Topic: SME won't boot! HD problem...

[big_gie]

Hi,

I'm running SME v6.0.1-01 since 2 weeks; my old Compaq Presario 4760 (P166,80 Mb RAM, 2.1 Gb HD) wasnt rebooted for 13 days (maybe the 13 killed the computer?? )

The computer was acting strangly since a couple of hours; it was slower than normal and I could hear the HD spin and spin always without stoping...

I then rebooted the machine. I saw the SME welcome screen, then the HD spin, stops, spin, stops, spin, stops... and finaly the screen about the kernel unpacking. First it didnt unpack completly. Shut down the computer, waited a couple of minutes. After opening it, same thing with welcome screen, then the kernel unpack ok, booting it, now the screen with [Ok] in green shows up with couple of [Ok]'s. But after the USB one, it is the file system and I get and error ([Failed]) saying:

/1 contains a file system with errors, check forced
/1:
Inode 164449 has a imagic flag set
/1: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY (i.e. without -a or -o options)

Then the computer halts with a logon prompt asking me to enter my root password. I do so and run what I was asked:

fsck /dev/hda

and get:

Couldn't find ext2 superblock, trying backup blocks...
fsck.ext2: Bad magic number in super-block while trying to open /dev/hda
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 (not a swap or ufs) the the superblock is corrupt, and you might try to run e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>

but running the last line gets me the same thing...

How can I repair this filesystem? Is it recoverable? Is it the partition only or does the HD is bad?

Tank you very much, I really need this SME...

big_gie

[MSmith]

I posted the instructions (not put together by me, I hasten to add, but someone smarter than I) recently, so you should be able to find it easily.

Basically you hit CTRL-X when SME is starting and enter a different command based on which version you're using, then use the fsck command to fix the errors.

Alternatively, you could boot from a Knoppix CD (or another of the many, many recovery-oriented distributions) and retrieve what you can to another hard drive.

[big_gie]

Thanks MSmith

Were you taling about http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=22128.msg87847#msg87847 this one?

If so, how different is the "ctrl+x" console from the one it gets me when I try to boot (and doesnt boot completly)?

So the error could be recoverable without reinstallation? And its not a HD problem but a partition one?

Thank you.

[MSmith]

I'd never trust that hard drive again.  Use "fsck /" and once the machine will boot again, backup!  If it never fixes, try one of the many, many recovery-oriented distributions to recover what you can ... and good luck to you!

[big_gie]

Ok thanks...

Thats sad

Buts thats life... I think I'll be able to find another computer for what I've installed SME for...

And Knoppix 3.4 is out Not sure if it will work with 80Mb ram...
Anyone tryed tomsrtbt (http://www.toms.net/rb/ "The most GNU/Linux on 1 floppy disk.")? Something to suggest?

Thank you very much,