kernel panic, VFS: Can't find ext3 filesystem on dev hda3

oldsko0l · 03-02-2008, 09:09 AM

When I start my pc I get a kernel panic & the root filesystem can't be mounted

So I tried to mount the filesystem from a livecd
& I got this

Code:

livecd root # mount /dev/hda3 /mnt/gentoo
SQUASHFS error: Can't find a SQUASHFS superblock on hda3
mount: you must specify the filesystem type

So I 'specify' the filesystem type

Code:

livecd root # mount -t ext3 /dev/hda3 /mnt/gentoo
VFS: Can't find ext3 filesystem on dev hda3
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hda3.
missing codepage or other error
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so

Code:

livecd root # dmesg | tail
... snap ...
SQUASHFS error: Can't find a SQUASHFS superblock on hda3
VFS: Can't find ext3 filesystem on dev hda3

I also did a fsck

Code:

livecd root # fsck.ext3 /dev/hda3
e2fsck 1.39 (29-May-2006)
Couldn't find ext2 superblock, trying backup Blocks...
fsck.ext3: Filesystem has unexpected block size while trying to open /dev/hda3

The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
filesystem (and not swap or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>

Can anyone help me with this?
Is this fixable or totaly f*cked up?

Thanks in advance!

Extra info:
-My distribution is Gentoo
-Amd64 3700+
-/dev/hda3 is ext3

PTrenholme · 03-02-2008, 09:47 AM

What does fdisk -l /dev/hda tell you about the partition type of hda3? Different file systems use different partition types, and that might give you a clue.

If /dev/hda3 is really an ext3, the partition type should be (IIRC) 83.

If the partition type is correct, try fsck with the alternate superblock setting.