On Thursday 19 July 2001 14:58, Randy Kramer wrote: > Colin, > > This is the first note I sent to the expert list, describing the error > message that I received. > > 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. > Hi Randy, I would use the installation CD and choose Rescue. Then mount the root partition on /mnt and do `vim /mnt/etc/fstab`. Comment the line (#) that says "/mnt/win_f" or "/home2" - then save and `umount /mnt/`and exit. My guess is that you would then be able to reboot and ponder what to do next. -- Peter Ruskin, Wrexham, Wales. Registered Linux User No. 219434 ( see http://counter.li.org/ ). Linux Mandrake release 8.0 (Traktopel) for i586, kernel 2.4.3-20mdk-win4lin-pnr, XFree86 4.0.3, patch level 11mdk, KDE: 2.1.2, Qt: 2.3.1. Uptime 4 hours 42 minutes