2.1.57: trouble reading ext2 superblocks

Trevor Johnson (trevor@jpj.net)
Mon, 29 Sep 1997 01:15:13 -0700 (PDT)


This message is in MIME format. The first part should be readable text,
while the remaining parts are likely unreadable without MIME-aware tools.
Send mail to mime@docserver.cac.washington.edu for more info.

--912357424-483529964-875520913=:217
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

When trying to boot 2.1.51 (the last 2.1 kernel I tried), I got this
error:

Partition check:
hda: hda1 hda2
hdb: hdb1 hdb2 hdb3 hdb4
VFS: mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly.
EXT2-fs error (device 03:41): ext2_find_entry: bad entry in directory #38:
rec_len is smaller than minimal - offset=0,k inode=67595, rec_len=0,
name_len=446
Unable to open an initial console.
Kernel panic: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel.

With 2.1.57, I got a very similar error. It persisted even after I
reformatted /dev/hdb1 (my root partition) using mke2fs 1.02, and replaced
its contents. I tried making a new root partition on /dev/hda2, and was
then able to boot. However, I got errors from e2fsck 1.06, which is run
from my init scripts at boot time. It complained about several
superblocks on the second hard drive, errors I normally don't see.
However, there was no such error with /dev/hdb1, from which I hadn't been
able to boot 2.1.57 just a few moments earlier.

Parallelizing fsck version 1.06 (7-Oct-96)
/dev/hdb1: clean, 2724/5040 files, 14815/20159 blocks
fsck.ext2: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/hdb2

The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>

/dev/hda3: clean, 37040/78624 files, 307138/314118 blocks
/dev/hda2: clean, 2725/101200 files, 27066/403704 blocks
fsck.ext2: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/hdb3

The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>

fsck.ext2: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/hdb4

The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>

I got errors later, when mount (version 2.7) ran:

VFS: Can't find an ext2 filesystem on dev 03:43.
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hdb3,
or too many mounted file systems
VFS: Can't find an ext2 filesystem on dev 03:42.
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hdb2,
or too many mounted file systems

Here are some more messages from boot time:

Co-Processor : Installed Extended Memory : 64512K
CPU Clock : 166MHz Cache Memory : W/B Cache On
Diskette Drive A : 1.44M, 3.5 in. Display Type : EGA/VGA
Diskette Drive B : None Serial Port(s) : 3F8 2F8
Pri. Master Disk : CHS ,Mode 4, 2009MB Parallel Port(s) : 378
Pri. Slave Disk : LBA ,Mode 4, 1282MB SRAM Type : Write Back
Sec. Master Disk : None
Sec. Slave Disk : None

PCI device listing.....
Bus No. Device No. Func No. Vendor ID Device ID Device Class IRQ
0 17 0 10EC 8029 Network controller 11
0 20 0 1045 C621 IDE Controller 14

LILO boot:
Loading 2.1.57.......
Uncompressing Linux...done.
Now booting the kernel
Memory: sized by int13 088h
Console: colour VGA+ 80x25, 1 virtual console (max 63)
PCI: BIOS32 Service Directory structure at 0xc00fac50
PCI: BIOS32 Service Directory entry at 0xfb0c0
PCI: PCI BIOS revision 2.10 entry at 0xfb0f0
Probing PCI hardware.
Calibrating delay loop.. ok - 66.15 BogoMIPS
Memory: 62836k/65536k available (640k kernel code, 392k reserved, 1648k
data, 20k init)
Swansea University Computer Society NET3.039 for Linux 2.1
NET3: Unix domain sockets 0.16 for Linux NET3.038.
Swansea University Computer Society TCP/IP for NET3.037
IP Protocols: IGMP, ICMP, UDP, TCP
Checking 386/387 coupling... Ok, fpu using exception 16 error reporting.
Checking 'hlt' instruction... Ok.
Linux version 2.1.57 (root@ppp3.csudh.EDU) (gcc version 2.7.2.1) #1 Fri
Sep 26 05:52:48 PDT 1997
POSIX conformance testing by UNIFIX
Starting kswapd v 1.23
Serial driver version 4.24 with no serial options enabled
ttyS00 at 0x03f8 (irq = 4) is a 16550A
ttyS01 at 0x02f8 (irq = 3) is a 16550A
PPP: version 2.2.0 (dynamic channel allocation)
TCP compression code copyright 1989 Regents of the University of
California
PPP Dynamic channel allocation code copyright 1995 Caldera, Inc.
PPP line discipline registered.
hda: 1916MB, CHS=3893/16/63
hdb: 1222MB, CHS=621/64/63
Partition check:
hda: hda1 hda2 hda3
hdb: hdb1 hdb2 hdb3 hdb4
VFS: Mounted root (ext2 filesystem) readonly.
Freeing unused kernel memory: 20k freed
INIT: version 2.71 booting

--912357424-483529964-875520913=:217
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; name="config-2.1.57"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64
Content-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.970929011513.217B@ppp5.csudh.edu>
Content-Description: kernel configuration
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--912357424-483529964-875520913=:217--