Hi,
On Fri, Sep 17, 2004 at 11:32:19AM -0500, docv wrote:
I've got a problem with a data drive (ext2 formatted as /home) that I need some direction on where to go to find help with. Specifically if there's any way to recover from a "bad super block" when attempting to mount the drive? I've Goggled for an answer, but without success.
Try to mount the filesystem using one of the backup superblocks. From the mount man page under the section "Mount options for ext2":
sb=n Instead of block 1, use block n as superblock. This could be useful when the filesystem has been damaged. (Earlier, copies of the superblock would be made every 8192 blocks: in block 1, 8193, 16385, ... (and one got hundreds or even thousands of copies on a big filesystem). Since version 1.08, mke2fs has a -s (sparse superblock) option to reduce the number of backup superblocks, and since version 1.15 this is the default. Note that this may mean that ext2 filesystems created by a recent mke2fs cannot be mounted r/w under Linux 2.0.*.) The block num- ber here uses 1k units. Thus, if you want to use logical block 32768 on a filesystem with 4k blocks, use "sb=131072".
I've not had much luck with this but that is because when I hose the superblock I REALLY hose the rest of the filesystem. I know it works because I have mounted good filesystems with this option when trying to locate backup superblocks (because I forgot to write down the numbers when I did the mke2fs). Good luck.