda2 8:2 0 953.4G 0 part /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell /
nvme0n1 259:0 0 953.9G 0 disk
rooroCnvme0n1p1 259:1 0 953.9G 0 part
which seems to confirm that it is booting off the wrong partition.
So it seems that a period of backup, editing, trials (and hopefully
success rather than more frantic head-scratching and cussing) will
follow.
Wish me luck!
--
Davey.
--- Synchronet 3.21a-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: uk.comp.os.linux

On Thu, 28 Aug 2025 15:55:21 +0100
Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

On Thu, 28 Aug 2025 12:46:13 +0100
Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

On Thu, 28 Aug 2025 12:44:36 +0100
Davey <davey@example.invalid> wrote:

On 28 Aug 2025 10:47:37 +0100 (BST)
Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:

Gordon <Gordon@leaf.net.nz> wrote:

NVMe "disks" are names /dev/nvme0n1p1 (As an example) p =
partition, n is first NVMe disk/strip.

Except if they're in USB adapters, when they turn into /dev/sd*
But when they're in Thunderbolt adapters they remain as
/dev/nvme*

Those two can look physically identical (some adapters even do
both protocols) but since Thunderbolt is more expensive an
adapter is probably USB unless you know otherwise.

So I agree that /dev/sda2 is the second partition on a SATA
disk.

Or a USB disc.

Theo

Ok. Going back to basics.
I ran GParted, and it found this:

1. /dev/nvme0n1p1 /boot/efi ext4 953/695/259 (Size/Used/Unused
GiB). This I have always assumed is my working partition.

2. sda:
/dev/sda1 EFI System Partition fat32 /boot/efi 512/13/499
/dev/sda2 m2SSD ext4 953/871/82 This I believe is my video
files partition.

For completeness, there is also a USB HDD that I keep for
incremental .doc and Spreadsheet files. All looks good there.
I went to my desktop PC, which has no additional memory, and it
shows one /dev/nvme01p1 (very small) and one /dev/nvme01p2, which
makes sense as a boot partition and a working partition. The
latter has no Name, but has the same Mount point as mentioned
earlier for the laptop, ie: var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell.
Back to this later, life intrudes.

Correction: In the last paragraph, the references should be:
nvme0n1p1 and nvme0n1p2.

Some more information from GParted on the laptop:
Partition nvme0n1p1 is not mounted. Hmmm.
/dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 are both mounted.

So it does indeed look as though I am not working from the partition I thought I was.
The fstab from February had: UUID=0c5b5565-c6d0-48bb-878d-9c31721df408
on /dev/sda2.
Also: /boot/efi was UUID=CA01-E287 was on /dev/sda1 during
installation.

Current GParted shows UUID=0c5b5565-c6d0-48bb-878d-9c31721df408 in
partition /dev/sda2 and named m2SSD mounted on /./var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell.
It looks as though there has been a swap somewhere.

Well, first steps are promising. I have access to the files, now I need
to get partition names sorted out. But the major problem appears to be
sorted, it's the details that still remain.
Thanks for all the help so far.
--
Davey.

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