HELP... same post as lounge

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

apparent HD crap out...

re-booting with FDD looks normal until...

hda2: bad access: block=2, count=2
end_request: I/O error, ev 03:02 (hda), sector 2
EXT3-fs: unable to read superblock
mount" error 22 mounting ext3
pivotroot" pivot_root(/sysroot,/sysroot/initrd} failed; 2
unmount /initrd/proc failed: 2
Freeing unused kernel memory: 136k freed
Kernal panix: No init found. Try passing init=option to kernel.


_____~~~~~~~~~~_____

okay, so I tried booting thus...

linux init

no luck


Help?

[bemildred]

1. Sounds like your HD has at least one bad block,

and it happens to hold part of the EXT3FS superblock,
so your root file system does not get mounted.
(Yeah, I know, what's this "mounted" stuff, is
this some sort of animal sex, or what?)

I do not know enough about EXT3FS and it's utilities to
provide advice on recovery, but generally I would be looking
to boot off a CD, and to examine the HD with the idea of:

1.) Getting the root file system mounted with a backup superblock, so
as to copy my stuff that's worth saving.

2.) Checking any other filesystems on the drive, and the drive
itself.

3.) Deciding whether I need new hardware (right now, it's just a bad
block on the drive, this happens) and how to get my system back.

Grovelling over Linux online help pages could be very helpful at
this point, or calling up you local Linux Guru.

[qnr]

2. The filesystem normally saves multiple copies of the superblock.

Try fixing the partition manually. run fsck.ext3 -b alternate-superblock (probably 32768 - but try 8193 or 16384)
i.e., # fsck.ext3 -b 32768 /dev/hda2

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

5. I can't get anything to boot right now

I am not sure why.

[Deja Q]

7. Booting from a live CD beforehand...

I had to do that as I couldn't dismount the / partition before running it. :-)

[cprise]

3. It wouldn't be a Maxtor drive, would it?

Do try qnr's suggestion and tell us if it works.

If it does, probably the first thing you'll want to do is backup the drive. Then run 'badblocks -n' to find which blocks are unrecoverable. If low-numbered blocks remain unrecoverable in the badblocks test, then the drive probably cannot be used again.

[WannaJumpMyScooter]

4. Yeah, of course, it would have to be, right?

It is.

[cprise]

6. Maxtors have always, always bitten me.

I've had 3: they all failed within 12 months. These are from early 90s, mid 90s, and the last one I unwittingly got in 2003 as part of an external drive package.

There is, however, one thing you can try with a Maxtor: If the the drive seems unusable due to errors, you have the ability to do a low-level format (factory format) yourself. For this you would either use Maxtor's PowerMax utility or the utility described here: http://www.ameriwebs.net/groupworks/george/maxtor.htm

Good luck!