[plug] root filesystem problem on Debian testing/unstable system

[Bret Busby]

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Brad Campbell" <brad at wasp.net.au>

> 
> Bret Busby wrote:
> 
> > Can this problem with the root partition, be fixed, to get the 
> > system running again? If so, is it possible to be fixed using 
> > advice via emails, or would the computer need to go to a workshop 
> > meeting?
> 
> I'd not be in the least bit surprised to find the disk is toast. 
> Almost *always* nastiness to that degree is caused by a hardware 
> failure, especially when it happens on a running system.
> I'd be more tempted to fire up knoppix and run a non destructive 
> badblocks on the drive first before you do anything else. If that 
> passes, then try an e2fsck in "make no changes" mode.. if that 
> fails then perhaps try a backup superblock or two.. if that fails 
> then we have to get forensic.. but to be honest it sounds like the 
> drive has thrown a rod.
> 
> Brad
>

Thanks for the response.

However, ....

I booted the computer into Knoppix 4.0, using a bootable DVD from a Linux Format magazine.

Running badblocks, returns "Permission denied while trying to determine file size".

Regarding the condition of the physical hard drive, the system is dual boot, and I successfully booted into Windows XP.

When I searched on the Internet for "backup superblock", I found references to, and manual entries for, e2fsck.

So, I later booted up Knoppix 4.0, and ran e2fsck on the device, and performed some fixes. I then ran badblocks on the device, and after an hour or two, it returned to the command prompt, inferring that no bad blocks were found.

I then ran e2fsck on the device again, and it came up clean.

So, I tried to boot into Linux, using the hard drive.

That worked okay, after the boot performing an fsck on the device ("/dev/hdax has not been checked for 49710 days (yes, 50,000 days, almost!) so performing an fsck on device", or words to that effect). But, the memory monitor, after the boot, and without my having loaded any applications, showed 89% memory usage (out of 784MB RAM), with 37% cached, so I reboooted again, using the hard drive  as the source for booting, and that seemed to work okay, and the system is still up, a couple of days later.

The lessons from this (I think), are:
1. do not run fsck on a mounted partition (the root partition was mounted when I ran fsck to check it and everything went awry), and
2. when problems arise with a root partition (that is ext3), in terms of it becoming an unrecognisable, unmountable filesystem, with stated bad FAT blocks, a good idea is to run e2fsck on the root partition, booting from a Knoppox 4.0, or similar, CD/DVD.

Or, that is what I think, anyway.

Thanks for the pointers, Brad.

--
Bret Busby
Armadale
Western Australia
.................


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