> > Even though "Make CD-ROM Recovery" at http://mkcdrec.ota.be/ is
considered
> > beta it seems to work well.
>
> Definitly looks useful, but the system is hosed already. Don't want to
> back it up, just get some data and reinstall.

Create the 'mkcdrec' rescue CD on another Linux box. The CD-writer support
should be on the rescue CD and then you can easily back up your individual
files.