19990118: file system problems on Linux requiring manual fsck

>From: David Travis <address@hidden>
>Organization: University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
>Keywords: 199901182209.PAA24587 Linux fsck single user

David and Trent,

>Hello, we are having some problems with linux and hoping you might be 
>able to help.  When rebooting our machine it keeps stopping with an 
>"unexpected inconsistency" statement and says we should run FSCK 
>Manually.  However, I have no idea how to do this.  I've looked at the 
>manual and it provides no help.  Neither does the Linux support so 
>far.  Any ideas...?  

Apparently, one or more files was damaged when you took your machine
down.  The operating system is telling you that you need to boot up
in single user mode and run the routine 'fsck' manually to fix the
problem.  It is possible that you may have damaged one or more files
that will cause you to have to reload the operating system, but this
is not as likely as simply having to fix a less important file.

>Don, we have moved this machine into our lab and I can contact you via 
>telephone if it would be easier.

If you can't get past running 'fsck', then this may be needed.  Today
(Monday) is a holiday for UCAR, so Don is not here at work.

>Just let me know a good time to call 
>you.  This whole thing started when we tried to move the new computer 
>and set it up for classroom use.

Unix, like OS/2, needs to be brought down "gently".  Typically, one
should become 'root' and then shutdown the system after issuing a
couple of 'sync' commands (syncs the files in memory to disk).  With
no other disk activity (i.e. with no users logged in and other processes
shut down (like the LDM)), a 'halt' will successfully shutdown Linux
with no damage.

>At this point we can't even get back 
>to the LDM setup.  Since the machine won't competely reboot you also 
>cannot get in from the outside.  So we're going to have to fix this 
>the old fashioned way.  

Right.  The key is to boot into single user mode.  At this point, you will
be 'root'.  From the shell prompt, you will be able to run 'fsck' and
most likely repair any damage to files or the file system.

>Thanks for any help you might be able to provide!

Let me know if you can't get to single user mode successfully.  This is
(should be) one of the options during the Linux boot up sequence.

>David (and Trent)
>Dr. David J. Travis
>Dept. of Geography
>University of Wisconsin-Whitewater 
>Whitewater, WI 53190
>Voice:414-472-5125 Fax: 414-472-5633
>E-mail: address@hidden

Tom Yoksas