Joachim Schipper wrote: >>> make a dump of the partition before going to execute potentially data >>> destroying actions? >> yes, this is sound advice of course. but what are you going >> to do with the dump if say, fsck is not able to revive the fs? >> "dump" it back, run fsck again and answer "no" at a couple of >> fsck prompts? how is it going to change anything in the end? > > Well, if fsck can't revive your partition, you can always try different > tools. Something like fsdb may be able to recover part or all of your > filesystem even in cases where fsck loses the plot.
Also, fsck may fail in the middle due to lack of memory, so moving the dump to a bigger box to make it run through may be a good solution in that case. Or old fsck fails where a -current fsck won't.