diff -urN ext2-6/fs/ext2/ialloc.c ext2-7/fs/ext2/ialloc.c
--- ext2-6/fs/ext2/ialloc.c	Fri Dec  1 11:05:40 2000
+++ ext2-7/fs/ext2/ialloc.c	Fri Dec  1 11:08:56 2000
@@ -72,10 +72,10 @@
  * 2/ If the file system contains less than EXT2_MAX_GROUP_LOADED groups,
  *    this function reads the bitmap without maintaining a LRU cache.
  * 
- * Return the slot used to store the bitmap, or a -ve error code.
+ * Return the buffer_head of the bitmap or the ERR_PTR(error)
  */
-static int load_inode_bitmap (struct super_block * sb,
-			      unsigned int block_group)
+static struct buffer_head *load_inode_bitmap (struct super_block * sb,
+					      unsigned int block_group)
 {
 	int i, slot = 0;
 	struct ext2_sb_info *sbi = &sb->u.ext2_sb;
@@ -148,9 +148,9 @@
 	sbi->s_inode_bitmap_number[slot] = block_group;
 	sbi->s_inode_bitmap[slot] = bh;
 	if (!bh)
-		return -EIO;
+		return ERR_PTR(-EIO);
 found:
-	return slot;
+	return bh;
 }
 
 /*
@@ -178,7 +178,6 @@
 	struct buffer_head * bh2;
 	unsigned long block_group;
 	unsigned long bit;
-	int bitmap_nr;
 	struct ext2_group_desc * gdp;
 	struct ext2_super_block * es;
 
@@ -202,12 +201,10 @@
 	}
 	block_group = (ino - 1) / EXT2_INODES_PER_GROUP(sb);
 	bit = (ino - 1) % EXT2_INODES_PER_GROUP(sb);
-	bitmap_nr = load_inode_bitmap (sb, block_group);
-	if (bitmap_nr < 0)
+	bh = load_inode_bitmap (sb, block_group);
+	if (IS_ERR(bh))
 		goto error_return;
 	
-	bh = sb->u.ext2_sb.s_inode_bitmap[bitmap_nr];
-
 	is_directory = S_ISDIR(inode->i_mode);
 
 	/* Do this BEFORE marking the inode not in use */
@@ -258,7 +255,6 @@
 	struct buffer_head * bh2;
 	int i, j, avefreei;
 	struct inode * inode;
-	int bitmap_nr;
 	struct ext2_group_desc * gdp;
 	struct ext2_group_desc * tmp;
 	struct ext2_super_block * es;
@@ -361,11 +357,10 @@
 		goto fail;
 
 	err = -EIO;
-	bitmap_nr = load_inode_bitmap (sb, i);
-	if (bitmap_nr < 0)
+	bh = load_inode_bitmap (sb, i);
+	if (IS_ERR(bh))
 		goto fail;
 
-	bh = sb->u.ext2_sb.s_inode_bitmap[bitmap_nr];
 	if ((j = ext2_find_first_zero_bit ((unsigned long *) bh->b_data,
 				      EXT2_INODES_PER_GROUP(sb))) <
 	    EXT2_INODES_PER_GROUP(sb)) {
@@ -465,7 +460,6 @@
 #ifdef EXT2FS_DEBUG
 	struct ext2_super_block * es;
 	unsigned long desc_count, bitmap_count, x;
-	int bitmap_nr;
 	struct ext2_group_desc * gdp;
 	int i;
 
@@ -475,16 +469,16 @@
 	bitmap_count = 0;
 	gdp = NULL;
 	for (i = 0; i < sb->u.ext2_sb.s_groups_count; i++) {
+		struct buffer_head *bh;
 		gdp = ext2_get_group_desc (sb, i, NULL);
 		if (!gdp)
 			continue;
 		desc_count += le16_to_cpu(gdp->bg_free_inodes_count);
-		bitmap_nr = load_inode_bitmap (sb, i);
-		if (bitmap_nr < 0)
+		bh = load_inode_bitmap (sb, i);
+		if (IS_ERR(bh))
 			continue;
 
-		x = ext2_count_free (sb->u.ext2_sb.s_inode_bitmap[bitmap_nr],
-				     EXT2_INODES_PER_GROUP(sb) / 8);
+		x = ext2_count_free (bh, EXT2_INODES_PER_GROUP(sb) / 8);
 		printk ("group %d: stored = %d, counted = %lu\n",
 			i, le16_to_cpu(gdp->bg_free_inodes_count), x);
 		bitmap_count += x;
@@ -504,7 +498,6 @@
 {
 	struct ext2_super_block * es;
 	unsigned long desc_count, bitmap_count, x;
-	int bitmap_nr;
 	struct ext2_group_desc * gdp;
 	int i;
 
@@ -513,16 +506,16 @@
 	bitmap_count = 0;
 	gdp = NULL;
 	for (i = 0; i < sb->u.ext2_sb.s_groups_count; i++) {
+		struct buffer_head *bh;
 		gdp = ext2_get_group_desc (sb, i, NULL);
 		if (!gdp)
 			continue;
 		desc_count += le16_to_cpu(gdp->bg_free_inodes_count);
-		bitmap_nr = load_inode_bitmap (sb, i);
-		if (bitmap_nr < 0)
+		bh = load_inode_bitmap (sb, i);
+		if (IS_ERR(bh))
 			continue;
 		
-		x = ext2_count_free (sb->u.ext2_sb.s_inode_bitmap[bitmap_nr],
-				     EXT2_INODES_PER_GROUP(sb) / 8);
+		x = ext2_count_free (bh, EXT2_INODES_PER_GROUP(sb) / 8);
 		if (le16_to_cpu(gdp->bg_free_inodes_count) != x)
 			ext2_error (sb, "ext2_check_inodes_bitmap",
 				    "Wrong free inodes count in group %d, "