I've been using Kubuntu 24.04 for over a year without any issues, but recently an update messed with my NVIDIA drivers, preventing me from launching any of my Steam games due to Vulkan errors. After trying various NVIDIA driver packages, I now can't boot into my system and am running Kubuntu 20.04 from a LiveCD instead. The LiveCD sees my original 24.04 partition, located at /dev/nvme1n1p2, mounted on /media/kubuntu/kubuntu_2404, and I know the password for that partition. However, it doesn't appear to use LUKS encryption, and I'm facing issues with cryptsetup and LuksOpen, stating that the partition is not compatible. I'm hesitant to try reinstalling from the LiveCD since there's no guarantee my documents will be safe. I have a critical book on that partition and need to recover it. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!
3 Answers
This situation is why I steer clear of encryption altogether. If the original installation created a unique key, you may not be able to retrieve that data after a reinstall. Check out this LUKS encryption cheat sheet; it might provide some useful insights: [link].
Are you certain the partition is encrypted? Since it's mounted, have you tried navigating into it to see if you can access your files directly? That might give you a clue about what's going on.
Before attempting anything risky like a reinstall, if you can access the mounted partition, try copying critical files to an external drive. That way, you safeguard your important data while figuring out the next steps.
Exactly! It's worth checking how the partition was mounted; there may still be files you can reach without needing decryption.