I was going to ask about doing this first, but I decided to try it, and
looks like I got in trouble.
What I tried to do:
I had a FAT32 partition that I wanted to convert to ext2fs. Started
HardDrake, found the partition, switched to expert mode, fooled around,
trying to format and change type, eventually deleted, created a new
partition, type ext2fs, could not format, saw a message that said I had
to reboot before being able to format (can't quote exactly). Rebooted.
The problem:
The system won't boot.
Comes up with messages:
"The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
filesystem. ... you might try running e2fsck with an alternate
superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
*** An error occurred ..."
There is data I would prefer not to lose on /home. (I know, I should
have backed it up.)
The partition in question is not /home. It was /mnt/win_f -- I assigned
it a new mount point of /home2 while in HardDrake.
So, what makes the most sense at this point -- should I try the e2fsck
with an alternate superblock? Should I boot from a rescue disk (or the
install CD)? What do I do after that.
PS: This is a Mandrake 7.2 system with the MandrakeFreq of 20010316
installed "on top". I think I have a boot disk for Mandrake 7.2
(possibly not for this exact computer), but don't have one for
MandrakeFreq. (Is there a difference?)
Waiting for advice.
Thanks,
Randy Kramer
