Hi,

after recent apt-get dist-upgrade my Debian unstable fails to boot
with the following error messages (one per every partition that is
usually mapped on startup):
fsck 1.40.11 (17-June-2008)
Checking all file systems.
[/sbin/fsck.ext3 (1) -- /b] fsck.ext3 -a -C0 /dev/hda5
fsck.ext3: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/hda5
/dev/hda5:
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>

Then I get the option to log in using root password. After logging in
I noticed that most of the device files from /dev/ are gone, including
hd* (the only ones left are some terminal ones). Any ideas what could
go wrong and how to fix it?

Cheers,
Grzegorz

On 07/10/2008 04:54 PM, Grzegorz Andruszkiewicz wrote:
> Hi,
>
> after recent apt-get dist-upgrade my Debian unstable fails to boot
> with the following error messages (one per every partition that is
> usually mapped on startup):
> fsck 1.40.11 (17-June-2008)
> Checking all file systems.
> [/sbin/fsck.ext3 (1) -- /b] fsck.ext3 -a -C0 /dev/hda5
> fsck.ext3: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/hda5
> /dev/hda5:
> 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>
>
> Then I get the option to log in using root password. After logging in
> I noticed that most of the device files from /dev/ are gone, including
> hd* (the only ones left are some terminal ones). Any ideas what could
> go wrong and how to fix it?
>
> Cheers,
> Grzegorz

Look for /dev/sda* entries. The current Linux braindamage of the hour is
to pretend that *every* bus system in the world gives you SCSI
disks--including IDE/PATA/SATA buses.

You might have to adjust your /etc/fstab and /boot/grub/menu.lst
accordingly.

You didn't ask a smart question. You didn't say what O/S you're using,
and you didn't say what kernel you have.

Udev is another part of the contemporary Linux braindamage; make sure
it's running. "Mount" should show you if udev is running.

Grzegorz Andruszkiewicz wrote:
> Hi,
>
> after recent apt-get dist-upgrade my Debian unstable fails to boot
> with the following error messages (one per every partition that is
> usually mapped on startup):
> fsck 1.40.11 (17-June-2008)
> Checking all file systems.
> [/sbin/fsck.ext3 (1) -- /b] fsck.ext3 -a -C0 /dev/hda5
> fsck.ext3: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/hda5
> /dev/hda5:
> 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>
>
> Then I get the option to log in using root password. After logging in
> I noticed that most of the device files from /dev/ are gone, including
> hd* (the only ones left are some terminal ones). Any ideas what could
> go wrong and how to fix it?
>
> Cheers,
> Grzegorz

I may have had something similar happen just today but I am running Slackware.
After going through the hoops with e2fsck several times with no positive results
I figured to try checking my hard drive. I had already checked my ram. I even
tried to reformat the partition and reinstall the Slackware cd. No luck I was
still getting those errors like you have.
My hard drive is a Seagate 200 gig. I ran the long test on it and it found 3
hard drive errors. I allowed the Seatools program to try to fix the errors.
It did and now I was able to reinstall Slackware with no more errors and that is
what I am sending this reply with.
Good luck with your problem.

--
Leon
A computer without Microsoft is like a chocolate cake without mustard.
< running Linux >

Hi,
Thanks for all your replies. After trying a few different things I
managed to sort it out by uninstalling udev and reinstalling it back
again.

On 11 Jul, 05:29, Leon Whyte <leon.wh...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Grzegorz Andruszkiewicz wrote:
> > Hi,
>
> > after recent apt-get dist-upgrade my Debian unstable fails to boot
> > with the following error messages (one per every partition that is
> > usually mapped on startup):
> > fsck 1.40.11 (17-June-2008)
> > Checking all file systems.
> > [/sbin/fsck.ext3 (1) -- /b] fsck.ext3 -a -C0 /dev/hda5
> > fsck.ext3: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/hda5
> > /dev/hda5:
> > 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>
>
> > Then I get the option to log in using root password. After logging in
> > I noticed that most of the device files from /dev/ are gone, including
> > hd* (the only ones left are some terminal ones). Any ideas what could
> > go wrong and how to fix it?
>
> > Cheers,
> > Grzegorz
>
> I may have had something similar happen just today but I am running Slackware.
> After going through the hoops with e2fsck several times with no positive results
> I figured to try checking my hard drive. I had already checked my ram. I even
> tried to reformat the partition and reinstall the Slackware cd. No luck Iwas
> still getting those errors like you have.
> My hard drive is a Seagate 200 gig. I ran the long test on it and it found 3
> hard drive errors. I allowed the Seatools program to try to fix the errors.
> It did and now I was able to reinstall Slackware with no more errors and that is
> what I am sending this reply with.
> Good luck with your problem.
>
> --
> Leon
> A computer without Microsoft is like a chocolate cake without mustard.
> < running Linux >