Using the ext3 filesystem in 2.4 kernel
 

May I read/write the ext3 filesystem in 2.4 kernel?

I had installed Windows XP on hda1 and Fedora Core (FC) 3 on hda5 and hda 6.
I re-partitioned hda1 with Partition Magic to allow hda3 and hda4 for SUSE (2.4 kernel).
Then I installed SuSE 9.0 on hda3 and hda4 with the new installation option.
Now I boot with SuSE 9.0.
How to access the FC 3 partition from 2.4 kernel?

# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/hda: 80.0 GB, 80000000000 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9726 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 3213 25808391 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/hda2 4519 9726 41833260 f Win95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda3 3214 3342 1036192+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda4 3343 4518 9446220 83 Linux
/dev/hda5 4519 4531 104391 83 Linux
/dev/hda6 4532 9726 41728806 8e Linux LVM

Partition table entries are not in disk order

# mount -t ext3 /dev/hda6 /fc3
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hda6,
or too many mounted file systems

# mount /dev/hda6 /fc3
# ls /fc3
. ..

i.e. The FC 3 partition is not accessible.

Powah,
Can you access hda5? If you can your SUSE kernel cannot recognize the hda6 partition. It is type 8e (Linux LVM) instead of 83 (Linux). You need to get a kernel which recognize it.

Cheers,

Osvaldo.

You should download Knoppix V3.8.1 (2.6 kernel) or the older Knoppix V3.7 (2.4 kernel + experimental 2.6 kernel) and see if it can mount the LVM. See http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html for download info. The older V3.7 worked fine under the 2.6 kernel, but I have had problems getting the V3.8.1 to run properly.

Knoppix is a full featured, self-booting linux CD that runs in KDE. Think of it as “linux rescue” on steroids. Not only could you use it as your regular version of linux, but it is also great for fixing dead systems or for addressing problems like you are facing.

Disclaimer: I have no personal experience using Knoppix to mount an LVM.