Filesystem check at boottime?

Majorix · 2008-07-02 20:34:40

Last time I tried Arch a few months ago it rendered unbootable after a power-shutdown (which I had to do because the system wasn't responding to anything) during the initial filesystem checking.

Tomorrow I will be trying to install Arch 2008.06 again, but this time I don't want it to become unbootable.

So I was wondering, is it safe to just disable that filesystem check or is there any other way? If I have to disable the fsck is it enough to edit /etc/fstab?

Please reply. Thanks

pressh · 2008-07-02 21:04:05

you mean you're going to boot into your old installation? Maybe in that case it is a good idea to post the message at which the boot hangs?

Yes, disabling file system checks should be done via fstab. But remember, file system checking is there for a reason, so don't disable it permanently.

Majorix · 2008-07-02 21:20:27

Sorry I didn't mention it in the OP, but I have long wiped my old installation.

So, if you say it is not good to disable it permanently, then what can I do instead? Please elaborate.

Thanks

lucke · 2008-07-02 21:41:15

Well, first of all, are you sure that fsck just stalled? It can take some time to finish a full fsck, perhaps you were just impatient. When did that initial fsck occur?

You should get to the bottom of this and make sure that fscks don't stall, instead of disabling them.

brebs · 2008-07-02 23:12:32

Filesystem checks should not be disabled, because:

* Filesystem drivers can contain bugs. Hopefully the checker-and-repairer doesn't

* Hard drive platters wear out, causing errors all by themselves - mostly automatically fixable, which is why we don't see them.

Majorix · 2008-07-04 16:59:40

lucke wrote:

Well, first of all, are you sure that fsck just stalled? It can take some time to finish a full fsck, perhaps you were just impatient. When did that initial fsck occur?
You should get to the bottom of this and make sure that fscks don't stall, instead of disabling them.

Well it went like this... I rebooted the pc after forcing it shutdown, then during that bootup it said some files contained errors, and it died out spitting errors while checking files.

brebs wrote:

Filesystem checks should not be disabled, because:
* Filesystem drivers can contain bugs. Hopefully the checker-and-repairer doesn't
* Hard drive platters wear out, causing errors all by themselves - mostly automatically fixable, which is why we don't see them.

I don't think (or wholeheartedly hope) that the ext3 drivers are buggy.

And I don't think it has to do with the hard drive because other Linux distros and Windows run fine.

Last edited by Majorix (2008-07-04 17:00:16)

kdorf · 2008-07-04 17:13:09

If you want to disable fsck on boot, look in your /etc/fstab file and change the last number for that particular partition to a 0. fsck will not check this partition on boot.

EDIT: realized that wasn't very clear. For example,

UUID=c022f3bf-a633-470e-807a-6db5e9131118 / ext3 defaults 0 1

should become

UUID=c022f3bf-a633-470e-807a-6db5e9131118 / ext3 defaults 0 0

Notice the far right 1 has been changed to a 0.

Last edited by kdorf (2008-07-04 17:15:30)

Majorix · 2008-07-04 17:52:58

Yeah, that's what I was intending to do, but the question is, should I? I mean, won't those corrupted files disrupt the computing?

B-Con · 2008-07-04 18:48:59

Majorix wrote:

Yeah, that's what I was intending to do, but the question is, should I? I mean, won't those corrupted files disrupt the computing?

Depends on which files are involved and what type of error. I once had a machine with some sort of FS error (on ext3, that was caused by mounting it via a utility on Windows, bleh) that I couldn't figure out and didn't have the time to. I let it run for almost a couple months with no problems.

Mr.Elendig · 2008-07-04 21:33:06

Disabeling the checks are generaly a bad idea. They are there to protect you from data loss and unstable systems due to sw/hw errors on the disc/filesystem. It's like doing a skydive with an shute that you have no idea if it's packed right or not.

Arch Linux

#1 2008-07-02 20:34:40

Filesystem check at boottime?

#2 2008-07-02 21:04:05

Re: Filesystem check at boottime?

#3 2008-07-02 21:20:27

Re: Filesystem check at boottime?

#4 2008-07-02 21:41:15

Re: Filesystem check at boottime?

#5 2008-07-02 23:12:32

Re: Filesystem check at boottime?

#6 2008-07-04 16:59:40

Re: Filesystem check at boottime?

#7 2008-07-04 17:13:09

Re: Filesystem check at boottime?

#8 2008-07-04 17:52:58

Re: Filesystem check at boottime?

#9 2008-07-04 18:48:59

Re: Filesystem check at boottime?

#10 2008-07-04 21:33:06

Re: Filesystem check at boottime?

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