Frederick Page wrote: > Hi Richard Harran, > > you wrote on Mon, Feb 22, 1999 at 05:14:30PM +0000: > > >I just had a huge panic, when my file system 'spontaneously' turned read > >only! > > man tune2fs >
While this is a very useful manpage, I'm not sure it's addressing the real issue. Richard's hard drive experienced some problem that has corrupted the file system. Linux noted the problems and marked the file system readonly to prevent further data loss and additional problems with the file system's integrity. In short, Linux was being smart and making the problem noticeable. The alternative was for it to allow you to continue using the file system, which would have certainly added to the corruption. > > Your device has reached the time between two file-system checks. Wait > until the checks are finished, it should become rw again after that. > > With luck, fsck will correct the problem. However, if the problem *is* the result of some problem with the physical media, then fsck may or may not correct things. I've had this same problem recently on my /usr. I ran fsck on the partition, was told it had corrected the problem but was left with all sorts of weird junk in /usr/lost+found. For me the solution was to run the diagnostics that came from the drive's manufacturer - which relocated some bad sectors. Then, on a whim, I re-ran fsck to see if it could fix the file system. It did, though it created even more junk in /usr/lost+found. I eventually had to run debugfs to fix the problem. Then I purged and re-installed the packages that had owned the directories that were effected. Sure I could have just wiped the partition clean and restored from a backup but I was in the mood for a challenge and I ahd never worked with debugfs before. The nice thing was that it was *only* my /usr...;) > Kind regards > > Frederick > > -- > Linux *is* user-friendly. > It's just a little picky about it's friends. > Chuck -- Chuck Stickelman, Owner E-Mail: Practical Network Design Voice: +1-419-529-3841 9 Chambers Road FAX: +1-419-529-3625 Mansfield, OH 44906-1301 USA