On Sun, Apr 3, 2011 at 4:21 AM, Janne Johansson <icepic...@gmail.com> wrote: > 2011/4/2 Benny Lofgren <bl-li...@lofgren.biz> > >> >> I've noticed that some (all?) linux systems do uncalled-for file system >> checks at boot if no check have been made recently, but I've never >> understood this practice. It must mean they don't trust their own file >> systems, >> > > I'm quite sure this comes from the fact that there are several ways for a > ext file system to get errors (which in bash used to show up as > "input/output error" when you try to reference the file) but the filesystem > will not store the error condition anywhere, so if you make a clean > shutdown, and reboot, the fsck will not know that a fsck in due, and skip > over it, and for that whole session until the next reboot, the file is still > as inaccessible as before. > > And since only root may write the "magic" file in the (broken) filesystem > root, a normal user can not force the fsck either, unless he kills the power > switch so the boot scripts know there was an unclean shutdown before, OR, > reboot 147 times (or whatever the intervals may be) so the system does run > the fsck at boot. > > I dont pretent to know the optimal solution for keeping track of "hey, I > just told the user his file is corrupt, I should ask for fsck on the next > mount" but even the early-80s amiga floppy file systems would have a global > "dirty" flag so the OS would launch disk validator next time you inserted > the disk and "mounted" the filesystem if you found out it had some kind of > read/write error. > > Letting users run 1-146 reboot cycles without checking even when you know > stuff is broke is horrid. And having a file inside the actual filesystem to > indicate "if this file isnt deleted it means something" as an inverse flag > really doesnt count (/fastboot or whatever) since if half your files > disappear and that one went also, then its missing status would indicate > "everything is fine".
/forcefsck and /fastboot have nothing to do with that they are not even administered by the fs > > -- > B To our sweethearts and wives. B May they never meet. -- 19th century toast
